Rhode Island is one step closer to having a fully functional electric vehicle charging infrastructure. On Wednesday, Rhode Island officials made history by completing the first phase of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program.
Rhode Island is the first state in the nation to complete Phase 1 of the alternative fuel corridor under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program.
The milestone took place at the Route 117 Park & Ride in Warwick. State officials gathered to celebrate the occasion and to thank the private and public partners who have invested in the state’s new EV charging infrastructure.
The new infrastructure includes four new Level 3 Direct Current Fast Chargers (DCFC). The DCFCs are part of a $22.9 million project funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Rhode Island is currently home to eight DCFCs and six Dual-Port Level 2 charging stations strategically located along the Alternative Fuel Corridor on Interstate 95.
U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a senior member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said, “Our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will make it much more convenient to drive an EV. After all my work to get EV charging station funding into the original highway bill and then the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, it’s happy news that Rhode Island is the first state to reach this milestone, putting the Ocean State well on its way to a clean energy future.”
The second phase of the project will begin in the fall of 2024. The goal is to expand the EV charging infrastructure even further along public roads and other accessible locations.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
RI completed Phase I? Fourteen Charging Stations! There are more gas stations in Coventry! Sad