$100 Million In Funding Announced For New Public EV Chargers In Pennsylvania

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When I wrote about 12 new EV charging ports installed in central Pennsylvania some months back, it wasn’t clear how much or when the federal EV funding could be released to support the addition of more public chargers. Greater EV charging expansion means less “range anxiety” for EV drivers because there are more options for charging when they are driving in their home area and beyond. The latest EV charging news out of Pennsylvania is about even more EV chargers being installed in public areas to the tune of another $100 million in funding.

Some public charging infrastructure growth has been in urban areas where there are more EV owners, but this focus has left out some of the smaller communities and ones in rural areas. “Community Charging funding will be made available by region, beginning with the southeastern region, which includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties,” the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania now shares. “Local transportation planning agencies will determine the specific locations/areas within the region that are prioritized for investment, but all publicly available locations within the region are eligible to apply. Approximately $34 million will be available for projects in these counties.”

Adding more public EV chargers in small communities helps local EV drivers in their areas and EV drivers who drive to and through those communities from urban areas. EV drivers from out of state who want or need to drive to the small communities will be supported as well.

‘”Community charging is the culmination of an extraordinary effort by the Shapiro Administration to deliver accessible EV infrastructure to PA travelers. We’re excited to bring EV chargers to neighborhoods around the Commonwealth,” said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll.

We Americans live in a peculiar time, with some federal politicians opposing clean, renewable electricity and EVs and EV charging. At the same time, thousands upon thousands of new public EV chargers have been installed or are planned to be installed soon. While there are no federal EV incentives for purchasing, some states still provide such incentives.

If there is an administration change in the White House in a couple of years, the federal EV incentives may be reinstated and there will likely be far more support for clean renewables as well.