New York City is adding 600 curbside EV chargers across all five boroughs. The current 88 are occupied up to 99% of the time.

New York City is adding 600 curbside EV chargers across all five boroughs over the next three years, the Department of Transportation announced. The expansion will grow the PlugNYC charging network from 88 Level 2 charging points to nearly 700. The city is also installing 92 DC fast charging points and 180 new Level 2 plugs at city-owned municipal parking fields and garages, with construction already underway at several locations.

The current 88 chargers have the highest utilisation rate of any public curbside network in the United States, according to the NYC DOT. Each charging point delivers energy over 85% of the time it is occupied. Occupancy rates run between 70% and 99%. Those numbers explain why the city is expanding: the pilot proved the demand, and there is clearly not enough supply.

New stations will have at least two stalls with two charging points each, for a total of four connectors per site. Where possible, the DOT will add electrical connections for e-micromobility charging, including electrified bikeshare docks, public e-bike charging cabinets, and cargo bike charging for microhubs. The idea is to dig once and future-proof each location. EVgo is adding 500 fast chargers at shopping centres across six US states, but NYC’s curbside approach targets a different problem: the millions of apartment dwellers who have no driveway, no garage, and no way to charge at home.

The first chargers will go online in the Bronx (Soundview, Unionport), Queens (Rego Park, Forest Hills, Far Rockaway), Brooklyn (Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, Bedford-Stuyvesant), Manhattan (Upper West Side, Washington Heights), and Staten Island (Stapleton). Locations were chosen based on high residential density, limited off-street parking, high concentrations of licensed cab and ride-hailing drivers, and low- and moderate-income communities where private companies have invested little. NYC launched the original PlugNYC pilot in 2021 with 120 Level 2 ports. Five years later, only 88 survive, but the ones that do are used constantly. The New York Power Authority will procure and install the new chargers. Pricing has not been set but the city says it will focus on affordability. Drivers will pay per kilowatt-hour via app or credit card tap.