Getting Charged: Globe is EV friendly for drivers

Jerry Asher has been a man on a mission for more than a decade as he drives around the state in an electric car. His mission, he says is to make Arizona EV friendly, and that means spreading the word at every stop he makes. This year will be the 9th annual Plug’n All Around Arizona (P3A), and Asher says it might be his last.  At age 75, he feels he has accomplished his goal of raising awareness of electric cars and charging stations. 

His trip this year will cover all 15 Arizona counties and rack up over 2000 miles, including Globe, Payson, Holbrook and beyond. Yuma, he says, will be the last site the group visits this year - demonstrating that “ Arizona is, indeed EV friendly from one end of the state to the other. “

Here in Globe, a Tesla Destination Charge was installed at the Holiday inn Express in 2017 and a Level 2 Fast Charger was installed at the Gila RV Park in 2019. Both are ‘slow-charging’ units which use a 240-volt slow charging device which is also used for home charging. They provide an approximate 23 mile range for every one hour of charge. 

A supercharger - provided by _________________-is scheduled to be installed in downtown Globe this spring which will be capable of providing a 125 mile range on an hour of charge. And Superior already has two superchargers from Tesla installed in their downtown district. 

The location of three EV charges in Globe reflects its central importance to drivers. As one driver said, “It is a good location. It opens up the White Mountains - Show Low, Greer and those traveling US 60.”  Globe is also an excellent location for those traveling between Tucson, Phoenix and Showlow.  

The growth of electric vehicles has been exponential since Nissan introduced the Leaf in 2011.

According to the latest figures on Tesla’s website, the company has 3,267 Destination Charging locations in the United States. A near three-fold increase compared to September 2015.

As a member of the Tucson Electric Vehicle Association, Asher and TEVA advocate for “intelligently-configured public charging infrastructure” and work with local, regional and state government entities, encouraging them to adopt EVs into their portfolios.”
His latest car is the Tesla Model X which is ranked #4 in Luxury Hybrids and offers “a long driving range, quick charging battery and impressive acceleration” according to Car and Driver. Photo by LCGross[/caption]

Other companies which have come on line to provide charging stations including Electrify America and EVgo. Electrify America is contracting with Walmart to install charging stations across the country and EVgo, founded in 2010, bills itself as the nation’s largest public EV Fast Charging network.They launched first in California and opened up stations in Arizona in 2016. 

The cost to charge an electric vehicle varies widely depending on the vehicle, local electricity rates and driving habits, but according to PlugStar.com, on average an electric vehicle driver will pay just 25-50% of what they would pay in a comparable gasoline vehicle. 

With the price of gas in Arizona up nearly 18 cents from last year's average and new engineering designs ensuring that electric cars can be as sexy, safe and provide a satisfying ride, the future of electric vehicles is bright. 

Just as Jerry Asher predicted.