The South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources this month approved seven $58K subsidies, carved out of the Volkswagen diesel-cheating settlement funds, to six South Dakota electrical utilities to build electric vehicle charging stations along I-29 and I-90:
According to other slides from the Sioux Valley and West River electric utilities, the only DC fast-charging stations in South Dakota right now are Tesla units along I-90:
The utilities and the Board of Minerals and Environment would like to build more charging stations for 21st-century vehicles:
The board informally agreed Thursday that the department should shuffle some of the remaining funds in the Volkswagen diesel-mitigation $8 million settlement.
“There’s an inadequate number of them (charging stations) across the state now,” chairman Rex Hagg of Rapid City said.
The board received a summary about the VW money from Barb Regynski, an environmental scientist in the department’s clean-air program.
Regynski said subsidies for the seven charging stations had used all but $5 of the money that was earmarked for them. She suggested $782,000 tagged for the VW settlement’s administrative expenses could be tapped for more stations. Money also could be shifted from the buses portion.
The timetable calls for a 30-day public notice period, followed by a 30-day period for the public to send comments to the board, and then the board’s consideration and a decision [Bob Mercer, “S.D. Panel Plans to Consider Subsidies for More Charging Stations for Electric-Powered Vehicles,” KELO-TV, 2020.12.17].
Hey! And since BME is part of DENR, when Governor Noem merge-buries DENR into the Department of Agriculture, maybe they’ll expand the plan to include charging stations for tractors!
Minerals Board. Charging stations? Huh?
Tourism!
wow we will not need pipelines then right.
There have been 4 or 6 Tesla charging stations behind Lynn’s Grocery store in Custer for a couple of years at least …..
Anyone with a Tesla knows where the charging stations are and plans their trips accordingly. If you sell souvenirs, you want to be near a Tesla plug. Two hours of waiting for a modest recharge. Money burning holes in the pockets of itchy Tesla owners.
Two hours in Murdo, checking in with Dave Geisler at the auto museum, kick the tires on the General Lee. He even has a Tucker there, my my. Hang around the courthouse to chat with Marty Jackley. All fun things to do for a couple of hours. Ah, the joys.
Two hour charging time? Bob identifies a great business synergy for those Tesla plug-ins behind Lynn’s: every trinket shop in town should want a Tesla port so the first thing folks see after they turn on the juice is all the interesting local geegaws you have to sell while they wait.
The charging ports the BME is talking about sound like they provide full charge in 30 minutes… but a half hour is still a longer wait than a typical gas-and-go, plenty of time for the driver and family to wander around, leaf through diverse used books, even enjoy a nice sit-down meal.
I wonder how far off the beaten path could such charging stations be profitable? Could a town off the Interstate (like Custer) market itself to electric-motoring tourists on the basis of charging-station availability? Emphasize to those Tesla drivers that they won’t be stuck out in the boonies with no charge and that there’s plenty to see and do while they wait, and maybe towns like Custer could win a few more daytrips or even overnight stays.
Quantumscape has just broken a barrier with solid state batteries. It’s 30% owned by VW but they will retain ownership to sell to all auto manufacturers. Huge step forward: “QuantumScape’s data showed its battery cell could charge to 80% of capacity in 15 minutes. Further, it retains more than 80% of its capacity after 800 charging cycles, is non-combustable and boasts nearly double the energy density of high-end commercial lithium batteries.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gatesbacked-electric-car-battery-startup-is-on-the-cusp-of-changing-the-industry-184517860.html
Surprising no one, Pierre does not have a charging station. Know why? They are always to busy taking.
Cory is correct. Each village should have a charging station, not only for commerce, but for public safely. We have all assisted someone who has run out of gas and helped them get on their way. A charging station makes a lot of sense (cents).
tesla used to advertise that there were places a tesla driver could swap out their depleted batts for a charged bank in less time than it takes to fill a gas tank. don’t know if this is available in SD.
There are several companies building electric charging stations across the country. Tesla charging stations can only charge Tesla vehicles. The other companies are building stations that can accommodate other manufacturer’s vehicles.
Some are being placed at existing gas station/convenience stores. You can charge up, pick up some snacks and drinks, or if you are the adventurous type, enjoy some sushi.
This link is to one of the faster growing companies installing chargers.
https://electrek.co/2020/11/10/electrify-americas-electric-car-fast-charging-reaches-milestone-500-stations/
We are never going to stop adaptation, or sucking up as the two best means of survival.
We have a 2019 Chevy Bolt…cannot charge at Telsa stations because Bolt EV uses the SAE Combined Charging Connector (CCS).
Have round tripped from here in Rapid City to Philip, Edgemont, Newcastle, and Belle Fourche. Want to travel round trip to Sioux Falls but would need a charging station at 1/2 way point that being Kennebec or Presho. Gas at $2 per gallon is equal to my electricity cost. But no oil change no Cat converter no deadly CO. EV and conventional gas vehicles each has different advantages.