U.S Transportation Department Approves EV Charging Plans Covering 75K Miles of Road
The $1 trillion infrastructure bill, passed in November 2021, provides $5 billion to help states install electric vehicle chargers along interstate highways over five years. On Tuesday, it became clear that the US is moving forward with its plan to support the development of electric vehicles. U.S Transportation Department, States now have access to more than $1.5 billion to set up electric vehicle charging stations, according to USDOT, In September, the White House announced that it had approved 35 of the 50 state plans. At this point, it is not known exactly how the implementation of the plan by the states on the ground will proceed. The bill will not dictate how the states should do this, but will see to it that the process meets some of the standards they set.
U.S Transportation Department, “We’re not going to dictate to the states how to do this, but we do need to make sure that they meet basic standards,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said earlier this year. USDOT said states should fund DC Fast Chargers; stations should have at least four ports capable of simultaneously charging four EVs, and install EV charging infrastructure every 50 miles along interstate highways, which are also located within one mile. Meanwhile, federal funds will cover 80% of the cost of building electric vehicle chargers, and the rest will be covered by private or state funds. By 2030, President Joe Biden wants 50% of all new cars sold to be electric or plug-in hybrid electric models. In addition, 500,000 new charging stations for electric vehicles should be built by that time. The President of the U.S. did not support the phasing out of sales of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035.