As the number of electric vehicles on American roads grows, so too does the affliction of range anxiety. Drivers of conventional cars enjoy the support of a massive, well-established network of fuel stations. EV owners depend on chargers that are much sparser, especially in so-called “charging deserts”—often lower-income areas—where places to recharge are few and far between. Today, the White House is writing a new prescription for that malady, which is seen as holding back the electrification of transportation: $623 million in competitive grants will be awarded to bolster the US charging network with 7,500 new charge ports, many of them in rural and low- and moderate-income areas. A chunk of money will also go to hydrogen fueling stations, to be used by mostly vans and trucks.
The funding is the latest chunk of change to be released from a total of $7.5 billion earmarked for charging and greener fueling in 2021’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
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