White House unlocks $4.5 billion for electric vehicle infrastructure and announces new EV programs

The Obama Administration announced today a new set of executive actions to directly accelerate electric vehicle adoption in the US through the expansion of charging infrastructure. The main announcement is the unlocking of up to $4.5 billion in loan guarantees for charging stations, but also an important collaboration between the Federal government and private companies, including some major electric utilities, automakers, charging station manufacturers and operators.

Here are the main bullet points of the new programs via the White House’s website:

• Unlocking up to $4.5 billion in loan guarantees and inviting applications to support the commercial-scale deployment of innovative electric vehicle charging facilities;
• Launching the FAST Act process to identify zero emission and alternative fuel corridors, including for electric vehicle charging across the country, and standing up an effort to develop a 2020 vision for a national network of electric vehicle fast charging stations that will help determine where along the corridors it makes the most sense to locate the fast charging infrastructure;
• Announcing a call for state, county, and municipal governments to partner with the Federal government to procure electric vehicle fleets at a discounted value;
• Leveraging the power of data and hosting an ‘Electric Vehicle Hackathon’ to discover insights and develop new solutions for electric vehicle charging;
• Publishing a guide to Federal funding, financing, and technical assistance for electric vehicles and charging stations; and
• 35 new businesses, non-profits, universities, and utilities signing on to DOE’s Workplace Charging Challenge and committing to provide electric vehicle charging access for their workforce.

The announcement also includes a pledge for the Guiding Principles to Promote Electric Vehicles and Charging Infrastructure signed by major players in the industry like most major electric utilities, as well as automakers like GM, Tesla, BMW, Nissan and Ford, and charging station companies like EVGo, ChargePoint and more.

Other interesting initiatives announced by the White House today include a study on the feasibility of fast-charging up to 350 kW, a new partnership as part of the Battery500 research consortium to bring the cost of batteries per kWh down below $100 and the energy density over 500 Wh/kg with over 1,000 cycles.

The program will award up to $10 million per year for five years and includes 4 national laboratories, 4 universities, IBM and Tesla.