Minneapolis and St. Paul will add 70 electric vehicle charging stations over the next two years as part of a new program intended to increase electric car use.
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $6.7 million to the new Twin Cities Electric Vehicle Mobility Network to build public charging hubs, develop a new one-way electric car sharing service and partner with local organizations to educate the public about electric cars.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey praised the new program.
“This collaboration will support a sustainable and resilient future for our children and grandchildren,” Carter said in a statement this past week.
The programs “are perfectly aligned with our overall goals,” Frey said in the same statement. “Including achieving 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030.”
The Twin Cities award was the third-largest in a Department of Energy $139 million package for 55 projects across the United States designed to support innovative vehicle technology.
Minneapolis and St. Paul have taken steps to increase electric vehicle use, said Jukka Kukkonen, an instructor of Electronic Vehicle Market Technologies at the University of St. Thomas.
“This would take it to the next level,” said Kukkonen, who is also coordinator of the Minnesota Electric Vehicle Owners group.
The one-way electric car sharing service will be operated by local non-profit HOURCAR, the report said. Carsharing is an easy way for the public to test-drive electric cars, Kukkonen said. The service also helps to make the system sustainable.
In addition to the new electric vehicle network, the funding will also allow Xcel Energy and HOURCAR to bring charging stations and two-way carsharing to 25 areas around the metro.
Some of the charging stations will include some Direct Current Fast Chargers that can charge an electric car in 30 minutes or less.
Xcel Energy will spend $4 million on electrical infrastructure, according to the report.
“We have a long-term plan to bring clean energy to transportation, with a vision to power 1.5 million electric vehicles by 2030 in the communities we serve across eight states,” said Chris Clark, president of Xcel Energy-Minnesota. “Partnerships like this help ensure that an electric vehicle future will benefit all customers.”
The project is scheduled to begin in 2021.
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September 19, 2020 at 10:00AM
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Minneapolis and St. Paul to add 70 electric car charging stations - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
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