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Infrastructure Bill EV Charging Primer

Chris Kaiser

Passionate about implementing Clean Energy solutions!

发布日期: 2022年6月28日

There's a lot of talk about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) as it relates to EV Charging but there's also a lot of EV Charging folks who don't know what they're talking about when it comes to the IIJA and how it relates to the industry. So....you're welcome.

Please comment on anything I have missed or left out and I'll add it!

There are 2 programs from the IIJA as it relates to EV Charging infrastructure: National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program (NEVI) and Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program. NEVI has $5 billion to spend over 5 years and Charging and Fueling has $2.5 billion to spend over 5 years (see above helpful graph from HDR)
Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program. This is split equally between Corridor Charging and Community Charging. There isn't that much information released on this program but from the hyperlink: "Competitive grant program to strategically deploy publicly accessible electric vehicle charging infrastructure and other alternative fueling infrastructure along designated alternative fuel corridors. At least 50 percent of this funding must be used for a community grant program where priority is given to projects that expand access to EV charging and alternative fueling infrastructure within rural areas, low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, and communities with a low ratio of private parking spaces." From engineering and consulting firm HDR: "Guidelines are being developed, and the FHWA will establish a grant program by November 15, 2022"
The main thing EV Charging folks get wrong is how National EV Charging Corridors (Alternative Fuel Corridors) impact the programs. Atlas EV Hub has an excellent page on the topic. See below. The green denotes “corridor ready”, and the orange denotes “corridor pending”. Purple dots denote fast charging. Source:?FHWA. Sorry South Dakota and Mississippi :(

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) states that stations "...should be spaced 50 miles apart and within one mile of the Interstate exit or highway" (along an Alternative Fuel Corridor) but the states can request an exemption: "... exceptions will be granted under limited circumstances on a case-by-case basis, approved in conjunction with annual state plan certification. As part of the development and approval of Plans, a State DOT may submit a request for discretionary exceptions from the requirement that charging infrastructure is installed every 50 miles along designated Alternative Fuel Corridor highway and within 1 travel mile of the designated Alternative Fuel Corridor highway. A template for requesting such discretionary exceptions has been developed and is available on the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation website at https://driveelectric.gov/technical-assistance/. Discretionary exceptions against the 50-mile and 1-mile criteria may be considered for reasons related to grid capacity, geography, equity, and extraordinary cost, as explained further in the instructions for the discretionary exception template."
Each state must submit a NEVI plan to the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation by August 1, 2022, and plans will be approved by September 30, 2022. Funds will be distributed from the Federal Government to the states. "FHWA to apportion NEVI Formula funding among States (including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) on a formula basis. Under the formula, each State receives a share of program funding equal to the State’s share of the combined amount that FHWA distributes in Federal-aid highway apportionments". AKA - bigger states get more NEVI funds.
Technical requirements for NEVI can be found here but some of the main items:
Charging stations would be required to have at least four DCFC CCS ports capable of providing 150 kW from each charging port simultaneously. There's an interesting question on if the 150 kW requirement would be for ALL cars - meaning 400V and 800V architecture and I'm guessing there hasn't been much thought put into this because it's an obscure topic that most EV Charging folks have never considered; therefore, some station hardware providers may be crossing their fingers that the Feds don't call this out.
Stations must accept credit cards and provide transparent pricing such that the price to charge must be stated upfront and cannot change during the charging session.
Chargers must conform to ISO 15118 (Plug and Charge).
As it relates to CHAdeMO: "The proposed regulation provides that charging stations using FY2022 funds may include one or more CHAdeMO ports, but it is unclear whether the provision is intended to permit CHAdeMO ports “in addition to” four CCS ports, or “instead of” them."