State grant boosts community’s ability to expand EV infrastructure
By Mike Lynch
Saranac Lake will be bolstering its green infrastructure in the coming years with the addition of 30 electric vehicle charging ports.
The village was one of eight North Country local governments to receive funding through the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s municipal zero-emission vehicle infrastructure grants program, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced earlier this week. A total of $4.85 million was awarded statewide.
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“It’s a great opportunity for village residents who might not have the ability to have a charger at their house, and I think it’s going to really attract a lot of visitors to the area,” said Saranac Lake’s Community Development Director Katrina Glynn. “People who have electric vehicles look for places to visit that have chargers, and I think this is really going to put us on the map.”
Saranac Lake currently has two EV charging ports located at 1 Main St., in the parking lot for the former police station building near Lake Flower. The new ones will be installed at other public parking lots: Dorsey Street (6), lower Main Street (8), Berkeley Green (2), Mount Pisgah (6), Lake Colby (6) and the intersection of Broadway and Bloomingdale Avenue (2). The chargers are all level 2, which can deliver about 10 to 20 miles of range per hour.
Glynn said the village hopes to install the chargers by next summer. She said this project will give Saranac Lake the most municipally-owned chargers in the park.
“It’s a big deal, a big commitment towards having charging stations for the public,” said Nancy Bernstein, who assists communities with clean energy projects as an energy circuit rider with the Adirondack North Country Association.
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The funded projects advance the state’s “efforts to advance clean transportation, expand publicly available electric vehicle chargers, and help reduce pollution including greenhouse gas emissions for a cleaner and greener environment,” according to the state’s press release.
It also said the program “prioritizes clean transportation investments in communities most affected by pollution and climate change.”
Below is a list of other North Country recipients announced this week.
North Country
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- Town of Colton – $76,318 for four Level 2 charging ports
- Village of Constableville – $21,222 for two Level 2 charging ports
- Town of Diana – $159,150 for one DCFC pedestal –
- County of Essex – $55,008 for four Level 2 charging ports
- Town of Jay – $206,403 for two Level 2 charging ports and one DCFC pedestal
- County of Lewis – $298,728 for two DCFC pedestals
- Village of Lowville – $93,312 for 12 Level 2 charging ports
- Village of Saranac Lake – $482,164 for 30 Level 2 charging ports
Charging stations explained
The types of EV charging stations:
Level 1 Chargers: This is the equivalent of plugging into a regular outlet, like the kind you have in your home. It’s the slowest way to charge, and usually delivers two to five miles of range per hour.
Level 2 Chargers: This type of charging is a step up, and is the most common one found at public charging stations or at workplaces. It can deliver about 10 to 20 miles of range per hour.
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Level 3 Chargers: This is the gold standard of charging. Also known as “DC Fast Chargers,” these chargers can deliver 60 to 80 miles of range in 20 minutes.
This is great news and a long time coming. I’ve been driving electric for 12 years and the Adirondacks are way behind in infrastructure.
Why level 2 chargers? One could spend 15 hours charging their vehicle to try to get home. Put level 3 chargers everywhere.
They need more level 3 charging stations, 1 and 2 are to slow
At least the quote that they may be useful for residents is semi-valid. I just wish the state would stop spending so much money on level 2. That nearly half million would have been better spent on DCFC. We do not drive our EV in the Adirondacks specifically bra cause there is no fast chargers from the south and west. One will not change much, but you have to start somewhere.
YES . I AGREE. LEVEL 3 UNITS ARE NEEDED FOR PEOPLE IN THE AREA ON VACATION. NO ONE IS GOING TO WASTE 4-6 HOURS OF THEIR VACATION AT A CHARGING STATION. THIS IS WHY I WILL NOT BUY A EV.
Good news, but do agree with others that Level 3 chargers are the real need in Saranac Lake. However, in certain places (such as Mt. Pisgah), these will be great. For places such as a ski area where people spend hours, level 2 is appreciated.
Would much rather see a solid bank of Level 3 chargers in SL.
Very different “use cases.” Level 2 chargers are excellent at destinations. Spending 3-4 hours, or overnight, out and about in Saranac Lake (or Lake Placid, Tupper Lake, etc.), while your vehicle is charging is, respectfully, great vacation time, not “wasted”. Also vital for local EVers without garage access. Kudos to Saranac Lake and other forward-looking North Country grant recipients! Level 3 chargers matter most for longer (>100 – 150 mi.) trips. Yes, we need lots more, especially on ADK “thruways” (Rtes. 3, 28, 30; then 73, 56). Still, relatively speaking, EV charging infrastructure is deploying fast. First US gas car sold … 1896. First Ford Model T … 1908. First drive-in gas station … 1913. The Times They Are A-Changin’.
Why are level 3 chargers the only chargers that are being installed in the state?? Or the country for that matter??
More wasted taxpayer money and the biggest fraud is that there is nothing “green” about electric vehicles unless you consider the children turning green from minining minerals for them in africa. Worse are the eagle killer windmills. Ironic that the explorer is concerned with birds but continues to support this uneconomic nonsense. Probably while burning wood in a stove.
All oil company propaganda. EVs are better for the environment. We mine minerals one time for an electric car. We drill for oil every time a gas car fills up. There is less wasted energy with electric and even if the initial investment is more harmful for an EV people forget that cars are driven and those emissions add up. Additionally, many brands ethically sourced their minerals, I believe BMW uses Australian minerals for example. If we care about children who are harvesting these minerals we would be more inclined to support domestic EV production and stop Chinese automakers. Ironically, tariffs are doing the exact opposite.
Motor trend sums all of this up really nicely if you care learn more about it. https://www.motortrend.com/features/truth-about-electric-cars-ad-why-you-are-being-lied-to
I STAY IN A CABIN NEAR WILMINGTON WHEN I COME TO TOWN 3 TIMES A YEAR OR MORE. I COME TO FLYFISH AND HIKE AND CANOE. NOT GOING TO SPEND 3-4 HOURS AT A CHAGING STATION AFTER DRIVING 6 HOURS FROM WHERE I LIVE. I KNOW I AM NOT ALONE. DEPENDS WHY WHAT ACTIVITES YOU COME TO THE ADKTO ENJOY
More falsehood about EV’s. The materials–especially those that go into the batteries– cannot be produced in the USA at any reasonable cost due to environmental regulations that do not exist elsewhere. Same for electric drive motors. The batteries are not economically viable for recycycling of course the nuts dont care about the cost because for climate religion cost is infinite and money is free. Recycling in general in the USA is almost zero now. We do not have the grid or infrastructure to power an all electric economy. Cost is an object. Thankfully we have a president with a brain –unlike the last one–and a secretary of energy that understands economics and how the world works. Spain just made zero emissions. Their whole country went down for more than a day. All due to a large distributed mesh of unstable inverters from unreliable renewables that power engineers have known about for decades. Check your north country electric bill and compare against 10 years ago. Nice policy NY.
How about charging stations for ebikes? Especially on the Rail Trail