The U.S. government wants to implement new minimum standards for electric vehicle charging stations built with federal money. President Biden’s administration says that setting clear standards for future charging station projects to follow will ensure drivers get fair access to charging opportunities irrespective of where they live, what kind of car they drive, or the company supplying the volts.
The proposal would make charging “convenient, reliable, and affordable for all Americans, including when driving long distances,” the government said in a statement. “Without strong standards, chargers would be less reliable, may not work for all cars, or lack common payment methods. The new standards will ensure everyone can use the network – no matter what car you drive or which state you charge in.”
It’s easy to see why the government is keen to get a legal framework in place. Biden’s administration recently introduced a plan to allocate $7.5 billion to help reach its goal of 500,000 charging stations across the country by 2030. The government hopes the initiative will be a catalyst for private sector investment to extend the charging network even further.
“Everyone deserves a chance to benefit from EVs,” CNBC reports Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg telling reporters on Wednesday.
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“We’re paying attention not only to the quantity of EV chargers but also their quality,” Buttigieg said. “Everyone should be able to find a working charging station when and where they need it.”
While stopping short of setting a date for the all-out ban of ICE vehicles, something that other countries have already committed to, the Biden Administration last year said it wanted EVs to account for half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030.
“We have got to act, the transportation sector is the biggest part of our economy emitting greenhouse gases, and cars and trucks are one of the biggest parts of that,” Buttigieg told CNBC in August 2021.