Drivers of electric vehicles will have more locations to recharge their vehicle’s batteries as they travel across Michigan through $1.7 million ($1,683,297.84) in grants announced by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) for direct current fast chargers (DCFC) along well-traveled routes.

The EGLE Charge Up Michigan Program grants will partially fund 36 EV DC fast charging stations with a total of 76 plug-in points for automobiles and light-utility vehicles. Charging stations recently came online in Marshall, Big Rapids, Gaylord and Cadillac. Others will be operational later this year.

Public or private entities can apply for EGLE grants of up to $70,000 per charger station. The funding is to be used toward the cost of a DC fast charging station, including site preparation, equipment installation, networking fees and signage.

Under the program, EGLE, the host site owner and the electric utility that serves the site will each pay for about a third of the cost to install the DC fast charger. The EGLE grants come from the more than $9.7 million allocated to Michigan from the Volkswagen diesel emissions settlement.