Infrastructure plan for electric vehicles in North Dakota

Bismarck, North Dakota – More than 800 electric vehicles are registered in the state of North Dakota, according to the DOT.

To increase accessibility to chargers, the DOT has developed an infrastructure plan for charging electric vehicles.

John Morgan has four years under his Tesla’s belt. With just one road trip under its belt, he claims his Tesla is more of an in-town vehicle.

“I think for other people, it would be, but in my situation, I’d still opt for other vehicles, just based on every charger, if it’s not a Tesla supercharger, other charges may take 20 to 30 minutes to charge. I think our generation is used to the four to eight-minute fill-up at a gas station, grab your stuff and go,” said Morgan.

The initial phase of the program will construct chargers along I-94 and I-29, spaced no more than 50 miles apart.

A bipartisan infrastructure measure provides funds for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) bill project.

“A lot of truck plazas that have reached out to us that they want them because they know it’s going to draw people in. Right now, we’re just looking at the rural sites first. So, if we cannot field those areas, so if we do not have the interest, then we can go with legislation to see if state funds can be used,” said Russ Buchholz, DOT innovation and facilities manager.

Through 2026, the state will receive around $25.9 million from the NEVI Formula Program.

“It’s going to be a competitive bid in certain areas because there’s going to be more than one company or site host that wants those,” said Buchholz.

There will be four charging stations per location.

Even with increased possibilities for charging, Morgan says he will still only drive his Tesla within the town.

“So, what you’re going to have with people that actually buy EV cars that hit the highway, they’re gonna have this thing called range anxiety, which is a true thing. Because I wasn’t sure if I’m going to make it into Fargo at 40 miles just because the range was changing,” said Morgan.

The construction of metropolitan regions will come after the construction of the rural charging stations.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) intends to support organizations this summer and to construct infrastructure this fall.