Governor Hochul Announces New Electric Vehicle Fast Charging Stations Along Major Travel Corridor Between Mid-Hudson and Western New York Regions

 

EVolve NY EV Infrastructure Helps Advance State Plan To Electrify Transportation Sector and Reduce Greenhouse Gases 85 Percent by 2050

View Hancock Site and Extended Travel Route to Hudson Valley

 Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that a dozen new electric vehicle fast chargers have been deployed along the primary travel corridor from the Southern Tier to Western New York. The new chargers will ensure that one of New York State's "fast charging deserts" is more accessible to EVs and that all regions across the state offer more convenient charging opportunities. The installation of new high-speed charging sites, led by the New York Power Authority, currently includes Jamestown, Salamanca and Bath, and will soon be supplemented by Olean, Friendship, Castle Creek and Hancock that will help support more convenient and accessible EV travel along Interstate 86 and Route 17 between the Hudson Valley and Lake Erie. New York State's fast charging infrastructure investment further supports its ambitious plan to transition to clean transportation and reduce climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions that come from the transportation sector.

"New York State is charging forward toward a greener and cleaner future by making electric vehicles more accessible to everyone," Governor Hochul said. "These new charging stations are sited along the most traveled corridor in the southern region, which will be pivotal towards encouraging drivers in the Southern Tier and Western New York to make the transition to greener vehicles."

Through its EVolve NY program, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) maintains the largest open-access high-speed charging network in New York State with more than 100 ports at 30 sites along major travel corridors, helping ensure that EV drivers in New York do not have to worry about running out of charge. The program aims to eliminate "fast charging deserts" and encourage the development of public charging infrastructure that is available to all New Yorkers and visitors.

New York Power Authority Interim President and CEO Justin E. Driscoll said, "Electric vehicles are more efficient and less expensive to drive, and they're key in reducing air pollutants from the transportation sector. NYPA's role in the clean transportation transition is to build infrastructure in urban hubs and along well traveled corridors, making it more convenient to travel long distances through every region in New York. Our EVolve NY program has made great strides in installing more charging hubs and will continue its industry-leading work into 2023."

New Fast Charger Sites - Jamestown, Salamanca, and Bath

The City of Jamestown in Chautauqua County recently installed chargers supported by the state Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) Volkswagen settlement fund to expand charging stations in New York. The municipal utility operates four ChargePoint DC fast chargers: two at West 2nd St. and North Main St. and two at East 4th St. and Prendergast Ave.

New York State's EV Charging Infrastructure Initiatives

Governor Hochul recently called for major regulatory action that will require all new passenger cars, pick-up trucks and SUVs sold in New York State to be zero-emission by 2035. Governor Hochul has also proposed that all school buses be zero-emission by that the same year. Proposing draft regulations is a crucial step to further electrify the transportation sector and help New York achieve its climate requirement of reducing greenhouse gases 85 percent by 2050.

New York is investing more than $1 billion in zero-emission cars and trucks over the next five years. Active light-duty vehicle initiatives include zero-emission vehicle purchase rebates through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's Drive Clean Rebate Program, zero-emission vehicle and charging infrastructure grants through DEC's Climate Smart Communities Municipal Grant Program, as well as the "EV Make Ready" initiative, NYPA's EVolve NY program, and the Department of Transportation's National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program to help expand EV use.

New York State has seen record increases in the number of EVs sold in 2021, bringing the total number of EVs on the road to approximately 120,000 and the number of charging stations in the state to more than 10,000, including Level 2 and fast chargers. Increasing EV sales will help the state reach its aggressive clean energy goals as outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The goal is to reach 850,000 zero-emission vehicles in New York by 2025.

New York State hosts 1,087 public fast chargers at 252 locations, according to the U.S. Dept. of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center, although they range in speed from 25kW to 350kW which equates to varying charging times. More than 600 are Tesla-only chargers.

EV owners can locate public chargers using smartphone apps such as Shell Recharge, Electrify America, PlugShare, ChargeHub, ChargeWay, EV Connect, ChargePoint, Google Maps, or the U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center. For a map showing EVolve NY chargers, click here. Note that the EVolve chargers operate on the Electrify America and Shell Recharge networks. Credit cards are accepted to charge; no subscription or membership needed.

New York State's Nation-Leading Climate Plan

New York State's nation-leading climate agenda is the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green economy as New York State recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York is on a path to achieve its mandated goal of a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and to reach economy wide carbon neutrality. It builds on New York's unprecedented investments to ramp-up clean energy including over $35 billion in 120 large-scale renewable and transmission projects across the state, $6.8 billion to reduce buildings emissions, $1.8 billion to scale up solar, more than $1 billion for clean transportation initiatives, and over $1.6 billion in NY Green Bank commitments. Combined, these investments are supporting more than 165,000 jobs in New York's clean energy sector in 2021, a 2,100 percent growth in the distributed solar sector since 2011 and a commitment to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. Under the Climate Act, New York will build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, while ensuring that at least 35 percent with a goal of 40 percent of the benefits of clean energy investments are directed to disadvantaged communities, and advance progress towards the state's 2025 energy efficiency target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs of end-use energy savings.