The Federal Highway Administration has announced it is awarding nearly $150 million to 24 grant recipients in 20 states to make existing electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure more reliable.
The grants will be used to repair or replace nearly 4,500 existing EV charging ports and in some cases, bring them up to code. These targeted investments complement the tens of billions in Federal and private sector funding that is building out a national EV charging network, and support good paying jobs across the country installing, maintaining, and repairing EV infrastructure.
“The EV revolution is here. To make the most of it we must ensure that everyone, from the largest cities to the most rural communities, has access to reliable EV charging infrastructure,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in a statement. “These grants bring us another step closer to a national EV charging network that keeps up with the EV transition that’s well underway.”
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is building an EV charging infrastructure that can power our clean transportation future,” said Jennifer M. Granholm, U.S. secretary of energy, in a statement. "These investments will ensure that Americans have a convenient and reliable experience when they charge their vehicles at public stations.”
The funding for today’s awards is part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and comes from a new program from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program that was newly created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. NEVI is a $5 billion program administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and supported by the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation to help States build out EV charging.
Program rules stipulate a 10% set-aside for States or localities that require additional assistance to strategically deploy EV charging infrastructure. This first round of funding focuses on improving the reliability and accessibility of the current network by repairing or replacing existing EV charging infrastructure.
Eligible applicants and projects for the EV Charger Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator Program were outlined in a Notice of Funding Opportunity published in September 2023. For a full list of grant recipients, please visit the FHWA website.
---------------------------------------------------------
Source: The Federal Highway Administration
