SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — The University of North Carolina Wilmington was one of 17 recipients of funding for electric vehicle charging stations from the state.
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality announced Friday more than $739,000 was awarded to agencies to install Level 2 EV charging stations. The money is the final round of grants from the North Carolina Volkswagen Settlement Program, which has distributed more than $92 million for clean vehicles and EV chargers statewide.
UNCW will receive $193,219 for the infrastructure to install two charging ports at two stations. Another $154,718 is being paid for by the university to cover the full cost of the project.
In total, NCDEQ’s recently announced grants will pay for 50 stations across 17 sites including at universities, state parks and community colleges. The chargers are estimated to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide by a combined 80 pounds over their lifetime and prevent more than 450 tons of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere.
Other locations will support charging of state employee and fleet vehicles, to help achieve Gov. Roy Cooper’s efforts to transition the state motor fleet to zero-emission vehicles.
NCDEQ received more than $92 million from a national settlement with the automaker, VW, in 2019. Since then, the agency’s Division of Air Quality has awarded grants that combined will prevent 377 tons of nitrogen oxide from entering the atmosphere and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
DAQ doled out more than $77 million so far for the replacement of old, diesel vehicles with clean alternatives and another $15 million for the installation of EV charging stations across the state.
Roughly half of the money went to rural communities or historically under-resourced counties.
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