Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT) has received federal designation for two highways as Alternative Fuel Corridors from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The first route is US 441 from Cornelia in northeast Georgia to Dublin in east central Georgia. The second route is US 82 from Brunswick in coastal Georgia to Albany in southeast Georgia. These two routes will add 25 percent, or approximately 330 miles, to Georgia’s electric vehicle charging network.
“Convenient access to electric vehicle charging stations is critical to innovating and expanding Georgia’s transportation network,” said Russel R. McMurry, commissioner of Georgia DOT. “These federal designations are important because they signify Georgia’s commitment to alternative fuel options in every part of the state, including rural areas, and provide motorists options to reduce transportation costs and address environmental concerns.”
US 441 and US 82 were selected based on a variety of criteria including location near major economic clusters, access to tourism sites, high share of new electric vehicles sales in nearby counties, proximity near a Georgia Emergency Management evacuation route and service to southeast Georgia.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established a National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program to provide funding to states to strategically deploy electric vehicle charging infrastructure and to establish an interconnected network to facilitate data collection, access and reliability. These new designations expand the opportunities for the use of NEVI funds, as Georgia continues to build out its Alternative Fuel Corridors.
The state of Georgia has approximately 30,000 electric vehicles on the road and more than1,300 publicly available electric vehicle charging stations with an estimated 3,400 individual outlets. That number represents more electric charging stations or outlets per capita in the Southeast and Sunbelt, except for California.
Article courtesy of Metro Atlanta CEO, published July 22, 2022.