The nearly 900-mile corridor will stretch from Kalamazoo, Michigan, to Quebec City, Quebec, tapping into the 75,000+ miles of alternative fuel corridors in the United States. The corridor will feature DC fast chargers approximately every 50 miles (80km), with most of the chargers on the Canadian side of the border.
Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said: "This first cross-border alternative fuel corridor will help drivers to travel across the border and charge or refuel worry-free. It contributes to bringing us another step closer to making our air cleaner while helping people save money on traditional fuels.”
The initiative is officially referred to as an "alternative fuel" corridor, leaving the door open for refuelling facilities such as hydrogen fuel cells to be rolled out in future.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said the announcement builds on President Biden’s March visit to Canada, where he and Prime Minister Trudeau committed to work together to harmonize EV charging standards and develop cross-border alternative fuel corridors between the US and Canada, further strengthening the world’s largest market-based energy trading relationship.
While in Detroit, Secretary Buttigieg also hosted a conversation at the APEC summit about ensuring the benefits of an EV future reach all communities, from where federally-funded chargers are located, to how they are financed.
As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to boost domestic manufacturing, strengthen supply chains, boost US competitiveness, and create good-paying jobs, the administration says it is making significant investments in the clean energy future and has set a goal of having 50% of all new vehicle sales in the US be electric by 2030. This goal is supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which it adds have already spurred hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector investment in EV car and battery manufacturing.
The US Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes US$7.5bn in federal funding to help build a national network of 500,000 public EV chargers.
In Canada, one in ten new vehicles purchased is already a zero-emission vehicle. Not only does the Binational EV Corridor facilitate the movement of passengers and goods through this key economic binational corridor, it also helps Canada to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
“The US and Canada have long enjoyed a productive partnership on transportation issues and in that spirit we are proud to announce the first-ever US-Canada EV Corridor,” said US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “With historic investments in EV infrastructure from the Biden-Harris Administration and the Canadian government, we are creating a new generation of good-paying manufacturing jobs, making it possible for drivers everywhere to reap the benefits and savings of these vehicles while helping us fight climate change.”
“There’s nothing more Pure Michigan than accidentally driving into Canada, and now that journey will be electric on either side of the border,” said Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “I am proud that we are working together to build up electric vehicle charging infrastructure. With the resources headed our way from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the bold investments Michigan automakers are making right here in Michigan, we will build and lead the future of mobility.”
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said: “This corridor will carry the flow of EV traffic, trade, and manufacturing between the United States and Canada, through the Detroit's international crossing with Windsor. We owe our thanks to Sec. Buttigieg for his vision and President Biden for making this advancement possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”
“Cars have always been king here in the Motor City—and they still are,” said Bill Baisden, IBEW Local 58 member and the founder and owner of Dynamic Electrical Group. “In the past two years we have seen rapid growth in the residential EV charging market to meet the demand for electric vehicles, spurred by the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, and I’m proud to say IBEW members are on the front lines of this transition.”
