The need for electric vehicle charging infrastructure continues to grow as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that 182,000 fast chargers will be needed nationwide by 2030 in order to meet demand.

In late July, seven major automakers announced they’re joining forces to build a North American electric vehicle charging network that would rival Tesla’s and nearly double the number of fast-charging plugs in the U.S. and Canada.

General Motors, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes and Stellantis announced in a joint statement that they will share in a multibillion-dollar investment to build “high power” charging stations with at least 30,000 plugs in urban areas and along travel corridors by 2030.

As of now, charging station ownership typically falls into one of two categories according to the U.S. Department of Energy, which includes site host-owned or third party-owned systems.

Charging infrastructure owned by the site host is purchased, installed, and maintained by the host, which allows for full control over the station and the ability to keep all revenue generated by the station.

Infrastructure owned by a third party is installed and maintained by the third party, which minimizes responsibility to the site host.

There are just under 8,700 direct-current fast-charging stations in the U.S. and Canada with nearly 36,000 charging plugs, according to the Department of Energy.

One of those third-party charging stations is at Mike Kelly Automotive, 252 Pittsburgh Road in Penn Township, according to general manager Luke Kim, but based on his observations, those stations are not always in use.

“I don’t see the demand for them where people think they are at this point,” Kim said. “I wouldn’t say someone is always there. I don’t see it all the time. There haven’t been any situations where customers said they couldn’t get on.”

Kim said the two chargers at Kelly Automotive were installed about a year ago and are open to anyone any time of day.

“They are charge point chargers,” Kim said. “They are not manufacture specific.”

The current lack of public charging stations isn’t stopping EV owners from taking matters into their own hands according to Jerry Kennihan, service manager at Kennihan Plumbing & Heating in Middlesex Township, who is seeing an uptick in users who want an EV charging station installed in their home.

“We are starting to see more people interested in it,” Kennihan said.

The initial investment in a home-charging station could cost between $400 and $800 for the charger itself Kennihan said, with labor fees on top of it for the installation.

When it comes to labor, the price can depend on how far they have to run the lines from the panel to the garage.

“You may end up going around the house with a piece of conduit, going through bulkheads or cutting through drywall,” Kennihan said. “If your home is an unfinished basement then it’s a lot easier or if the panel is in the garage. It’s a pretty big range on what each situation might take.”

Craig Taylor, of Cabot, recently had a Grizzl-E EV charging station installed at his home by Kennihan to help alleviate the pressure of going to a public station for his Volvo XC60 recharge hybrid.

“We can’t get past the range anxiety which is why I bought one,” Taylor said about his hybrid vehicle. “We didn’t want to have to be all electric with a road trip. The infrastructure is not that great yet around here.”

A hybrid car has both a gas engine and an electric motor. Hybrid cars are typically more fuel-efficient than their gas counterparts since they can switch between their gas and electric motors while being driven.

“We average 52 miles per gallon,” Taylor said.

Once installed, customers will be charged the going rate for electricity in their area, which is about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour on average in the Butler area according to Kennihan.

“According the Department of Energy, if electricity costs 10.7 cents per kilowatt-hour, an EV car with a 200-mile range with a fully depleted battery should cost about $6 to reach a full charge,” Kennihan said.

The same rule applies to public charging stations Kim said, as they will also charge the going rate for electricity in the area.

When installing a home EV charging station, Kennihan said the first step is to evaluate how power will be transferred from the main electric panel to the garage area so it’s easily accessible.

“The trick is having it do what it needs to do, while not being in the way in the garage,” Kennihan said.

A standard charger will require 60 amps of power from the home’s electric system Kennihan said, but there are ones that have a higher amperage and can charge faster.

At minimum Kennihan said a home should have a 200 amp main panel system to accommodate an EV charging station, but there are other factors at play as well.

“Some people have 200 amp power, but their panel is full of breakers,” Kennihan said. “To add to a system like that some changes might have to be made to make it safe.”

Kennihan said most houses built after 2000 are already hosting a 200 amp system, but that isn’t always the case.

Another trend Kennihan said he is seeing is customers who want solar panels installed to power the newly added charging system.

“The one company we use for solar installations is called Solar Edge,” Kennihan said. “They now have what they call Whole Home Energy Hub. This allows you to not waste energy and charge your car on a really sunny day.

“I feel that is going to become a trend where people want to tie that to pretty much free charging and use the excess energy.”

Butler County will see a jolt of funding — nearly $635,000 — from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for EV charging infrastructure.

State Department of Transportation secretary Mike Carroll announced in July that the first round of conditional awards for federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure funding, which includes 54 projects in 35 counties across Pennsylvania. The projects were picked on a conditional basis to receive a total of $33.8 million for expanding access to reliable EV charging stations.

From that initial funding, Butler County will see $634,756 for an EV charging station at Love’s Travel Stop near Exit 105 of Interstate 79 in Worth Township.

“We are among the first states distributing these funds that will provide travelers with options and confidence while also benefiting our environment,” Carroll said.

Over the next five years, PennDOT will distribute a total of $171.5 million through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for EV charging infrastructure.

Allegheny County is set to receive over $1.2 million for three projects from the initial funding which includes $684,088 for a charging station at Sheetz off I-79 at Exit 68 in Sewickey.

This story was originally published in Butler County Business Matters.