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Enterprise Lions Club First Vice-President Trey Shiver, left, welcomes Steve Johnson to the club’s weekly meeting at the Enterprise Farmers Market.

If you own or are considering buying an electric vehicle, an EV charging station may soon be coming to a location in Enterprise.

Steve Johnson, owner of Wiregrass EV Charging, recently spoke to the Enterprise Lions Club about the opportunity to have charging stations in Enterprise.

Johnson readily admitted that he is a “car guy” and had never thought he would purchase an electric vehicle. He has restored and shows competitively a Pontiac Fiero, and he recently attended a show in Pennsylvania, towing the Fiero with his new electric pickup truck.

Johnson said that last year, with his wife driving to Dothan to work every day and gas prices on the rise, they made the decision to purchase a Tesla. He explained the various charging levels and ways to charge an electric vehicle.

Electric cars can be charged at home using a dedicated 110-120 outlet, with 15-20 amps. Johnson noted that his wife’s Tesla recharges each night at home and with a fully charged battery has a range of about 300 miles. It takes three to four hours to fully charge her car and seven to eight hours to fully charge his truck, Johnson said.

A 50-amp RV outlet is ideal for charging electric vehicles and these can be installed in many homes. Many public charging stations have 30-100 amp circuits.

The fastest way to charge a car is with DC fast charging, which is not currently available for private homes and is most common in public charging stations along heavily traveled highways and shopping centers.

Charging rates vary according to the type of vehicle, but most can be charged up to 80 percent within 20 minutes to one half hour. “Of course, drivers will have to pay on site at these charging stations and those costs vary from station to station and state to state,” Johnson explained.

Johnson recounted their trip to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., last spring, driving the Tesla. He admitted that they had to plan their trip according to where charging stations were located but that this did not prove to be an inconvenience. Their first stop was in Birmingham, where they charged, rested and made a “pit stop” for about 15 minutes. Their second stop was in Tupelo, Miss., where they had lunch and charged for about 30 minutes. Memphis, Tenn., was their third stop, where they charged the car for an hour and had dinner next door at a pizza restaurant.

This final charging got them to their destination in Missouri, but Johnson said the car needed charging when they arrived. Fortunately, their hotel provided charging stations for guests. It is possible to map out a trip with a little internet research to locate charging stations, Johnson said.

Drivers of electric vehicles do need to be concerned about and aware of the locations of charging stations when planning a trip, Johnson said, noting that he regularly receives phone calls from people wanting to know where they can charge their vehicles.

Johnson said another factor to be considered is that not all charging stations are compatible with all electric vehicles.

For AC level 1 and level 2 charging, all vehicles except for Tesla come with a standard connector. Many cars come with adaptors that allow vehicles to be charged with either 120 volts (level 1) and 240 volts (level 2). Tesla uses its own connector for level 2 and DC fast charging. Tesla drivers can use non-Tesla charging stations but only Tesla vehicles can use Tesla charging stations, Johnson eplained.

With so much traffic moving through Enterprise on the way to and from the Florida beaches, Johnson said he believes Enterprise is a perfect place to install charging stations because Montgomery is the only city in the immediate area around Enterprise with charging stations.

While electric vehicles are charging, their owners can enjoy a meal and perhaps do a little shopping, thus contributing to our economy, Johnson said, adding that Ozark has already committed to installing four chargers in the downtown area. “Dothan has a few and may soon have more along the west side of Ross Clark Circle,” Johnson said. “Fort Rucker is installing chargers for soldiers and their families to use.”

Johnson said he has addressed the Enterprise City Council, and said he believes a good location would be in the new parking lot behind Yancey Parker’s downtown. He said he is currently in discussion with the owner of the property.

Because so much of the beach traffic passes through town on the Boll Weevil Circle, Johnson said he believes that a location in one of the shopping centers would allow travelers to charge their cars and eat and shop at a number of different establishments along that route.

The charging stations he has in mind would charge two cars each, at a rate of 40 miles an hour with a 48-amp charger. Drivers would use an app to pay for charging. He noted that it costs him about $2.25 to charge the Tesla.

The charging stations themselves are not cheap to purchase or install, Johnson said. Each station costs about $7,000 and can cost $18,000 to $20,000 to install two at a time.

Johnson said he is already researching funding sources. Alabama has $1.3 million to spend on non-interstate projects. He has applied for a grant and is waiting to hear if he has been awarded one. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs will fund up to 80 percent of a project and Johnson said has requested funding for 70 percent of his project.

Johnson said Alabama is currently charging electric car owners $200 when they register their vehicles to cover the loss of gas tax that they would normally pay when purchasing gas. In 2022, 7 percent of new cars were fully electric and it is estimated that by 2030, 30 percent of new cars will be fully electric.

If the cost of electricity increases, the cost of charging a vehicle will likewise increase. Right now, 40 percent of our electricity comes from natural gas, 32 percent from nuclear power, 16 percent from coal, 9 percent from hydroelectric dams, and 2 percent from biomass (such as sawdust converted to energy), Johnson said. For more information on electric vehicle charging, visit www.wiregrassevcharging.com.

The Enterprise Lions Club meets on Wednesdays at the Enterprise Farmers’ Market. Lunch is served at 11:30 a.m., followed by a brief business meeting and guest speaker. Guests are welcome.

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Enterprise Lions Club First Vice-President Trey Shiver, left, welcomes Steve Johnson to the club’s weekly meeting at the Enterprise Farmers Market.

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