EVs in The Arrowhead
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Rockwood’s Carl Madsen Stars in PBS Report on EVs in The Arrowhead
Rockwood’s Carl Madsen appeared in a segment of Almanac, a weekly news and public affairs program produced by Twin Cities Public Television and seen statewide. The segment addressed the issue of “range anxiety” that might be experienced by drivers of electric vehicles (EV).
The journalist Kaomi Lee reported the story. She rented a Chevy Bolt in the Twin Cities with the goal of testing the charging station network and the range of the car between charging. She planned a route from the PBS station in downtown St. Paul to Rockwood Lodge on the Gunflint Trail. Rockwood is the first outfitter on the Gunflint Trail to offer an EV charger open to the public.
The nine-minute segment, titled EV Range Anxiety, can be found here. Her story, sometimes harrowing, of an EV trip from St. Paul to the Gunflint Trail is packed with information for people considering an EV.
And Carl talked about why Rockwood made an investment of over $10,000 to install the charging stations.
“You want to do right by the environment,” he said. “We need to get away from fossil fuels at some point. Why not now?”
He also pointed out a significant advantage of the charging station here. While your car batteries are recharging, you can recharge yours. Grab a canoe and paddle in paradise.
Minnesota has set a target of having EVs be 20% of all vehicles on the road by 2030. It also plans to have charging stations located at 50-mile intervals on the main highways in the state. Right now, there are over 1.8 million cars registered in Minnesota. About 35,000 are EVs. By 2030 we should expect there will be 600,000 to 700,000 EVs on state roads.
The Chevy Bolt that Lee rented has a list price of $27,800, which could be reduced with certain discounts or incentives from federal or state coffers. It offers a maximum range of 200 miles which meant the 291-mile trip to the Gunflint required a couple of recharging stops.
Rockwood offers two Level 2, 15.4 kw charging stations with a view over Poplar Lake. Not many charging stations have a comparable view.
The big questions raised by this report are:
● Does a full network of charging stations come first?
● Do EV buyers come first?
Think about that a bit, but just a bit, while you paddle the BWCAW.
