EV Charging Station Proposed in Southern Pines

This article was first published in The Pilot on April 26, 2022.

Southern Pines could see a second electric vehicle charging station added to downtown as soon as this fall.

Chris Hopfensperger, who founded Go Pines LLC with his wife and daughter, presented his proposal for an EV charging station in downtown Southern Pines at last Monday’s town council meeting. The project would be a public-private partnership, where Southern Pines supplies the land and Go Pines pays for the station.

Hopfensperger said he was motivated to start Go Pines after getting a Tesla. The county, he said, needs more publicly accessible charging stations, especially as the number of EVs grows.

“First of all, there is very little EV infrastructure within Moore County itself, which is an inconvenience and a hesitance on people to purchase electric vehicles and make that change,” Hopfensperger said. “My second point is the infrastructure that the town has built is great — it's near downtown and all that — but I feel that people that can afford, at this time, a $60,000 to $70,000 vehicle shouldn't have their fuel paid for on taxpayers’ dime.”

Southern Pines operates a public charging station at its public library, where users can charge up for free in one of three parking spaces. That station, installed as part of a yearlong Duke Energy Progress pilot project in 2012, is one of two public EV chargers in the county. The other is located at the public parking area by Village Green in Pinehurst. There are four other charging stations in Southern Pines, all owned by private parties and with limited access to the public.

Hopfensperger's proposal comes as the number of electric vehicles are growing. They are also becoming more affordable, Hopfensperger explains in his proposal to the town.

EVs currently cost around $19,000 more than regular cars, but that gap is set to close in the next couple years, especially with virtually every automotive manufacturer increasing its offerings. More than 40 EV models are set to enter the market in the next couple of years.

That dynamic “will lead to an overnight demand for public charging points,” Hopfensperger writes in his proposal. He sees himself as cashing in early on this demand.

“I equate it to when we all had flip phones, back in 2005, 2006, the 3G infrastructure was built out, and now everybody has a smartphone and iPhone in their pocket,” Hopfensperger said. “It’s the same thing with electric vehicles in my eyes.”

Electric vehicles will also play a part in meeting the state’s climate goals, Hopfensperger said. Transportation is the state’s largest carbon emitter, accounting for 42.5 percent of the state’s carbon emissions. Having more EV infrastructure on the local level “shows residents and tourists that our town is environmentally friendly and committed to going green,” Hopfensperger wrote in his proposal. “Our area has a large focus on a clean, welcoming outdoors already but there is still room for improvement.”

Go Pines is requesting to install two to four charging ports at first, although Hopfensperger said up to six would be ideal. The goal would be to start in one location, he said, and then build out the infrastructure on pace with demand. He intends for the chargers to be accessible to all EVs, not just Teslas.

Unlike the chargers at the library, customers would pay a fee to have their EVs juiced up at the Go Pines stations. Hopfensperger estimates the cost for customers at about 25 cents per kilowatt-hour. The chargers, which are American-made, deliver up to 9.6 kilowatts per hour, which gives a model 3 Tesla about 41 miles per hour of charging time. They are considered “Level 2” chargers.

According to Hopfensperger’s proposal, the chargers will be installed in a similar manner as parking meters, at the edge of parking lots or next to the road without disturbing the flow of pedestrian traffic.

The location is still undecided. However, discussions at Monday’s council meeting seemed to rule out prime real estate on Broad Street. In general, council members favored putting the charging station somewhere downtown. The parking lot on Bennett Street or the downtown park are likely contenders. The idea of putting a station at Reservoir Park has also been mentioned, but Hopfensperger said a cost estimate had steered him away from that location.

The station would be installed on a separate meter, so the cost of electricity would fall with Go Pines. Maintenance and upkeep would also be Go Pines’ responsibility.

As part of the public-private partnership, Hopfensperger said he would be open to renting space from the town or a profit-sharing agreement. Parsons said there are multiple routes the town could take when it comes to generating revenue from the project.

The project meets the criteria for the State of North Carolina Public Access Level 2 Zero-Emission Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Program. Hopfesnperger said the program, which entails a five-year commitment to the charging station, could help Go Pines fund the project.

The council was encouraging of the project and moving forward on a draft agreement with Go Pines. “I think this is a great idea,” Mayor Carol Haney said.

If all goes according to plan, Hopfesnperger believes installation could start as soon as July with the stations up and running by September.