US government announces $623m in grants to build out EV charging network

The Biden administration aims for the country to have at least 500,000 publicly available chargers by 2030.

More than four million EVs are now on the road in the US and the government has pledged to pour $155 billion into the EV and battery supply chain.

The funding for the grants will come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $2.5 billion Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program.

The competitive funding programme will fund 47 EV charging and alternative-fueling infrastructure projects in 22 states and Puerto Rico, including construction of approximately 7,500 EV charging ports.

The Federal Highway Administration is awarding $311 million to 36 “community” projects, including two Indian Tribes in Alaska and Arizona. These projects invest in EV charging and hydrogen fuelling infrastructure in urban and rural communities, at high-use locations like schools, parks, libraries, multi-family housing.

Another $312 million in funding will go to 11 “corridor” recipients whose projects are located along roadways designated as Alternative Fuel Corridors.

Project selections in the latest round of grants include:

• $10 million to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to build EV charging stations for residents in multi-family housing in disadvantaged communities and rural areas.
• $15 million to the Maryland Clean Energy Center to build 87 electric vehicle charging stations in urban, suburban and low- and moderate-income communities across the state.
• $70 million to the North Central Texas Council of Governments to build up to five hydrogen fuelling stations for medium- and heavy-duty freight trucks in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio.
• $15 million to the County of Contra Costa in California to build a total of 52 fast chargers and 60 Level 2 chargers at 15 branch locations of the county’s library system.
• $15 million to Energy Northwest, a joint operating agency in Washington State, to install 40 fast chargers and 12 Level 2 chargers across western Washington State and northern Oregon.
• $12 million to the City of Mesa, Arizona, to build 48 electric vehicle chargers for a variety of vehicle sizes, charging docks for e-bikes and e-scooters, and solar canopies to support electricity generation at the stations.
• $1.4 million to the Chilkoot Indian Association, an Alaska Native Tribe, to build an EV charging station in Haines, a rural and disadvantaged community where there are no publicly available EV charging stations.