Progress toward four of Ohio’s new electric vehicle fast-charging stations — in Butler, Miami, Preble and Warren counties — is speeding up.
All four area stations are coming along, a representative of the Ohio Department of Transportation said Thursday, and they should be complete by the end of 2024.
The four regional stations are in various stages of the design process, said Breanna Badanes, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT).
The first area station to go to construction will be one in Preble County on I-70, at a Pilot station, Badanes said. That site’s design is almost complete, and she expects construction to start in perhaps a couple of months.
Next up will be a station in Warren County, where work could start this spring.
And then a pair of stations along I-75 in Butler and Miami counties should see work start this summer, Badanes said.
Another station on I-675 could be part of the state’s second phase of work — a phase that will build an additional 26 stations — either in Montgomery or Greene County, she said.
The first phase of work aims to build 27 fast charging stations.
Last month, ODOT Director Jack Marchbanks hailed the opening of the nation’s first EV fast charging station at the London Pilot Travel Center on I-70 at U.S. 42.
Ohio in July was the first state to announce charging station sites to be developed as part of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program.
The state said then it would award more than $18 million for the 27 fast-charging stations along seven of Ohio’s interstates, representing the first phase of the state’s work in this arena.
The new London charging station in Madison County has fast chargers capable of providing up to 350 kW (kilowatts) when charging a single vehicle.
When four vehicles are charging simultaneously, each port will receive up to 175 kW, enough power to charge an EV up to 80% in 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the vehicle’s battery, according to the state.
“We have been kind of leading the nation throughout this program since the funding was announced,” Badanes said. “We had the first one in the country to open last month.”
Politico reported in December that 27 states and Washington, D.C. had yet to even start soliciting bids for work on the stations.
Building the chargers isn’t as complicated as building a highway, but there are still factors to juggle. Badanes said the state works with private companies, and each company work has its own contractor, which has its own workload to balance.
“Usually, the planning, design, utility work and all of that can take years before we even get to construction,” she said. “These projects are obviously on a smaller scale, but we’ve been able to complete all of the steps in under a year.”
ODOT and Pilot Travel Centers expect to begin construction on nine more EV charging locations in Ohio over the next several months, ODOT said last month.
By the end of 2024, 25 new fast charging stations are expected to be working in Ohio, a total investment of more than $24 million.
