US awards $521 million in subsidies to boost electric vehicle charging network by Reuters

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration said on Tuesday it is awarding $521 million in grants to build electric vehicle charging and deploy more than 9,200 electric vehicle charging ports.

The Department of Energy and the Federal Highway Administration said $321 million will be allocated to 41 community projects that expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure, while $200 million will fund 10 rapid charging corridor projects .

Milwaukee will receive $15 million to install electric vehicle chargers at 53 locations, while Atlanta will receive $11.8 million to install a DC fast charging center at the city’s airport with 50 DC fast chargers which provides charging for rental cars, drivers who can use public transport and airport shuttles.

The Biden administration has faced harsh criticism for the slow rollout of electric vehicle charging stations from a $5 billion US government program set up in 2021.

Automakers and others say the drastic expansion of electric vehicle charging stations is crucial to the widespread deployment of electric vehicles, key to U.S. efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The White House’s goal is to grow the national network of chargers to 500,000 ports, including high-speed chargers – no more than 50 miles apart – on the nation’s busiest highways.

As of August, the United States had 192,000 public charging ports, and since the start of the Biden administration, the number of publicly available fast charging ports has increased by 90 percent.

The FHWA said about 1,000 new public chargers are added each week.

As of June, just seven electric vehicle charging stations had been installed under the US 2021 program, making up a few dozen total charging ports, said Shailen Bhatt, who heads the Federal Highway Administration.

“It’s pathetic. We’re three years into this… It’s a huge administrative failure,” Sen. Jeff Merkley said at the hearing. “Something is terribly wrong and needs to be fixed.”

Bhatt said in June that he was frustrated by the slow implementation and said the agency was working with states on their plans to implement electric vehicle chargers.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the pace of deployment.