A study funded by the Michigan Energy Office (MEO) aims to determine the ideal locations and number of public chargers to facilitate highway travel for Michigan EV drivers.

Conducted by researchers at Michigan State University, the soon-to-be-released study looks at the feasibility of a road trip, the distance between charging stations, charging speed, time needed for charging, wait time for chargers, and detour times added to a trip.

The study looked at three scenarios. A low-tech model would have 598 charging outlets with an investment of roughly $28 million. The high-tech model calls for 128 charging outlets with an investment of just over $14 million. A mixed scenario, which assumes a battery pack capacity of 70 kWh and charging power of 150 kW, while recognizing that vehicles with smaller batteries will also be on the road, foresees 193 charger outlets, with an investment of about $21.5 million.

The MEO will use the results of the study to allocate $9.9 million over the next three years to create a public charging network across the state, said MEO Director Robert Jackson. Funding comes from the 2016 Volkswagen diesel settlement, and additional resources are expected to become available from other stakeholders, including utilities. Private entities are also expected to invest in EV chargers.

The preliminary findings of the first phase of the study examine the optimal locations of EV chargers for cross-state highway driving. The second phase of the study will focus on the placement of urban EV chargers.

“The uniqueness of this study will put Michigan on the map when it comes to locating a public network of charging stations,” said Anne Armstrong Cusack, Executive Director of the Michigan Agency for Energy, which oversees the MEO.

Source: Michigan Agency for Energy