On March 8, 2021, the Ohio EPA awarded $3.25 million in grants to support the installation of more than 500 publicly accessible Level 2 electric vehicle charging ports at more than 170 locations in 22 counties. The grants will help improve Ohioans’ access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Funding for the grants comes from Ohio’s allocations from the Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund. Public and private entities in 26 counties were eligible to apply for the grants which provide all or partial funding for the Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations.
A separate round of grant funding for fast-charging stations is planned later this year. Ohio EPA also will be funding an electric school bus pilot project. If you’re a fleet seeking assistance for applications to future rounds of the Ohio VW DMTF program, Clean Fuels Ohio can provide information resources, project competitiveness vetting, and grant writing. Please contact Clean Fuels Ohio if you have any questions or are interested in applying for funding under the 2021 DMTF Program. For more Information and Resources, contact Andrew Conley, Clean Fuels Ohio Chief Program Officer by calling 614-884-7336 ext. 306 or by emailing Andrew@CleanFuelsOhio.org
The Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund resulted from a federal lawsuit that alleged Volkswagen AG installed defect devices on certain vehicles (model years 2009-2016). The devices activated during emissions testing made vehicles appear to be compliant with the law, when in fact, during on-road operation, the vehicles emitted nine to 40 times the allowable amount of nitrogen oxides, a harmful air pollutant. A settlement filed with the court distributed funds to states based on the number of vehicles with the illegal devices that were registered within them.
