With millions of travelers switching to electric vehicles, customers are starting to look for electric chargers along their most popular routes. The owners of these vehicles often experience range anxiety, carefully eyeing their battery level while counting down the miles until they can reach another charging station. Starting today, customers travelling the Indiana Toll Road have access to fast-charging stations, marking the beginning of an electric charging network across the 157-mile road.
The first two charging stations are available in Rolling Prairie at the recently rebuilt Wilbur Shaw and Knute Rockne travel plazas. ITR Concession Company (ITRCC), the operator of the Indiana Toll Road, partnered with Martell Electric to bring an advanced electric charging infrastructure to the plazas. Customers stopping for coffee or a meal will have access to Level 3 Charging, also known as “DC Fast Charging.” These charging stations can provide compatible vehicles with an 80% charge in just 30 minutes – enough time for travelers to be able to stretch their legs and forget about range anxiety.
The new chargers have online connectivity, synced with the EVConnect cloud platform, which makes it possible for drivers to search for and locate charging stations directly from their phones. A smartphone app also enables secure payments, provides active charging data, and delivers real-time notifications when the vehicle is fully charged.
The electric charging infrastructure is built for the future: As more electric vehicles travel the road, additional chargers can be deployed with minimal upgrades. ITRCC CEO Nic Barr said electric charging matches ITRCC’s vision for environmental sustainability, while also meeting the customers’ needs.
“We know electric vehicles travel our road, and we’re happy to give them a place to charge up,” Barr said. “As more customers switch to electric, we’ll be ready to deploy more charging infrastructure to our other travel plazas, meeting our customers everywhere they go.”
In addition to deploying an electric charging infrastructure, ITRCC is evaluating the use of electric vehicles for its employees. A new Chevy Bolt was purchased for staff as part of a pilot program to determine the feasibility of a wider electric vehicle rollout. If the program is successful, additional vehicles will be purchased to further electrify the ITRCC fleet.
