This is the largest single grant funding opportunity for EV charging in the nation’s history and it will accelerate public and private investment in clean transportation in the places where people live, work, and play.
This funding opportunity is made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s signature EV charging investments: the US$2.5 billion Charging and Fuelling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program and funds from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program that are set aside for strategic grants to states and local governments to deploy EV chargers. Supported by unifying guidance and technical assistance from the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (Joint Office), the CFI program is administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and is open to state, regional, Tribal, and local government entities.
This funding opportunity is a critical pillar to the Administration’s charging strategy and addresses needs for charging at multi-family housing and destinations where vehicles are parked. CFI also allows applicants not eligible for NEVI to get needed funding, which is critical to ensuring federal dollars help disadvantaged communities join the EV revolution. The investments from CFI also help support zero-emission freight infrastructure, helping implement the National Zero-Emission Freight Strategy.
These efforts are helping deploy a network of convenient, reliable Level 2 and DC fast EV chargers across the country, along with the good paying jobs building and maintaining the network entails, to bring the unparalleled convenience, health benefits, and cost savings of EVs to every American community, a key step towards the President’s goals of building a national network of 500,000 public EV charging stations and halving national greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
The previous round of CFI funding, released in January 2024, benefited 47 projects in 22 states and Puerto Rico, supporting construction of approximately 7,500 EV charging ports. Still, FHWA received applications for six times the amount of funding available. Today’s announcement reserves more than $520 million for some unselected first-round applicants who may be reconsidered for the current round of funding. FHWA will contact unselected round 1 applicants directly about this opportunity.
The CFI program is divided into two distinct grant funding categories and requires that 50% of the funding over five years is made available for both Communities and Corridors.
The Community Charging and Fuelling Grants program will strategically deploy publicly accessible EV charging infrastructure and hydrogen, propane, and natural gas fuelling infrastructure in urban and rural communities.
Meanwhile, the Alternative Fuel Corridor Grants program will strategically deploy publicly accessible EV charging infrastructure and hydrogen, propane, and natural gas fuelling infrastructure along designated AFCs.
Eligible applicants include states, metropolitan planning organisations, local governments, port authorities, Indian Tribes, US territories, and more. Projects for both categories are outlined in a Notice of Funding Opportunity that has been newly published. Applications are due in grants.gov by August 28, 2024. Previously unselected applicants will have the option to request via email by July 1, 2024 that FHWA reconsider previously submitted applications.
