POTSDAM, N.Y. (WWTII) — It’s the first of its kind between Watertown and Plattsburgh.

On September 12, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled a new high-power multi-charger hub for electric vehicles in Potsdam, New York.

The station offers four high-speed chargers, which is needed, according to Stephen Bird, a Clarkson University professor of political science and EV expert.

“One of the single largest challenges right now in the market is what people in the industry call ‘range anxiety.’ People are worried about buying an EV and not being able to get where they want to go, or being really inconvenienced.”

These charges are a solution. Each of the four, allows any compatible EV to fast-charge at the maximum level of 350 kilowatts.

Installed by the New York Power Authority, this is a part of the State’s EVolve NY fast-charging network.

“The idea, ultimately is that you shouldn’t be able to go more than half an hour, or an hour, without being able to have a charging station available to you,” Bird explained. “So this fills in a particularly big gap with fast chargers.”

As per state legislation, New York will require all vehicles to be emission-free by 2035. The regulation states that it will help decarbonize the state’s transportation sector and advance New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act which calls for emissions to be reduced 85% by 2050.

Bird said that this will require more EV chargers across the state.

“Matching our charging capacity with the growth of EVs and getting those to be relatively close is going to be the really big challenge,” he expressed. “It’s going to be mean sometimes having more charging capacity than we have EVs on the road. Because we’ve got to be able to address the biggest surge. It’s really about creating an infrastructure of charging networks that can handle that full capacity and making sure it’s matched up.”

Although there likely will be bumps in the road along the way, Bird added that electric is the future and we’re paving the way.

“The rest of the country is going to be looking at what and how we do this in New York State,” he said. “It’s going to bring lots of benefits and it has the potential to bring real benefits to the North Country.”

The new fast-charging EV station is located at the Stewart’s Shop location at 26 Maple Street in Potsdam, New York.