Seemingly every week brings a new story about how electric vehicles are growing in popularity. While that’s true in general, the trend isn’t consistent everywhere.
Sales of EVs, in fact, set an all-time high in the last quarter of 2024. A deeper dive into those numbers, however, shows that residents of rural areas are much less likely than urban or suburban dwellers to purchase them. “Range anxiety,” the fear of electric vehicle drivers that they don’t have enough battery charge to reach their destination or a charger, grows more acute the farther folks get from densely populated areas.
Mid-Ohio Energy Cooperative has installed public charging stations at two local schools, including this one at Ridgedale High School.
In Ohio, the penetration of EVs in rural regions is less than half of that in cities and suburbs. Electric cooperatives in the state recognize that there’s some portion of their membership that might desire an EV but holds back based on outdated or incorrect assumptions.
“There’s a lot of skepticism about EVs,” says Ed VanHoose, president and CEO of Lorain-Medina Rural Electric Cooperative and North Central Electric Cooperative, which serve mainly rural parts of 12 counties in the northern part of the state. “But for many people in rural areas, an EV or a plug-in hybrid may prove to be the perfect car. I encourage people to keep an open mind and see what works best for them.”
EV advantages
Karen Carlisle, a member of Carroll Electric Cooperative in Carrollton, bought a Tesla Model 3 EV in 2020 because she wanted to reduce her impact on the environment and because it made economic sense for her.
“Anyone who wants one can make it work,” she says. “You put in a charger at home and, unless you live a couple hundred miles from civilization, you’ll be able to get wherever you want to go.”
Carlisle, a retired engineer who lives at Lake Mohawk in Carroll County, relies on her home charger for day-to-day driving. “I worked at NASA in Cleveland, which is an 80-mile commute each way,” she says. “I could go up and back easily in one charge.” In retirement, she frequently drives her EV to visit her son near Atlanta and says the Tesla app makes it easy to know when and where to charge on longer trips. “Once you get over that anxiety of ‘Oh my gosh, am I going to make it?’ you get used to driving and charging and don’t think about it any more than you would getting gas.”
Paul Beineke and his wife, Cheryl, members of Mid-Ohio Energy Cooperative in Kenton, have had a similar experience since they purchased their first EV in 2017. “We were commuting about 170 miles per day at the time,” says Beineke, a retired Air Force colonel and pilot who lives on a farm near Marion and drives a Tesla. “We had concerns about range anxiety and charging availability, but we’ve found charging at home to be really convenient. Now, we drive 50 to 70 miles a day, and appreciate not having to stop at gas stations. We’ve never found ourselves in a situation when we ran out of charge.”
VanHoose, for his part, drives a plug-in hybrid electric Jeep Cherokee, which combines a chargeable battery with a gas-powered engine. “For everyday use, going from home to either office, I’m using the electric charge. But maybe once a month, I go to Columbus. I’ll make it 30 or 40 miles on the charge and the rest of the drive is using gas.” Before switching to the PHEV, he was filling up his tank once or twice a week; now, it’s more like once a month.
Co-ops and EVs
Beineke, who is also a Mid-Ohio trustee, sees the skepticism toward EVs in rural communities and knows that co-ops play a key role in providing good information.
“People have legitimate questions,” he says. “It’s smart to ask questions of people you trust. We, as the co-op, can help them address those questions and make an informed choice.”
LMRE and NCE developed an initiative, aptly called “EVs in Rural America,” to gather and share information with their members. “We decided a few years back that we were going to help dispel myths about EVs,” VanHoose says. “We wanted to show our members what it means to own one, with solid data.”
The two co-ops have been converting their vehicle fleets to a mix of EVs and plug-in hybrids, purposely buying different models of cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks from several manufacturers. “We’ve not only lowered our total costs, but we’re keeping track of everything so we can provide real-life information to help our members understand their options,” VanHoose says.
“For example, we can give really robust answers when members ask about ranges,” he says. “We’re in northern Ohio and we know that in the cold season, batteries don’t perform as well. Also, based on our experience with the co-op’s Silverado and Ford Lightning, we know that when you’re towing, the range goes to nearly nothing,” so members may not want to replace their heavy-duty work trucks with EVs — although he says new technologies are on their way to help there as well.
EV economics
EVs will generally command a higher initial purchase price and cost more to register in Ohio. However, data from the U.S. Department of Transportation show that the electricity required to drive an EV 15,000 miles in a year costs $600, on average, while the gas needed to drive the same distance averages $2,700 (maintenance and repair costs can be 50% lower than with a conventional vehicle as well).
Those lower fuel costs can be especially beneficial to rural residents, who generally drive more miles per day and spend a larger portion of their household income on transportation than their urban counterparts.
Beineke says his family has seen significant savings with their EV. “At an average rate of about 12 cents a kilowatt-hour, I know I can go about 30 miles on $1.30 of electricity. Can you do that on $1.30 of gas? I don’t have to do oil changes, and that’s rather nice, too.”
Co-ops around the state are also doing their part to both alleviate range anxiety and enhance the economic advantage EVs may provide members who own them or are considering an EV purchase.
Several co-ops offer public charging at their offices, and some have installed public charging stations at schools and elsewhere around their communities, as well. Many — Carroll Electric, LMRE, and NCE included — provide $250 rebates for members who install Level 2 chargers at their homes. Some already have or are looking into time-of-use rates that make it less expensive to charge vehicles overnight.
Butler Rural Electric Cooperative in Oxford, which has a more suburban membership and a higher penetration of EVs than many co-ops, has even developed a special rate called the EV Rider that rewards EV owners for charging during those less expensive off-peak hours. The co-op offers a generous rebate for members who both install Level 2 chargers and sign up for the rate.
“EVs can be really advantageous for commuters, and we’re seeing more and more of them,” says Tom Wolfenbarger, Butler REC’s general manager. “When members charge off-peak, it’s better for them and it’s better for the co-op as well. Our program is pretty new, but we’ve gotten good response so far.”
“I’m not of the mindset that all vehicles will be electric, but I think EVs are here to stay, whether they grow to be 10% or 30% of vehicles,” Wolfenbarger says. “We’re making sure we’re prepared to handle the demand.”
