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California investing in EV charging reliability with $63 million in federal funding

March 04, 2024

Caltrans, a department of the California state government responsible for highway, bridge, and rail transportation planning, construction, and maintenance, has been awarded over $63 million in federal funds by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The funds are intended to repair and install more than 1,000 electric vehicle (EV) chargers at 300 sites across the state. The funding comes from the federal Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator (EVC RAA) grant program, a part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The grant will be used to replace malfunctioning charging stations and install additional chargers to meet new federal standards for public charging infrastructure.

California currently has over 42,000 public charging ports, the highest number in the nation. The state also leads the country in all zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) market metrics, including the largest EV market share percentage and the most extensive public charging infrastructure. Over 25% of new passenger vehicles sold in California through Q3 of 2023 were zero-emission vehicles, and the state has reached its ZEV truck sales goal two years ahead of schedule. This latest award follows California’s call for projects to support $40 million in charging projects for passenger vehicles in the state’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. Ten EV charging and hydrogen fueling projects in California, totaling $168 million, were recently awarded funding under the Federal Highway Administration’s Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program.

The EVC RAA program is part of the NEVI Formula Program and provides funding for states to repair or replace EV charging stations identified as “temporarily unavailable.” For the application, Caltrans collaborated with EV charging providers to develop a list of chargers to fix and upgrade to national charging standards within the program timeline. The funding will support the replacement of both Level 2 and DC fast chargers. Caltrans will partner with the California Energy Commission (CEC) to implement this funding, building on the agencies’ partnership to deliver the NEVI Formula Program.

“Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, California will receive nearly $64 million to improve EV charging stations across the state,” said Senator Alex Padilla. “Accelerating the adoption of an electric vehicle powered future requires a strong, reliable, accessible charging network across the state.”

“This funding will allow California to continue to lead the nation in zero-emission-vehicle adoption, increasing reliability and cutting planet-warming pollution,” said California State Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin. “We want to thank the Biden-Harris Administration, Sen. Alex Padilla, and the state’s congressional delegation for supporting the expansion of a charging network throughout the state while combatting climate change.”

“Increasing the accessibility and standardization of EV charging stations will help us to build a more modern transportation system. This latest federal funding will support Caltrans in achieving its climate action goals,” said Patty Monahan, commissioner of the California Energy Commission (CEC). “As California’s lead agency for building out charging infrastructure, the Energy Commission includes reliability requirements for our grants, but many chargers aren’t covered by these requirements. This federal funding will help fix and upgrade broken EV chargers, giving EV drivers more options for convenient refueling.”