Public Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Planned Across PA

WEST CHESTER, PA — Pennsylvania has dedicated $100 million to bring publicly available chargers for electrical vehicles to communities around the state.

Funding will open first for the densely populated southeastern portion of the state, with $34 million earmarked for the five-county Philadelphia region. Specific locations within the city, as well as Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, and Delaware counties, will be determined by local transportation planning agencies, officials said.

"We look forward to working with PennDOT to expand the network of vehicle chargers across our region, making EV transportation more convenient and further reducing our impacts on the climate and public health," Chester County Commissioner Josh Maxwell said in a statement.

The funding comes from the federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program and is being administered by PennDOT. The $100 million announced this week is in addition to $54 million already announced for the program previously.

Pennsylvania is currently the national leader in stations built using "NEVI" funds, with 29 already built and 54 in varying stages of development.

Leaders with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission say the investment will help enfranchise more residents who faced financial or practical barriers in charging vehicles.

“These investments enable individuals from rural areas to the urban core to get to where they need to go efficiently and confidently," Commission executive director Ariella Maron shared in a statement.

Electrical vehicles currently comprise a tiny fraction of the total American fleet, particularly compared to the rest of the world. There are about 4 million EVs on the roads in the US, or roughly 1.4 percent of all vehicles, according to Edmunds. That's compared to about a 25 percent rate globally.

PennDOT has released a survey for interested organizations to connect with station builders for project proposals. More information is available here.

Funding for the state's western region will begin in April, while the central and eastern counties (outside of the five-county Philly area) will begin in August.