Keaton PetersThe Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, a collaboration between the U.S. departments of Energy and Transportation, is taking a major step toward preparing America’s transportation network for electric vehicles, with the announcement of $1.3 billion to expand the EV charging network. The grant application is open to state, regional, Tribal and local government entities until Aug. 28.
“By helping connect our nation’s communities and corridors, the Joint Office and FHWA are modernizing the nation’s infrastructure and creating new job and transportation opportunities,” Joint Office Executive Director Gabe Klein said in a press release. “Doubling down on electrification is more important than ever to our economic prosperity and national security.”
The investment is the single largest grant round for electric vehicle charging infrastructure to date, according to the announcement from the Department of Energy. The funding is made possible by passage of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the grant is funded through two Federal Highway Administration programs, the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure discretionary grant program, which will administer the $1.3 billion.
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program is dedicated to expanding the EV charging network in the United States to 500,000 charging stations by 2030. The Infrastructure and Jobs Act provided the program with $5 billion to award over several years. The Charging and Fueling Infrastructure program has $2.5 billion to award over five years, prioritizing locations that benefit communities that lack sufficient charging or critical transportation corridors. The previous grant round under this program supported 47 projects in 22 states and Puerto Rico, constructing about 7,500 EV charging ports.
Under the application requirements, projects must dedicate at least 50% of the funds to communities and corridors that meet the criteria established by the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure program. Previous applicants that did not receive funding are also being invited to resubmit applications. Government entities looking to resubmit a previous application must notify the Federal Highway Administration by July 1.
The Joint Office will also host two webinars for prospective applicants to get more information about the process and how to secure EV charging infrastructure funds. The webinars will be held on June 6 and 11.
