Nodak Electric Cooperative officials held a ribbon cutting for the electric vehicle (EV) charging station on Thursday, Oct. 1, in the parking lot of Wendy’s on 32nd Avenue South. It’s the first level 3 charging station in the city and is completely powered by wind energy. It’s a step forward in putting visiting EV owners minds’ at ease about whether or not they’ll have enough juice to get home.
“This new station is a shining reason for electric vehicle owners to stop in Grand Forks,” said Mylo Einarson, Nodak’s president and CEO. “Out-of-town owners are now within walking distance of dozens of stores to browse and restaurants to try, while their car charges.”
That convenience for EV owners is why Nodak settled on the Wendy’s location and also because Brad Towers owns both the fast food restaurant and the lot it’s located on. Towers is excited about having the station in his parking lot, Einarson said.
Level 3 charging stations, the fastest available, can typically provide 100 to 250 miles of range per hour (RPH). That means a customer can get nearly a full charge in an hour. Level 2 stations, which use a 240-volt electrical supply, charge 25 RPH, while level 1 home-use chargers add 5 RPH, meaning EVs usually need to be plugged in overnight. Grand Forks’ fast-charging point is a 62.5 kilowatt station that supports nearly all EV makes, including Chevrolet, Nissan, BMW and Tesla.
A fast-charging station relieves what is called "range anxiety" -- the concern an EV owner has about being able to make it back home after a road trip or onto the next leg of a trip. Nodak officials say the station makes Grand Forks a destination for drivers heading to and from Canada -- when the border is open -- and from Minot to Bemidji.
When asked how many people he expected to use the new station, Einarson called it a “chicken and egg” problem, meaning people are less likely to buy EVs if there aren’t enough charging stations, and companies are hesitant to install them if too few people drive EVs.
“More people will buy electric cars if there's more ability to charge them,” he said.
EV owners need to pay a $4.95 fee to start charging at the station, then 30 cents per kilowatt hour after that. According to Einarson, a full charge should cost less than 25$, in many cases. The station opened a week ago, and drivers have used it every day since then, he said.
While it’s Grand Forks’ first fast-charging station, it’s not the only station, and it won’t be the last fast-charge point. Nearby Best Western Harvest Inn and Suites has a level 2 station, as does Rydell Nissan of Grand Forks. Another level 3 station, owned by Edina, Minnesota-based ZEF Energy Inc., will have another level 3 station online by the end of November.
Nodak, ZEF’s and other fast-charging stations in the state were financed by grants from the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. The money came from a 2016 settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Volkswagen Corporation. Beginning in 2009, the car maker had installed devices used to defeat emissions testing in more than 500,000 vehicles sold in the United States, in violation of the federal Clean Air Act. The settlement resulted in the creation of the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust, of which North Dakota received $8.1 million. Funds must be used to reverse the air quality impact of the company’s violations.
“I think this is a great story,” said Mayor Brandon Bochenski, addressing a group of about 20 people attending the ribbon cutting. “Coming from funds from the Volkswagen settlement might be a little bit of their penance for their naughty deeds they did back then, but, thankfully, we got something out of it here in Grand Forks.”
In 2019, NDDEQ awarded 10 companies grants to build 17 fast-charging stations, including Nodak’s Grand Forks station. ZEF is building six stations, one each in Grand Forks, Grafton, Minot, Wahpeton, Williston and Dickinson.
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Nodak Electric Cooperative unveils Grand Forks' first fast-charging station - Grand Forks Herald
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