'We need to be ready for that demand': EV charging options increasing in Monroe County

Sales of electric vehicles are increasing in Monroe County. So is the availability of public EV chargers.

EV drivers have several area options for charging their vehicles on the road, according to websites and apps such as Plugshare.com and the U.S. Department of Energy (afdc.energy.gov/stations). EV chargers comes in different levels. Level 1 charges vehicles the slowest and is typically installed in garages for overnight use. Levels 2 and 3 have higher voltages and charge vehicles faster; these are found in public charging stations.

Dan Rock, recycling and green community program director for Monroe County, has called Monroe an “EV-charging desert,” but that may be changing. Several more charging sites are currently under construction and others are in planning stages.

“EV is one of the most impactful things an individual can do from a public health perspective. It's far more effective than recycling or adopting a plant-based diet. That's why we should be incentivizing EVs and removing any roadblocks to EV adoption and expanding charging opportunities,” Rock said.

Recently installed EV charging stations

City of Monroe

Earlier this month, the city of Monroe, with support from the Downtown Development Authority, installed the first public EV charging stations in the city and downtown.

“The EV stations were installed at the east end of the Riverfront parking lot, nearest South Monroe Street, and are accessible via the West Front Street entrances,” Monroe Mayor Robert Clark said. “There are two EV stations which serve four parking spaces. There are two charging ports per station. There will be a restriction for non-EV to utilize the EV spaces."

The Riverfront parking lot chargers are ChargePoint AC Level 2, Dual Port units. Right now, using them is free.

“The DDA and city decided to evaluate the use and collect data prior to setting a fixed cost and time usage,” Clark said. “The DDA and city will evaluate the data from the use of current EV stations to determine if future expansion of EV stations downtown is needed.”

The city's EV stations were in the works for a decade.

“The entire parking lot was redesigned and was bonded by the DDA in 2012-13, with support from the city of Monroe. One item included in the design was the placement of underground conduit to allow for future and easy installation of EV stations,” Clark said. “With the increased EV production and growing mainstream use, now is the time to offer this service to EV users. DDA chairperson William Slicker championed the completion of the project.”

Monroe County Community College

On April 12, Monroe County Community College installed Level 2 charging stations on its main campus on South Raisinville Road.

The chargers were installed on the south end of the campus, facing the La-Z-Boy Center parking lot. The new CT4000 chargers replaced Level 1 chargers on campus.

MCCC is planning to install more chargers.

"MCCC is ... exploring adding Level 3 DCFC charging at the main campus. Level 2 charging is also in the works at the Whitman Center (in Temperance)," said Tom Adamich, EV awareness coordinator for MCCC and a member of the EV Expo Planning Committee for Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.

More: MCCC getting Level 2 electric vehicle chargers

Other charging options in the Monroe County

“There are private, residential use stations and other EV stations in Frenchtown Charter Township, Monroe Charter Township, Whiteford Township, Ash Township and Dundee,” Clark said.

A full list of options are available on charging websites and apps. EV charging, for example, is available at Dundee’s PS Food Mart. Charging in Whiteford Township is available at Michigan Technical Resource Park.

“We provided two rebates for chargers to Michigan Technical Resource Park in Ottawa Lake in 2021,” Brian Wheeler, media relations manager for Consumers Energy, said.

More options coming

Several cities and businesses are currently planning to install EV chargers, including the BP gas station in Frenchtown Township and other, soon-to-be-announced locations.

“We have approved three rebates for public, fast-charging stations in Monroe County. None of them are operating yet. We typically can share information about them once the grant recipients are ready to make them public,” Wheeler from Consumers Energy said.

Luna Pier will soon get EV chargers, Mayor James Gardner said.

“We are on the I-75 charging corridor, and we are identified by the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program as a key site for DC fast charger deployment. We have been in contact with EV charging equipment suppliers, but we have not designated a spot nor begun installation yet,” Gardner said.

Additionally, two or three Luna Pier businesses are planning to install chargers soon.

“They have the closest proximity to I-75, offering the easiest access from the highway, so we are working with them to take advantage of any incentives that are available,” Gardner said. “We see it as a win for the city, as a destination for people visiting to enjoy our access to Lake Erie and our local restaurants. We know the number of EVs on the road will increase significantly in the next few years with all of the major automakers going all-in on electric vehicles. We need to be ready for that demand. We have plans in place with potential projects, but no firm commitments quite yet. Talks are ongoing, and we hope to have more to announce soon.”

EV chargers also may be coming to the River Raisin National Battlefield Park.

“In the city, there has been discussion of including EV stations at the River Raisin National Battlefield Park Visitor and Education Center with the redesign of the parking lot, but no current installation plans,” Clark said.

Assistance for businesses

Utilities and some businesses offer programs and rebates to help businesses install EV chargers.

“We have a program at Allen Chevrolet Cadillac where we pay to have EV fast chargers installed at local municipalities and businesses for the public to use for charging. Currently, we can pay for up to five of these, and we are looking for qualified locations interested in being a part of this program,” Craig Sauer, sales consultant/inventory manager for the dealership, said.

Consumers Energy and DTE both offer rebates for businesses wanting to install chargers.

“Consumers Energy provides rebates through our PowerMIFleet program for businesses that want to install chargers. We provide as much as $70,000 for public fast chargers, which can power a vehicle battery in less than a half-hour,” Wheeler said. “Across Michigan, we have provided rebates for nearly 240 EV charging locations that are available to the public and in operation today.”

“DTE has provided businesses with thousands in rebates, including $2,000 per Level 2 EV charging port and $55,000 per DC Fast Charger. Information on our rebates or other resources we provide businesses, like our eFleet services, can be found at dteenergy.com/evbiz,” Angela Meriedeth, strategist in corporate communications for DTE, said.

Local EV sales

Sales of electric vehicles are increasing across the state and in Monroe County.

“The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments has an interactive map and data resources that provides excellent and useful information to guide EV users and local governments. SEMCOG reports there are 18,000 EVs registered in Michigan, and 64% are accounted for in Southeast Michigan,” Clark said.

Three local auto dealerships said they are seeing an increase in sales.

Nicole Ernst, general manager of Monroe's Friendly Ford, shared local sales numbers.

"For the first quarter of 2023 in the county of Monroe, there have been 49 sales of EVs (all makes and models). Dealers in Monroe County sold 89 EVs in that same period, meaning 40 vehicles were sold to clients outside of Monroe County. There is more interest in EVs than I initially anticipated," she said.

Ernst thinks those numbers could have been even higher.

“It is hard to put into perspective the true interest because, up until recently, most of the EV production (at least Ford production) was allocated to the Zero Emission Vehicle states. We could only get verified customer orders built and delivered here. As the allocation has freed up for dealers in non-ZEV states, we have been able to receive some vehicles for inventory – only a few, but they have sold. In my opinion, we would have had a larger number of sales had we been able to have inventory for people to see and test drive," Ernst said.

She says local customers are choosing EVs for technology, fuel savings, ecological benefits and styling.

“I would say the tax credits are not making as big of a impact on purchase decision as one would think, especially since the most recent revisions. It is difficult to navigate through all the stipulations a vehicle must achieve to be eligible for the credit. We have had a lot of help from the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) to navigate through all the guidelines and that is a tremendous aide for us to help the clients better understand them as well," Ernst said.

Tony Gibbs, sales representative for Williams Brothers Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Dundee, also is seeing increasing EV sales.

"Sales are good overall. We have many customers purchasing hybrids," he said. Leasing also is popular.

“A large reason is they lease better, due to tax credit and also local commuting is more cost-efficient. The new tax credits increase sales by 150%,” Gibbs said.

EVs also are selling well at Monroe’s Allen Chevrolet Cadillac.

“We are selling every EV we can get our hands on, and we just sold our first Cadillac Lyriq to a longtime customer who has had several Chevy EVs before this Cadillac,” Sauer said. “We have seven more Cadillac Lyriqs sold on order. We have sold three or four Chevy Bolt EUVs to our own dealership employees within the last year, and we have several chargers at the store that employees can use to charge them, with more being installed. We have sold some EVs to Toledo GM Powertrain employees. GM employees (with EVs) can park in the front row at the Alexis Road plant and charge their vehicles while at work. That perk, along with tax credits that have been obtainable, have made getting an EV advantageous.”

Assistance for auto owners

Both Consumers Energy and DTE offer charging rebates to EV owners.

“We offer two types of rebates for home EV charging,” Wheeler from Consumers said. “We provide rebates, lower rates for overnight charging and education for EV owners or people who are considering EVs. Our goal is to make EV ownership affordable and convenient. We expect to power as many as 1 million EVs across Michigan by 2030.”

DTE also offers two rebates for residential EV owners.

“We also have an EV charger rebate where customers can receive $500 when they enroll in a qualified time of day electric rate and install a Level 2 EV charger, and an EV rebate where qualified customers can receive $1,500 when they purchase or lease a new or used EV,” Meriedeth from DTE said.

For more information, visit dteenergy.com/ev and ConsumersEnergy.com/EV.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Electric vehicle charging options increasing in Monroe County