It has joined with Potomac Edison in this endeavor.
Williamsport, Md (KM) You could be seeing more electric vehicles on the roads over the next couple of years. Potomac Edison says it’s joining with the Electric Auto Association to form a western Maryland chapter. “The focus primarily will be on the Hagerstown and Frederick areas initially,” says spokesman Will Boye. “But we’ll also be reaching out to folks in Allegany and Garrett Counties which is also our service area in Maryland.”
“We feel like those will two good areas for us to reach to out in terms of growing membership and educating people in those areas about electric vehicles,” he continues. “Folks interested in electric vehicles, we can help them learn about it by interacting with everyday drivers.”
The Electric Auto Association is North America’s leading volunteer organization that encourages and speeds up the adoption of electric vehicles through more than 100 chapters. It does this by encouraging neighbors talk to each other about the benefits of driving electric. ‘
To learn more about the Electric Auto Association of Western Maryland, go to electricauto.org/memberships.
Boye says Potomac Edison also has an EV driven program which provides rebates to owners of electric vehicles who set up charging stations in their homes. :”You can actually charge during off peak hours, and we will give you rewards,” he says. “If you’re a residential customer and you have a home charger and you’re charging during off-peak hours, which is very late at night—overnight or on the weekends—you can actually earn credits from us in the forms of gift cards for charging at those times.”
The utility says customers can receive a $300 rebate for charging their electric vehicles during off-peak hours, and property managers at residential condos and apartment units can receive rebates for installing charging stations for their tenants, up to $5,000 per charging port with a maximum of $20,000.
One of major concerns about electric vehicles is the lack of charging stations. Boye says Potomac Edison has installed 20 charging stations in its service area, and plans to erect 59 more by 2025. He says that will include some fast charging stations. “Those stations are great because you can charge your car in less than an hour,” he says. “You can get an 80% charge in about 30-minutes. So you can charge while you’re on a break or if you’re traveling a long distance. That’s very helpful for these drivers.”
The state has set a goal of 300,000 zero emissions vehicles on the roads by 2025.
By Kevin McManus