USA to spend over 500 million on charging infrastructure

The US government is releasing a further 521 million dollars in grants for the construction of over 9,200 new electric vehicle charging stations. The funds will be applied across thirty U.S. states.

The funds for this will mainly come from the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program, for which a new call was launched at the end of May. According to the U.S. administration, there are now over 192,000 public charging points in the USA, which corresponds to a doubling of the number since the government took office. According to the information, around 1,000 new charging points are added every week.

The project allotments are spread fairly equally across the different states, with the most going to California, which is going to see a total of five projects funded, ranging from $3 million for the ‘Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians CFI Project’ to install 70 charging stations in the Reservation as well as the Route 50 freeway. The largest project in California will receive $102 million for the ‘West Coast Truck Charging and Fueling Corridor Project’ to deploy charging and hydrogen fueling stations for zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles along 2,500 miles of key freight corridors in California, Oregon, and Washington. This also marks the largest investment in the funding round.

To compare, the smallest investment will go to a St. Louis suburb named ‘University City,’ which will receive $500,000 to install up to 32 publicly accessible charging points in a historically disadvantaged area that helps to connect residents and visitors to the St. Louis metro area.

“The Biden-Harris Administration has taken action to ensure that America leads the EV revolution, and the historic infrastructure package includes resources to support a nationwide EV charger network so that all drivers have an accessible, reliable, and convenient way to charge their vehicles,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The awards that we’re announcing today will build on this important work and help ensure that the cost savings, health and climate benefits, and jobs of the EV future are secured for Americans across the country.”

“Today’s grants are a critical part of ensuring every American can find a charger as easily as a gas station, which will decrease pollution from our roadways, lower costs for families, and help people get to where they need to go efficiently,” added U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg.

highways.dot.gov, fhwadot.gov (PDF list of projects)