Charging Infrastructure is Key To Expanding EV Usage in NYS
TARRYTOWN, NY—Mindful that New Yorkers would probably be switching to EVs faster if drivers knew they have more access to public chargers, New York State Thruway Authority Executive Director Frank Hoare, Jr., told a group of construction industry executives this month that the Thruway already has a reliable network and is prepared to accommodate wider-spread usage of EVs.
Speaking to more than 100 contractors and union officials at the fall meeting of the Construction Industry Council and Building Contractors Assocation on Wed., Oct. 16, in Tarrytown, Mr. Hoare said drivers of EVs can now get from here (in Westchester) to Buffalo on a reliable network of chargers.
As part of its modernization program at service areas along the 570-mile superhighway, he reported that “23 out of the 27 service areas are completely rebuilt, and four others are totally gutted and rehabbed and rebuilt,” with a final completion date of 2025. As part of that building campaign, he said the Thruway has “provided chargers not only at these services areas, but at landings, welcome centers and park and ride lots, and we will be increasing that over the years.”
He added, “I can tell you that we have enough chargers now that if you travel from here to Buffalo, you will be able to get there by charging on our system.”
More than 150,000 electric vehicles are registered in New York, more than 42,000 of them within the five boroughs of New York City, according to state vehicle registration data. Electric vehicles make up less than 2% of New York’s 11.3 million registered vehicles, according to a report published this week. To meet its climate goals, New York needs more than 2 million EVs on the road by 2030 and 10 million by 2050, according to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority—a public benefit corporation promoting the renewable energy sector.
The report added, 28% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from gasoline-burning cars and trucks and other petroleum-based transportation, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In New York, around one-third of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation, according to the state energy authority estimates. Transitioning away from internal combustion engines to zero-emission vehicles is a critical component to reaching the U.S. goal of halving emissions by 2030 to ease climate change.