Range Anxiety.

It's what electric vehicle drivers in Central and Eastern Washington have been feeling as they whiz through the wonders east of the Cascades.

It's not unlike watching your own fuel gauge riding "E" or wondering if the smart phone has enough charge to complete that call with 5% and a red bar indicating looming disaster.

Your fretting is about to to ease.

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Nine new fast-charging stations are on the way, three planned in the Tri-Cities.

One is expected to be installed at the Southridge Sports and Events Complex in Kennewick. Others are planned in the vicinity of Road 68 in Pasco and in the Dallas Road area of Richland.

Connell, Prosser, Yakima, Ellensburg, Vantage and Cle Elum also will get fast-charging stations.

Fifteen new stations are planned to be added in the state by June 2019.

Washington is among the leaders in America making electric vehicles a viable option for drivers and an important part of that means making it easy for drivers to charge and go.

This is a pilot program from Energy Northwest and Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Transportation through a $405,000 grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation to get fast-charging stations installed by June 2019 along the state's most-traveled routes.

In 2013, Washington had about 8,000 electric vehicles with a goal of 50,000 by 2020 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Central Washington currently lacks fast-charging stations available to the public, making it difficult for drivers to traverse the state unless they drive a hybrid, and may make people think twice about buying an electric vehicle.

The fast-charging stations do the job within 15-30 minutes as vehicles may need to be recharged every 80-200 miles depending on the model and driving conditions.

Information for this piece and more can be found here.

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