Electric vehicle (EV) drivers have a new option for quick top-off in their travels between Baldwin and Eau Claire.
Dunn Energy Cooperative has installed a Level 3 Fast Charger at the 29 Pines/Eau Claire Travel Center at the intersection of Highway 29 and County Highway T in Chippewa County.
On Monday, September 27, Dunn Energy Cooperative along with representatives from the Menomonie, Eau Claire, and Chippewa Falls area Chamber’s of Commerce, officially energized the EV charger for public use. According to PlugShare, this is the first public, universal fast charger along the Highway 12/29 corridor between Baldwin and Eau Claire. The 50kW charger has dual heads so nearly any* EV can fill up.
Locating it at the 29 Pines location means EV owners can grab lunch or snacks while they fill up. “As one of the founding members of CHARGE™, it was important for Dunn Energy Cooperative to put into practice filling in the charging deserts in rural Wisconsin, lessening range anxiety for EV owners, and romoting electric vehicles”, said Dunn Energy Cooperative CEO Jesse Singerhouse. CHARGE™ is a group of forward-thinking local energy cooperatives that are committed to placing fast EV chargers throughout the rural Midwest.
As for the charger itself, it is a ZEF Energy level 3, 50-amp charger with dual charging heads. One charger is the CHAdeMO style and the other is CCS, so nearly any car can charge there. However, only one car can charge at a time. EV owners can use their credit/debit card or the ZEFNet app to pay. The current rate is approximately 25 cents per kW or approximately 15 cents per minute of charge time. *Tesla vehicles will need an adaptor to use the charger.
