Southern Ohio will soon have more electric vehicle charging stations.
The Sustainable Ohio Public Energy Council recently received to install them. It鈥檚 part of a broader effort to fill in EV infrastructure gaps across the country.
Ohio is an early adopter of EV technology, said Dana Vingris, SOPEC鈥檚 director of grants and development.
鈥淏ut there's a lot of parts of the state that are really lacking with charging infrastructure accessibility, which is really directing the way that people travel if they have an EV.鈥�
According to her, that includes much of southern Ohio.
So her organization has proposed building 50 charging stations across the southern half of the state.
鈥淲e looked at the communities that we serve, and where those gaps existed and where we could really fill in infrastructure gaps for people to be able to travel between Dayton and Athens,鈥� she said.
Last year, there were about in Ohio, according to the governor鈥檚 office. That鈥檚 a small fraction of the vehicles driven in the state.
But Vingris said investments like this could increase their number.
鈥淩ight now, the lack of EV charging accessibility between southeast and southwest Ohio, is really a barrier for people making the choice to get an EV,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f you can't confidently leave your home and feel like you can find charging, that's a significant barrier. So we're hoping that the presence and availability of these chargers will help mitigate some of that anxiety.鈥�
If more people make the switch to EVs, Vingris believes the entire state could benefit.
"The lack of EV charging accessibility between southeast and southwest Ohio, is really a barrier for people making the choice to get an EV."Dana Vingris, SOPEC
鈥淭ransportation is a huge greenhouse gas emissions producer,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o the fewer fossil fuel powered vehicles that are on the road, that's going to be improving the air quality.鈥�
But investing in EV charging infrastructure has additional benefits for southeast Ohio, she said. For example, building them will often require broadband improvements.
鈥淚t also includes a lot of utility upgrades to support the increased electrification that's needed to charge vehicles,鈥� Vingris said, 鈥渨hich makes for more resilient communities and less power outages. So there are tangential benefits beyond the charging itself.鈥�
The money awarded to SOPEC for this project is part of a bigger pool of money allocated to Ohio by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program, which is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency was awarded to build charging stations around that region.
Additionally, last year Ohio announced plans to develop along interstates, as part of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program. Ohio was the in the country to activate one of those chargers in December.