Electric vehicle drivers crossing the state on the Pennsylvania Turnpike now have more options to charge their vehicles without leaving the toll road.
The Shapiro administration opened the first EV charging station on the turnpike built with federal money just before Christmas. The new station is at the Blue Mountain Service Plaza, Exit 202 in Cumberland County, which serves people driving west.
A second station built through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program was scheduled to open the week of New Year’s at the New Stanton plaza in Westmoreland County, which also serves westbound travelers.
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Other charging stations not supported by federal dollars are already open along the turnpike at the North Somerset and South Somerset plazas and the Hickory Run service area in Carbon County, along the turnpike’s Northeast Extension.
The NEVI program was created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed by President Joe Biden in 2021. NEVI aims to build an interconnected charging network across the country.
Pennsylvania is slated to get $171.5 million from NEVI over five years.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration froze NEVI funds to review the program and make updates to guidance for the money. The administration released the new guidelines in August, allowing the money to flow again.
However, more than a dozen states sued the Trump administration in December for holding back related funds. The lawsuit — brought by 15 state attorneys general, the District of Columbia, and Gov. Josh Shapiro — alleges the U.S. Department of Transportation “has quietly refused to approve any new funding under two electric vehicle charging infrastructure programs” created alongside NEVI: the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program and the Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator Program.
The PA Turnpike said the new charging stations at Blue Mountain and New Stanton are part of a systemwide EV charging initiative, which aims to add 80 EV stations at all 17 service plazas by the end of 2027.
All of these stations will offer high-speed chargers that are compatible with all EV types without an adapter.
