Technology: L.A.'s High-Watt Highway

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Electrifying even a few short stretches of roadway could increase the range and effectiveness of such voltswagens dramatically. Developers in Playa Vista hope to wire the subdivision's two-mile main artery and service the neighborhood with all-electric trucks and vans. Edison's Reeves dreams of extending the network until it crisscrosses the state. Electrifying one or two lanes of a freeway, he says, might be enough to keep fleets of buses and cars charged up. People wedded to gas-gulping cars could still drive on electrified highways, but they might get dirty looks from the new breed of battery-powered motorists.