Range anxiety?the worry about running out of charge before reaching your destination?still looms large as an obstacle that prevents many from buying an electric car and irritates some who’ve already taken the plunge. Getting over it presents two distinct hurdles for manufacturers: One of them is raising the range of electric cars well beyond daily-driving needs; the other involves putting worry to rest by giving drivers widespread access to a reliable charging infrastructure that works quickly and creating the means to find it.
Automakers are stepping up to the first challenge with a new round of products that go longer distances on a single charge (the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV is one such game-changing step). On the infrastructure side, Tesla has built a comprehensive nationwide Supercharger network, while other automakers have been playing wait-and-see. Now, both Volkswagen and BMW are showing a commitment to doing some necessary infrastructure work. In January 2015, the two German automakers  announced a joint plan to install up to 100 DC fast chargers along heavily traveled areas on both U.S. coasts. And this week, it?s already done.
The completion of the project?funded mostly by the automakers, and executed by charging provider ChargePoint?creates two so-called Express Charging Corridors: one for the East Coast, from Boston to Washington, D.C., and the other for the West Coast, from Portland to San Diego. In the East, the stations follow the Interstate 95 corr...