Juneau, Alaska has announced that they intend to be America’s electric car charging headquarters, offering more electric car chargers per capita by year’s end. As of right now, Juneau has 1 electric car charger for its 32,000 member population … putting it not too far off 2012’s “top 10” list for car chargers per person as it is. To beat Portland (2012’s top EV charging city), Juneau will have to add 3 (three) more chargers, which would bring them to 12.5 chargers per 100,000 people.
So, yeah, there’s not too much to get excited about, here … or is there?
Electric cars make lots of sense for a population that spends more than six months out of the year in what many people would call “winter”, like Alaska’s does. That applies to cars as well as vehicles that might be seen as “summer toys”, like motorcycles, PWCs, and ATVs that would require heavy winterization and fuel/oil stabilizers to make it through the long winters. This seems especially true now that real-world data collected on a large scale seems to indicate that cold weather doesn’t impact EV range/life nearly as much as previously thought.
The drive towards rapid EV charging infrastructure development is being spearheaded by the city’s Economic Development Commission — primarily because EVs are such a great fit for the city. The city possesses abundant renewable energy resources (hydroelectric), high fuel costs as a result of the isolated location, and reasonable electricity rates. And the city is also rather small. The main road spans less than 35 miles end to end — so no range anxiety. These are all factors that make EVs seem like a perfect fit for the city.
… you can get more from Nathan by heading over to his original article at our sister site, Cleantechnica.
Source | Photos: Earthtechling, Autoblog, via Cleantechnica.
← Want Your Money to Support Your Cause? Don't Boycott, Buycott!