Drivers on interstates 16 and 95 are set to get two more electric vehicle charging options in Coastal Georgia, as the state awards federal funds meant to make long drives possible in the gas-free vehicles.
One charging station will be along Interstate 95 in Liberty or McIntosh supported by a $1.3 million grant to charger station chain PowerUp America. Love’s Travel Stops won a $700,000 grant for a station on Interstate 16 near Ellabell.
This month, the state named 26 stretches of highway where private companies will share $24.4 million in funding to design, build, install, operate and maintain charging stations for at least five years. Each company will put up some of their own money for the stations as well.
Electric vehicles make up about 1.06% of all vehicles registered in Chatham County; in other coastal counties, the share is lower.
The public money for the charging stations comes from a 2021 bipartisan congressional authorization to spend $5 billion nationwide to speed a transition to electric vehicles. President Donald Trump’s Department of Transportation halted the money in February, demanding that states rewrite plans and ignore original requirements to ensure equitable and fair distribution of benefits and services.
A group of mainly blue states sued to restart the money; courts have handed losses to the Trump administration though the case is ongoing.
Georgia didn’t join the suit, but its resubmitted plan is strikingly similar to the old plan, minus deleted language about equity.
Brunswick’s Love’s station is set to get a charging station by 2026, after the company got a $650,000 grant in a previous round of funding.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
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