EV demand growing in Lima region

LIMA — Meet Patel said for the most part, it is not much of a challenge to drive and own an electric vehicle in the Lima region.

For the Wapakoneta resident and others like him in the greater Lima region, it will only get more convenient.

“For a few years now, Drive Ohio has been planning charging siting studies where we looked at the state and where current chargers for electric vehicles exist today and then we identified some gaps where we knew that we would need chargers to fill out that infrastructure network,” Drive Ohio managing director of communications and policy Breanna Badanes said. “That was before the Bpartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) provided funding through the NEVI program, which stands for National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program.”

According to Drive Ohio, there are 12 charging stations around the city of Lima and in surrounding areas so for Patel, who owns a business in the city, it is easy to stake out a familiar one for trips, especially when using a Tesla supercharger is free for Tesla drivers and when the cars point you in the direction of the nearest one when low.

“Supercharging is more for when you are on a road trip because if you are just traveling in the local area, you are just going to plug in at night, at home,” Patel said. “If you’re going down I-75, you might stop off the highway. When it’s my break time, I will come in here and get a charge because it is free for me.”

The NEVI Program has been delivering $140 million over five years to fund chargers along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors in the state of Ohio since the passage of the BIL in 2021.

“One of the goals of the program is that citizens have the choice of whatever vehicle they want to purchase or drive and that they know the infrastructure will be in place to enable that travel,” Badanes said. “We’ve had a lot of community outreach and heard from drivers about range anxiety, which is when you see your battery depleting and are not sure if you can make it to a station in time just because the number of charging stations are relatively low historically. So this program is designed to address that concern and make sure there is a station available and convenient and that drivers feel safe being able to stop and use it when they need it.”

Statewide, there are 78,707 passenger alternative fuel vehicles registered and there are 318 in Allen County, 122 in Auglaize and 85 in Putnam, per the Drive Ohio dashboard (bit.ly/4cxGy6a).

Numbers indicate steady growth in each of these areas and it is no surprise considering how much money electric vehicles save their drivers compared to gas expenses.

“I would recommend at least getting one electric vehicle in each household,” Patel, who also owns gas-powered vehicles, said. “It saves a lot of money, especially if you travel a lot throughout the day. Gas is more convenient if I am going to Florida or something, but if I know I’m not going to run out of range, I would rather go with the Tesla.”

The growing demand for electric vehicles means new charging stations will continue popping up in places like Beaverdam, where one is under construction at a Pilot Travel Center, set to open by the end of 2024, and in Cridersville at a Casey’s General Store.

“For the fast charging stations that will charge a vehicle in 20 to 40 minutes, we estimate the cost to be around a million dollars per station or a little under a million, for four ports,” Badanes said. “Since Ohio has provided about $140 million, we’ll definitely see 100 or more new locations across the state and they can be done in three or four months depending on factors like the supply chain and how ready the site is.”

For more information on Drive Ohio and the Ohio Department of Transportation’s NEVI Program, visit bit.ly/3Mcsbcr.

Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.