New Jersey’s fast charging public network for electric cars is becoming a reality. We can build it and they will come.
Highland Park, NJ–ChargEVC-NJ has long prioritized the build-out of a high-powered fast charging network that covers New Jersey to address consumer concerns about range anxiety. As consumers see the number of convenient public fast charging stations grow, their concerns about not being able to charge their vehicle away from home will diminish and EV adoption will grow.
The announcement on February 16, 2021 by Governor Murphy of $100M in clean energy investments included $5 million in grants for the buildout of DC fast charging (DCFC) stations at 27 highly traveled corridor locations in New Jersey as indicated in the map linked below.
See DCFC buildout map attached here.
This build-out is a top strategic priority for the development of the EV market in New Jersey, and, as the map shows, the recent NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) awards will jump start progress towards those goals. The map also shows that while strong progress is being made, more work remains to be done – especially in central and southern New Jersey. The DEP program makes real advancements on improved public fast charging, but also demonstrates a basic model that can be scaled up to fully meet the charging infrastructure needs of the growing base of EVs in the state.
It is noteworthy that only four years ago there were many that said building out this type of network could not be done – it was too futuristic and there were not enough sites willing to host public fast charging equipment. Notably, the DEP saw unprecedented market interest for their DCFC grant program, receiving nearly 150 applications to install publicly available fast charging stations, and there have been many announcements by vehicle manufacturers that will be able to take advantage of the high power charging enabled by this growing network.
Such a strong response to DEP’s first solicitation confirms the interest of project developers and site hosts and validates the strength of the DEP program design. It is especially impressive given the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This demonstrates conclusively that the state’s goal of 75 DCFC locations on busy travel corridors can be attained quickly.
As part of the $100 million announcement, the City of Trenton, the City of Newark, Gloucester City, and Woodbridge Township were awarded funds (a total of $5 million in grants) to develop locally based E-Mobility projects such as car-share, ride-share, and shuttle opportunities.
ChargEVC-NJ has worked closely with project partners Isles, Environment NJ, and the NJ Clean Cities Coalition to develop the Trenton E-Mobility project. This is the only community-based E-Mobility project that was funded. Isles and the City of Trenton will soon be releasing a joint RFP for a vendor partner to develop this innovative community-based program.
The Governor’s announcement also included $9 million in grants for the deployment of electric garbage and delivery trucks in New Jersey towns, $13 million in grants for the deployment of school buses and shuttles in New Jersey’s low- and moderate-income communities, $15 million towards NJ TRANSIT bus electrification, and $36 million to electrify port, cargo handling, and other medium- and heavy-duty equipment in port and industrial areas.
Funding for all of these projects comes from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and the Volkswagen Settlement Fund. Additional RGGI funds will be available moving forward and can be applied to additional rounds of funding for public fast charging and other advanced E-mobility projects.
Optimizing future deployment of policies, programs, and market-development funds also become more feasible based on another key element of Governor Murphy’s announcement: the establishment of the Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy and the creation of the New Jersey Council on the Green Economy via executive order.
Pam Frank, CEO of ChargEVC-NJ says, “The State took an important step with the creation of this Office and Council. We will now have a structured environment in which to ask some big questions, gather all the necessary data, discuss with stakeholders and think collectively about the strategies to ensure a just and efficient transition to the clean energy economy with equitable benefits for all.”
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ChargEVC-NJ is a not-for-profit coalition of diverse stakeholders that includes retail automotive dealers, utilities, consumer and equity advocates, environmental and labor organizations and technology companies. See www.chargevc.org for more information.