WH pledged $7.5B for electric vehicle charging stations, only 8 built so far

WASHINGTON — Depending on where you live you may see electric vehicle charging stations often.

But experts said a lot of them have been set up by private investment not the federal grants that have been promised by the government.

The Biden administration wants to a create a national charging network for electric cars with 500,000 public EV chargers by 2030.

Part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $7.5 billion to build those stations. But more than two years after that pledge, progress is moving slowing.

“Yet to date, only eight charging stations - eight - have been opened,” said Rep. Rick Crawford, (R-Ark.).

“Leading to legitimate questions and criticism of publicly funded charger deployments,” said Rep. Rick Larsen, (D) Washington state.

This week on Capitol Hill, lawmakers examined of the progress of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program which federal provides grants to build these public EV charging stations.

They met directly with industry leaders like the major fuel retailer Love’s which is known for its travel stops.

“Consumers will not purchase EVs if they are not confident in the charging network, not just how many chargers there are but where those charging stations are located,” said Kimberly Okafor, General Manager of Zero Emission Solutions at The Love’s Family of Companies.

Okafor told lawmakers Loves has received $30 million in federal funding to install charging stations across its gas stations.

“Our industry has spent the last 60 years building out a competitive refueling network that has adapted over time aligning with driver preferences and we want to do this well into the future,” said Okafor.

But other groups say accessing these federal grants isn’t simple because each state has its own program requirements.

Spencer Pederson at the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) said even once you get the funding, there can still be delays.

“We’re talking about additional generation, transmission, distribution, running level lines and cables, even the lighting that’s required around some of these, some of these charging stations and then actually getting the charging stations in the ground themselves,” said Spencer Pederson SVP of Public Affairs at NEMA.

NEMA along with some lawmakers want the Biden administration to update its guidance for these federal grants to make the process more uniform.

“More consistency and clarity to states on some of the regulations and guidelines that they need to follow would certainly go along the way. Uniformity and standardization are always helpful,” said Pederson.

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