News, Culture and NPR for Central & Northern Michigan

Consumers Energy plans 200 EV charging stations in MI within two years

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A Tesla Model S electric vehicle is charged at a car dealership in Shanghai, China, in March 2015.
Johannes Eisele

Michigan’s largest energy provider says it will add 200 new electric vehicle charging stations across the state in the next two years.

Consumers Energy offers rebates to customers who purchase electric chargers for homes, businesses and public locations. That incentive is meant to spur the EV market and achieve carbon neutrality in Michigan.

Spokesperson Brian Wheeler says electric vehicle registrations have risen almost 60 percent in just the last year. He says Consumers Energy projects to have 1-million electric vehicles in its service area – about half the state -- by 2030.

“Today there are about 15,000 electric vehicles in our territory, and we’re saying that in less than a decade, we’re going to go all the way up to one million. So, that gives you a sense that maybe it’s not here quite today, but it’s going to happen very soon.”

Wheeler says Consumers doesn’t predetermine where EV charging stations will be located, but instead encourages communities of all sizes to participate in the rebate program.

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Kevin Lavery has been news director at WKAR since September 2006.