EV Charging Station Fills Gap Between Lincoln And GI
YORK – Nebraska Public Power District has partnered with Good2Go Travel Center/Huddle House restaurant, owned by Lichti Brothers Oil Company, to develop the electric vehicle charging station now open at 5018 South Lincoln Avenue in York.
A ribbon cutting at noon Friday formally celebrated York’s newest ChargePoint DC fast charger electric vehicle (EV) charging station, located at Good2Go near the York I-80 exit.
“NPPD is excited to partner with Lichti Brothers Oil Company to bring an additional EV charging station to the York community,” said NPPD account manager Craig Vincent in his remarks to those gathered. “We have seen and heard first-hand about the hesitation to purchase EVs because of range uncertainty and lack of charging facilities, and the York community is excited to help grow interest and satisfy demand from users.”
“This is an important step in providing a much-needed product for area residents and for all EV owners traveling across the state on I-80,” said Good2Go owner Tim Lichti.
The DC Fast Charger is easy to use and is an option for charging an EV in a short amount of time for those traveling long distances. Just 30 minutes of charging with the DC fast charger provides most cars with 70-75 miles of range.
The station, added Vincent, will service up to four vehicles at a time at the customer’s choice of two charging speeds.
Of the large utility’s partnership with Lichti Oil, he said. “They provided us a site. Without their cooperation this would not be possible.”
Anne McCollister representing the Nebraska Community Energy Alliance, a coalition of 38 business and public interests, “who didn’t want Nebraska to be 10 years behind” other states in providing support to the burgeoning electric vehicle market of the future, added, “This is a big deal. For the same money you can go four times as far” as with fossil fuels while simultaneously cutting emissions and environmental damage drastically.
Vincent said NPPD’s work at the site was done “to support the traveling public which is looking more and more” to electricity for transportation.
The end game is to arrive at a place where in-home charging stations become common. Predictions from the industry foresee new home construction including a charging station as a matter of routine.
Lichti spoke of the York interchange of years ago with little or no development at all. Obviously that is no longer the case. Growth has been both dramatic and dynamic on all four quadrants of the intersection where major trunk lines I-80 and U.S. Hwy 81 meet.
“Now this place has become a destination” all its own, he remarked. “I tried to count all the eating places and ran out of fingers,” he said with a grin.
The benefit of the new NPPD charging facility for Huddle House/GOOD2Go lies primarily in the associated walk-in business sure to come its way for meals and other services purchased while EV drivers wait on a charge. The time required to get a ‘fill up’ of electricity and hit the road is ideal to get something to eat or shop in the store.
Funds were provided by Volkswagen through a $2.5 million grant to the Nebraska Department of Energy and Environment that was in turn passed through to NPPD. Volkswagen has forfeited billions for such grants as settlement after being caught cheating on emission standards for its diesel vehicles.
The local charging station is also notable for its location between others available to EV motorists to the east at Lincoln and Grand Island to the west.
Vincent said the station opened quietly approximately a month ago and has been used an average of two times a day over that time. Payment may be made by credit card, pre-paid debit card or phone app.
Source: yorknewstimes
