There's a big push for New York to go electric by 2025, and officials say they're now taking tangible steps toward accomplishing that goal. The concept of making vehicles sold in the state all electric is facing some hurdles, and one of them is the number of fast chargers available across New York.

Now, the state has introduced its first Level 3 fast-charging electric vehicle (EV) station that was built using federal funds from the 2021 Investment and Jobs Act.

After driving a hybrid, Saugerties resident Brandon Beisel always wanted to get a fully electric vehicle.

“This will give us (200) to 300 miles of range, and it's worked out great so far," Beisel said of his weeks-old EV.

But there was one speedbump: Charging it. Beisel said that without a way to charge it at home, he’s has to plan his day around going out, finding a charger and waiting for it to get the battery to 100%.

“It's a few hours. We go to coffee shops and you know, grab some food, a bite to eat," he said.

In Ulster County, that process will now become a lot speedier. State and federal officials unveiled four EV fast-charging stations that will juice up a car in a little as 20 minutes for newer EVs. The money is coming from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

“The goal of the president is to make sure that people are able to get from wherever their destination they're coming from to wherever their destinations are going to, and have the same experience as if they were driving an internal combustion engine," said Shailen Bhatt, administrator for Federal Highway Authority.

The law pushes the buildout of critical infrastructure for electric vehicles in an attempt to make owning them more convenient.

New York’s Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez says federal law requires these super-efficient charging stations available every 50 miles of heavily-traveled highway, similar to how the state’s rest stops are laid out.

Right now, the state has more than 150 charging ports at 39 sites along statewide major travel corridors.

“New York Power Authority and NYSERDA certainly have fantastic opportunities to leverage various grant programs to install charging stations around the state," Dominguez said. "So we're working with them to do all that.”

Beisel hopes more chargers are installed throughout the area, from the highways to back at home.

“Right now, we're working with the condo. We're trying to get some EV chargers in there as well, because there's some good programs going on with [the federal level]," he said.

Officials from the New York Power Authority say Richmondville in Schoharie County will be the next community to get fast-charging EV stations.