TL Photo/GAGE VOTA The electric vehicle charging station will soon open at the Pilot Travel Center in Morristown.
MORRISTOWN – The Pilot Travel Center in Morristown will soon be one of the first of many locations to provide electric vehicle charging stations along Ohio’s interstates, state routes and U.S. routes.
The funding came from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program, which is administered by a division of the Ohio Department of Transportation called DriveOhio. The state has pledged to provide about $16 million in grants to install 45 new charging stations to accommodate the increasing number of electric vehicles driving through the Buckeye State.
“The $16 million in NEVI funding will be matched by more than $4 million from the private companies selected to install and operate the new electric vehicle charging stations, including Electric Era, Francis Energy Charging, Jule, Love’s Travel Stops, Meijer, Red E Charging, Sheetz, Tesla and United Dairy Farmers. The winning proposals include site plans for existing shopping centers, grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, hotels and a bowling alley.” Governor Mike DeWine said this in a press release.
The inclusion of the local Pilot Travel Center is part of the first round of a two-phase initiative to deploy charging stations across most of Ohio.
“As more electric cars and trucks hit Ohio’s roads, we continue to build the infrastructure needed to make travel easy and convenient,” DeWine said.
DeWine announced the first round of the NEVI program in July 2023, followed by a statewide groundbreaking the following October.
The second round of the program is scheduled to begin in late 2024 and 2025.
The chargers installed by the government are fast chargers, unlike the chargers you would see in places like hotels or restaurants. The fast charges only take about half an hour.
“While this takes a little longer than a gas stop, it is not the same as a weak charger, which takes several hours or even all night to charge your vehicle,” Said DeWine’s press secretary Dan Tierney.
The goal of the program is to enable travelers and Ohio residents to easily drive their electric vehicles in Ohio without fear of not being able to find a charger.
“When you talk about economic development, you often hear statistics like: Ohio is a day’s drive from more than half the country and a significant portion of Canada. This type of infrastructure certainly helps the travel and tourism sector because people know they can come to Ohio in their electric vehicle…” Tierney added. “It provides more opportunities for our citizens, but it certainly helps our economy in general. As technology advances, we’re going to see more and more vehicles that are electric. So if a company wants to have an electric fleet of transportation vehicles and they want to send them from New York to Chicago or Cleveland to Pittsburgh, they need to have this type of infrastructure where Ohio is halfway through those stops and they know that in Ohio they can use the charging stations. With that comes usually some convenient stops where you can have a meal or a drink while you wait for your vehicle to charge.”
Tierney believes Ohio has been relatively aggressive compared to the other 49 states in building the charging station infrastructure needed to complement electric vehicles.
“One of the obstacles to adopting electric vehicles, if people choose to do so, is making sure there is a charger along the way that can extend the range of your journey,” Said Teirney. “It’s very exciting for Ohio to be at the forefront here because people now have choices about how they travel or what vehicle they want to buy.”
Although there is no official launch date yet, the goal is to have the electric vehicle charging stations at the Pilot Travel Center operational by the end of the summer.
