Maine will add more than 50 new high-speed EV chargers near busy highways, outdoor recreation areas

AnnMarie Hilton
·3 min read

An electric vehicle charging station in Damariscotta, Maine. (Evan Houk/Maine Morning Star)

The next step in Maine’s commitment to building a network of electric vehicle chargers will come in the form of new high-speed charging stations opening in the next year. 

With 52 new chargers across 17 different locations, the stations will be placed on heavily traveled highways and roads such as Interstate 95, U.S. Route 2, parts of Portland and Bangor, and near outdoor recreation areas, according to a news release from the governor’s office Wednesday morning.

As drivers choose electric vehicles for environmental reasons and other benefits, Gov. Janet Mills said in the release that “Maine must have a robust charging infrastructure to help ensure that you can get there from here.”

The cost of the charging stations comes to about $8.5 million, with the money coming from multiple sources, the release said. Most of that money ($5.7 million) is coming from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program, which is part of the federal bipartisan infrastructure law. The remaining $2.8 million is coming from the Governor’s Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan and settlement funds from the New England Clean Energy Connect project. 

Nine of the 17 new locations — in Bangor, Bridgton, Hermon, Newport, Portland, Rumford and Windham — will be funded by the federal program and have at least four chargers per station. The other eight stations will have at least two chargers each.

“This expansion of high-speed charging infrastructure will help reduce range anxiety for current and future Maine EV drivers and will help communities attract commerce and tourism,” said Joyce Taylor, chief engineer at the Maine Department of Transportation.

The new high-speed chargers will be placed at these locations: 

  • Cumberland County

    • Hannaford Supermarket, Main Street, Gorham  

    • Nouria, Ossipee Trail, Gorham 

    • University of Southern Maine, School Street, Gorham 

    • Marginal Way Parking Lot, Portland  

    • Hannaford Supermarket, Forest Avenue, Portland  

    • Shaw’s Plaza, Roosevelt Trail, Windham 

    • Nouria, Portland Road, Bridgton  

  • Franklin County   

    • Rangeley Hideaway, Main Street, Rangeley  

  • Oxford County 

    • River Street Parking Lot, Rumford 

  • Penobscot County 

    • Tractor Supply Plaza, Central Street, Millinocket 

    • Dysart’s Restaurant and Truck Stop, Coldbrook Road, Hermon  

    • Airport Mall, Union Street, Bangor

    • Hannaford Supermarket, Stillwater Avenue, Bangor  

    • Hannaford Supermarket, Moosehead Trail, Newport  

    • Alltown Market, Park Street, Orono  

    • University of Maine, Beddington Road, Orono  

  • Piscataquis County 

    • Indian Hill Trading Post, Moosehead Lake Road, Greenville 

Maine intends to install charging stations at least every 50 miles along the state’s major corridors in urban areas and in rural service centers using grant money it expects to receive over the next several years, the release said. The state is supposed to receive an additional $12 million from the federal program that funded these new high-speed chargers and another $15 million from the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program. 

Currently, Maine has more than 1,000 EV charging ports across nearly 500 locations, according to a map from Efficiency Maine.

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