Before the weekend, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced the opening of six new federally-funded Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations, bringing the total number of stations built in Pennsylvania using funds from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program to 17.

With the opening of these six new charging locations, Pennsylvania is now second in the nation in stations built using the federal funds. Since the first NEVI-funded station opened in PA, the charging stations have delivered more than 17,400 charging sessions, powering over 2 million estimated miles driven and reducing CO2 emissions by more than 950,000 pounds.

See CHARGING/ A3

C”The Shapiro Administration is working quickly – getting hard working tradesmen and women on the job and opening more EV charging stations than almost every other state – making Pennsylvania a national leader on NEVI,” said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. “The rollout of EV charging stations in the Commonwealth is moving along at speed, and we’re excited to make clean transportation more accessible for Pennsylvania travelers.”

The 17 stations opened under the NEVI program, representing a federal investment of more than $9 million, built on the Shapiro Administration’s effort to ensure the reliability and accessibility of EV charging and get things done for Pennsylvania travelers. In total, PennDOT has obligated roughly $70 million of the $171.5 million allotted by the NEVI program, of which 90 projects totaling roughly $59 million are under contract and expected to move forward.

The new stations are at the following locations:

— Tesla in New Castle, Lawrence County on Route 224 along Interstate 376 (Exit 13) at Sheetz;

— Love’s Travel Stop in Brookville, Jefferson County along I-80 (Exit 81);

— Tesla in Fort Littleton, Fulton County on Route 522 along I-76 (Exit 180) at the 522 Pitstop;

— Wawa in Enola, Cumberland County along I-81 (Exit 65A);

— EVgo in Monroeville, Allegheny County along I-76 (Exit 57) and I-376 exit 84 at Penn Place Shopping Plaza; and,

— Tesla in Meadville, Crawford County along I-79 (Exit 147) at Giant Eagle.

NEVI funding supports the expansion of EV charging along the previously designated Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs). Pennsylvania has over 1,800 miles of AFCs. Per guidance from U.S. DOT, NEVI formula funds must first be used to “build out” designated AFCs (meaning there must be no more than 50 miles between stations and less than 1 mile from an AFC exit) and meet U.S. DOT minimum standards and requirements.

The PA NEVI program includes multiple rounds of funding. During the first round, of which these stations were awarded, the focus was on building out the AFC network along the interstates to meet the NEVI requirements. PennDOT has since announced awards for Round 1A and Round 1B of NEVI funding which were designed to fill the remaining gaps along the AFC network. A list of all NEVI awards is available on PennDOT’s website.

National data on the status of the NEVI program by state is available at https://evstates.org/awards-dashboard/.