California will invest $1.9 billion to build 40,000 new EV chargers

California Energy Commission (CES) last week approved a massive $1.9 billion investment to rapidly increase the number of electric vehicle (EV) charging and hydrogen fuel stations across the state.

The investment will help to build infrastructure for light, medium, and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) across California. Through the next four years, CEC is planning to cover approximately 50 percent of the state’s population with this new infrastructure access.

This new investment is part of the $48 billion California Climate Commitment Fund, which includes more than $10 billion for ZEVs and ZEV infrastructure.

The goal with this fund is the install 40,000 new chargers in California alone. The federal government on the other hand has planned to reach 250,000 public chargers within the next few years.

California’s $1.9 billion electric vehicle (EV) and zero emission vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure investment allocation (Credit: Gov.CA)

From this fund, California announced $657.6 million for Light-duty EV charging infrastructure and $1.02 billion for zero-emission truck and bus infrastructure including battery electric and hydrogen fuel cells.

$46 million will be used to enhance emerging clean energy opportunities, $5 million for ZEV workforce development and $130 million will be used for zero-emission port infrastructure.

California has already spent $1.8 billion in programs supporting ZEV infrastructure, alternative fuels, and advanced vehicle technologies. This plan consisted of more than 24,000 EV chargers and 96 public hydrogen fueling stations. $100 million was awarded to develop 120 projects for truck and bus charging and refueling infrastructure.

(source)