New York to Invest $ 750 Million to Expand Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday an investment program that would allocate $ 750 million to build charging stations and other electric vehicle infrastructure as part of the state’s long-term goal to reduce emissions.

The measure is slated to create more than 50,000 charging stations and will be largely funded by state investor-owned utility companies, with a total budget limited to $ 701 million through 2025.

An additional $ 48.8 million is allocated from a 2017 deal with German automaker Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) about its diesel emissions cheating scandal to finance electric buses and transit buses, as well as charging stations.

The New York announcement comes immediately after a similar move by Florida, which on July 10 announced a $ 8.6 million investment to expand charging stations.

While electric vehicle sales have gradually increased in recent years, they still accounted for less than 2% of all US vehicle sales in 2019, according to the US Department of Energy.

Wider adoption has been stifled in part by the lack of reliable charging networks, with most concentrated in densely populated urban areas and on the east and west coasts of the US.

While many automakers, including electric vehicle pioneer Tesla Inc, have significantly increased the range of single-charge vehicles, many consumers are still discouraged by the higher price tag and the lack of charging infrastructure, according to several surveys.