Electric vehicles (EVs) are an economical and environmentally friendly way to get from Point A to Point B, but the lack of charging stations often limits drivers to short trips.

It could soon change, as the West Electric Highway program aims to install fast-charging stations every 50 miles along rural highways in Utah and other Western states. The project is funded through the bipartisan infrastructure law approved by Congress last year.

Tammie Bostick, executive director of the Utah Clean Cities Coalition, the lead agency on the project, said the ChargeWest network will take the worry out of driving an EV across the state.

"When we look at Charge West, it's an opportunity for us to imagine electrified transportation fully and to know that we can travel, with range confidence, to our destinations and be able to return," Bostick explained.

Other participating states include Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming. Bostick pointed out the programs is the first of its type, and hopes it will be a model for other states to follow.

The West Electric Highway program is backed by a coalition of local and state governments, environmental groups and tourism officials.

Bostick emphasized it will particularly benefit Utah's vacation destinations.

"Secondary highways, the scenic highways, the places that lead us to the places that we travel to, which are our national parks, our monuments, our state parks, our recreation areas," Bostick outlined.

Bostick added a major challenge to building the West Electric Highway system is a lack of electrical infrastructure needed to power fast-charging stations in many of the rural areas.

"So that could be building out their existing electrical system, but also to plan for off-grid system systems that are stand alone, that run on solar, that really don't need a large infrastructure to be available," Bostick explained.

The West Electric Highway program is one of the first fast-charging projects approved from the $2.5 billion allocated for projects under the National Electric Vehicle Charging Network.

This week, federal officials announced a new round of funding for passenger rail projects. It is part of a larger push to expand and restore service, including an old Amtrak route which once made stops in North Dakota.

The $1 billion in total grants is part of a larger rail funding pool under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority is helping restore a former route connecting Chicago to the Pacific Northwest, which ran until the late 1970s. The reinstated line would bring back service along the route to cities such as Bismarck.

Dave Strohmaier, chairman of the authority, said they were awarded seed money last year and remain hopeful about what lies ahead.

"The addition, the restoration of this passenger rail service would make a big difference to the economies, to the opportunities for transportation options for small and large communities along this route," Strohmaier contended.

There's an Amtrak route still operating across northern North Dakota, but Strohmaier said bringing back stops to the southern half helps communities with tourism, while getting rural residents to medical appointments in larger cities. He noted a small percentage of riders travel the entire multistate route.

The latest funding is for competitive grants. Regional leaders indicate they will bypass this round because it doesn't align with their effort. More funding will be needed once they move past the planning stage.

As for tourism, Strohmaier noted reinstating this service would also coincide with the planned opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in western North Dakota in the coming years. He described it as a match made in heaven.

"What a great way to travel -- in the same manner in which Theodore Roosevelt traveled many, many decades ago to the great state of North Dakota," Strohmaier stressed.

Project leaders added the new project would not disrupt North Dakota's current Amtrak route, the Empire Builder. Strohmaier said if all the stars align, the restored service could be up and running within the next decade. Potential complications include overcoming a shortage of manufactured train cars in the U.S.


get more stories like this via email

It is National Drive Electric Week and the Arizona Public Interest Research Group Education Fund wants to raise awareness about the benefits electric vehicles can offer.

Diane Brown, executive director of the group, said Arizona has experienced an uptick in EV sales over the last several years. As of September of this year, there are now close to 90,000 EVs registered in Arizona, according to the U-S Department of Energy.

Brown added Arizonans are taking advantage of available tax credits and incentives from government and utilities to make the switch and help improve air quality, thereby protecting public health but also saving them money.

"Arizona can continue to bolster policies that help make the opportunities for drivers to shift gears from gas-fueled built vehicles to driving electric," Brown urged.

Brown acknowledged Arizonans may be apprehensive about an EV. She added some of the biggest worries are driving range and charging infrastructure. To those on the fence, she said car manufacturers continue to improve range and the state is set to receive millions in federal dollars to improve charging infrastructure along interstate highways.

To learn more about tax credits and incentives, Brown encouraged people to visit savingenergytips.org.

Brown added Arizona's clean energy economy, which includes the EV sector, is rapidly expanding. Thousands of jobs are making their way to Arizona thanks to federal legislation, such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Brown emphasized everyone across Arizona wins.

"Municipalities, school districts and businesses are reaping financial benefits from transitioning their fleets to electric," Brown added.

Arizona is among the top 10 states with the most EV registrations.

Nevada is home to North America's largest lithium deposit, a needed metal for electric vehicle battery manufacturing. And while some argue EVs are the way of the future, especially as communities in Nevada and around the world continue to battle climate change, others are more skeptical about how "green" EVs truly are.

Jarod Kelly, principal energy systems analyst at the Argonne National Laboratory, a science and engineering research center, has been looking into exactly that. Put simply, he said research shows EVs are better for the environment than their gas-powered counterparts.

"We see electric vehicles outperform internal combustion engine vehicles, assuming that vehicle is basically the same as the other one. That is a pretty clear picture that the environmental community has seen from the research that we have conducted," Kelly said.

While the manufacturing process of an EV or hybrid battery does produce harmful greenhouse-gas emissions, they still account for less over the lifetime of an electrified car when compared with gas-powered ones. PNAS has created "emission calculators," which use Argonne data. Kelly explained the calculators simplify his organization's more complex model called GREET, which examines the effects of different transportation fuels and vehicle technologies on energy use and the environment.

If the adoption and implementation of more renewable energies become stronger in the coming years, meaning the electrical grid around the country becomes less dependent on fossil fuels, researchers such as Kelly suspect greenhouse gas emissions from electric vehicles would flatten out instead of continuing in an upward slope as current models show.

"We have to understand both how you make that vehicle, that is what we call the 'production burden,' and then also what goes into operating that vehicle, so driving it where you are trying to go, and we call that the 'fuel cycle.'" he continued.

While many drivers may be hesitant in switching to an EV due to the availability of charging infrastructure, Kelly said hybrids may be a good alternative. While the much smaller batteries in hybrids don't require such large carbon emissions to manufacture, the emissions savings over the long haul are still significantly less than an EV as they also use gas.

This story is based on original reporting by Peter Aldhous for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.