((Automatic translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
(More Details, More Reviews) by David Shepardson
The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it is providing $521 million in grants to expand electric vehicle charging and install more than 9,200 EV charging ports.
The Department of Energy and the Federal Highway Administration said $321 million would be allocated to 41 community projects to expand EV charging infrastructure, while $200 million would fund 10 fast-charging projects in the corridors.
Milwaukee will receive $15 million to install EV chargers at 53 locations, while Atlanta will receive $11.8 million to install a DC Fast Charging Hub at the city’s airport with 50 DC fast chargers to charge rental cars, rideshare drivers and airport buses.
The Biden administration has been heavily criticized for the slow rollout of electric charging stations under a $5 billion US government program set up in 2021.
Automakers and others say a significant increase in the number of electric vehicle charging stations is critical to ensuring widespread adoption of electric vehicles and contributing to U.S. efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The White House’s goal is to expand the country’s charging network to 500,000 ports, including high-speed chargers – up to 80 km away – on the country’s busiest highways.
As of August, the US had 192,000 public charging stations, and since the start of the Biden administration, the number of publicly available fast charging stations has increased by 90%.
The FHWA says about 1,000 new public chargers are added each week.
As of June, only seven EV charging stations had been deployed under the 2021 program in the U.S., which includes a few dozen charging ports in total, said Shailen Bhatt, who heads the Federal Highway Administration.
“It’s pathetic, we are three years into our existence
…. This is a massive administrative failure,” Sen. Jeff Merkley said at the hearing “Something is seriously wrong and it needs to be fixed.”
Mr. Bhatt said in June that he was frustrated by the slow rollout and indicated that the agency was working with states on their plans for rolling out electric chargers.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has also repeatedly criticized the pace of the rollout.
