As electric vehicle sales increase, there are plans for new charging stations across the country, including right here in the Mahoning Valley.

By 2025, Mahoning County is set to have a high-powered DC electric vehicle charging station somewhere between Palmyra Township and Austintown Township. The Ohio Department of Transportation has pinpointed three viable locations on I-76 to place the site, which is a mile or less from exit 48, 54 or 57.

This is all part of the federal bipartisan infrastructure bill, which is set to bring $100 million dollars to Ohio, allowing the state to build at least 30 new charging stations.

"We'll have money left over, but priority one for the program is to fill those alternative fuel corridor spots, those gaps," Luke Stedke with ODOT, DriveOhio, said.

Stedke said these new stations will "fill the gaps" so that there is a charging station 50 miles or less from an exit of 15 prioritized corridors in the state, which is the federal government's requirement to be a part of this program.

"Each charging site has to be within one mile of the exit," Stedke said, "Each charging site has to be four 150-kilowatt chargers."

The state has narrowed down 143 sites across the state that are viable to house a charging station, but the first two initial phases of this federal program called the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula, will include 30 prioritized charging stations in the state of Ohio. 

He said each site would include four charging stations which would take 20 minutes to charge an electric vehicle to run 60-80 miles. 

The state is asking for Ohioans' feedback on where charging stations should go, which will be officially determined by ODOT in the coming months.

Stedke said construction could begin as soon as January 2024.

Currently, in the tri-county region, there is one electric vehicle charging station that meets the NIVI federal requirements, which is located in Trumbull County. 

Stedke added the logistics surrounding payment of using charging stations are still being sorted out federally. 

To learn more about the preliminary planning of the new charging stations in Ohio and to submit feedback, click here. 

To view an interactive map that shows the potential locations for a charging station, click here.