On Wednesday, the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation announced 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.
“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.”
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. Grants included $63 million for the California Department of Transportation, $3.66 million for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, $71,400 for the Indiana Municipal Power Agency, and $20,000 for the City of Glenn Falls, NY, among many others.
“Charging your electric vehicle should be as easy and convenient as filling up a gas tank – and these grants will help do that by making our EV charging network more reliable,” Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt said. “We’re building a bigger and better EV charging network to keep up with driver demand, and we’re also ensuring the existing network works when you need a charge.”