COLUMBUS, Ohio — Car experts want to make a drastic increase in electric vehicle sales by 2035.
DriveOhio, an initiative of the Ohio Department of Transportation, is asking Ohioans to weigh in on how to support that change.
“There’s definitely this kind of push/pull, where if more people buy electric vehicles, there will be more demand for these chargers, and it’d be obvious to support their construction,” said ISeeCars.com analyst, Karl Brauer.
He said within the next decade, the federal government wants two out of every three cars sold in the United States to be electric.
That means Ohio has 10 years for its infrastructure to catch up to that goal.
“When you think about how readily available traditional gas stations are and how easy they are to get to, that’s a high standard to meet for electric vehicles,” Brauer said.
Thanks to some federal money, ODOT has a plan to meet that standard in the next five years.
DriveOhio's Communications Director Breanna Bedanes said the state will get $140 million in the next five years from the government’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) formula program to, “distribute to build and implement electric vehicle chargers throughout the state.”
DriveOhio’s plan is to have EV charging stations available every 50 miles on interstates and on larger U.S. and state Routes.
Most of the charging station proposals would be on private property that would already have space for them, like gas stations or travel plazas.
Bedanes said DriveOhio has received 300 proposals from 30 locations around the state.
“We’re looking for feedback on those locations. Are there routes that are missing as we move forward? Are there other things that we should consider as we continue executing the program over the next few years?”
DriveOhio is hosting meetings at various locations this month to get that feedback because they feel a sustainable future for the state is in everyone’s hands.
“The goal of funding more electric vehicle chargers is to make it easier for electric vehicle owners to drive longer distances, make them more confident, easier and ultimately, spur economic development,” Bedanes said.
DriveOhio’s meeting for the central Ohio region is on Monday, June 12, 2023.
Ohioans can also call or email thoughts to them and find out more about their plan for EVs around the state on Drive.Ohio.gov.
ODOT said that as they plan for more EVs on the road, they are still trying to figure out how to replace that road funding they’ll lose from the gas tax.