ARKANSAS, USA — The draft plan describes how ARDOT wants to administer the federal electric vehicle infrastructure program.
The nearly $5 billion-dollar federal plan would create electric car charging stations along interstates every 50 miles including here in Arkansas.
“These are federal dollars that are coming in, you know we’ve got five years to really map this out and make it successful for Arkansas, so we want to make sure we do It right,” Says ARDOT Deputy Public Information Officer, Ellen Coulter.
Electric car owners have to plan ahead on their commutes because most local charging stations only charge at 20 miles per hour.
“A lot of times there either in use or the 3 over here are currently being worked on so there’s only one available and for me, I live in Fayetteville so it’s a 20-25-minute drive if I want to speed charge my car,” explains Luke George.
Luke George is a Seattle native and he’s used to having access to multiple fast-charging stations. with only two in northwest Arkansas he says driving has been a struggle.
“I think adding more of these would be super helpful for all-electric car owners,” says George.
The state’s draft plan shows Arkansas would receive the first $8 million of the funding this year for a total of $54.1 million over five years. ARDOT says it needs the community’s help to determine what people would like to see in Arkansas.
“Public comment is huge for what we do. We want the public’s input, their opinions and these electric vehicles are a very hot topic right now,” said Coulter.
For drivers like Luke George, driving long distances in the state of Arkansas isn’t in the cards for him right now.
“For me, honestly no. Time is valuable and sitting for an hour or two when you’re on empty, when you have to get from point A to point B just isn’t really worth it so that’s why I still have my gas car at home,” said George.
The final plan will be submitted to the joint office of energy and transportation by Aug. 1, and ARDOT is taking comments up until Tuesday, July 19.
ARDOT says if you would like to leave a comment on the draft plan, you can go through its website or send an email. ardot_nevi@ardot.gov.
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