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North Carolina set to expand electric vehicle charging network

North Carolina is investing nearly $7 million in the expansion of electric vehicle charging stations across the state.

The funding was announced by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality, or DAQ, this week. It's the second phase of a project aimed at filling gaps in charging locations along major corridors and coastal evacuation routes.

According to a news release, DAQ will install new DC Fast chargers at 40 sites around the state. Most of the locations will be in rural areas, although there will be a station added in Winston-Salem.

There are also plans to upgrade 13 existing sites, including a station in Boone.

Money for the project comes from the North Carolina Volkswagen Settlement Program, which uses funding from a national agreement with the automaker following accusations the company used computer equipment to cheat on federal emissions tests.

Zach Pierce is a senior advisor to Governor Roy Cooper who focuses on climate change and clean energy policy. Pierce says that the experience for electric vehicle drivers in North Carolina is going to change dramatically in the coming years.

"We're seeing manufacturers committing to getting these vehicles on the roads and public and private sources are investing in the charging infrastructure to make that experience more seamless," says Pierce. 

Officials believe the expansion will alleviate range anxiety among electric vehicle users, while further decreasing emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. 

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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