State and local officials flipped the switch on Vermont’s fastest electric vehicle charging station at the Mad River Taste Place in Waitsfield. The new charger is Vermont’s fastest yet at 62.5kw that can serve all EV drivers -- filling an EV’s batteries in as little as 30 minutes. Charging at home, by comparison, often takes overnight.
The EV charger was funded by the Volkswagen Fraud Settlement. In 2017, VW agreed to pay millions in fines and compensation for cheating on emissions testing. Attorney General T.J. Donovan won a $6.5 million settlement for Vermonters. In bringing the case, Attorney General Donovan charged that VW sold diesel passenger vehicles which were advertised as clean, green and environmentally friendly when, in fact, they emitted up to 40 times the amount of legally-permitted pollution.
Vermont Transportation leaders including Senator Dick Mazza and Representative Curt McCormack worked to direct the settlement funds the state received toward clean transportation uses, to offset the pollution VW had caused. Included in that is the Vermont Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Grant Program, which authorized 30 grants toward construction of 80 EV charging sites.
The charging station sits right off Route 100 in the Mad River Green Shops and is available for townspeople and tourists alike.
“The minute I read about funds available from the VW Fraud Settlement, I knew that a fast-charging station belonged in the Mad River Valley for local residents and visitors alike to fuel up their clean cars while enjoying our local businesses,” said Robin Morris, creator of Mad River Taste Place.
Mad River Taste Place chose SunCommon to build the EV fast-charger and power it from one of its community solar arrays in Vermont. This is one of Vermont’s 23 EV fast-charging stations, as the clean vehicle infrastructure continues to build out. SunCommon’s 8,000 Vermont customers will receive discounted EV charging at this station.
