US starts programme to repair and upgrade EV charging stations
The programme was first announced in January 2024. Now, work on the first public charger in Washington, D.C. has started. “The currently inoperable station will receive upgraded infrastructure and expanded charging capacity at faster speeds,” it says in the announcement.
The current chargers only had a maximum capacity of 50 kW. Once upgraded, they will offer up to 150 kW and will be fitted with a CCS 1 and a NACS connector. The latter makes sense as many carmakers recently announced that they would start offering their EVs with the NACS (North American Charging Standard) in the US from next year. Until now, that system was only used by Tesla.
“Having convenient, reliable chargers in the heart of Washington, D.C., will make it easier for residents, tourists, and visitors to drive electric,” said Gabe Klein, executive director of the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. “These upgraded chargers offer faster speeds, serve more drivers, and are part of a wave of projects creating good jobs across the country. Today’s historic groundbreaking marks another step forward on our journey to creating clean mobility options for all Americans.”
The Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility (EVC-RAA) is part of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Programme, launched under the Biden-Harris administration. The goal is to repair about 4,500 EV charging points currently out of service.
The money was awarded to 24 grant recipients across 20 US states, with California receiving the largest share. It received over 63 million to repair over 1300 ports; Washington State will maintain 506 charging stations with funding of over 10 million dollars; Oregon also received about 10 million for over 400 ports, while New York State scored 13 million to repair 335 ports.
0 Comments