Akron pursuing $7 million federal grant for up to 130 new, public EV charging stations

Akron is pursuing a $7 million federal grant for up to 130 electric vehicle charging stations with the first 25 online as early as next year.

By 2027, the charging stations could be spread across Akron, first cropping up where demand is highest and eventually filling in every corner of the city. The goal, the city said, is to have a station no farther than a 10-minute walk from every household as Akron’s leaders seek to tame the city's greatest emitter of greenhouse gases: the vehicles that travel its roads and highways.

The public EV charging station plan is in addition to another grant the city is seeking for charging stations that would power a new fleet of municipal trash recycling trucks that run on electricity, which the city hopes to buy someday.

A ChargePoint electric vehicle charging station off Kenmore Boulevard in Akron. The city hopes to add up to 130 EV charging stations.
A ChargePoint electric vehicle charging station off Kenmore Boulevard in Akron. The city hopes to add up to 130 EV charging stations.

To pursue the $7 million Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant established by the bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Akron City Council gave Mayor Dan Horrigan unanimous and same-day approval during its regular meeting Monday. The grant application with the U.S. Department of Transportation, which is awarding $700 million nationally, is due May 30.

The program requires a 20% local match, which in Akron’s case is $1.4 million. To get around that, though, the city plans to form a private-public partnership, with the private partner picking up the entire local match.

Four companies have submitted proposals: Volta Charging LLC; OBE Power Networks LLC; Distributed Solar Development in partnership with EV Connect; and Alternalite Electric in partnership with ChargePoint Inc. The city will select the best option if the grant application is successful.

Emily Collins, strategic adviser to the mayor and the lead administrator on this and other environmental issues, explained to council Monday that Akron and its private partner would not jump straight into building all 130 stations if awarded the money. The plan, instead, calls for a gradual build-out of the electric charging infrastructure with stations following demand.

And local demand is increasing, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation's DriveOhio, a public-private partnership that tracks, studies and promotes next-generation and cleaner transportation technology.

New annual registrations of alternative fuel vehicles, which include 100% electric and hybrid vehicles, jumped in the Akron-Canton area from about 500 in 2020 to 1,134 in 2021 and 1,378 in 2022. The past two months are the strongest on record for new local AFV registrations, according to DriveOhio.

Akron's electric vehicle charging program would start with 25 EV stations

Akron's program would start in 2024 with 20 new Level 2 charging stations, which take a few hours to fully charge or top-off a vehicle, and five DC Fast Charge stations that can fully charge a vehicle’s battery in just 20 minutes. There are currently about 20 EV charging stations in the Akron area, though some are reserved for hotel guests or business customers and not the general public.

The city will monitor use of these first 25 public stations. Any that are used at least 7% of the time (about 100 minutes each day) would tell the city where to build more stations nearby until the network of 130 stations is completed or demand peaks.

The city left open the possibility of tweaking its 7% usage threshold. And the grant, which would be released on a reimbursement basis, does not have to be totally expended. But Collins said the city is “hoping” that consumer demand will push the last of the proposed 130 stations to be completed by the end of 2027.

With batteries that can take EVs 100 to 300 miles depending on the model, a more accessible network of charging stations was one recommendation from a 50-member EV task force launched by Horrigan in June. In a report released in March, the group of representatives from the city, Summit County, University of Akron, Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study, Gateway Group, Welty Construction, FirstEnergy, Akron Energy, Akron Metro and several local EV owners also recommended a car-share pilot program to spark EV interest in the Akron marketplace while offering an affordable option for residents. It would require builders to install a charging station in every new residential building and the gathering of public input on where to build the first Level 2 charging stations, particularly where residents lack suitable charging capacity at home.

The EV task force also found that vehicles are “without a doubt Akron’s largest contributor to greenhouse emissions,” Collins said in seeking council’s approval for the grant application. “This proposal will assist us in transitioning away from that contribution.”

The task force also estimated that, based on affordability and demand, Akron will need 300 EV charging stations by 2027.

Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron seeks $7 million DOT grant for 130 new electric vehicle chargers