Electric vehicle expansion plan includes trucking industry

Nikola Tre, fuel cell electric cab truck

TThe Biden administration has confirmed that the trucking industry will be included in its electric vehicle (EV) expansion strategy and will be eligible for federal grants.

A new guidance document released in April by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) outlines the existing formula and discretionary grant programs through which funding will be channeled for vehicle charging infrastructure. electric, and which of these grants will be available for trucking. sector funding.

The FHWA funding mechanisms support the Biden administration’s goal of allocating $ 15 billion to install a nationwide network of 500,000 new electric vehicle chargers across the United States by 2030.

“Through a combination of grants and incentive programs for state and local governments and the private sector, it will support a transformational acceleration of the deployment of a mix of chargers in apartment buildings, in public parking lots, in communities and as a robust fast-charging network. along the roads of our nation, ”according to the White House.

Daimler electric truck – Freightliner eM2

Among the grants for which the trucking industry will be eligible are the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) and Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grants – formerly the BUILD grants.

“The FHWA strongly encourages transportation partners in states, tribes, territories, metropolitan planning organizations and federal land management agencies to use existing DOT funding and funding programs to build electric vehicle charging. , as well as using these programs to leverage private sector investment. into such a national EV charging network, ”the agency said.

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To support the planned national charging network, the FHWA also announced a fifth round of alternative fuel corridor designations. The first four sets of designations, which were created as part of the surface transportation legislation FAST Act 2015, included portions of 119 freeways and 100 US highways and trunk roads. Series 5 includes 25 state nominations for 51 US highways and 50 US highways and trunk roads.

The Tesla Semi. Tesla / via REUTERS

Cumulative designations across the five towers for all fuel types (electric, hydrogen, propane, natural gas) include 134 freeways and 125 US freeways and national highways covering 166,000 miles in 49 states and Washington. Of that total, the FHWA has designated EV corridors on approximately 59,000 miles of national highways in 48 states and Washington. South Dakota and Mississippi are the only two states without an EV corridor designation, according to the agency.

The electric vehicle infrastructure guidelines followed the Biden administration’s Earth Day announcement setting a new target to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution by 52% from levels. by 2005 by 2030.

The transportation sector, and electric vehicles in particular, will feel the pressure of the new target due to the industry’s significant contribution to GHG emissions, according to Fred Wagner, former legal counsel to FHWA and now of the Venable law firm. .

“You can’t achieve that kind of goal without advancing the electrification of the transportation industry, and you can’t electrify the transportation industry without having the associated EV infrastructure,” Wagner said. “This applies to both passenger cars and to changing the mix of diesel versus electric vehicles in the trucking industry.”