Fargo man says he’s first with all-electric pickup in ND

A Fargo man who works in solar roofing says he's the first person to have an all-electric pickup truck in North Dakota.

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – Ben Holsen, the owner of Holsen Home Solar, says investing in an all-electric pickup truck aligns with his business where he installs solar panel roofs onto people’s homes.

“A couple of years ago I decided I really wanted to put solar panels on my lake house. I couldn’t really find anybody doing it in the area. So, I kind of saw what was kind of considered a gap in the market and I put them on my own house and thought that other people would also like solar. I did a lot of research and a lot of people think solar doesn’t work in North Dakota/Minnesota but it does. Especially with the pandemic and stuff where everything else is missing, solar has really kept up. There’s a lot of supply and lots of people have stuff in stock so we can get it done pretty quickly,” Holsen says.

While the Rivian R-1T’s prices are comparable to a Ford F-150 at just under $70,000, Holsen has no regrets on his investment so far where financial headaches due to inflation take a back seat.

“It’s cost me about $14 to fill with electricity for a full tank. It gets 315 miles of range and you can charge it up overnight at your house or there’s high speed chargers throughout Fargo-Moorhead. In fact, the Fargo charger at City Hall is completely free,” says Holsen.

He expects to see more all-electric vehicles take over roads as some popular brands are already committing to all-electric vehicles.

“Last year, about one percent of all vehicles were all-electric or hybrid vehicles. This year, it’s expected to be 10 percent and it’s going up dramatically after that. Cadillac is going to all-electric vehicles, they’re going to get rid of all-gas vehicles completely. It’s not going to be a problem to find them in the future,” said Holsen.

President Biden’s Build Back Better Act which signed into law last November will allow at least four fast-charger ports every 50 miles along Interstate highways as electric cars become mainstream.