Billions In Funding For EV Chargers
Released late last week, the federal government laid out plans for a $5 billion investment in public electric vehicle charging infrastructure (“national charging network”) over the next five years.
The money was set aside in the bipartisan infrastructure law that passed in November. Funding is part of the Biden administration’s wider goals to increase electric vehicle adoption. The administration has pledged to have the United States reach 500,000 public charging stations by 2030. Over half the vehicles in the nation are presumed to be electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles by that year. This federal funding could be the first step to reaching those goals. The details in the plan lay out how the money will be spent.
Specifically, the federal government will provide $5 billion over the next five years for states to install and maintain public charging stations for electric vehicles, with an additional $2.5 billion for rural areas and communities. The money will be distributed to states and must be used for EV charging stations on certain routes, mostly along interstate highways.
One of the goals of this plan is to accelerate adoption of electric vehicles for private consumers and commercial fleets, setting a path to net-zero emissions by the year 2050.
Read more in the White House Fact Sheet here.
