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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is experiencing a rapid rise in electric vehicle ownership and it's impacting entire industries.
Data from the Utah State Tax Commission shows that 25,532 electric cars were registered in Utah as of February. This is up more than 200% from 2020 when there were 8,041 electric vehicles in the state.
"There's about 18,000 new car dealers across the country that are going through this massive change curve," said Brett Hopkins, CEO of Ken Garff Automotive Group. "We have to change a lot of the infrastructure within our dealerships that starts with how we connect to the grid, the amount of power that we're able to pull into our facilities. There's a big push by our manufacturing partners to invest in chargers that are available to our customers on-site."
These charging stations, whether they're "Level I" or "Level II" chargers — which determines the speed they charge — can range anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000 for dealerships, Hopkins said.
Level I chargers use a regular 110-volt outlet and, depending on the size of the battery, can fully charge an electric vehicle in 12-24 hours, according to the Utah Energy Hub. Level II chargers — what most people opt for when it comes to at-home charging — require a 240-volt outlet (the same kind as a clothes dryer) and usually require an electrician to install.
Dealerships also have to provide more training for employees to increase their knowledge and understanding of the intricacies of the electric vehicles they're selling more and more.
For customers who purchase electric vehicles, Hopkins said the dealership will help them get set up with electricians who can install at-home charging stations, though the installation usually falls into the wheelhouse of an electrical company.
Bryan Blevins is an electrical service technician with Black Diamond Experts. He said the rise in electric vehicles has been a game-changer for electricians.
"I'll have some days where that's all I'm doing. I'm just going to go provide estimates and bids and installations of car chargers all day," Blevins said.
He added that he doesn't think he's gone a single day lately without handling at least one call related to charging stations and he usually has multiple.
"It's definitely changed the industry," Blevins said, adding that dealing with electric vehicles and charging stations started to become a day-to-day duty around two years ago.
The state has responded to the need for public charging stations as well, with transportation officials on Tuesday announcing the allocation of grants to help build 15 new fast-charging sites for electric vehicles across the state, as they look to match growing demand for the new infrastructure.
The new stations are part of about $17.5 million that is being invested toward the state's goal of having a fast-charging site every 50 miles along its interstate highways, according to the Utah Department of Transportation. Agency officials say the additional stations will double the state's fast-charge site capacity by the end of 2024.
While Blevins said the increase in electric vehicle use has benefited electrical companies, it has also brought some challenges.
Most home electrical systems, Blevins said, aren't equipped to handle the capacity required by an efficient charging station. This means that electricians have to essentially rebuild people's entire home electrical systems to allow them to pull more power for their charging stations.
Overall, Blevins is thankful for the increased work that has come with electric vehicles' rising popularity.
"It's a huge positive. We love it," Blevins said. "If we were to take out EVs completely ... I don't know what our profit margins would be but it would be quite a bit lower."
Whether the upward trajectory of electric vehicle ownership in Utah continues remains to be seen, but the impact electric vehicles are having on certain industry segments cannot be understated.
