The U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation has reportedly launched a grant program called the Electric Vehicle Charging Reliability and Accessibility (EVC-RAA) program, which plans to spend $150 million to repair and upgrade 4,500 electric vehicle chargers.
Recently, the Joint Office launched the program’s first project - an unusable charging station in Washington, D.C., which has begun repair and upgrading work.
The renovated station can charge four vehicles simultaneously using CCS or NACS connection ports at up to 150 kW, an increase from the previous 50 kW. The station is located adjacent to a convenience store, a riverfront park, trails and a bike share station, making it ideally located to serve residents and visitors.
Gabe Klein, executive director of the Joint Office, stressed the importance of reliable charging infrastructure, saying, “These upgraded chargers are faster, serve more drivers, and are part of a program that is creating jobs across the country.”
Nearly $150 million in EVC-RAA grants will be used to repair approximately 4,500 existing public electric vehicle chargers across the U.S. About 5% of public chargers are currently temporarily out of service, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center.
The EVC-RAA is funded by the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, which is part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Act and is designed to help states build accessible, safe, and reliable electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The Joint Office is working with all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico to ensure the success of the NEVI program.
The initiative aligns with the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of installing 500,000 public electric vehicle chargers by 2030, aimed at making electric vehicles an option for more Americans.
According to TheDrive, American Honda President and CEO Kazuhiro Takizawa and Honda Global Executive Vice President Shinji Aoyama said at the 2024 Monterey Car Week that pure electric vehicles are the best way to achieve carbon neutrality, but there is currently a lack of charging facilities.
The two executives pointed out that although the popularity of electric vehicles is steadily increasing, consumers will not easily switch from fuel vehicles to electric vehicles without perfect charging facilities. Kazuhiro emphasized: "You can't force consumers to change their minds. Although some incentives can be provided, we can't force people living in the Midwest without charging stations to switch to electric vehicles. Even if there are incentives, they will not switch from fuel vehicles to electric vehicles. I think it is very difficult to force people to switch to electric vehicles. We need to gradually prepare the ecosystem and let them transition slowly."
Shinji said that the slowdown in the electric vehicle market is not unexpected, because as the number of electric vehicles increases, the changes in the entire electric vehicle ecosystem will also accelerate. He pointed out that the existing fuel vehicle ecosystem has been established for a long time, from oil extraction, refining, gas stations to fuel vehicles. Electric vehicles have a completely different ecosystem, so this is a question of social change as a whole, which may take time to change. Battery electric vehicles are the most effective way to achieve carbon neutrality. Honda will continue to adhere to its long-term vision and expects the electric vehicle ecosystem to change gradually.
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