Plymouth first in Minnesota to install network of vehicle charging stations

Drivers of electric vehicles in Plymouth will have plenty of places to plug in as the city installs more than 100 charging stations in parking lots at city facilities.

While several communities have installed a public charger or two, Plymouth is the first city in Minnesota to install a network of charging stations available to the public, said Diana McKeown, with the Great Plains Institute and Drive Electric Minnesota, nonprofits working to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in Minnesota.

"They see that electric vehicles are here and are the future, and are making plans to help the community drive electric," she said. "This plan for Ply­mouth is really exciting."

The City Council at its Sept. 28 meeting approved a contract with Carbon Solutions Group (CSG), which will own and operate the charging stations and could have a few in operation by the end of the year.

Motorists will pay to charge their vehicles based on the amount of electricity consumed. The vehicle's battery size and the time of day drivers juice up will also factor into the price. CSG buys electricity from Xcel Energy and applies a small markup, but it will still be cheaper than the cost of a comparable amount of gasoline, city officials said.

"If they overcharge, people are going to go elsewhere," Plymouth Public Works Director Michael Thompson said.

That could include hotels, grocery stores and even some Goodwill locations where there are limited stations to charge at no cost. But in many cases, drivers already pay a fee to use charging stations, according to Plugshare.com, which shows charging locations and associated fees as reported by users.

"This could really make EV charging convenient and highly visible for residents of Plymouth and neighboring communities, said Tim Sexton, assistant commissioner for Sustainability and Public Health for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Other cities such as Eagan, New Brighton and Savage may be following Plymouth's lead. They are among five cities and two churches that have applied for grants to install chargers and electric vehicle infrastructure. A few more cities may apply for Clean Energy Resource Teams grants before Friday's application deadline, McKeown said.

In places such as Red Wing, several businesses and the Chamber of Commerce teamed up to foot the bill to cover costs of installing a charging station in the city's downtown. But in Plymouth, the city won't pay a dime. CSG will pay all costs for installation and operation.

"It's zero cost to us other than to let them use our land," Thompson said.

CSG was founded in 2006 in Chicago and is now based in San Diego. Its business model is based on income from state and federal tax incentives, breaks offered by utilities and, similar to any gas station, a small markup on what it charges consumers for electricity over what it pays for it. The goal is to have repeat customers, a company spokesman said.

Electric vehicles still make up less than one-half of 1% of cars and trucks on the road in Minnesota — only about 20,000 of more than 5.012 million registered vehicles in Minnesota were fully or partly powered by batteries as of June, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation's Electrical Vehicle Dashboard. That's up from just a few hundred a decade ago.

But the number of electric vehicles is expected to explode in the next decade. Large auto manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen have recently announced plans to invest billions in developing electric vehicles and batteries. By 2040, nearly 60% of all passenger vehicles sold will be electric, according to an analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, an arm of the Bloomberg news and research firm.

President Joe Biden has promised to have at least 500,000 of the charging devices installed across the U.S. by 2030.

Under the 10-year contract, Plymouth is expected to receive about $32,000 a year in the first five years, with revenue rising to $45,000 in years six through 10. As part of the agreement, Plymouth will also receive three electric vehicles at no cost for use by city staff with the option to buy them for $3,750 each after five years. The city could save $2.4 million over the next 10 years, according to city documents.

McKeown called Plymouth's effort "ambitious," but with ample charging stations at the ready, she said it could help relieve range anxiety — the fear of running out of power while on the road — and spur people to buy electric.

Other cities will be watching how things go in Plymouth, McKeown said.

"If this works, the company will get a lot of inquiries," she said.