Viewpoints

Getting You From Point A to Point B

By Suzy Morgan

Last fall, I was faced with a personal challenge: drive an all-electric Tesla Model 3 the nearly 400 miles roundtrip from Wake Forest to Ocean Isle Beach and back. The car belongs to my electric co-op, Wake Electric, and I was to make the trip to check on repairs being made following Hurricane Isaias. You may have heard of “range anxiety” — feeling nervous about having enough charge in an electric vehicle (EV) to make it from point A to B — and you may have experienced it yourself. I had a full-blown case of it!

But I had no need to worry. That Tesla got me to Second, installing chargers in co-op terripoint B after a fun ride, alerting me of charging tory — predominantly rural and suburban parts stations along my route. Once at my destination, of the state — gives travelers another reason to I fully recharged at one of Brunswick EMC’s make a stop. The charger I used on Ocean Isle charging stations to make the trip back home. may make a beach trip possible for an EV owner, Over the past two years, electric who wouldn’t have otherwise been able to visit. cooperatives across North Carolina It’s a way of promoting tourism, as well as the …our chargers have been installing EV chargers economic development that comes with it, in are available for in a vast network across the state, ensuring folks like me (who keep a communities served by electric co-ops. Third, our chargers are available for all all to use, some wary eye on the battery level gauge) to use, some of whom may not be able to of whom may can rest easy on their all-electric journeys. In fact, using funds from charge at home. Wake Electric has installed 16 EV chargers throughout the communities not be able to a variety of sources — including we serve, including at apartments where EV charge at home. $700,000 from the NC Department of Environmental Quality and owners wouldn’t otherwise be able to charge at night. This helps level the playing field for $1 million from North Carolina’s EV ownership, removing a barrier that might Electric Cooperatives — more prevent some from making the switch to an than 100 charge ports have been installed or are electric vehicle. planned as part of this network, making cross- So if you’re considering an EV but still a state EV entirely travel possible. little uneasy at the thought of bridging the Electric co-ops have taken on this project distance between chargers, take a look at the for a few reasons. For one, as electric vehicles North Carolina electric cooperatives’ charging become more affordable, you’ll start to see more network. Chances are, we’ll get you where you on the road. Some estimates* project as many as need to go. 25–30 percent of U.S. vehicles will be electric by 2030. For many EV owners, charging is available at home, but there was no clear path forward for charging on the road. Electric co-ops, which serve 93 counties across the state, decided to blaze that path. Making more chargers available helps make EV ownership a viable option for co-op members, along with all the benefits EVs provide: lower fuel costs, less annual maintenance and zero carbon emissions.

Suzy Morgan is board president at Wake Electric in Wake Forest. She was seated as president of the North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives at the 2021 Annual Meeting.

Visit ncdriveelectric.com for more information about electric vehicles and to find out how your electric co-op is supporting EV ownership.

*Deloitte, “Electric vehicles: Setting a course for 2030,” bit.ly/evs-2030