How do electric vehicles work? And who's actually paying for the power?
MINNEAPOLIS – Vice President Kamala Harris visited St. Cloud Thursday to highlight the push for drivers to go electric.
It's a hot topic in Minnesota, with charging stations popping up in parking lots outside stores.
So how do they work? And who's actually paying for the power? WCCO got the answers from Diana McKeown of Clean Energy Resource Teams.
"People are really excited about electric vehicles, I've seen just a huge, huge increase," McKeown said.
She says while interest is high, the numbers are still low. There are about 28,000 EVs on Minnesota roads. That's less than 1% of the vehicles.
Buyers pay more up front to go electric, but McKeown says there are tax incentives to help.
The cost for an electric car is on average $11,000 more than one that uses gas, but you pay much less in terms of fuel.
"I spend one-fourth or one-fifth the amount of money on my fuel for my car," she said.
McKeown charges at home like most people. But does it cost anything to fill up at those public charging stations?
"It depends, it really depends. So some are free, some you pay a connection fee, and then some sort of rate either hourly or by the kilowatt," she said. "More likely than not, you're gonna pay some money than having it be free."
That could be about $10 for a full charge, but she says some shops or hotels swallow the cost and offer them for free in hopes spenders will linger longer.
She says the best way to find stations and costs is with a search app.
There are about 1,400 charging stations in Minnesota, and 300 of them are high-speed.
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