PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Millions of dollars in federally-funded grants will flow into the Philadelphia area to build hundreds of electric vehicle charging stations across the region.
PennDOT announced $37 million in National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure grants Wednesday to create 500 new EV charging ports in the five-county region.
“That means chargers near your home, your grocery store, your doctor's office, your places of worship,” PennDOT secretary Mike Carroll said, as he stood in front of a bank of EV chargers in North Philadelphia, “truly locations in communities.”
Right now most of Philadelphia's chargers are in Center City, but officials said the grants to governments and businesses would expand access and help make EV charging as accessible as gas stations.
“The average gas station is about a half mile away from peoples' houses,” said Chris Puchalsky, director of policy and strategic initiatives for the city’s Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems (OTIS). “The average EV charger that's publicly accessible is over three times as far away.”
The chargers could also ease the transition for drivers looking to make the switch to electric vehicles, incentivizing those who are considering the eco-friendly switch. That amounts to something of a “chicken or the egg” problem.
“Do you wait for people to have the cars and then figure out where they need to charge,” asked Ariella Maron, executive director of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, “or do you put the charging in place and then hope people get the cars?”
PennDOT hopes the charging ports can be under construction in 2027.
A full list of the grants is available on the PennDOT website.
