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E-vehicles, charge ports on the rise across Long Island: Shelter Island has been out front on issue

Commuters have grown familiar with the sound of a melodic hum while driving through parking lots or stopped at a red light as electric vehicles become commonplace on Long Island’s roads.

In Suffolk County, more than 33,000 electric vehicles had been registered with the DMV as of Dec. 2, 2024. Across Long Island, there are more than 69,000 electric vehicles on the road, according to EvaluateNY and Atlas Public Policy.

A majority of the electric vehicles across Long Island are Tesla, 58%; Jeep, 15%; Toyota, 14%; Ford, 7%; or BMW, 6%.

Shelter Island’s electric charging station next to police headquarters in the Center has been up and running  since December 2017. The ChargePoint unit, which can charge two cars simultaneously, was purchased via the New York State Municipal Zero Emission Vehicle rebate program. The town paid $16,140 upfront for the unit and installation work, but will get back 80% of the cost with the rebate.

Tim Purtell, chairman of the town’s Green Options Committee told the Reporter on Tuesday, “There are three Tesla chargers at Sunset Beach and four Rivian chargers at Mashomack Preserve for visitors. We’ve discussed at Green Committee meetings upgrading the Town chargers to fast chargers.”

Paul DiBenedetto, PSEG’s electric vehicle program manager, said, “I would say last year was a great year overall because at the beginning of 2024, we had just celebrated 50,000 EVs on the road on Long Island. And we basically just hit that 69,000 figure — so almost a 40% increase over one year is a pretty impressive stat.”

The trend is in line with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s requirement that “all sales or leases of new light-duty passenger vehicles [and new off-road vehicles and equipment purchases] in New York must be [Zero Emission Vehicles] by 2035.”

The Drive Clean Rebate offers consumers an up-front discount of $500 to $2,000 based on the vehicle manufacturer’s suggested retail price and all-electric range when purchasing an electric vehicle. It has been taken advantage of by more than 27,000 buyers in Suffolk County, according to the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority.

EvaluateNY estimates that electric vehicles on Long Island have reduced gasoline consumption by more than 27 million gallons per year.

Some electric vehicle owners may be familiar with “range anxiety,” a term used to describe concerns about how far they can travel before their battery runs out. “Charge anxiety” is another stressor, related to the accessibility of charging ports, that EV drivers can experience.

To combat these concerns, electric vehicle apps such as Zap-Map or ABetterRoutePlanner can help locate nearby charging points, according to National Grid.

Roughly 112 direct-current, fast-charging or DCFC ports are available in Suffolk County. In the same area, 448 level-two charging ports are available. “We saw about 72 DC fast-charging ports get energized last year, and over 393 level-two ports that got energized — just in last year alone,” Mr. DiBenedetto said.

Electric vehicle owners can also install Energy Star level-two charging ports at their homes and qualify for a PSEG residential charger rebate of $200. After the program launched in February 2024, Mr. DiBenedetto said more than 1,700 customers received the rebate.

Customers in disadvantaged communities or who are enrolled in PSEG’s Household Assistance Program can qualify for an extra $100 on top of the $200 rebate when installing a qualified charging port at their residence.

Some areas in Riverhead, Greenport and on the North Fork qualify for the disadvantaged community rebate. To learn more, visit nyserda.ny.gov/ny/disadvantaged-communities.

On an annual basis, PSEG conducts load-forecast studies across Long Island to investigate how the power grid is equipped to handle an increase of electric vehicles on the road.

“We model what the EV adoption has been looking like over the past few years — what are we thinking in terms of projection, policy, market drivers, things like that,” Mr. DiBenedetto said. “That helps us kind of put together how many EVs we expect to be on the road by year.”

To learn more about electric vehicles and available rebates, visit psegliny.com/saveenergyandmoney/GreenEnergy/EV.