More and more people these days are choosing to drive electric vehicles, and those vehicles must occasionally be recharged. While recharging locations are not widely available in Harlan County, Homeowner’s Hardware in Cumberland has recently installed a charger for use by the public.

Homeowner’s Hardware co-owner Tyler Blair gave some details on the charger.

“Electric vehicles have a limiting factor, and that’s their range,” Blair said. “If a tourist is passing through or somebody that lives here needed to stop and charge, there wasn’t anywhere to stop in Cumberland, or I would imagine anywhere in Harlan County.”

This need was addressed when the charging station was installed.

“We installed an electrical charging station here right behind the hardware store, so that our customers can use it,” Blair said. “We installed a 1440 outlet,” Blair said. “A prospective user would put in their own electric vehicle service equipment. What that does, it will take 220 volts coming out of the wall and convert it to something their car can use.”

Blair said most vehicle use level two chargers.

“They can add anywhere from 25 to 35 miles of range per hour,” Blair said.

The charger would not be used to fully charge up a vehicle, but rather to simply increase the range.

“If you’re coming on in and shopping anyway, or if you just needed a little bit of extra range to get home, it would be appropriate for that sort of use,” Blair said.

“Right now, the charger is free to use,” he added. “There’s an information box on the corner with things like Wi-Fi information and important contact information. There’s also a donation slot, so if somebody feels like they used $2 worth of electricity, they can put $2 in, but they don’t have to. It’s on, and it’s ready to use.”

Homeowner’s Hardware is located at 209 Beal Street in Cumberland.