First Phase of Electric Vehicle Corridor Development Begins

December 17, 2018

Augusta, Maine —

Efficiency Maine is pleased to announce its selection of ChargePoint to install and operate seven electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to serve EV drivers coming from or heading to Southern New England, New Hampshire and Quebec.

This first phase of the Maine Electric Vehicle Charging Initiative will install Level 3 “fast charge” stations at the Maine Turnpike Authority service plazas in Kennebunk (North and South) and West Gardiner, on Rt. 302 in the Bridgton/Naples area, in Farmington near the intersection of Rt. 2 and Rt. 27, in Jackman, and at one other location along Rt. 201. 

Each location will include two ultra-fast chargers. The ChargePoint Express Plus ultra-fast chargers installed at the Kennebunk Plazas and West Gardiner Plaza will be capable of delivering hundreds of miles of range in as little as 15 minutes for many current and future EV models, such as the Chevy Bolt or the all-new Hyundai KONA Electric, each offering more than 240 miles of range on a single charge. Eight ChargePoint Express 250 fast chargers will be installed at locations on Rt. 302, Rt. 2, and along Rt 201. These fast chargers will dispense 62.5 kW of power and can deliver more than 100 miles of range in 30 minutes or less. The chargers will come equipped with CHAdeMO and SAE Combo (CCS) connectors which will allow the overwhelming majority of EVs on the road today to fast charge when needed. Tesla drivers will be able to fast charge on CHAdeMO equipped stations with the necessary adaptor. 

Each location will also include a single, dual-port, Level 2 charger. Level 2 chargers cannot deliver a charge as quickly as fast chargers, but will be able to serve drivers with more time, vehicles that cannot take a fast charge, or hybrid plug-in models such as the Chevy Volt, Prius Prime, Ford Fusion and C-Max Energi models, Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, or Hyundai’s Sonata and Ioniq PHEV models.

This public-private partnership is made possible with public funding received by the State of Maine through the settlement of federal lawsuits against Volkswagen (VW) for violation of air pollution laws.  On behalf of the Maine Department of Transportation, Efficiency Maine is administering a total of $3.15 million from the VW settlement to provide grants for the Maine EV Charging Initiative. In Phase One of the Initiative, ChargePoint will provide private investment to cover a share of the equipment and operating costs for the seven sites where the fourteen charging stations will be deployed.

In Phase Two of the Initiative, Efficiency Maine will solicit bids for installation and operation of EV fast chargers located in sites that will complement the locations where fast chargers have previously been installed or are being installed through Phase One. The primary focus for Phase Two, which will be rolled out in early 2019, will be to develop EV fast charger stations along I-295, I-95 through Bangor, and along coastal Route 1 to fill out a network of EV fast chargers as far as Bar Harbor. 

A third phase of the Initiative is expected to further complement the network of fast charger stations with strategically located Level 2 chargers. Level 2 chargers, using 220-240 volts, may be used to “top up” any EV battery during a brief charging session, but will require several hours of charging to deliver a full charge. These kinds of chargers are better suited to retail shopping areas, workplace charging, hotels, and multifamily apartments where the car may be left to charge for more than an hour. 

The goal of developing charging stations along these corridors is part of a larger initiative to benefit the Maine economy and environment. Building out the network of fast charging stations along highly traveled routes will, said Michael D. Stoddard, Executive Director of Efficiency Maine, “help draw more tourists from Boston and Quebec, bringing more business to our local economy while maintaining the pristine air quality that Maine is famous for.” By locating the charging stations at a mix of cross-roads and destination towns, this initiative will make it easier for Maine businesses and municipal governments to introduce more EVs and plug-in hybrids to their fleets, and to lower their transportation costs since running vehicles on electric charge costs less than gas or diesel. 

Angela Monroe, Director of the Governor’s Energy Office, said, “We are very pleased to see, with this project, that Maine’s March 2016 commitment to link the people and businesses of Quebec to destinations in Maine through publicly available EV fast chargers is on track to becoming a reality.”

Peter Mills, Executive Director of the Maine Turnpike Authority, added, “The ultra fast chargers planned for three locations on the Turnpike will enable many electric cars to charge in about the same time it takes to enjoy coffee at Starbucks with a biscuit from Popeye’s. These new general purpose charging machines will nicely complement the Tesla stations installed six months ago on both sides of the Kennebunk interchange. The Tesla units have already provided service over 2,000 times – owners of electric cars are clearly anxious to visit Maine.”

The sites will be developed and managed by ChargePoint, Inc., a California-based charging network developer and operator. ChargePoint is partnering with Maine-based Revision Energy for site selection, development, and maintenance. “For more than a decade ChargePoint has worked with ecosystem partners to help pave the way to the mass adoption of electric mobility, and states like Maine are continuing to lead the way by making it more seamless than ever for drivers to go electric while supporting the buildout of the fueling network of the future,” said Dedrick Roper, Director, Public & Private Partnerships, ChargePoint. “We are excited to partner with Efficiency Maine in their effort to not only expand electric vehicle charging in the state, but enable long distance electric travel throughout the northeast. Collaborations like this are vital to ushering in a more sustainable mobility future.”

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About Efficiency Maine

Efficiency Maine is the independent administrator for programs in Maine to lower the cost and environmental impacts of energy by promoting energy efficiency, conservation and alternative energy systems. Additional information on the next phases of charging network development is available at efficiencymaine.com.

About ChargePoint

ChargePoint is the leading electric vehicle (EV) charging network in the world, with charging solutions in every category EV drivers charge, at home, work, around town and on the road. With more than 58,000 independently owned public and semi-public charging spots and thousands of customers (businesses, cities, agencies and service providers), ChargePoint is the only charging technology company on the market that designs, develops and manufactures hardware and software solutions across every use case. Leading EV hardware makers and other partners rely on the ChargePoint network to make charging station details available in mobile apps, online and in navigation systems for popular EVs. ChargePoint drivers have completed more than 47 million charging sessions, saving upwards of 49 million gallons of gasoline and driving more than a billion gas-free miles on dispensed energy. For more information, visit www.chargepoint.com or contact the Global Press Office at media@chargepoint.com or European Press Office at europepressoffice@chargepoint.com.

Contact:

Anne Stephenson

anne.stephenson@efficiencymaine.com

(207) 213-4158