I appreciate the city’s efforts to try to get fast-charging stations for electric cars in Lebanon. I received a news alert recently about the difficulty the city is having getting the New Hampshire Department of Transportation on board with the plan (“Effort for car-charging station shorts out in Lebanon,” Aug. 11).

Let me share with you my opinion to help convince the DOT of the necessity and benefit of fast chargers in Lebanon.

I live in Burlington and own an all-electric vehicle. If I want to get to the Boston area or Cape Cod, I have to stop in Berlin, Vt., to charge up 100% before I continue climbing the Green Mountains — and hope I make it to the next fast-charging station in Salem, N.H., at the Rockingham Mall.

I can usually make that leg in summer with about 35 miles to spare, but that’s exhausting to deal with, and this is under ideal conditions.

This trip becomes harder — if not impossible — when the temperatures drop and my maximum range (238 miles) decreases to about half that. Add in the two mountain ranges that have to be crossed, which eats battery life, and the range anxiety increases. And I have one of the “good” EVs with a big battery pack.

I have lived in the Burlington area all my life, and until I bought my EV I never set foot in Salem. I’ve been there about 12 times now, just from the necessity of using the fast-charger there. While I wait for the car to charge, I go in the mall.

Of course, I shop.

Lebanon is perfectly situated to fill the largest gap in the charging desert between Berlin, Vt., and Salem, N.H. I’ve been scanning the news for information about new charging stations in this area for three years now. EV drivers know where the fast-chargers are, and when they run this route they’re perfectly aware that if there were a fast-charger in Lebanon, they’d want to stop there. It would be like having the only gas station for 90 miles. Drivers coming from Boston face the same issue.

If I might make a few other points:

■ Because of the cost of EVs, these vehicles are often purchased by those with disposable income (not me, but many other EV adopters). With a fast-charging station for non-Teslas, these people would come to Lebanon — with their spare time, and with their money. Once they get used to Lebanon, they will undoubtedly return.

■ When Electrify America makes good on its promise to find a different site now that it can’t find a spot in Lebanon, it makes it more likely that future EV owners will become comfortable stopping there rather than in your city.

■ EV users generally use apps to help find where they can charge their cars. And they leave comments for other EV drivers about the conditions they find, and what they did there while they waited. This free advertising is actively sought out and read by EV users who are planning their trips.

It seems Lebanon is aware that EV use is increasing, and will only increase. It may not be many years before super-fast charging technology appears and negates the “lull period” we now experience while waiting for the car to charge, or when increased capacity removes the necessity of having to charge between two points that are fewer than 400 or 500 miles apart.

That time is not here yet, so now is an ideal time to take advantage of this opportunity that will benefit EV drivers, and the people of Lebanon as well.

Dave McAteer lives in Essex Junction, Vt.