Auto Industry Wants More Government Support for Electric Vehicles
The State of Vermont has provided a million dollars in funding to help multifamily residential buildings install electric vehicle charging stations, the governor's office announced Monday.
The state's Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) awarded $1 million dollars in grant funds for buying and installing EV charging stations at multi-unit buildings. The program, called the Multiunit Dwelling Electric Vehicles Supply Equipment (EVSE) Grant Program, is a pilot to see how much interest there is in getting these charging stations. It's designed to reduce monetary obstacles to owning an electric car and provide residents of these building with direct access to power.
The pilot specifically targets non-profit and multiunit housing providers. The first projects will create 84 new Level 2 charging ports at 37 locations, according to a news release Monday from Governor Phil Scott's office. That equates to access for 6,230 homes in affordable buildings.
"Through the EVSE Grant Program, we are making it easier to install convenient and reliable at-home charging solutions for residents living in affordable multifamily housing," Governor Scott said in a statement. "Steps like this are critical as we work to electrify the transportation sector, make EVs more accessible, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
The state got 16 applications for the grant funding, the governor's office said. DHCD Commissioner Josh Hanford said the pilot program demonstrated high interest in installing the chargers.
"This was a pilot program, and we didn’t know what the demand would be,” Hanford said in a statement. "The geographic spread of applications and diversity of housing types that applied was impressive and showed us that there is a high level of interest in providing EV charging for multiunit residents statewide which have resulted in additional funds to continue the program."
Governor Scott has approved another $3 million this legislative session to keep the new program moving forward. More information about this program can be found here.
According to the Drive Electric Vermont website, there are currently 335 public EV charging stations in the Green Mountain state, with more on the way. Public charging stations are useful for drivers who are on long road trips, or don't have access at home. Vermont has the highest per capita rate of public charging in the United States, according to Drive Electric Vermont.
