The Federal Highway Administration has approved $623 million in grants to help build a nationwide charging network for electric vehicles, with projects in 22 states receiving the funds.
The grants are part of the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure law and go toward President Joe Biden’s goal of installing 500,000 chargers by 2030.
The competitive Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grants being announced will fund 47 EV charging and hydrogen-fueling infrastructure projects in 22 states and Puerto Rico, including construction of 7,500 EV charging ports.
(For a state-by-state breakdown of where the grants will go, see the end of this article.)
“The CFI program complements the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) formula program to build the ‘backbone’ of high-speed EV chargers along our nation’s highways,” the FHWA says. “Thanks to the NEVI program, new charging stations in Ohio and New York have opened, and states like Pennsylvania and Maine have broken ground.”
More than 70% of the CFI grants will go to project sites in disadvantaged communities, the agency says.
The projects funded by the grants include those for EV charging and hydrogen fueling in urban and rural communities, as well as those along busier roads designated as Alternative Fuel Corridors, which are part of the core national charging and alternative-fuel network. To qualify for the CFI grants, the chargers must adhere to Made in America rules, and their installation and maintenance must follow “strong workforce standards,” according to the FHWA.
Highlighted Projects
The FHWA highlighted a variety of projects being funded with the grants:
- $70 million to the North Central Texas Council of Governments to build up to five hydrogen fueling stations for medium- and heavy-duty freight trucks in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. The project will help create a hydrogen corridor from southern California to Texas.
- $15 million to the Maryland Clean Energy Center to build 87 electric vehicle charging stations in urban, suburban and low- and moderate-income communities across the state.
- $15 million to the County of Contra Costa in California to build a total of 52 fast chargers and 60 Level 2 chargers at 15 branch locations of the county’s library system.
- $15 million to Energy Northwest, a joint operating agency in Washington State, to install 40 fast chargers and 12 Level 2 chargers across western Washington State and northern Oregon. The project will provide EV access to largely rural and disadvantaged communities, including on Indigenous Tribal lands.
- $12 million to the City of Mesa, Arizona, to build 48 electric vehicle chargers for a variety of vehicle sizes, charging docks for e-bikes and e-scooters, and solar canopies to support electricity generation at the stations.
- $10 million to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to build EV charging stations for residents in multi-family housing in disadvantaged communities and rural areas.
- $1.4 million to the Chilkoot Indian Association, an Alaska Native Tribe, to build an EV charging station in Haines, a rural and disadvantaged community where there are no publicly available EV charging stations.
See How Much Your State Gets
Here's a state-by-state breakdown of where the grants are going as shown on FHWA's website:
FHWA
