USA earmarks 623 million dollars for charging infrastructure

The US government is releasing 623 million US dollars from its "Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program" to develop charging and alternative refuelling infrastructure. The CFI programme primarily intends to expand the infrastructure in cities and rural areas.

It provides 2.5 billion dollars in funding over five years. The first 700 million dollars for the financial years 2022 and 2023 were released last March. The Biden administration has now announced that it will distribute a second tranche of 623 million dollars to 47 EV charging and alternative-fueling infrastructure projects in 22 states and Puerto Rico. That includes the construction of approximately 7,500 charging points. A complete list of all funding recipients is linked below the article.

The CFI programme complements the five billion dollar National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) formula programme, for which the final requirements were set in February 2023. The charging stations built under the CFI programme must meet the same requirements, according to an earlier announcement by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

While the NEVI programme focuses on fast-charging stations along highways, the new CFI programme focuses on building charging stations and alternative refuelling infrastructure (hydrogen and gas) in cities and rural areas, particularly in disadvantaged communities.

The CFI programme’s 2.5 billion-dollar budget is divided equally into two main areas. The “Community” programme subsidises charging stations, hydrogen, propane or natural gas refuelling infrastructure on public land or in semi-public areas in communities. The “Corridor” programme provides funding for charging stations and hydrogen, propane or natural gas refuelling infrastructure along “roadways designated as Alternative Fuel Corridors.”

The CFI and the NEVI were created as part of US President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill. They are critical to building a “convenient, affordable, reliable and made-in-America national network of EV chargers, including at least 500,000 publicly available chargers by 2030 ensuring that EVs are made in America with American workers,” according to the FHWA.

highways.dot.gov, fhwa.dot.gov (Full list of recipients)