The Biden administration announced Thursday it will require that electric vehicle chargers installed with federal funding meet minimum reliability standards and charging speed, work for all cars and take common payment methods.
“The new standards will ensure everyone can use the network — no matter what car you drive or which state you charge in,” the White House said in a fact sheet on the proposed regulations governing $7.5 billion in federal funding authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
The Department of Transportation wrote the regulations in consultation with the Department of Energy in the administration’s bid to build a national network of 500,000 EV chargers.
The funding, which will be spent over five years, includes $5 billion allocated to states, D.C. and Puerto Rico based on a formula under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program and $2.5 billion in competitive grants for smaller towns or tribes that may not qualify for the NEVI funds.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the chargers will be “available to everyone everywhere, whether driving in urban, rural or tribal communities. It means a standard to build EV charging stations every 50 miles, no more than 1 mile off the highway, with a focus on the interstate system and alternative fuel corridors.”
“Everyone should be able to find a working charging station when and where they need it without worrying about paying more or getting worse service because of where they live. You shouldn’t have to sort through half a dozen apps on your phone just to be able to pay at a charging station,” he added. “No matter where you live or where you’re headed, everyone should be able to count on fast charging, fair pricing and easy-to-use payment for their EVs.”
Deputy National Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi said the regulations will “democratize access to a cost-saving technology.”
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said U.S. EV sales doubled in 2021 and could double again this year as rising gas prices make EVs more affordable.
“At today’s gas prices, EV owners can save about $60 bucks every time they charge up compared to an equivalent fossil fuel-powered vehicle,” she said. “This administration wants to make sure every American can reap those cost savings, and key to that mission is giving people confidence that they can drive an EV wherever they want to go and charge up wherever they live.”
Granholm reiterated her call for Congress to pass tax credits to incentivize EV purchases, “because if we’re going to build out infrastructure like we haven’t done since the Eisenhower era, we have to build it right.”
The standards will require at least four 150-kW DC fast charging ports per station so “if you get there and there’s a few people ahead of you, you can [charge] at the same time,” said Stephanie Pollack, deputy administrator of the Federal Highway Administration.
“It has to be working 97% of the time; that’s a consumer complaint that we’ve heard,” added Pollack. “There’s a requirement for real-time data that will ensure that third-party apps can provide you information when you’re on the road so you can find not just a charger but the nearest charger. Is someone else using it? Is it currently operating?”
In February, DOT and DOE announced the first installment of funding, $615 million for 2022, ranging from a low of $2 million for Puerto Rico to $60 million for Texas. (See States to Get $615 Million for EV Charging from IIJA Funds.)
“These federal charging programs were designed to catalyze additional private sector investments that complement the buildout of a user-friendly, cost-saving and financially sustainable national EV charging network,” the fact sheet explained.
State plans are due in August, and FHWA will be approving them on a rolling basis. “As soon as the state has an approved plan, they can start putting that money to work,” Pollack said.
“People need to have confidence that they can find a charger so that they’re willing to buy electric vehicles,” Pollack said. “A national network means the experience [when] you pull up to that charger is the same no matter where you are.”
Economic Development
Officials also touted the economic development impacts of the spending.
Zaidi said EV companies announced 22,000 manufacturing jobs in the first quarter of the year, with companies locating in the U.S. to be part of the country’s supply chain. “It means we’re going to capture more of the economic upside here in the United States,” he said.
White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator Mitch Landrieu said the standards will “trigger competition” in the EV space, noting “the historic private investment from automakers like Ford, Stellantis and [General Motors], and EV charging manufacturers like Tritium and Siemens.”
Officials said the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation will select 25 members to serve on a federal advisory committee, the EV Working Group, to “make recommendations regarding the development, adoption, and integration of light-, medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles into the transportation and energy systems” of the U.S.
The joint office also will engage the American Public Power Association, Edison Electric Institute and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association “to inform electric system investments and support state planning.”
Granholm said the administration plans to offer up to $30 million in funding for clean energy mobility pilots and demonstration projects in underserved and rural areas “to create solutions for overnight at-home charging in multifamily buildings. We want all these solutions, and we want experts across the country helping us to make sure we’re doing it right.”
Related Initiatives
Officials said the new regulations would supplement DOE’s May announcement of $45 million through its “EVs4ALL” program to develop very fast charging batteries.
The administration also touted the Department of Agriculture’s EV charging resource guide for rural property owners, states, territories, tribes and others, and a climate smart schools guide explaining funding for charging for rural school districts.
In addition, the General Services Administration has created blanket purchase agreements to help federal agencies and others to procure EV chargers and services at federal facilities.
