The White House announced that it is disbursing $623 million in grants to help support the building of electric vehicle charging stations across the country, and North Texas will receive an $85 million share of that funding.
These grants come as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $2.5 billion Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program, according to a news release from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the release that “America led the arrival of the automotive era, and now we have a chance to lead the world in the EV revolution — securing jobs, savings, and benefits for Americans in the process.”
“This funding will help ensure that EV chargers are accessible, reliable, and convenient for American drivers, while creating jobs in charger manufacturing, installation, and maintenance for American workers.”
These funds will be used to help with the construction of roughly 7,500 electric vehicle charging ports and 47 charging projects across 22 states and Puerto Rico, per the FHWA release.
The North Central Texas Council of Governments was awarded $15 million to install up to 100 publicly accessible EV ports throughout a 16-county region in North Texas, including in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
In addition, the North Central Texas Council of Governments will receive $70 million in grant funds to assist in the construction and development of five hydrogen fueling stations for medium to heavy-duty freight trucks in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio, per the FHWA press release.
Lori Clark, a senior program manager for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, stated that the funding will be “a major shot in the arm” for the areas that lack electric vehicle ports.
“The private sector is leading the charge, as they should, in the big picture, but if you look at the map, frankly, there are areas that are getting left behind,” she said, per The Dallas Morning News.
Clark said the Council will spend the first year hearing from the public to determine the areas that need the charging ports the most, explaining that many of the rural areas in the state could use these ports.
“In some of these rural communities, in particular, in some of the underserved areas, there’s not really been any electrified transportation investment yet, and so there’s the potential for transformation with just a little bit of investment to get things jump-started,” she said, as reported by the DMN.
Moving forward, Clark said a major focus will be the implementation of infrastructure to assist those with electric vehicles.
“We know that EV ownership for residents of multifamily properties is particularly challenging, if you don’t have a dedicated parking space or a dedicated garage,” she said, per DMN.
“And so what are the strategies that we could do in terms of building infrastructure in close proximity to high concentrations of multifamily?”
