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Second Round of Funding for EV Charging Stations Announced

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert | Jun 27, 2024
Public electric vehicle (EV) charger, EV charging infrastructure, EV charging port
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) opened the second round of the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program—making available $1.3 billion in funding for Level 2 and DC EV charging ports, as well as fueling infrastructure for the alternative fuels of hydrogen, propane and natural gas.

The number of electric vehicle charging stations around the country is set to get a huge boost.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) opened the second round of the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program established under the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)—making available $1.3 billion in funding for Level 2 and DC EV charging ports, as well as fueling infrastructure for the alternative fuels of hydrogen, propane and natural gas.

Eligible applicants include states, metropolitan planning organizations, local governments, port authorities, Native American tribes, U.S. territories, public housing authorities, public universities and entities working on behalf of these and other public authorities.

In addition, funds under the IIJA’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program set aside for states and local governments to deploy EV chargers will also be awarded.

The previous round of CFI funding, released in January 2024, benefited 47 projects in 22 states and Puerto Rico, supporting construction of roughly 7,500 EV charging ports. However, FHWA received applications for six times the amount of funding available, so the second round of funding reserves more than $520 million for some first-round applicants that may be reconsidered.

The agency will contact such contenders directly about this opportunity, or applicants can request over email by July 1, 2024, that their previously submitted applications be reconsidered. New applications are due in grants.gov by Aug. 28.

The CFI program is divided into two distinct grant funding categories and requires that 50% of the funding over five years is made available for communities and corridors. The community charging and fueling grants program and alternative fuel corridor grants program will strategically deploy publicly accessible EV charging infrastructure and hydrogen, propane and natural gas fueling infrastructure in urban and rural communities, and along designated alternative fuel corridors, respectively.

A key difference for EV charging projects in this round of funding is that the maximum distance from an alternative fuel corridor has been increased from one mile to five miles to align with the maximum distance for other CFI-eligible fuels. Increasing the maximum distance for EV charging will help connect corridors to communities, increase flexibility for developers, help utilities incorporate new load into the grid and accelerate deployment of charging infrastructure.

The funding opportunity represents a key step toward President Biden’s goals of building a national network of 500,000 public EV charging stations and halving national greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, according to a press release in late May announcing the second round of grants.

Separately, 14 state departments of transportation and 10 local entities were previously awarded roughly $148.8 million in grant funding to repair or replace broken or nonoperational EV charging ports in 20 states.

“Doubling down on electrification is more important than ever to our economic prosperity and national security,” said Gabe Klein, executive director of the DOE’s Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, which is providing guidance and technical assistance to grant awardees. “With the rest of the world pushing down on the accelerator, we are moving fast to position the United States as the global leader in the future that everyone is racing toward.”

About The Author

KUEHNER-HEBERT is a freelance writer based in Running Springs, Calif. She has more than three decades of journalism experience. Reach her at [email protected].  

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