On March 14, the White House announced the opening of applications for a $2.5 billion funding program to develop the nation’s urban and rural areas’ infrastructure for EV charging and alternative fueling.
The Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) program, which was established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Acts enacted in 2021, offers $2.5 billion over five years to qualifying applicants, which include states, cities, local agencies, and tribes.
The first round of funding makes up to $700 million in funding from fiscal years 2022 and 2023 available for the strategically placed public EV chargers and infrastructure for refueling with hydrogen, propane, or natural gas in accessible locations in urban and rural communities, as well as along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs).
The infrastructure for alternative fuelling and EV charging will be installed along certain motorways, interstates, and major roads as well as in downtown districts and neighborhoods, especially in underprivileged and disadvantaged communities.
A $1.25 billion community program for EV charging and alternative fueling infrastructure built on any public road or other publicly accessible locations, such as schools or parks, and a $1.25 billion corridor program for projects along designated alternative fuel corridors are the two categories into which the grant funding is split. Both categories have a May 30 application deadline.
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program will provide states with an additional $5 billion over the following five years. The CFI Discretionary Grant Program is created to fill in EV charging gaps in order to realize Vice President Biden’s dream of an EV-friendly cross-country road trip.
The funding opportunity, according to the Biden administration, is a “critical step” toward the objective of creating a national network of 500,000 public EV charging stations. Data from the Energy Department show that as of March 14, there were 51,537 station sites with almost 133,000 public charging outlets in the US.
