We are intrigued by Rogers City’s interest in installing electric car chargers at the corner of Second and Erie streets.

As Steve Schulwitz reported recently, city officials are pursuing grant funding to install the machines that would let electric car drivers plug in and charge up in 90 minutes.

The hope, City Manager Joe Hefele told Schulwitz, is that tourists can stop in town, plug in, grab a bite to eat and walk around town and then get back on their way.

At the end of 2018, there were about 1 million electric vehicles on the road in the U.S., according to the Edison Electric Institute, compared to 274 million total vehicles. They’re not very popular, yet, and part of the reason is a lack of access to charging stations, limiting the ability of electric car chargers to travel.

The installation of charging stations in Rogers City could change some of that and would definitely give electric vehicle drivers a reason to travel to Northeast Michigan.

The Edison Electric Institute says 18 million electric vehicles could be on the roads by 2030, so it’s a growing trend. And the fact that Rogers City hopes to use grant money, with little or no investment from its own coffers, makes the idea all the more intriguing.

We’re excited to see what happens.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)