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Biden Administration Reveals $5 Billion Plan for Electric Vehicle Charging Network

On Thursday, the Biden administration unveiled its $5 billion plan to build an electric vehicle charging network. The network would consist of thousands of EV chargers. It was approved by Congress as part of a $1 trillion infrastructure package in November.

This electric vehicle charging network comes as both automakers and American officials work to move away from gas-powered vehicles. Previous efforts to get more money for EVs in Congress have been stalled or have failed. Of course, this EV charging network will face many difficulties, but just like Rome, it won’t be built in a day.

For 2022, the federal government plans to make $615 million available to the states. Before any states can claim the money, they have to submit plans and get the plans federally approved. “We’re not going to dictate to the states how to do this, but we do need to make sure that there are meet basic standards,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The Electric Vehicle Charging Network Will Face Challenges, Even With Federal Guidelines

According to Buttigieg, the network will face different challenges in urban and rural areas. “It’s got to be customized, which is exactly why we have the states coming to us with plans rather than the other way around,” he added.

The Biden administration says that states should focus on interstate highways first. To help combat the challenges and struggles of building a unified electric vehicle charging network, federal guidelines were released.

The Biden administration says that states should be funding DC fast chargers. Charging stations should have four ports. Of course, with four ports, these stations should be able to charge four EVs at the same time. EV charging infrastructure should be installed every 50 miles along interstate highways. They should also be located within one mile of highways. Seeing as how federal officials urge states to tackle interstates first, we’ll probably be seeing these stations pop up in 50-mile increments first.

When it comes to paying for all of these charging stations, federal funds will cover 80% of the cost. The rest of the charging costs will be covered by state or private funds.

The Push Towards EVs

By 2030, President Biden wants 50% of all new vehicle sales to be electric or hybrid. In addition to that, he wants to see 500,000 new charging stations across the U.S. Reuters reports that he has not said anything about phasing out gasoline-powered cars yet.

However, many automakers are choosing to focus on electric vehicles anyway. Some brands, like BMW, are even ending production lines of long-running cars in favor of putting more power towards EVs. Overall, the focus is to make these cars sustainable, affordable, yet still stylish and practical.