The US federal government knows some of the challenges electric vehicle (EV) owners face. Not having enough chargers conveniently available that can dispense energy as advertised is one of them. That was recently proven by a public official who had to send staff ahead that were tasked with blocking stalls so the motorcade wouldn't be late to various other events. That's not a very friendly thing to do. Fortunately, more public money is being poured into fast-charging reliability. Here's what's going on.
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) was announced last year with a budget of $5 billion. It was meant from the get-go to help states, agencies, and local authorities advance EV charging over a five-year period. The plan was to spend around $1 billion every 12 months.
Around $500 million were set aside so federal authorities could direct funds exactly where they wanted them to be used. One such case is fixing or outright replacing existing EV chargers that are no longer in use or have been abandoned. The initiative consumes 20% of that budget.
The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation says the $100 million will serve as an incentive for local governments and State departments of transportation to apply with clear plans in place to spend the money on complementing the private efforts in expanding high-power charging stations.
The targeted investment is expected to create new jobs and support small businesses in various parts of the country while also making the idea of transitioning to a zero-tailpipe emission vehicle more attractive.
Drivers have often complained or indicated that EVs aren't feasible for their lifestyle. They have shown that operators like the Dieselgate-born Electrify America don't provide dependable options to replenish high-voltage energy storage units. The latter is also one of the reasons why Ford and GM decided to join Tesla's Supercharger network and adopt the popular EV maker's inlet.
The Feds expect projects to take around two years before the changes become palpable, but there's a deadline for applicants who want to secure the federal funding.
Photo: Robert Linder on Unsplash
The measure comes at the right time, even though it might take a while to see some serious outcome. Gas prices are again on an uptrend, which could continue until early 2024. Meanwhile, brands like Tesla or Ford are cutting prices for their EV units.
Americans who don't live in regions with extreme temperatures could seriously consider switching to an EV, especially since great options like the Tesla Model Y, Rivian R1S, Ford F-150 Lightning, Hyundai Ioniq 5, or Lucid Air are available. Chevrolet's Bolt is getting discontinued at the end of the year and will be replaced in 2024, but it's still a car worthy of your consideration.
Local governments and State departments of transportation have until November 13 to submit their applications. If there won't be enough interested parties, the remaining sum will be put back into the discretionary fund and redirected to other EV-related causes.
According to the US Department of Transportation, there are over 6,200 charging ports marked as "temporarily unavailable" that are both publicly- and privately-owned. Winners of a portion of the total grant will have to bring online the targeted chargers in under 12 months.
They will also have to cover 20% of the total costs, which means Uncle Sam is paying for 80% of the plan to refurbish or replace broken EV charging stalls.
Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one. Full profile
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