State opens EV charging hub in Potsdam

New York Power Authority partnered with Stewart’s Shops, a family-owned convenience-store chain with more than 350 locations in New York and Vermont, to install charging stations at six locations in the Capital District and Adirondacks – Potsdam, Latham, Clifton Park, Schodack, Moreau, and Keene.

“Stewart’s Shops has been a valued site host, allowing expansion of high-speed charging in the Capital and Adirondacks regions,” Justin Driscoll, president and CEO of NYPA, said in the release. “The Potsdam Stewart’s site, along with many others still to come, will make charging an EV quicker, easier, and more convenient no matter where you live or travel in New York.”

The Evolve NY direct-current fast chargers can charge most of the battery capacity of many make or model EV in as little as 20 minutes when charging at 350 kW for a single car. If a second car uses the neighboring charger, the 350 kW is shared between the two vehicles. The system also offers a longer cable for better reach, a smaller footprint, and improved diagnostics to analyze performance.

“This new EVolve charger will play a vital role in reducing range anxiety and contributing to a more sustainable future,” Chad Kiesow, Stewart’s senior vice president, said. “At Stewart’s Shops, we take pride in our 12 locations already featuring EV charging stations, half of which are equipped with NYPA’s EVolveNY universal chargers.”

NYPA maintains the largest open-access, high-speed charging network in New York with 144 ports at 37 sites along major travel corridors and in urban hubs. In the North Country, there are four-unit EVolve NY hubs in Watertown and Plattsburgh and a single-port location in Malone.

New York is investing more than $1 billion in zero-emission vehicles over the next five years and adopting clean car and truck regulations that require 100 percent zero-emission passenger car and light-duty truck sales by 2035. There are currently more than 162,000 EVs on the road in New York.