Kansas to add electric vehicle charging stations on some highways
Twelve new electric vehicle charging stations will be installed next year, as part of a Kansas Department of Transportation program. While along major highways, the stations will be primarily located in rural areas.
“This will help combat range anxiety concerns and these stations will address that for a lot of people,” said Matt Messina, KDOT’s Comprehensive Transportation Planning Manager. “We will have the infrastructure.”
The stations will be fast charging and will be part of Kansas’ effort to have publicly accessible charging stations every 50 miles along major highways.
This would be the first time KDOT would administer money for others to install charging stations, according to Messina.
The $2 million effort is funded by the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust. After it was discovered Volkswagen was falsifying results from emissions tests, a sum of money was given to each state to help reduce emissions.
KDOT will award a sum of money to applicants to install the charging stations and the projects will be finalized on December 10, 2021. Recipients will then have one year to install the stations, meaning they should all be finished by December 2022.
While they could change, KDOT has proposed that the stations be within 5 miles of these 12 locations:
I-70 - Oakley/Grainfield/Grinnell area
I-70 - WaKeeney
I-70 - Russell
I-70 - Ellsworth/U.S. 156 Exit
I-70 - Abilene to Junction City area
I-70 - Manhattan to Paxico area
I-35 - Ottawa
I-35 - Emporia
I-35 - Cassoday to Matfield-Green area
I-35 - Belle Plain - Wellington Area
I-135 - Newton/North Newton
U.S. 81 - Concordia
Currently, KDOT is requesting information from stakeholders and other interested parties about the development of the program.
“We’re looking for feedback as to why these locations work and why these locations might be a challenge,” Messina said.
Responses must be emailed to kdot.designcontracts@ks.gov by 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24.
