Biden Administration Approves EV Charging Station Plans Covering 75,000 Miles of Highways

The lack of charging infrastructure is one of the biggest hurdles to widespread electric vehicle adoption. This year the Biden administration allocated $5 billion to fund the installation of new EV chargers over the next five years. Now, the U.S. Transportation Department approved new electric vehicle charging station plans in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, which covers an estimated 75,000 miles of highways.

“Every single state, D.C. and Puerto Rico are working to leverage the investments from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand domestic electric vehicle charging across America,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “President Biden is leading the shift to electrify transportation—ensuring drivers can commute and charge confidently and affordably, and lessening our oversized reliance on fossil fuels while combatting climate change.”

States now have the approval to build EV charging stations along specific alternative fuel corridors and have access to more than $1.5 billion to build the chargers. The Transportation Department wants the states to install stations every 50 miles and ensure that each charging station is located within one mile of a highway. The funding will go to upgrading existing chargers, installing new EV charging infrastructure, operating costs, and EV charging station signage.

“America led the original automotive revolution in the last century, and today, thanks to the historic resources in the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re poised to lead in the 21st century with electric vehicles,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “We have approved plans for all 50 States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia to help ensure that Americans in every part of the country – from the largest cities to the most rural communities—can be positioned to unlock the savings and benefits of electric vehicles.”

So far the Biden administration has allocated a total of $135 billion for EVs and charging stations, which should see a national network of 500,000 charging stations by 2030. Currently, there are only about 47,000 charging stations in the U.S.

The administration has also set a goal for half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 to be zero-emissions vehicles. This will help reach President Biden’s goal of reducing emissions by 50 to 52% below 2005 levels by 2030.

“With this greenlight, States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico can ramp up their work to build out EV charging networks that will make driving an EV more convenient and affordable for their residents and will serve as the backbone of our national EV charging network,” said Acting Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack. “The Federal Highway Administration will continue to work closely with States as we implement this historic funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to bring President Biden’s vision for a national electric vehicle network to communities across America."

Fully electric vehicles only make up 5% of new car sales, which is up from 2% in 2021. While the overall goal is to reduce the number of vehicles on the road through better city planning and public transport infrastructure, cars are a necessity for many. The creation of a much larger EV charging network makes electric vehicles more attractive to buyers since range anxiety is still a major concern.