Push for more charging stations as Minnesota EV sales soar
MINNEAPOLIS -- The year 2022 has been the biggest for electric vehicle sales on record. New players are jumping into manufacturing EVs as the cars are appealing to a broader market of buyers.
How to charge up is still an issue for many renters.
"Talking about my car is always my favorite thing to do," Tesla owner Michael Lein said.
Lein has had his EV for almost two years and logged 57,000 miles, all of it electric. Before buying his Tesla, Lein made sure he got into an apartment that could support charging his car.
"It's all about looking for places that have charging. It's a little bit difficult. I wish the apartment search engines had a checkmark you know for we have charging there," he explained.
Jukka Kukkonen is the found of Shift2Electric, a Minnesota-based electric vehicle market and technology consulting company. He says Minnesota is in a better spot with charging than other states.
"For apartment buildings and condominiums, we have a good situation that usually our residents at those locations have parking spots. So they have any opportunity to get the charging there," said Kukkonen.
Jesse Green lives in a condo. He's asking his association to allow him to add something larger than a standard outlet charger.
"Level 2 charging is what I would want there because level 1, which is your basic 110 outlet, that can take over a day," said Green.
At the end of 2021, there were 23,000 registered EVs In Minnesota. There could be twice as many on the road by the end of next year. And that means a need for faster charging not only in population centers but statewide. Energy companies and the government are working to make it happen.
"We'll have double triple the number of those very soon here. And that'll help for everyone," said Kukkonen.
One place Lein would like to see chargers or even standard outlets at the airport. But he says the small gaps where charging is missing shouldn't keep people from making the switch.
"I know there are people that are hesitant but ... try it," said Lein.
Two of the roadblocks for consumers to purchase EVs in the past has been the cost and availability. Kookenen says both are going to be better as we move into 2023. Right now 6% of the car sales market comes from EVs. He believes that number will be 50% by 2030.
