Grants awarded to upgrade public electric vehicle chargers
The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation on Wednesday said it had awarded nearly $150 million in grants to upgrade existing electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.
The 24 grants in 20 states will be used to repair or replace nearly 4,500 existing EV charging ports. In some cases, the grants will be used to bring the chargers up to code, officials said. The grants complement the billions of dollars invested by federal and private entities to build out the national EV charging network.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is building an EV charging infrastructure that can power our clean transportation future,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “These investments will ensure that Americans have a convenient and reliable experience when they charge their vehicles at public stations.”
The grants are funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure law and are part of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program – a $5 billion program administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and supported by the Joint Office to help states build out the EV charging network.
The grant program stipulates that 10 percent of funding be set aside for states or localities that require additional assistance to deploy EV charging infrastructure strategically.
“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,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “These grants bring us another step closer to a national EV charging network that keeps up with the EV transition that’s well underway.”
