This story is part of The Salt Lake Tribune’s ongoing commitment to identify solutions to Utah’s biggest challenges through the work of the Innovation Lab.
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Range anxiety? Meet your happy places.
The Utah Department of Transportation has identified 18 locations on major highways where it will install charging stations that can load electric-vehicle batteries in a half hour or less.
Scattered across the state at no more than 50-mile intervals, each charging station will have four chargers. UDOT hopes to install them in the next year, although supply-chain issues may push it out further, said Lyle McMillan, strategic investments director for UDOT.
The plan “envisions EV charging stations sited on private/public partner controlled property,” McMillan said. “Ideally, the selected properties will be in close proximity to travel amenities (restrooms, dining, etc.).”
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
And, under a separate program, Rocky Mountain Power is also planning more stations. They are coordinating with UDOT to avoid doubling up at sites.
“We’re looking to do 20 locations, and so if any of these overlap [with UDOT’s], we’ll put ours in a different location,” said James Campbell, director of innovation and sustainability policy at PacifiCorp and Rocky Mountain Power.
The UDOT stations will cost an estimated $1 million per site, and they will be funded by the federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program (NEVI).
In 2020, the Utah Legislature passed HB259, which directed UDOT to plan a charging network to serve Utahns and the tourists exploring the state’s scenic wonders. The plan is to install them in the next year, but NEVI funding has requirements around domestic sourcing of equipment. Implementation could be delayed if such equipment can’t be obtained quickly.
The chargers will be 150 kilowatts, meaning they can give the average electric car a 100-mile charge in about 12 minutes.
Rocky Mountain is still working on siting its stations, and those stations will include two 150-KW chargers and two 350-KW chargers, which can give that 100-mile charge in about 5 minutes. Rocky Mountain’s network will be a combination of rural and urban stations, Campbell said.
Under separate legislation (HB396) also passed in 2020, Rocky Mountain will spend $50 million to build out its network. Because Rocky Mountain’s ratepayers will fund the network, the utility’s customers will be able to charge their vehicles at a cheaper rate than everyone else. Rocky Mountain customers will pay 27 cents per kilowatt hour during peak hours, while non-customers will pay 45 cents. Off-peak chargers get a 5-cent per KWH discount.
Both UDOT’s and Rocky Mountain’s plans are about meeting future demand and addressing car buyers’ concerns about switching to electric vehicles more than meeting a current need.
Cindy Larsen, manager of the Delle City Station in Delle, Utah, said she hasn’t heard anything from UDOT about the charging station planned for the tiny outpost on Interstate 80 halfway between Salt Lake City and Wendover. She said she has had a couple of nquiries from private companies wanting to set up stations. There is no charging option there now.
She said there was one woman who lived near Delle who asked about EV charging, but otherwise she hasn’t had any customers wanting a charger.
Tim Fitzpatrick is The Salt Lake Tribune’s renewable energy reporter, a position funded by a grant from Rocky Mountain Power. The Tribune retains all control over editorial decisions independent of Rocky Mountain Power.
