Federal Alternative Fuel Charging Grant Funding Announced

The federal Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) grant program, part of the 2021 infrastructure law, is now accepting applications for a $700 million program aimed at helping communities fill gaps in the charging and fueling infrastructure network for vehicles powered by alternative fuels like electricity or hydrogen.

As Daniel C. Vock explains in Route Fifty, “Unlike earlier rounds of funding to help states build a national charging network, the competitive grants announced this week are designed to fill in gaps where chargers are less likely to be installed by private entities.”

The 2021 law allocated $7.5 billion over five years to alternative fuel charging stations, with $5 billion slated to go toward a nationwide EV charging network. Of the remaining $2.5 billion, half is allocated to charging infrastructure at public facilities and the other half to improvements on major roads and highways. “Biden administration officials expect that most of the money going to local governments will be used to build Level 2 chargers, rather than the ‘fast chargers’ mandated along highways paid for with state grants. The slower chargers are easier to build and more practical for local residents than fast chargers, which are usually geared for motorists on long trips.”