The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration announced $39.7 million in grants to Texas to continue building out electric vehicle (EV) charging and alternative fueling infrastructure with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s signature zero-emission refueling infrastructure programs.
These grants are two of 49 projects that will deploy more than 11,500 EV charging ports and hydrogen and natural gas fueling infrastructure along corridors and in communities across 27 States, four Federally Recognized Tribes, and the District of Columbia.
President Biden set a goal of building out 500,000 publicly available EV chargers by 203. As of today, there are more than 206,000 publicly available EV charging ports with 38,000 new public chargers turned on in 2024 thanks to private sector investment, and a combination of direct federal funding, federal tax incentives, and state and local funding.
“These investments will help states and communities build out a network of EV chargers in the coming years so that one day, finding a charge on a road trip will be as easy as filling up at a gas station,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Thanks to funding from the public and private sectors, the number of publicly accessible EV chargers has more than doubled since the start of the Biden Administration in 2021. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments have not only helped install hundreds of publicly funded chargers, but it has also incentivized industry to invest in EV charging infrastructure and manufacturing, creating good-paying jobs in communities nationwide.
In Texas, awarded projects include:
• The Port Authority of Houston will receive nearly $24.8 million to construct and operate a hydrogen fueling station for heavy-duty trucks in Bayport, Texas. The project supports national strategies for transportation decarbonization and clean hydrogen. The station will offer high fueling throughput, public accessibility, and support for tube trailer fueling.
• The City of Austin will receive $15 million to install 284 electric vehicle charging ports at public locations, including multi-family dwellings, community centers, public schools, and other public facilities. The project will fill charging gaps in low to moderate-income neighborhoods, underserved communities, and rural areas, and support multimodal hubs and multi-family housing.
About $368 million of today’s investment will be allocated for 42 “community” projects that expand EV charging infrastructure within communities across the country, while $268 million will go towards seven “corridor” fast-charging projects that build out the national charging and alternative-fueling network along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors.
The funding opportunity received 416 applications requesting a combined $4.05 billion in funding, more than six times the amount of funding available, demonstrating a strong desire for federal funding from applications across the nation. This round of funding expands the total number of states with an awarded CFI project to 44, in addition to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, with seven states receiving their first CFI award.
