NC reaches electrical vehicle registration goal 2 years early

Judith Retana
·2 min read

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — In 2018, Gov. Roy Cooper set a goal of increasing the number of total zero-emission vehicles registered in North Carolina to 80,000 zero-emission vehicles by 2025. The governor’s office has now announced that goal was met two years early.

Part of Executive Order 80, that goal also called for a clean transportation plan to ensure that state, policy, infrastructure and consumers were prepared for this transition in the marketplace.

“We knew the private markets were shifting to electric vehicles so we set bold goals that would help North Carolina communities be ready. Now it’s happening even faster than we anticipated,” said Governor Roy Cooper. “The key is making EVs more affordable with the assurance that charging stations are available most places, and that’s why we are modernizing state policies and working to build out charging infrastructure in every community all across North Carolina.”

The governor’s office reports in the last five years, the total number of accessible public charging ports across the state increased from 1,400 in 2019 to just under 4,000 today.

In 2022, Gov. Cooper’s Executive Order 246 set a new goal of 1.25 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2030.

To support that goal, the state has funded the construction of 901 Level 2 charging ports and 166 DC Fast Charging ports through the North Carolina Volkswagen Settlement Grant Program. The North Carolina Department of Transportation has funded charging stations installed in Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Morrisville, Charlotte, Chapel Hill, Roxboro, Oxford, Cary, and Raleigh.

In the coming weeks, NCDOT will release a request for proposals for the first round of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program designed to construct DC Fast Chargers along major highway corridors all across the state.

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