The Bulletin

State awards contract for electric-vehicle charging network

By: Robert Zullo - August 9, 2018 1:44 pm

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has picked a Los Angeles company to build a $14 million electric vehicle charging network in the state. The money comes from Virginia’s nearly $94 million share of a $10 billion settlement with Volkswagen, which admitted to secretly installing devices to cheat emissions tests.

EVgo, which says it operates “America’s largest public electric vehicle fast-charging network,” has more than 1,000 chargers in 66 metropolitan markets. Fast charging can deliver a range of 60 to 80 miles for every 20 minutes of charging.

In Virginia, the company will “prioritize some of the most heavily traveled corridors in the commonwealth and will complement existing charging stations and other large-scale deployments of charging infrastructure under way,” Gov. Ralph Northam’s office said in a news release.

“Virginia is taking a leading role to develop and deliver a statewide electric vehicle charging network that is driver-focused, user-friendly, and promotes electric vehicle usage,” Northam said. “Through this partnership with EVgo, Virginia will accelerate electric vehicle adoption, generate more private investment in electric vehicle technology, and help provide citizens in the commonwealth with cleaner air.”

DEQ issued a request for proposals in September for the network

EVgo is using two Virginia-based contractors to help develop the network, which will be developed over three years. EVgo will also open a service center in Richmond.

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Robert Zullo

Robert spent 13 years as a reporter and editor at weekly and daily newspapers before becoming editor of the Virginia Mercury in 2018. He was a staff writer and managing editor at Worrall Community Newspapers in Union, N.J., before spending five years in south Louisiana covering hurricanes, oil spills and Good Friday crawfish boils as a reporter and city editor for the The Courier and the Daily Comet newspapers in Houma and Thibodaux. He covered Richmond city hall for the Richmond Times-Dispatch from 2012 to 2013 and worked as a general assignment and city hall reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 2013 to 2016. He returned to Richmond in 2016 to cover energy, environment and transportation for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He grew up in Miami, Fla., and central New Jersey. A former waiter, armored car guard and appliance deliveryman, he is a graduate of the College of William and Mary. Contact him at [email protected]