Half a billion dollars in grants awarded to boost EV charging network

California will get $102 million to build a hydrogen- and electric-vehicle charging network along the West Coast, while eight Native American tribes and dozens of local governments secured federal grants to build EV charging stations, the Biden administration announced Tuesday.

All told, the Federal Highway Administration announced $521 million in grants to 29 states to bring electric charging ports to largely underserved areas. The money comes from two programs in the 2021 infrastructure law that fund new charging stations to promote the switch from gas-powered cars to EVs.

“As we build out the EV charging network on our highways, we are also investing in local communities, rural, urban and tribal alike,” said U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg in a statement. “Today’s grants are a critical part of ensuring every American can find a charger as easily as a gas station, which will decrease pollution from our roadways, lower costs for families, and help people get to where they need to go efficiently.”

The efforts to build more publicly available chargers are aimed at alleviating one of customers’ biggest fears about transitioning to electric vehicles: not being able to find a place to recharge. The U.S. Department of Transportation said that the number of public chargers has doubled since Joe Biden became president in 2021; there are now more than 192,000 public chargers in the country. More than 1,000 new chargers have come online every week, federal officials said.

The grants are designed to fill gaps in the rollout of new charging locations. Most EV drivers refuel at home, usually in their garage. But those don’t accommodate people who live in apartment buildings or don’t have private space to charge their vehicles. They also don’t help people on long trips from home, especially in remote areas.

“Most EV charging will happen at homes, workplaces or other destinations while vehicles are already parked, providing a safe, reliable and vastly more convenient way for anyone to fuel,” said Gabe Klein, the executive director of the federal government’s Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. “Today’s investments in public community charging fill crucial gaps and provide the foundation for a zero-emission future where everyone can choose to ride or drive electric for greater individual convenience and reduced fueling costs, as well as cleaner air and lower health care costs for all Americans.”

The biggest award announced Tuesday went to California to help build an alternative fuel corridor with Oregon and Washington along Interstate 5 and other major freight routes. Construction on the new electric chargers and hydrogen fueling stations is expected to start in 2026.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is helping California build our clean transportation infrastructure, faster,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, in a statement. “From installing truck chargers to improving our airports, this latest federal funding is another opportunity for America’s exports to look west for moving freight while fighting our climate crisis.”

The three Western states have adopted policies that require an increasing percentage of new trucks to produce zero emissions. By 2036, all new medium- and heavy-duty trucks must be zero-emission vehicles. Already, 1 out of 6 new medium- and heavy-duty trucks sold in California last year produced no greenhouse gas pollution.

The Maryland Clean Energy Center secured the next biggest grant. It received $33 million to install chargers at 29 sites. The group is working with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to train apprentices and journeymen to install and maintain the EV chargers.

Several Native American tribes received money to install charging stations, too. For example, the Standing Rock Renewable Energy Power Authority received $3.9 million on behalf of the Sioux Reservation in North Dakota to build chargers at eight locations where tribal members often gather. In New York, the Oneida Indian Nation will use $12.8 million to install 52 fast chargers at five locations near Interstate 90, adding to the 16 that already are in service there. The Fort Independence Indian Community will use $15.1 million to build a solar-powered hub along U.S. Route 395, the only north-south passage in the Sierra Nevada range.

Meanwhile, various local governments landed grants to make chargers easier to access. The city of Atlanta, for example, will install 50 fast chargers at its airport, which would also reduce asthma-related issues in nearby Black neighborhoods. The city of Houston aims to install 366 chargers at 81 locations, including city-owned libraries, communities and parks. In Arkansas, Ozark Regional Transit will install EV charging infrastructure at 17 sites, which will be used for the agency’s on-demand transit vehicles between trips as well as being available to the general public. Those chargers would increase the number of public chargers in the booming region by 58%.