The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) said on Tuesday that it has approved plans for electric vehicle charging stations in all 50 states including Washington and Puerto Rico. These electric car charging stations will cover about 75,000 miles (120,700 kilometres) of highways. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill in November 2021 provides $5 billion for this purpose. The funds will help states install electric car charging stations along interstate highways over five years. States can now get more than $1.5 billion in funding to help build electric car charging stations, the USDOT said. The White House announced earlier this month that it had approved 35 of the 50 state plans.
“We’re not going to dictate to states, but we do need to make sure they meet basic standards,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said earlier this year.
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USDOT claims states should invest in DC fast-charging stations. Also, these stations should have at least four ports capable of charging four electric vehicles at the same time. In addition, an electric car charging station should be available every 50 miles (80.5 kilometres) on interstate highways. Furthermore, they should e located within 1 mile of the freeway.
U.S. federal funds will cover 80 per cent of EV charging costs, with private or state funds making up the difference. By 2030, the President of the United States wants 50 per cent of new vehicle sales to be electric or plug-in hybrid models. Furthermore, there should be 500,000 new electric car charging stations. But there is no support for a plan to phase out sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.
The California Air Resources Board voted in August that all new cars sold in the state must be electric or plug-in hybrids by 2035. This landmark move could hasten the end of gasoline-powered cars. However, this must get approval from the President of the United States. California will allow automakers to sell up to 20 per cent of their models as plug-in hybrids in 2035.
