HOWARD, Wis. — One of the benefits of trips to the Green Bay area for Richard Wisneski is stopping at a fast-charger just outside a Meijer store in Howard.
“Fast charging is the main thing if you’re doing any traveling. There are few fast chargers in Wisconsin,” the Shawano resident said shortly after plugging his car in. “This one here just came on this year here in Green Bay. I think the next closest one is probably in Milwaukee.”
Wisneski has owned a Volkswagen ID4 for 18 months. He makes regular trips between his home in Shawano and Green Bay.
“With fast charging you can usually charge in 20 minutes to a half hour to get a full charge,” he said.
The state and federal government are making tens of millions of dollars available in Wisconsin to increase the number of fast charging options.
One Wisconsin company is part of the build out of more EV chargers across the state and nation.
EnTech Solutions — a division of Faith Technologies Inc. — offers EV charging systems that work off both connections to the existing utility as well as off-grid options.
“With those off-grid connections, it’s normally a combination of solar and battery energy storage,” said Wade Leipold, executive vice-president at Faith Technologies. “We can put in a number of distributed energy resources, whether that’s wind, micro turbine, etc., in order to support that charging.”
One of its projects includes adding a four-port charger at a restaurant in Rhinelander.
“I think it’s a great opportunity as we have travelers moving northward. How do we support electrification to their vacation destinations?” Leipold said. “There’s obviously not a lot of charging there and programs such as the Wisconsin Electric Vehicle Infrastructure and National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure plans are helping really support that infrastructure being built out. Not only in the more urban areas, but also in the rural areas.”
Wisneski said he expects it will take time before fast chargers are more common across the state.
“I look forward to that happening in the next year or two to make it easier traveling around Wisconsin and further,” he said.