10 New Public EV Chargers Coming To Decatur, Illinois – CleanTechnica

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Decatur, Illinois, is getting 10 new public EV chargers — a mix of fast and Level 2 chargers. While 10 new ones might not seem that significant, Decatur currently has about 67 public chargers according to PlugShare, so adding 10 more does matter and 6 will be fast chargers. 

“These investments align with the city’s EV Readiness Plan and national guidance from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, both of which highlight that Decatur currently lags behind regional peers in providing publicly accessible infrastructure,” said interim City Manager Melissa Hon. 

The new Decatur chargers are also significant because 40 new chargers will be installed in Springfield, which is just about 38 miles away. So, in a relatively small area, the total number of new public chargers will be 50. This is how, little-by-little, EV charging infrastructure is expanding — it can’t happen all at once. 

The original source appears to be critical of the new charger cost, calling it “huge,” but does not mention that climate change impacts have cost the state of Illinois billions of dollars. Doing nothing to make transportation more sustainable would only add to the costs. 

It also has the audacity to suggest that installing the new chargers might be too late. “The council voted unanimously to install the chargers, and work is expected to begin as soon as this week. But the pace of current affairs, however, may have already left them behind.”

It is a baseless prediction considering electric vehicles have steadily expanded in the US despite a pandemic, peak inflation, EV misinformation and disinformation on social media, Fox News, supply chain disruptions, and a Republican Party that tries to block them and clean energy.

The original source actually cites a lack of public chargers as being a reason for hesitancy to buy more EVs, in an article about installing more new public chargers, which is part of the solution. It mentions “anxiety over the lack of a convenient and reliable network of public chargers.” Installing more public EV chargers is a solution to “range anxiety,” and that is why they are being installed. It isn’t necessary to have EVs with 900 miles of range. They only need enough range to drive to the next EV charger.

The average daily driving distance is about 33 miles, so it isn’t necessary to have such huge range in areas where public EV chargers are 30 miles apart or less. Daily driving trips in the US may be less than people typically know or expect. “A substantial majority of U.S. vehicle trips are less than 6 miles long, and only about 6.9% are longer than 30 miles. This can inform electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers as they determine the required battery size for EVs, and developers of charging networks as they determine where charging units are likely to be needed.”

Apparently, it is south of Springfield, Illinois, to St. Louis, MO, where more public EV chargers are needed as well.

It should be noted for those who are unaware that about 80 percent of EV charging happens at home for those who have home chargers. 

There is also a growing number of workplace chargers. “From 2019 to 2024, the deployment rate of this non-home charging infrastructure for light-duty electric vehicles (EVs) grew about 25% annually.”