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More electric vehicle chargers coming to state parks along Lake Michigan this summer

A sunset at Grand Haven State Park.
Courtesy Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
A sunset at Grand Haven State Park.

Electric Vehicle drivers will have more spots to charge up along Lake Michigan starting this summer. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says it will add 30 EV charging stations at state parks along the Lake Michigan shore, as part of an effort to create a network of chargers encircling the lake. Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the idea last year.

The goal is to have more charging stations at scenic locations along the Lake, to make it more attractive as a road trip destination for EV drivers.

“The enhancement will no doubt increase the number of visitors at these parks, while providing convenience and significantly increasing the range for EV motorists,” said Ron Olson, chief of the DNR’s Parks and Recreation division, in a statement released by the department.

The DNR says it will begin in June by installing new chargers at Warren Dunes State Park in the far Southwestern corner of the state.

Then it’ll work its way north, installing more stations at several lakeshore state parks along the way, including at Holland, Grand Haven, P.J. Hoffmaster, Charles Mears, Ludington, Orchard Beach, Interlochen, Young, Petoskey and Wilderness state parks. The department says it’s hoping to continue the charging circuit at state parks in the U.P. next year.

Copyright 2022 Michigan Radio. To see more, visit Michigan Radio.

Dustin Dwyer is a reporter for a new project at Michigan Radio that will look at improving economic opportunities for low-income children. Previously, he worked as an online journalist for Changing Gears, as a freelance reporter and as Michigan Radio's West Michigan Reporter. Before he joined Michigan Radio, Dustin interned at NPR's Talk of the Nation, wrote freelance stories for The Jackson Citizen-Patriot and completed a Reporting & Writing Fellowship at the Poynter Institute.