Indiana plans to build EV charging stations along major highways
Indiana is making plans to build charging stations for electric vehicles along the state’s major highways, a group of Northwest Indiana public officials learned Thursday.
It’s part of a goal, set by the infrastructure law that Congress passed last year, to create a national network of 500,000 EV charging stations by 2030.
Scott Manning, deputy chief of staff for the Indiana Department of Transportation, told members of the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission’s executive board that Indiana expects to receive just under $100 million over the next five years to build EV charging stations along its highways.
INDOT’s goal is to have a charging station every 50 miles on each of Indiana’s interstate highways, plus U.S. 31.
Each station would have at least four fast-charging ports and would be within a mile of the highway, Manning said.
Charging stations could be built next to places such as restaurants or truck stops — but not at rest stops, because of a federal requirement — so motorists would have something to do while their vehicles power up.
INDOT must submit its plans to the Federal Highway Administration by Aug. 1 and expects FHWA approval around Sept. 30.
The state could break ground on its first highway charging stations in 2024, Manning said.
The highway department conducted a virtual public meeting recently to gather ideas, and it plans to hold an in-person meeting June 2 in Plymouth.
It also is contacting labor and business groups, Manning said.
County, town and city officials at the NIRPC meeting sounded interested in INDOT’s plans for EV infrastructure.
NIRPC Chairman Justin Kiel, from the LaPorte County town of LaCrosse, asked if small-town gas stations would be eligible sites for charging stations.
Manning said fuel stations and restaurants would be ideal locations as long as they had 24-hour access.
Portage Mayor Sue Lynch wondered what would happen if the power to a charging station went out. Manning said some companies have battery backups for their charging stations, and the new ones would have strict requirements for reliability.