LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Work is underway on the first of dozens of high-capacity, public electric vehicle charging stations planned for highways across Kentucky as part of President Biden’s 2021 Infrastructure Law.
Gov. Andy Beshear broke ground on the EV charging station at a Circle K station in Richmond, Ky. on Monday. It’s the first federally funded EV charging station in the southeastern U.S., according to Beshear’s office.
Kentucky’s program aims to add up to 40 fast charging stations by 2025 along interstates and parkways.
The state has selected the locations for 24 of the charging stations and is soliciting bids for up to 16 more.
Kentucky is poised to be a leader in EV manufacturing, with Ford and Toyota planning to make EVs at their factories and Ford’s BlueOval SK building a pair of EV battery plants in Glendale.
Yet, EVs and plug-in hybrids are a negligible share of the vehicles on the road today in the state.
“To make sure Kentucky keeps leading the way, we’re building out our EV infrastructure so our families can charge up as they travel our great state,” Beshear said in a news release.
The Circle K site will contain four high-capacity plugs that can each charge an EV in about 20 minutes. The federal program will pay $536,600 of the $670,750 cost of the project, with Circle K funding the remainder.
The chargers, which will require fees to use, must be open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
