The New Hampshire Electric Cooperative is working to install more electric car chargers in underserved parts of the state. The pilot has helped hotels in Jackson, Woodstock, Plymouth, North Conway and Lincoln put in chargers customers to use.
The coop is making the move because they believe there are indications that electric vehicles are beginning to gain a foothold.
“The growth of electric vehicles, if you follow the national trends, are growing twice as fast as regular hybrids grew,” says Gary Lemay, renewable energy engineer for the coop.
Lemay estimates that over the last two months the first charger – at the Red Jacket Resort in North Conway – has drawn 45-50 kwh of electricity. That’s approximately enough to charge a Nissan Leaf twice, or a Prius plug-in hybrid sixteen times. Lemay says that exceeds his expectations. “We’re heading into the off-season, there wasn’t a lot of advertising on this, and we’re very happy with that use,” he says.
Not counting these new chargers, the US department of energy reports there are 16 public electric vehicle chargers in New Hampshire, but only four of those are north of Concord.
