The US govt is fixing and upgrading 4,500 EV charging ports

The US Joint Office of Energy and Transportation has broken ground on a $150 million grant project to repair and upgrade 4,500 EV charging ports.

The Joint Office broke ground on its first Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility (EVC-RAA) program-funded project yesterday – an inoperable charging station in Washington, DC.

The repaired station will be able to charge four vehicles simultaneously using either CCS or NACS connectors at speeds of 150 kW, an upgrade from its previous 50 kW capacity. Located near a convenience store, a riverfront park, trails, and a Capital Bikeshare station, the station is well-positioned to serve both residents and visitors.

Gabe Klein, executive director of the Joint Office, emphasized the importance of reliable charging infrastructure, stating, “These upgraded chargers offer faster speeds, serve more drivers, and are part of projects creating jobs across the country.”

The nearly $150 million in EVC-RAA grants will be used to repair around 4,500 existing, publicly accessible EV charging ports across the US. The effort to fix and upgrade existing EV chargers comes at a time when, according to the US Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, approximately 5% of public charging ports are temporarily unavailable.

The EVC-RAA is funded by the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program, created as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to help states build convenient, safe, and dependable EV charging infrastructure. The Joint Office is working with all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico to ensure the success of the NEVI program.

The initiative aligns with the Biden-Harris administration’s goal to install 500,000 public EV chargers by 2030, aiming to make EVs a practical option for more Americans.

Read more: Love’s is deploying a lot of EV charging stations across the US

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