Wyoming is an EV charging desert. Federal money could help, but the state isn’t so sure
Wyoming is an EV charging desert. Federal money could help, but the state isn’t so sure
Big, one-ton diesel trucks are something you see a lot of in Wyoming — a state known for large swaths of untouched, rugged land.
“You got 100 miles between everything,” said David Halter, a fourth generation Wyomingite. “There’s very little civilization.”
Halter grew up with the culture of big trucks. But four years ago, he and his wife went electric.
“No particular reason other than electricity is cheaper,” he said.
They recently went on a Wyoming road trip, but it was tricky. They had to divert into Montana to charge their Tesla — skipping their favorite Wyoming towns.
“I like to go to those places, but I can’t now because there’s very little charging in those locations,” Halter said.
Tourism is a $4.5 billion industry in Wyoming — people come from all over to see places like Yellowstone National Park and Devil’s Tower. And with more Americans driving electric vehicles than ever, road trippers coming through Wyoming need access to EV chargers.
Wyoming, the ninth largest state land-wise, only has 95 charging stations. For comparison, neighboring Colorado has over 2,000 stations. So it’s nearly impossible to travel a lot of Wyoming roadways by EV. The state is hesitant to build out the infrastructure, but private companies see this as an opportunity.
“I just wanted to welcome you guys,” said Mike Yin on a recent fall day.
Yin is president of OtterSpace, which is opening a new EV charger in Pinedale, Wyoming.
“I like to say it’s infrastructure week when we open one of these chargers,” he said.
Pinedale is a very western town with businesses like The Cowboy Shop and Corral Bar right on main street, and now, just down the block, you can hear the steady hum of an EV charging.
Some locals came to see the new charger in action. Yin demonstrated on his Tesla.
“Now you make sure your car is plugged in, take it out of the port, put it in the adapter,” he said.
Before this, there was just one charger in town. It is for Teslas only and a full charge takes about eight hours. And much to the frustration to drivers who come to plug in, that charger is often blocked by diesel trucks. But this new one can charge all kinds of EVs in about 30 minutes.
Pinedale’s Mayor Matt Murdock hopes this will bring in tourism dollars. The next closest chargers are 77 miles one direction and 135 miles another.
“It opens up Pinedale to a wide variety of tourists who would normally not come up this direction, because their batteries die, and they can’t make the distance,” Murdock said at Yin’s event.
This is just one of four locations that Yin opened in Wyoming this year at about $150,000 a pop, all on his company’s dime.
“One of the reasons I built something without any government funds at all was to say, ‘Yes, that it is possible for stations in Wyoming to work,’” Yin said.
If it sounds like Yin, who is also a representative in the state legislature, is trying to sell the state on EV chargers — that’s because he is. Last spring, Wyoming put a pause on accepting federal funds to build out EV chargers.
The 2020-21 infrastructure bill provided Wyoming with $26 million to dole out over five years, namely to private businesses. But, Jordan Young with the state’s department of transportation said they had concerns. Like what if a business closes down within those five years?
“The state is not intending to own or operate these stations,” Young said.
Wyoming is also negotiating with the feds about the distance requirement between chargers. Right now, the funding requires every 50 miles.
“We don’t even have towns every 50 miles. We don’t necessarily even have gas stations every 50 miles,” she said. “It’s a lot of pronghorn and sagebrush.”
If the state and federal government can find an agreement, that funding may come available for new chargers. But until then, much of that sagebrush landscape is accessible to diesel trucks and pronghorn… but not electric vehicles.
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