Last Friday, July 10, 2020, the governor held a press conference in front of the Turkey Lake Tesla Superchargers to announce that the state would be expanding fast charging to 74 terminal locations.  Unfortunately, because of the setting, a few media outlets incorrectly assumed that all 74 chargers would be Tesla Superchargers.

The facts are that through a combination of private commercial donations and $8.6 million in funding from the Volkswagen "dieselgate" settlement, the state will be expanding fast charging along state highways.   The expansion along the Turnpike will be privately funded and charging infrastructure development along I-10, I-95 and I-75 will be financed by the Volkswagen settlement. 

We previously reported on the continuing progress of expanding the number of Tesla Superchargers along the Turnpike in the following article:

Fast Charging & Supercharging Stations will be added at the Florida Turnpike service plazas (Public)

We also reported on the landmark EV Infrastructure Bill that the governor signed into law in June.

Florida Legislature Sends Landmark EV Infrastructure Bill to Governor [Signed into law] (Public)

At Friday's press conference, the governor was quoted as saying:

This long-term investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure is a win for our state on multiple levels. Not only will these charging stations promote reduced emissions and better air quality, they will also improve mobility and safety for the ever-increasing number of Floridians that drive electric cars. I look forward to building on this investment and continuing our work to improve Florida's environment and transportation infrastructure.

The governor's press release states:

DEP [Department of Environmental Protection] has reviewed the applications received for the electric vehicle charging stations and has selected the projects to receive the awarded funding. With this funding, 74 additional DC fast chargers will be installed statewide. Combined with the chargers FDOT is installing along the Florida Turnpike, a total of 104 DC fast chargers will be installed along over 1,200 miles of highway, covering the most traveled corridors in the state. Each of the 34 locations will have at minimum 2 chargers each. This represents an approximately 50 percent statewide increase in publicly available DC charging stations.

Here is a list of the location of applications that were awarded funding:

Tesla was not awarded any funding.  Of course, there is always a remote possibility that Tesla could partner with a location to install Superchargers.

The chart below was presented at the press conference.  You will note that the state plans to have 16 Supercharger terminals included along the Turnpike.  Four terminals have already been installed and are operational at the Fort Drum Supercharger location, so there are now a total of 10.

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Larry Chanin

President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

email: lfchanin@gmail.com

Website: teslaownersflorida.org

Facebook: Florida Tesla Enthusiasts