Bryan-College Station included in newly proposed TxDOT EV infrastructure plan

A newly proposed plan from TxDOT may introduce more electric vehicle charging stations throughout the state, including Bryan-College Station as part of its third phase.

Version 0.56 of the Texas Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan was released for public comment June 12. The current draft is not final but does currently include three phases, year 1, year 2 and year 3+, respectively. Bryan-College Station is currently included in the third phase, which may include electric vehicle corridors throughout the state following the installation of charging stations along major interstate highways in phases one and two.

According to the TxDOT proposal in its current form, the installation of EV charging stations inside the Bryan-College Station Metropolitan Planning Organization, or MPO, would cost approximately $1,562,464 with an estimated five-year operation cost of $322,866. The proposed public fast charging stations would have to be no more than one mile from interstate exits or highway intersections and support the charging of at least four cars simultaneously. These funds would possibly come from the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which states that funding for charging stations would be 80% federal and 20% state funds. The estimates given for Bryan-College Station do not include the 20% state funds.

Daniel Rudge, executive director of the Bryan-College Station Metropolitan Planning Organization, said the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act required all states to develop an electric vehicle charging plan.

“The emphasis in the federal legislation was to try to bring about charging stations along the major interstate routes,” Rudge said. “And then level three, or year three plus, is when they get down to some of the more rural areas trying to get a charging station.”

When it comes to producing and installing these new charging stations, Rudge said TxDOT would partner with the private sector.

“They’re trying to make these electric charging stations to be like gas stations where it doesn’t matter if you go to a Shell or Valero ,” Rudge said. “We would like for people to be able to say, ‘Hey, there’s an electric charging station here and it works for my car because all of them work for my car.’”

Rudge said this is an important part in making electric cars more accessible to people.

“For people to be willing to give up gasoline-powered vehicles, there needs to be a specific comfort level where I can get from point A to point B using an electric vehicle,” Rudge said.

Megan Brown, public information officer for Bryan Texas Utilities, said that if the plan reaches phase three, the city is prepared to offer power.

“So we would just have to attain that power, either with another generation facility of our own, or by obtaining that through the market or our purchase power agreements,” Brown said.

Brown also said the statewide power grid should be able to support all the proposed charging stations in phase one.

“They’re [charging stations] maxed out rate would consume 605 megawatts of electricity from the grid,” Brown said. “600 megawatts is nothing to shy away from, that’s quite a great amount of electricity, but it’s also not a ton in comparison to the entire grid.”

BTU owns and operates two charging stations in Bryan, Brown said.

“We do already have some EV charges … actually two downtown,” Brown said. “We have worked with several facilities, retailers, grocery stores, [and] hotels that choose to have that service available for their customers.”

Brown says they charge a flat rate to customers who use their charging stations.

“We bill ourselves basically for the exact same rate that we would any other customer,” Brown said.

Alice Grossman, an associate research scientist at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, said more electric cars locally would have a positive impact on air quality.

“The air quality benefits are definitely one of the top on the list,” Grossman said. “Having cleaner air for the community by allowing there to be more electric vehicle ownership and traffic through the area … I see that as a big win.”

Grossman said the transportation institute is currently conducting studies on the impact that electric vehicles have on air quality and public health.

“Electrifying fleets, whether that’s personal vehicles or public fleets or freights, could have a huge impact,” Grossman said. “The vehicle electrification in that area can really help improve the quality of life and health outcomes for people in Texas.”

Bailey Muller, a senior planner in the transportation department at North Central Texas Council, said Texas has a cleaner power grid compared to other states which would work in favor of electric cars.

“EVs are as clean as the grid that you run them on,” Muller said. “When you look at the lifecycle analysis of the production of fuel, the production of the vehicle and then the use of the vehicle over the vehicle’s life, electric vehicles still produce less emissions.”

However, Muller did say one of the biggest limitations of EVs is the current battery solutions, but that research is underway to make more sustainable batteries.

“When you think about some of the first EVs that came out in early 2013 to today, the battery technology that they use versus what we use today is completely different,” Muller said. “So we’re not expecting the way the batteries are made right now, and limitations of the way batteries are made right now, to go into the future.”

Community members can submit public comments to txdot_nevi@txdot.gov.