By end of 2023, Duke Energy plans to build EV charging stations along NC interstates
Imagine driving an electric vehicle along any interstate in the country with no worries about being stranded or running out of power, just like drivers whose vehicles run on gasoline.
The National Electric Highway Coalition, a group of 53 utilities nationwide that includes Duke Energy, has pledged to build a network of direct current (DC) fast charging stations along “major U.S. travel corridors” by the end of 2023. In North Carolina, that means electric vehicles will be able to charge in roughly 25 minutes along Interstates 95, 85, 77 and 40.
The proposed network of fast charging stations could help ease the transition to electric vehicles by reducing anxiety about batteries dying and hastening the introduction of charging infrastructure in rural areas, according to clean energy advocates and a Duke Energy spokesman. Moving from vehicles that run on gasoline to those that run on electricity is widely seen as a key step in the reduction of greenhouse gases.
“This utility coalition is critical to ensure we have a well-placed and well-maintained network of fast chargers cross the country to provide access to EV ownership for all. Period,” said Stan Cross, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy’s electric transportation policy director.
Earlier this year, Duke Energy committed to work with five other utilities to build a charging network in the Southeast.
In 2018, the transportation sector was responsible for 54.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions — nearly 43% of North Carolina’s emissions, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Building charging infrastructure
As part of his plan to combat climate change, Gov. Roy Cooper set a goal of 80,000 zero-emission vehicles registered in North Carolina by 2025. Duke Energy estimates there will need to be around 7,000 public charging stations to service those 80,000 vehicles.
As of July 2021, there were 2,554 charging ports in North Carolina and 29,270 electric cars had been solid in the state, according to data compiled by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
“We know that customers want to see more public charging out there for them to kind of make that step to adopt to an electric vehicle, and we think the utility’s kind of in the best position to kind of jump start that,” said Randy Wheeless, a Duke Energy spokesman.
Charging can take a few different forms.
Level 1 charging is the most basic, taking 11 to 20 hours to fully charge a vehicle and typically looking like plugging the car into a wall socket at home with an adapter. Level 2 charging is often what can be found at shopping malls or in public spaces and takes three to eight hours to charge a vehicle, according to EvoCharge, a private company that provides Level 2 stations.
DC fast charging takes about 15 to 45 minutes to replenish a car’s battery. There are three kinds of DC fast chargers — the Combined Charging System, CHAdeMO and Tesla’s Supercharger. Cross said any infrastructure built in the next two years would likely need to offer both the Combined Charging System and CHAdeMO, which Tesla drivers can access with an adapter.
North Carolina is set to see an investment of nearly $200 million in charging infrastructure, including $109 million from the federal infrastructure package. The state has also used part of its Volkswagen settlement money to install charging infrastructure, with 45 fast chargers and 96 Level 2 chargers installed in Phase 1 and additional funds likely going to charging stations in Phase 2.
Duke Energy has undertaken a $25 million electric vehicle pilot project and has a $56 million second phase before the N.C. Utilities Commission. If that plan is approved, Duke would install as many as 90 DC fast chargers at 45 “key highway corridor locations”; 240 Level 2 charging stations at apartment complexes; and 240 more publicly available Level 2 charging stations.
The company said it would prioritize stations in areas that don’t have one, with half of the stations installed in Tier I or Tier II counties — places the N.C. Department of Commerce classifies as suffering economic distress.
Benefits of charging stations
The fact that electric vehicles take longer to charge than cars do to fill up with gas offers an economic development opportunity for the areas around charging stations, said Sean Flaherty, the Triangle J Council of Governments’ principle planner and co-coordinator of the Triangle Clean Cities Coalition.
“That direct current fast charger can be in the heart of a historic downtown or a small town and that individual has about 30 minutes to walk around while their vehicle’s charging and check out local shops,” Flaherty said.
Creating a wide-reaching network of chargers along highways could have another effect.
Cross said that because those highways pass through rural areas, residents there will have a chance to see charging infrastructure up close. That familiarity, Cross hopes, could lead to more people purchasing electric vehicles — likely from familiar brands like Chevrolet or Ford or Toyota — as prices come down.
“The more we can do to stimulate new vehicle sales today, the more we can put downward pressure on the cost of electric vehicles and create a well-stocked used EV market than can create access for low-income folks to own electric vehicles as well,” Cross said.
The Southeast is emerging as the United States’ hub for electric vehicle manufacturing. In North Carolina, Toyota is investing $1.29 billion to build a battery plant near Greensboro, creating 1,750 jobs.
Arrival, a British electric vehicle manufacturer, will soon open its North American headquarters in Charlotte, with a pair of microfactories and a battery module production facility around the city, as well. The company will make electric buses and electric vans for customers like UPS.
“As we see investment deliver more desirable, a wider range of EVs to market, charging stations become more ubiquitous and the price of an EV reach parity with the price of an internal combustion car or truck, the market’s going to take off,” Cross said. “And that’s likely to happen in the next two years.”
This story was produced with financial support from 1Earth Fund, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 1:21 PM.