ROCKLAND, Maine — Maine officials Tuesday took another stride in advancing the state's electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Eight new high-speed Tesla superchargers were unveiled at the Rockland Hannaford along Route 1 in the Midcoast.
"I am proud of this announcement today and the work in Maine to advance reliable fast charging across our state," Hannah Pingree, director of the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, said.
The Level 3 chargers are among the fastest in the state, capable of charging the average electric vehicle in about 20 minutes. They're part of Maine's growing network of EV charging stations through Recharge Maine, a state initiative to improve the EV charging infrastructure here.
"These are the first of many to come. There will be hundreds of charging ports in the next couple of years here," Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt said.
In January, Maine secured a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to install more than 60 Level 3 fast-charging ports and more than 500 Level 2 ports in 63 cities and towns.
Bhatt likened the rapid expansion of charging infrastructure as EVs become more popular to the building of roads for gas-powered vehicles a century ago.
"We want to get them up and running as quickly as possible," she said.
Over the next several years, Maine is set to receive an additional $18 million from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program to further expand its network of charging stations.