Maryland is Building EV Chargers Using the VW Settlement
Lisa Steuer McArdle
· 3 min read
The first step to increase
electric vehicle
adoption is building corridors of fast-charging stations between major cities and along heavily trafficked routes. That is why Maryland
is using its settlement with VW
to install EV chargers
.Range anxiety continues to be a grave concern among potential EV owners. So, investing in more public chargers means drivers could be more comfortable knowing a charger will be available when they need it.
Maryland plans to cash in on VW settlement
In August 2021, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced that the state had awarded $3.7 million from Maryland's settlement with Volkswagen for diesel-gate, according to
CBS Baltimore
. The money will be channeled towards the installation of EV charging stations at various sites.In concrete terms, Maryland plans to fund 36 new public fast chargers at 13 locations as well as 145 workplace charging ports at 24 business locations.
A breakdown of the spending on EV chargers
The $3.7 million funding that Maryland plans to spend on installing EV chargers is the state's $75.7 million share of a $2.7 billion national settlement with VW for
air pollution
violations. Presently, there is a global need for infrastructure to support zero-emission vehicles.Maryland has directed $11.3 million towards this initiative. The fast-charging stations will be available in various locations within the state. Additionally, the expectation is that fast chargers will be five to 10 times quicker than workplace ports.
Currently, the Maryland Department of General Services (DGS) is leading state agencies in installing EV chargers. The department is also making plans for other agencies on the state-owned property to install EV chargers, and it has facilitated several workplace grants, too.
According to
WMAR-2 News Baltimore
, the locations where EV owners will access charging ports within Maryland include:- Towson at Towson Place, 1200-1238 Putty Hill Lane
- Annapolis at Exxon, 161 Defense Highway
- Cumberland at Queen City Armory, 112 Wineow Street
- Silver Spring at Safeway #4817, 116 University Boulevard
- Elkton at Dunkin Donuts, 264 Belle Hill Road
- Parkton at Exxon Tiger Mart, 300 Mount Carmel Road
- Hagerstown at Valley Park Commons, 1520 Wesel Road
- Oxon Hill at Safeway #4872, 6235 Oxon Hill Road
- Halethorpe at Wawa #8504, 3716 Washington Boulevard
- Ocean City at 100th Street Municipal Parking Lot, 10005 Coastal Highway
- Hyattsville at Sunoco, 7620 Landover Road
- Myersville at Sunoco, 9630 Myersville Road
- Lexington Park at Ashley Homestore, 21716 Great Mills Road
Pursuit to maintain solid environmental leadership
Maryland is striving to maintain its strong environmental leadership by investing more in EV charging infrastructure, CBS Baltimore reported. In a statement in August 2021, Governor Hogan said in a statement, "For more than six years now, Maryland has been setting an example for the nation of strong environmental leadership."
He continued: "This is another important step forward to expanding access to electric vehicle charging across the state and encouraging more Marylanders to purchase and use electric vehicles."
In addition, Secretary Ben Grumbles of the Maryland Department of the Environment said, "Zero-emission vehicles and clean transportation infrastructure are key drivers to achieving Maryland's ambitious climate plans, which are among the most detailed and aggressive in the nation."
He also said, "Our smart investments in charging infrastructure will accelerate the electric vehicle revolution and grow sustainable public-private partnerships throughout the state." That suggests that Maryland is focusing on achieving its goal of having 300,000 zero-emissions autos on the road by 2025.
According to transportation officials, the number of EVs within the state at the moment is more than 36,000.
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