New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced a $4.2-million expansion plan to install more high-speed electric vehicle charging stations along the New York State Thruway. The plan will allow electric car owners to drive the length of the state without having to exit to recharge.

As part of the Governor's Charge NY 2.0 electric vehicle initiative, the New York State Thruway Authority is partnering with the New York Power Authority to install the new fast-charging stations at Thruway service areas and Thruway-owned commuter parking lots over the next two years.

Since Charge NY was launched in 2013, the number of public charging stations has grown to more than 2,000 statewide. This new expansion plan puts New York within reach of the Governor’s 2018 goal of 3,000 charging stations across the state. These infrastructure enhancements also support New York’s leadership role in the multi-state, zero-emission vehicle plan that calls for electric vehicle sales to reach approximately 800,000 by 2025 in New York.

The new installations are an expansion of a trial program that brought fast chargers to four Mid-Hudson Valley service areas—Plattekill and Malden on the northbound Thruway, and Ulster and Modena on its southbound side, all in Ulster County. Over the next several years, chargers will be installed at the remaining 23 service areas.

The first phase of the EV charger expansion project involves installing two medium-speed (Level 2) charging stations at 13 Thruway-owned commuter parking lots. The Level 2 chargers, which take four to eight hours to charge, are geared to commuters who are able to leave their cars parked during the day.

This phase also will bring higher-speed (Level 3) fast chargers to nine Thruway service areas to accommodate a wide variety of electric vehicles. Level 3 chargers can fully charge an electric vehicle in 30 minutes or less.