DOE's Granholm: 'Making electric vehicle charging accessible to all Americans is critical'

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The Biden-Harris administration announced the approval of more than two-thirds of Electric Vehicle Deployment Plans from the U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

The plans were approved under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, established and funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, according to a Sept. 14 Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration news release.

“Today, with funding in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are taking an important step to build a nationwide electric vehicle charging network where finding a charge is as easy as locating a gas station,” U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the release. “With the first set of approvals we are announcing today, 35 states across the country – with Democratic and Republican governors – will be moving forward to use these funds to install EV chargers at regular, reliable intervals along their highways.”

Due to the early approval, states can access more than $900 million in NEVI formula funding from fiscal years 2022 and 2023 to aid in the building of EV chargers across approximately 53,000 miles of highway across America, the release reported. The funding, which will release $5 billion spanning 5 years, will help build a stronger and more affordable U.S. EV charging network.

“Making electric vehicle charging accessible to all Americans is critical to achieving a transportation sector that improves our environment and lessens our dependence on oil and gas,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in the release. “This first group of 35 plans from states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico now have the green light to build their pieces of the national charging network to ensure drivers can spend less on transportation costs while commuting confidently by charging along the way.”