US Government Plans To Allocate $5 Billion To Build Large-Scale Chargers

ET Thursday, the Biden administration unveiled a plan to allocate nearly $5 billion over five years to build thousands of electric vehicle charging stations.

In November, Congress approved government funding to states as part of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill.

The U.S. government will first allocate $615 million in 2022, but states must first submit plans to use the funds and receive federal approval.

"We're not going to dictate what the states do, but we do need to make sure that basic standards are met," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Buttigieg explained that the U.S. faces different electric vehicle network challenges in rural and urban areas, so specific plans for the use of funds in different regions "have to be customized, which is why we let states come up with plans to us, not backwards." come over."

Biden wants to have 50 percent of all new cars sold by 2030 be electric or plug-in hybrids and add 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations. However, he is not in favor of phasing out new gasoline-powered car sales by 2030.

The Biden administration said in Thursday's guidance that states should prioritize investing along interstates. It also proposes the following fine print:

States should provide funding to build DC fast chargers; chargers should have at least four ports capable of charging four electric vehicles simultaneously.

States should install EV charging facilities every 50 miles along interstate highways and within 1 mile of the highway.

Federal funding will cover 80 percent of EV charging costs, with private or state funding to cover the remainder.

The White House previously approved a bill to increase the current $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit to $12,500 and the used electric vehicle tax credit to $4,000.

The bill also includes a 30 percent credit for commercial electric vehicles, $3.5 billion for retrofitting U.S. factories for electric vehicle production, and $9 billion for the U.S. Postal Service and the federal government to buy electric vehicles and charging stations.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the U.S. government wants to "attract more charging pile companies from now on."

Asked about some lawmakers' concerns about high oil prices, Granholm said: "In the medium term, switching to electric vehicles will take us away from the volatility of fossil fuels ... we won't be held hostage by solar energy."