Feds Allocate $150 Million to Fix and Upgrade EV Charging Ports

According to an article from Electrek, the U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation has launched a $150 million grant program to repair and upgrade 4,500 existing, publicly accessible electric vehicle charging ports across the country. The effort, called the Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility program, is funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is part of the Biden Administration’s goal to have 500,000 public EV chargers in the ground and operating by 2030 and, article author Michelle Lewis reports, “at a time when, according to the US Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, approximately 5% of public charging ports are temporarily unavailable.”

The Joint Office broke ground on the first project funded under the EVC-RAA grant program in late August; the inoperable charging station in Washington, D.C. will be upgraded to charge four vehicles simultaneously at speeds of 150 kW, up from its previous capacity of 50 kW. “Located near a convenience store, a riverfront park, trails, and a Capital Bikeshare station, the station is well-positioned to serve both residents and visitors,” Lewis writes.

In addition to ensuring Americans have access to convenient, safe, and dependable EV charging infrastructure, the federal government’s push to build out EV charging infrastructure is a key component of its strategy to meet national climate goals under the Paris Agreement. Earlier this year, the White House announced $623 million in grants to build new public EV charging infrastructure.