U.S. to Spend $100 Million Upgrading Public Chargers

by Mindy Cohn

Federal funding of $100 million will be dispersed to encourage drivers to purchase electric vehicles while providing a solution for public charging stations that don't work appropriately and increasingly leaving EV owners feeling drained. 

According to yesterday's announcement, the funding is expected to increase the availability and reliability of public electric vehicle charging stations across the U.S.. It is hoped that this will encourage more drivers to purchase EVs.

The funds were made available under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and only now will they be directed to the thousands of public and private charging stations nationwide that are currently listed as temporarily unavailable. Stations must be open to the public to qualify for the funding, which can be used to cover the repair or replacement costs of eligible projects. 

Additional funding for the EV cause includes the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which included $5 billion to help states build charging sites and tax credits for installing fast chargers, which were made available through the 2022 Democratic Inflation Reduction Act.

According to the Department of Energy,  as of this week, of the 151,506 public charging ports, 4.1%, representing 6,261 stations, would be qualified for funding due to their unavailability.