Today, Governor Roy Cooper took an important step to advance his Clean Transportation Plan by announcing the first round of conditional awards for developers to install and operate electric vehicle charging stations using North Carolina's share of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program funds.

The N.C. Department of Transportation awarded contracts totaling $5.92 million to six businesses that will install and operate EV charging stations in nine locations along interstates and major highways. These nine locations represent the first of about 50 locations needed to fully build-out the state's alternative fuel corridors as required by the NEVI program.

"This is an exciting start, but there's so much more to come for clean transportation," said Governor Cooper. "By expanding the EV charging network, all North Carolinians will be able to choose transportation options that are more efficient, more affordable and better for our environment."

The N.C. Department of Transportation has $109 million in NEVI program funds to build out a network of electric vehicle chargers statewide over the next seven years.

Awards are conditional because the awarded businesses have to meet certain requirements outlined in the National Environmental Policy Act, the requests for proposal and the contract.

"We're working to maximize the use of the available funds to build out an efficient network of chargers," said Joey Hopkins, NCDOT secretary. "Eventually, we'll have publicly-funded EV chargers that fill in coverage gaps along our major corridors in the state and in our communities. We want a network that is reliable and easily accessible for people in rural and urban areas."

The businesses selected this week will build the first nine clusters of EV chargers to fill in the largest coverage gaps on thoroughfares including Interstate 40, I-77 and I-485, and U.S. 17, U.S. 74, U.S. 70 and U.S. 64.

Details on the awards are as follows:

To view the location of each cluster, click on the corresponding links here: 17-5, 40-3, 40-8, 74-4, 77-1, M-1, M-3, M-4, and M-5.

The next steps for the nine locations include conducting environmental reviews and finalizing site designs and contracts. Station installations are expected to be complete within the next year.

This fall, NCDOT plans to continue Phase 1 by issuing more requests for proposal covering about 40 stations along the alternative fuel corridors, or AFCs, to achieve full build-out of the AFCs. Stations in Phase 1 will be DC Fast Chargers with four combined ports capable of charging EVs in about 20 minutes.

NEVI requires EV charging stations in the first phase to be installed every 50 miles along the federally approved alternative fuel corridors, and that they be within a mile of the corridor.

NEVI funds will reimburse businesses for project costs, including procurement, installation and operation of the EV charging stations.

Phase 2 will start after the first phase is complete. The second phase will involve installation of charging stations in communities. Phase 2 will involve a combination of DC Fast Chargers and Level 2 Chargers that can charge a vehicle in four-to-eight hours.

To learn more, please visit NCDOT's webpage devoted to the NEVI Program.

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• Infrastructure