Gennaro Manocchio of Frewsburg in Chautauqua County plugs into his 2021 Prius Prime hybrid, just another example of his commitment to green energy and the environment.

"I garden. I have solar panels on my barn. We heat with wood. I try to be as frugal, but as realistic as possible," said Manocchio, a Frewsburg native.

Manocchio is a teacher and drives back and forth to Jamestown in a car that comes equipped with a battery pack that gives him an extra 30-32 miles in the summer of electric-only range, a little less, about 26 in the winter.

Once it goes into hybrid mode, he still gets more than 50 miles to the gallon.

"It's comfortable. It gets me where I need to go. It's very, very, very efficient. Between a full charge and a full tank of gas I can get over 500 miles of range on this vehicle," said Manocchio.

On days when he's not close to home and needs a quick charge, he knows he can use one of the many stations in Jamestown or nearby Lakewood. There are also several others across the state in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany.

"Having ability to be able to charge quickly here or there, go to school - if I could charge while I'm at school...Or charge if we go out for dinner or go see a show. Having that availability is greatly important to us," said Manocchio.

The state recently sent four new Charge Point fast-chargers to the city as part of the Evolve NY grant program, which can charge a car in 20 minutes or less.

"So the more that we can utilize state funding, in some cases, it's federal funding coming through the state, the better each community is, including the city of Jamestown," said Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist.

Mayor Sundquist says the city's power company reports an increase in usage as more people buy electric cars. There's even a rebate for businesses that provide chargers to its employees. He says he's grateful to the state as the stations will support the city's environmental strategy and help charge the local economy.

"Jamestown is a destination," he said. "To not only be able to see our stores, but to visit our national attractions. And to be able to have this electric charging station, really not only increases the value for the city but makes people want to come here."

Manocchio is equally appreciative to the state for providing the new fast chargers to Jamestown and allowing smaller rural communities to be in the driver's seat when it comes to promoting energy efficiency.

"It's great that New York State is putting the resources into helping people make that transition into electric vehicles," he said.

The city anticipates more stations in Jamestown as the state also looks to install ports in cities like Olean, Cattaraugus County and other communities up and down the I-86 corridor.

Gov. Kathy Hochul recently called for the major regulatory action that'll require all new passenger cars, pick-ups and SUV's sold in the state to be zero-emission by 2035. The same goes for school buses as well.

In addition to sites in Cattaraugus County, new chargers were recently installed in Broome, Sullivan and Orange counties.

Additional pods are also under development in Allegany County.