More electric vehicle (EV) chargers are being planned along major transportation corridors in Kentucky with the help of federal grant funding.?

A release from Gov. Andy Beshear’s Office Monday states eight more EV chargers are being built near cities across the state from Calvert City to London through funding from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program.?

Through the program so far, according to the release, 24 EV chargers are to be built by seven developers and with $15.4 million in grant funding.?

Thirty-seven EV chargers in total are eventually planned to be constructed through NEVI along interstates and parkways in the state, with each charger being placed no more than 50 miles from one another. The chargers are required to be operated by the manufacturers — which include Oklahoma-based Francis Energy and BP Pulse based in the United Kingdom — for at least five years after construction.

Mike Proctor, the publicity chair for the EV advocacy group Evolve KY, told the Lantern that chargers along highways are a key part of? building EV infrastructure but need to be coupled with “destination” chargers, which he describes as chargers available at places people make stops at such as a library.?

“We just want to see that we’re working on both solutions simultaneously and not have the destination chargers be, you know, kind of ‘second fiddle’ and be delayed while they’re focusing on the infrastructure for the highways,” Proctor said.?

According to the state’s electric vehicle infrastructure plan developed as a part of NEVI, the state plans to focus on building out EV chargers along interstates and parkways and focus more on constructing chargers in communities beginning in fiscal year 2025.