By GREGORY ZELLER //
An “online resource center” will help Albany plan New York’s electric-vehicle destiny – and, hopefully, qualify for $175 million in federal funding.
The New York State Department of Transportation is hoping to receive that hefty sum over the next five years through the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program, which was announced in February by President Joe Biden. Specially, the New York DOT plans to use the funds to offset the costs of deploying “EV fast chargers” along designated electric-vehicle corridors around the state.
Doing so will plug the Empire State into what the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority calls “an interconnected EV charging network across the state and nation” – but to receive the funds, state officials have some homework assignments.
Chief among them, Albany must submit a “State EV Infrastructure Deployment Plan” to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration by Aug. 1 – including details on New York’s existing charging infrastructure, specific goals for the federal investments and planned monitoring/evaluating strategies for future infrastructure performance and requirements.
Electric avenues: The official New York City Designated Electric-Vehicle Corridor map, including Long Island’s designated routes.
The Highway Administration is set to review individual state plans through Sept. 30, with the first tranches of federal funds expected to flow immediately upon approvals.
State and federal officials have already drawn up New York’s designated electric-vehicle corridors – but the NEVI funds can be deployed anywhere within one travel mile of those corridors and charging stations can be placed up to 50 miles apart.
That’s a lot of latitude on where, specifically, investments will be made. And it makes public input crucial to New York’s master EV plan, leading directly to the “online resource center” announced this week.
More a solicitation than a resource, the site – part of NYSERDA’s Charge NY campaign – offers maps showing New York interstates and highways earning the EV corridor designations. There are also links to the NEVI homepage and other federal offices, and visitors can request emailed updates on the state’s EV infrastructure buildout.
Marie Dominguez: Getting greener.
But most importantly, the site hosts a user survey designed to collect useful feedback that will help state officials flesh out their EV plan, critical to securing the NEVI funding.
That gives New Yorkers “an important role in providing input on where EV chargers should be located,” NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris said in a statement.
“This new resource will facilitate the flow of information … to ensure we continue to reduce emissions and transition to a healthier, low-carbon, clean-energy future,” Harris added.
Governor Kathy Hochul applauded President Biden for the NEVI program and trumpeted “[her] administration’s ongoing efforts to reduce the impact of climate change across New York State,” while other state officials doubled down on the importance of developing a sound EV plan – and nailing down the NEVI funding.
State Commissioner of Transportation Marie Dominguez called a strategic EV infrastructure plan “paramount to achieving an environmentally sound and reliable transportation system across New York State.”
“The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program gives us a great framework to collect data,” Dominguez added. “We can use (the data) to inform where we need to increase the number of fast-charging stations along our roads, so we can continue to invest in [greenhouse gas] reduction and build our way toward a greener economy.”
