The New York Power Authority said Tuesday that it will install 200 fast-charging stations for electric vehicles at locations along major traffic corridors and at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
NYPA said in a release that it has identified 32 locations where it will install the chargers that will allow drivers to charge their electric vehicles "in as little as 20 minutes."
The installations are part of what NYPA said is the roll-out of its $250 million, seven-year EVolve NY initiative. The initiative has been launched as part of Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo's Reforming the Energy Vision, or REV program. Cuomo has clean energy and climate goals of reducing carbon dioxide emissions 40% by 2030 from 1990 levels.
While there are currently 2,000 public charging stations across the state of New York, the governor has said he wants to see 10,000 EV charging stations by 2021.
Through EVolve NY, NYPA will partner with the private sector in addressing what it calls "key infrastructure and market gaps" to accelerate the adoption of EVs throughout the state.
The power authority, which owns 4,700 MW of hydro power generation in the state and the 500-MW combined-cycle Astoria facility in Queens, said the initial phase of funding will direct $40 million into three initiatives through the end of 2019: interstate fast chargers, airport charging hubs and EV "model communities."
URBAN HUBS AND NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY
The state is trying to encourage the purchase and increase the convenience and accessibility of electric vehicles, NYPA said.
With its fast charger initiative it will target four 150-kW chargers per location at average intervals of less than 75-miles along New York's major corridors,
The first fast chargers to be installed through the EVolve NY program are targeted to begin construction in the Spring of 2019 along corridors with high traffic volumes from Buffalo to Montauk, and from Long Island to Canada, NYPA said.
It said that Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany and Yonkers have been identified as sites for urban hubs, while high-speed chargers are to be installed at approximately 15 service areas along the New York State Thruway.
JFK Airport will get its first high-speed charging hub, consisting of ten 150-kW fast chargers.
REBATES AND TIME-OF-USE RATES
In October, EV sales in the US totaled just over 34,000, according to industry publication, InsideEVs.
This total was down from 44,589 in September, but up significantly from sales in October 2017, which totaled 14,315.
Through October, US EV sales totaled 268,729, while in all of 2017, sales totaled 199,818, according to the publication.
Sales of EVs in the state of New York have already been showing a significant increase. According to data from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group of automakers, sales in New York were up 67% in 2017 over 2016 to 10,090 vehicles.
That put New York second behind California, which, the trade group said, saw sales of over 94,000 EVs in 2017.
According to the NYPA release, the state's "drive clean rebate initiative," which provides residents of the state a $2,000 rebate for the purchase or lease of a new EV, has supported, to date, the direct purchase of 11,000 EVs.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, which administers the rebate initiative, has approved more than $15 million in rebates for New Yorkers, according to NYPA.
Additionally, the state's Public Service Commission allows residential customers, through time-of-use rates, to charge their vehicles during off-peak hours "without the risk that they will pay more than standard rates," NYPA said.
