This charging station in Grovetown, Ga., was overcrowded. An electric school bus that was driving on a statewide clean-energy road show needed one charger; another charger was broken.

An electric vehicle charging station in Grovetown, Ga., is pictured. A federal grant aims to supply hundreds of new charging ports across the 20-county Atlanta region.

Credit: Camila Domonoske

The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) has received a $6.1 million grant from the federal Department of Transportation to install 300-400 electric vehicle charging ports across the 20-county Atlanta region. 

The program will focus on communities where EV charging is scarce to support equity in the region’s EV transition, according to a press release. 

ARC applied for the discretionary funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program. The EV sites will offer free Level 2 charging.

“As a region, we must prepare for the EV revolution that we know is coming, in a way that ensures no community is left behind,” said Anna Roach, Executive Director & CEO of the Atlanta Regional Commission, said in the press release. “We are grateful that the U.S. Department of Transportation chose to invest in the Atlanta region’s future.”

The first round of charging ports funded through this grant is expected to be installed in 12-18 months. Currently, there are about 1,800 to 2,000 publicly accessible Level 2 EV charging station ports in metro Atlanta.

ARC will work with a private sector partner that will be responsible for installing and maintaining the charging ports.

“Charging infrastructure right now is clustered in more affluent and more densely developed areas of our region,” said John Orr, Managing Director of Transportation Planning at ARC. “These funds provide an opportunity to not only expand the total number of available high-quality charging stations but also fill in some of these gaps that present a barrier to EV adoption.”

“I’m pleased to help deliver this investment to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Georgia through the bipartisan infrastructure law. Every day, the bipartisan infrastructure law is upgrading transportation, energy, sewer and water, and broadband internet across our great state,”  Sen. Jon Ossoff said in a media statement.

Three classes of EV charging ports are available:

  • Level 1: Provides charging through common 120-volt residential outlets. Takes 40-50 hours or more to charge an EV battery to 80% from empty.
  • Level 2: Offers higher-rate charging through 240V or 208V ports that are common for home, workplace, and public charging. Takes 4-10 hours or more to charge an EV battery to 80% from empty.
  • Level 3: Offers fast rapid charging along heavy traffic corridors such as highways. Takes 20 minutes to 1 hour to charge an EV battery to 80% from empty.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Rough Draft Atlanta. 

Tags: Georgia  EVs  EV chargers  Atlanta