Report: Rural Electric Co-ops Could Benefit from Electric Vehicles

A report from CoBank says rural electric cooperatives should benefit from electric vehicle adoption, but it may take years before the benefits are reached.  Urban centers across the country are experiencing growth in electric vehicles, driven by high customer satisfaction and financial subsidies.  However, the same level of interest has not translated to rural America, where range anxiety is a valid concern.

The report said, until electric vehicles can travel a minimum of 200 miles on a single charge and are priced similar to internal combustion engine vehicles, adoption in rural communities will likely remain muted.  A CoBank economist says that by 2025, use of electric vehicles in rural American is expected to remain below 1%, but says technology will be much better than it is today.

CoBank said: "Some rural electric cooperatives will have customers on the edge of urban and suburban America and may want to consider building public infrastructure.” For now, however, most rural electric cooperatives are unlikely to realize growth in electric vehicles, until advances in battery technology will allow the vehicles will travel hundreds of miles on a single charge.

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