Efficiency Maine and its partners unveiled two fast electric vehicle chargers in Bangor today, and many more are in the works.
Michael Stoddard, of Efficiency Maine, says the Level 3 chargers at an Irving station near the Odlin Road exit for Interstate 95 will recharge 80% of most car batteries in just 20-30 minutes.
The state installed a similar charging station in Newport recently, and others are on tap for Lewiston, Auburn, Fairfield, Belfast, and Ellsworth. By the summer of 2024, Stoddard expects to have these high-speed chargers from Kittery up to Fort Kent, and down to Calais. Eventually, the network that's being developed with federal funds should feature fast chargers every 50 miles or so, throughout the state.
Joyce Taylor, of the Maine Department of Transportation, says it's a priority to serve rural areas.
"We know that people, in part, don't buy an EV because of range anxiety," Taylor says. "Even if you only visit your aunt in Presque Isle once a year, you want to know that you can get there and get back. So we are trying to make that experience really good, with fast chargers that are really fast."
Stoddard says yet another generation of chargers, that are twice as fast, will soon be coming to Maine.
