Biden Administration Approves $100 Million to Repair National Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

In the United States, electric vehicle (EV) owners have grown frustrated with the frequent breakdowns and disorderly charging experiences. The federal government is now offering a remedy.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is allocating $100 million for the “repair and replacement of existing but non-operational electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.”

This investment stems from the $7.5 billion in EV charging funds approved by the bipartisan Infrastructure Act of 2021.

The department has already greenlit approximately $1 billion for installing thousands of new EV chargers along major highways in the United States.

Charging station malfunctions continue to be a major impediment to the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. Many EV owners reported in a JD Power survey earlier this year that charging station breakdowns often impact their EV usage experience. According to market research reports, overall satisfaction with EV charging in the United States has been on a steady decline and currently stands at historic lows.

Even Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has not been immune to the struggle of finding available EV chargers. According to The Wall Street Journal, Buttigieg has encountered difficulties while charging his family’s hybrid minivan. “We’ve certainly had that experience,” Buttigieg told The Wall Street Journal.

According to the Department of Energy’s public EV charger database, approximately 6,261 out of 151,506 public charging ports have been reported as “temporarily unavailable,” accounting for 4.1% of the total. Chargers are designated as temporarily unavailable for a variety of reasons, ranging from routine maintenance to power issues.

The new funding may be used to cover the repair or replacement costs for “all eligible projects,” the U.S. Department of Transportation added, noting that these funds will be distributed through a “streamlined application process,” encompassing both public and private chargers, “as long as they are made freely accessible to the public.”