Merrill car dealership invests in electric vehicle charging stations | Top Stories

MERRILL, Wis. (WAOW) — There’s a new place to charge electric vehicles in Lincoln County.

Brickner’s Park City has installed four charging stations powered by Charge Point, offering two Level 2 chargers and two Level 3 chargers, open for the public to use.

Owner Jim Brickner says they now offer the northernmost 200 kW EV chargers in Wisconsin, able to fully charge batteries in less than an hour.

He adds it was a long process from conception to installation, taking just under two years in all, but it was something they needed to do with electric vehicles becoming the norm soon.

“You have to stay relevant, if you don’t keep up you’ll fall behind and eventually it’s too expensive to catch up, so that was our biggest reason. We want to be here in ten years, we want to be here in 25 years,” Brickner said.

He adds their location conveniently off of U.S. Highway 51 will help bring more people to Merrill to spend their time, even if it’s just for an hour or two.

The Level 3 chargers are not yet operational, but Brickner says they will be soon.

This comes as Wisconsin has announced 53 locations statewide will receive federally-funded EV charging stations.

The total cost of those projects are estimated at $33.8 million, funded through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program.

All of those stations will be built along the state’s Alternative Fuel Corridor, which consists of several major highways in the state.