Mountain Harbor installs first electric charging stations in Montgomery County
DEWAYNE HOLLOWAY|dewayne@mcnews.online
JOPLIN – Bill Barnes and the staff at Mountain Harbor Resort have opened the door to Montgomery County to a new group of travelers by installing the first electric vehicle charging stations in the county.
With the rising cost of fuel many Americans are turning to electric vehicles for transportation. Some reports predict that by the year 2030 52 percent of the nation’s vehicles will be electric. One of the biggest challenges to this lofty
prediction is the lack of charging stations in rural areas.
Bill Barnes, owner of Mountain Harbor Resort, stated recently that they made the decision to install seven charging stations around the Mountain Harbor properties after inquiries were made last year by visitors.
The addition of the charging stations provides a valuable service to visitors utilizing electric powered vehicles. While there are a growing number of charging stations in the Hot Springs area, Western Arkansas is sorely lacking in charging stations.
The Mountain Harbor charging stations are listed on Blink’s online map of charging stations. They are also visible on several other online charging station maps. The charging stations at Mountain Harbor should entice travelers to take “the road less traveled” along Highways 71 and 270 as they make their way to Hot Springs and other destinations in Arkansas. Before the installation of the charging stations at Mountain Harbor travelers were limited to the I-40 and I-30 corridors due to the lack of charging opportunities available in rural areas.
The stations are located at Harbor North by the C-17 Safe Room and by C-20, 21, 22 access drives. There are two stations located at the Lodge area near the old weigh-in site below the lodge conference center. There are two located at Harbor East. One can be found by the East Cove Conference Center and the other by the S-Dock parking area.
There is also a charging station located on Highway 270 at the Joplin Inn under the old fueling canopy.
Guests will pay for their charge via credit card. Each station has two terminals with a 25 foot cord for ease of access and offers an 80 amp voltage.
Bill Barnes stated that this is a pilot program for his company and hopes to install charging stations at their other facilities in the future.