The Biden administration is proposing standards to ensure drivers will easily be able to access the 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations to be built and funded thanks to the new infrastructure law.
The Federal Highway Administration’s proposed rule, announced on Thursday, outlines standards for everything from the location of the chargers to payment methods, with which states that receive the funding would have to comply.
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Under the proposal, charging stations must have at least four “Direct Current Fast Charger” ports. The fast charger technology can charge a vehicle to 80% in just 20 minutes to 1 hour, according to the Transportation Department, much faster than alternating current chargers.
The rule explained that “by providing a faster experience, they allow for convenient charging solutions for those vehicles that will be travelling long distances or for multiple hours at a time in comparison to other chargers that would take longer to charge EVs.”
Chargers must also be “physically accessible to the public” 24/7 and offer multiple payment methods, including debit and credit cards, and states would be required to ensure that basic information about charging availability be made available to the driving public.
The Transportation Department had already released guidance to states in February encouraging them to space chargers at a maximum distance of 50 miles apart.
The infrastructure law provided $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging, including $5 billion to fund a national charging network.
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Growing the nation’s electric vehicle fleet is a priority of President Joe Biden’s climate change mitigation agenda. Biden triggered the Defense Production Act in March in order to produce more critical minerals for electric vehicle batteries.
He also set an electric vehicle target envisioning that they account for 50% of all new car sales by 2030.
