All 50 states get green light to build EV charging stations covering 75,000 miles of highways

A man charges his car at a Tesla super charging station in Arlington, Virginia on August 13, 2021.

All 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico have been approved for electric vehicle charging station plans by the U.S. transportation department.

As part of the bipartisan infrastructure package, the Biden administration allocated $5 billion to states to fund electric vehicle charging stations along interstate highways. States gave their EV infrastructure deployment proposals to the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation.

The approval of states to build a network of EV charging stations along designated alternative fuel corridors on the national highway system gives them access to more than 1.5 billion dollars to build the charging stations.

It's not clear how many charging stations the funds will support. Each station should be located within one mile of an interstate highway, according to transportation department officials.

The plans for all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have been approved by the transportation secretary.

The White House wants to build a national network of half a million EV charging stations by the year 2030. The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act provides tax credits to encourage consumers to buy an electric vehicle.

The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. One of the biggest barriers to EV expansion is the lack of convenient charging stations. The U.S. is the third largest market for electric vehicles.

The administration has set a goal of 50% electric vehicle sales by the year 2030. The federal fleet of 600,000 cars and trucks will be replaced by the end of the 20th century.

In August, California, the country's most populous state and the center of U.S. car culture, banned the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles in favor of alternative fuels. Installation of enough charging stations and adequate access to materials needed to make batteries are some of the challenges that the state will face.

The green light will allow the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to ramp up their work to build out EV charging networks that will make driving an EV more convenient and affordable for their residents.