More than 50 of the nation's power companies are ready to build a coast-to-coast fast-charging network for electric vehicles, despite the fact that it took an act of Congress and $7.5 billion in federal funding.
The proposal is not very detailed. The National Electric Highway Coalition serves over 120 million customers in 47 states and the District of Columbia. The companies said they would focus on gaps in existing fast-charging networks along interstate highways first.
The group is committed to investing in and providing the charging infrastructure necessary to facilitate electric vehicle growth and to helping alleviate any remaining customer range anxiety, said Tom Kuhn, president of the Edison Electric Institute, which helped build the coalition.
He said that by merging and expanding the existing efforts to build fast charging infrastructure along major travel corridors, we are building a foundational EV charging network that will help to encourage more customers to purchase an electric vehicle.
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The map accompanying the announcement has a strongMapQuest vibe, but if you squint hard enough, you can imagine how the group would begin to bridge gaps in existing networks. The map shows that there are a lot of DC fast chargers in the Midwest and Intermountain West.
The new coalition has gaps that go from North Dakota down to New Mexico, but it has a strong presence in states where fast charging is still rare. Tennessee and the northern half of Mississippi and Alabama have better coverage. West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania are also beneficiaries.
The Biden administration wants to build 500,000 fast chargers by the year 2030. The EEI says that over 50 utilities have received approval for EV-related projects.
