Consumers Energy to add 200 additional electric vehicle chargers to Michigan

Consumers Energy recently pledged to make the pursuit of electric vehicles easier in Michigan over the next two years, with the planned deployment of 200 new chargers, including 100 fast chargers.

Part of a wider effort to power 1 million EVs by 2030, Consumers Energy has gone big on the electric vehicle push at a time when EV sales have risen 58 percent in Michigan over just the last year. The company has already installed more than 1,500 chargers at residences, businesses, and along roads throughout Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, although only 35 of these are fast chargers – devices capable of powering an entire EV battery in a half hour.

“Michigan was the birthplace of the automobile, and now we’re the hub of the automobile’s next generation,” Sarah Nielsen, Consumers Energy’s executive director for electric vehicle programs, said. “Consumers Energy is driving Michigan’s EV transformation, powering charging stations that make it easy to drive EVs across the state and promoting affordable, convenient charging at home that gets vehicles moving every day.”

Consumers has also largely coupled the EV push with an overall pursuit of cleaner energy. It seeks to eliminate its own coal use by 2025 while adding renewable energy resources to its mix and eliminating energy waste. This means that the power charging EVs will stem from clean sources, making it green all the way down. Further, the company is offering lower costs to customers who charge during off-peak, overnight hours and has launched the PowerMIFleet program to help businesses electrify their vehicle fleets.