Governor Hochul Announces Free Electric Vehicle Fast Charging at Evolve NY Sites for July 4 Weekend

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that the New York Power Authority will offer free charging at all EVolve NY Direct Current Fast Chargers across the state from July 1 through July 5 to encourage emissions-free electric vehicle driving over the high-travel Independence Day holiday weekend. The EVolve NY network hosts nearly 100 chargers along key travel corridors throughout the state. The holiday weekend promotion's goal is to inspire more New Yorkers to adopt electric vehicle driving and drive cleaner. Free fast charging will begin at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, July 1, and end on 11:59 p.m., Tuesday, July 5.

"My administration remains laser-focused on making continuous investments in green energy to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and this free charging holiday is a celebration of that commitment," Governor Hochul said. "By making it easier for more New Yorkers to charge their electric vehicles and drive cleaner, we can inspire more electric vehicle adoption across the state, ushering in a cleaner, greener future for New York."

"These free fast charging electric vehicle stations offered at Evolve NY sites across the state over the holiday week will help lower the cost of travel for New Yorkers on one of the busiest weekends of the year," Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado said. "We are hopeful that these free charging stations will help encourage more New Yorkers, and travelers from other states, to turn to energy efficient, emission-free vehicles and provide a cleaner environment for our children."

To charge free this holiday weekend, New Yorkers and travelers can drive up to an EVolve NY fast charger, plug in, and just hit the start button on the charger screen.

Through its EVolve NY program, New York Power Authority has installed nearly 100 high speed chargers along New York State's major travel corridors, from Buffalo to Albany and from the Adirondacks to Long Island. The program's goal is to make it significantly easier for New Yorkers to drive in any direction across the state and find fast chargers so they can power up and get back on the road quickly. Any battery-powered EV equipped with fast charging capability can charge up at an EVolve NY fast charger in as little as 20 minutes, including Tesla cars with an adapter. More information on EVolve NY fast chargers can be found on the program's webpage.

New York Power Authority Interim President and CEO Justin E. Driscoll said, "New York Power Authority is proud to offer complimentary fast charging throughout the EVolve NY network this holiday weekend. Through EVolve NY, the New York Power Authority is making owning an EV in New York the easy, clean energy choice. Whether EV drivers are traveling across New York or staying close to home to celebrate July 4, New York Power Authority's EVolve NY fast chargers will get you back on the road in as little as 20 minutes, free of charge."

EV owners can locate the EVolve NY fast chargers here and other public chargers using smartphone apps such as Blink Charging, Shell Recharge, PlugShare, ChargeHub, ChargeWay, Electrify America, EV Connect, ChargePoint, Google Maps, or the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, among others.

For more information about the New York Power Authority's EVolve NY fast charging network click here.

New York State's Clean Transportation Advances

Governor Hochul has set a goal for all new passenger cars and trucks sold in New York to be zero-emissions by 2035. Additionally, in this year's State of the State address, Governor Hochul proposed that all school buses be zero emissions by that same year. New York State has an interim goal of reaching 850,000 zero-emission vehicles by 2025.

New York is rapidly advancing these goals through a range of initiatives including EV Make Ready, the EVolve NY fast charging network, the Drive Clean Rebate, the New York Truck Voucher Incentive Program and Charge NY. These efforts have contributed to a record increase in the number of electric vehicles sold in New York in 2021, bringing the total number of EVs on the road as of May 2022 to approximately 103,000, and the number of charging stations in the state to more than 10,000.

New charging installations are further supported by the Governor's "Make Ready" program, which uses funding from investor-owned utilities to reach a goal of deploying more than 50,000 chargers by 2025. Such electrification efforts, in collaboration with NYSERDA and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and other state and industry partners, will help the state reach its aggressive clean energy goals as outlined in the state's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

Today New York State hosts more than 970 public fast chargers at 228 locations. They range in speed from 25kW to 350kW and have varying charging times. More than 600 are Tesla-only chargers.

New York State's Nation-Leading Climate Plan

New York State's nation-leading climate agenda is the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green economy as New York State recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York is on a path to achieve its mandated goal of a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and to reach economy wide carbon neutrality. It builds on New York's unprecedented investments to ramp-up clean energy including over $35 billion in 120 large-scale renewable and transmission projects across the state, $6.8 billion to reduce buildings emissions, $1.8 billion to scale up solar, more than $1 billion for clean transportation initiatives, and over $1.6 billion in NY Green Bank commitments. Combined, these investments are supporting nearly 158,000 jobs in New York's clean energy sector in 2020, a 2,100 percent growth in the distributed solar sector since 2011 and a commitment to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. Under the Climate Act, New York will build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, while ensuring that at least 35 percent with a goal of 40 percent of the benefits of clean energy investments are directed to disadvantaged communities, and advance progress towards the state's 2025 energy efficiency target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs of end-use energy savings.

About New York Power Authority

New York Power Authority is the largest state public power organization in the nation, operating 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. More than 80 percent of the electricity NYPA produces is clean renewable hydropower. NYPA uses no tax money or state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity. For more information visit www.nypa.gov and follow us on Twitter @NYPAenergy, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and LinkedIn.