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- The federal government is encouraging states to speed up the development of electric vehicle charging stations across the country.
- States can tap into a $5 billion fund designated to help expand upon a national network of alternative fuel corridors of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations.
- States have to submit a deployment plan and get it approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation in order to access the money.
States are being encouraged to ramp up the production of electric vehicle charging stations as the federal government hopes to steer the future of the auto industry toward electric vehicles.
Americans are increasingly turning to electric cars, as the International Energy Association (IEA) found that, in 2021, sales more than doubled to surpass half a million. That increased electric car sales to account for 4.5 percent within the U.S. car market.
President Biden hopes to expand upon that growth, announcing this week that $5 billion will be made available to states under the new National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, as part of the president’s infrastructure law. The money is scheduled to be portioned out over the next five years.
States can tap into that money after submitting an electric vehicle infrastructure deployment plan, which should expand on Alternative Fuel Corridors, areas nearly every state has designated that the federal government hopes will establish a nationwide network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations.
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The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is advising states to focus on building charging stations along interstate highways, as it will help further the Alternative Fuel Corridors plan to create convenient, reliable and equitable public charging network, versus in neighborhoods.
If a state determines, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHW) agrees, that designated Alternative Fuel Corridors are fully built out, then they can use remaining funding to create charging stations in other areas, like at public parking garages, schools, parks and other buildings.
For FHW to consider Alternative Fuel Corridors as being “fully built out,” states must have charging infrastructure installed every 50 miles along its portion of the interstate highway system that’s within 1 mile of the interstate highway.
There is a deadline, too, with state DOTs required to submit their electric vehicle infrastructure deployment plans no later than Aug. 1, 2022.
All the requirements states face to access funding is geared toward achieving Biden’s goal of getting electric car sales up to 50 percent of all car sales by 2030.
Automakers are also lining up to shift their business to electric vehicles. For instance, Ford is reportedly making additional investments of up to $20 billion over the next decades to produce electric vehicles. Ford is also attempting to transform the country’s former car mecca, Detroit, into a hub for electric and self-driving cars, buying Michigan’s Central Station.
Chrysler also announced last month that it would be unveiling its first electric vehicle by 2025 and aims to only sell electric cars by 2028.
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