New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced $23 million in funding and awards for transportation electrification initiatives in New York State. The announcement includes $8 million made available under the third round of the Direct Current Fast Charger program to install electric vehicle infrastructure in Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse, including underserved communities; $7 million in awards to ChargePoint and EVGateway to improve access in upstate New York under Rounds One and Two of the Direct Current Fast Charger program; and $8 million made available for electric school buses and paratransit buses under the New York Truck Voucher Incentive Program.

These initiatives support the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goals of reducing carbon emissions 85% by 2050 and that at least 35%, with a goal of 40%, of the benefits of clean energy investments be directed to disadvantaged communities.

The Direct Current Fast Charger (DCFC) program, administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), seeks proposals from electric vehicle (EV) developers and installers that have a minimum of two years’ experience and at least 10 fast chargers or 200 Level 2 chargers in operation.

Under this solicitation, proposals will be considered that would develop two or more fast charging sites, with at least half of all stations located in underserved areas. Each site must be able to charge at least four vehicles and have a total site capacity of 600 kW or more.

Additionally, each site must be located within 12 miles of Buffalo, Rochester, or Syracuse city centers, and each proposal must have at least one site located within the city limits.

NYSERDA will accept applications for round three of the program from qualified EV developers and installers through 28 February 2023, and a scoring committee will evaluate all proposals based on the published criteria. Co-locating Level 2 EV chargers or distributed energy resources as part of the plan is encouraged.

Also announced were two awards from funding offered in the first two rounds of the program awarded to improve fast charger access in other upstate New York areas. Awards include:

• ChargePoint, $7 million - Awarded under Round One and Round Two, ChargePoint will install fast charging stations at four locations in each of the Central New York, North Country, Finger Lakes, Western New York, and Mohawk Valley Regional Economic Development Council areas. Each site will have four DC fast charge plugs for EV drivers with 25 percent (5 of 20) located within a half mile of a disadvantaged community.

• EV Gateway, $750,000 - Awarded under Round Two, EVGateway will install fast charging stations at three locations in the Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council area. Each site will have four DC fast charge plugs and two Level 2 plugs for EV drivers with 66% (2 of 3) located within one mile of a disadvantaged community.

Under the New York Truck Voucher Incentive Program (NYTVIP) program, $6 million is being made available to purchasers of new all-electric school buses, with an additional $2 million available to purchase electric paratransit vehicles providing supportive community services. The program can cover up to 100% of the incremental vehicle cost on the condition that these buses are housed at bus depots or operate on routes located within a half-mile of a disadvantaged community.

Funding for both the Direct Current Fast Charger Program and the New York Truck Voucher Incentive Program are part of New York State’s $127.7 million portion of the federal Volkswagen Settlement funds administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Additional funding for the DCFC Program comes from RGGI auction proceeds. The DCFC program provides up to 80% of the cost to build publicly available charging stations for electric vehicles, does not use funding from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program so are and is not subject to NEVI program rules.

New York will invest $1 billion in electrifying its transportation sector. The state is rapidly advancing measures that all new passenger cars and trucks sold be zero emissions by 2035, along with all school buses being zero emissions the same year. A range of initiatives grow access to electric vehicles and improve clean transit including EV Make Ready, EVolve NY, the Drive Clean Rebate, the New York Truck Voucher Incentive Program (NYTVIP), Charge NY, and federal funding under the NEVI Program. These programs are designed to get 850,000 zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2025 and expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure.