In the wake of a presidential visit to the Dearborn Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center and a subsequent announcement about production of the all-electric F-150 Lightning truck, this week’s podcast examines charging infrastructure in Michigan. 

In the first segment, Aarne Frobom, a senior policy analyst at the Michigan Department of Transportation who has been studying a package of bills related to electric vehicle charging stations, offers some historical perspective on efforts to provide commercial services at state-owned rest areas.

 Later, Michigan Chief Mobility Officer Trevor Pawl, who was on hand for President Biden's visit Tuesday, talks about Ford’s plans for the F-150 Lightning and what the state is doing to support what we know will be increasing demand for charging stations. 

While discussions of installing electric vehicle charging stations at rest areas is relatively new, the debate about the use of those rest areas is as old as the roads themselves. 

As E&E News put it in a 2019 story: "When Congress passed the law that enabled the interstate highway network in 1956, it banned almost all economic activity at rest stops, including anything that aided motorists. That was the result of lobbying from businessmen near the highway who worried that the rest stop would be an irresistible draw." 

Frobom talks about the discussion over the years at the state and federal levels and recounts MDOT's long-ago efforts to work with private entities to offer services on a state-owned site. 

He also discusses the differences between electric vehicle charging stations (electricity comes from government-regulated public utilities) and traditional gas stations, sharing some insight from the book The Gas Station in America. He explains how as the automobile grew into a national phenomenon in the early 20th century, competition between gasoline companies prompted them to engage in “place-product-packaging,” which involved incorporating the entire gas station design into a brand name. 

In Pawl’s segment, recorded Wednesday afternoon, the focus is on President Biden’s visit to the Ford Rouge plant Tuesday and anticipation of the official reveal of the F-150 Lightning, which happened Wednesday evening. 

The president talked about the history of the Rouge Complex and how the facility is making history again. Pawl explains why Detroit is at the epicenter of transformational change again, and why it is vital for the state to support development of more electric vehicle charging infrastructure.  

He pointed to policy issues that he said need to be addressed and the importance of working with other states. 

Other links: 

https://www.transportdive.com/news/NATSO-commercialization-interstate-rest-stop-electric-charging/595536/ 

http://wwmt.com/news/state/questions-of-electric-vehicle-infrastructure-loom-ahead-of-biden-visit-to-michigan

Podcast image courtesy of Joenomias on Pixabay.