Oregon looks to build more public EV charging stations in Central Oregon, across state

(Update: Adding comment from Bend EV owner, ODOT official)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- State officials met with Bend's transportation planners Tuesday for a presentation of the state's report on electric charging infrastructure at present and how future needs are shaping up.

And with gas prices rising fast of late, more people like Bend resident Chris Cochran are thankful to be driving electric.

“It makes me smile, for sure,” Cochran said Tuesday of avoiding sharply prices at the pump.

He said it costs him only $8 to "fill up" the car from empty.

And while Oregon wants to increase the number of public charging stations, not every EV owner in Bend would use them.

 “If it’s just your daily commute around town, you’re not going to go that far,” Cochran said.

That means instead of charging your car a public station, it’s far easier for Cochran to do it at home.

Matt Noble, public information officer for ODOT's Climate Office, said, “Most EV owners have a place to charge their car at home.”

The state’s dashboard says there are nearly 2,000 registered EVs in Deschutes County, and 95 charging stations.

Noble said they want to see both of those numbers increase, but especially the second number.

 He said, “95 public chargers to 2,000 vehicles isn’t a great ratio.”

While at-home chargers are the best option for many owners, for some they might not even be an option.

“That’s actually one of the key barriers to more people to adopting electric vehicles is, if you don’t own your home, or you don’t own some sort of garage or structure to charge it, how do you charge it?” Noble said.

That’s why the state wants to build as many charging stations as it can, through public-private partnerships.

“We do have the sense that we’re going to build more than we need,” Noble said.

Cochran may not use public chargers in Bend, but he does when he leaves town.

 “So if I’m heading south to California, I’ll charge in Klamath Falls,” he said. “I’ll charge in Mt. Shasta city. I’ll charge in south of Redding and Corning (California).”

Oregon’s goal is to have 50,000 zero emission vehicles (ZEVs), that’s both electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, registered in the state by 2025. According to the state's dashboard, as of November, there were already more than 45,000.