The U.S. Departments of Transportation and Energy have announced the new National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program that will provide more than $17 million in Hawai‘i over the next five years to fund electric vehicle charging stations statewide.
“Hawai‘i has some of the most aggressive clean energy and carbon reduction goals in the nation,” said Hawai‘i Chief Energy Officer Scott Glenn. “We appreciate the federal government’s recognition that we need to move swiftly to build the infrastructure needed to support the adoption of clean transportation in Hawai‘i which will help us achieve our carbon net-negative goal as soon as practicable and no later than 2045.”
Nationally, the program enacted through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act makes available nearly $5 billion over five years help states create a network of electric vehicle charging stations along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors in Hawai‘i and nationwide.
“The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation and Hawai‘i State Energy Office have worked collaboratively for many years to achieve federally designated Alternative Fuel Corridors on all islands,” said Ed Sniffen, Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation Deputy Director for Highways. “Just as our national partners are working together to make these funds available, HDOT and HSEO will be working together with our state and county partners to submit an EV Infrastructure Deployment Plan which is required to access these funds.”
The total amount available to states in the first year beginning with fiscal year 2022 is $615 million of which Hawai‘i is slated to receive approximately $2.62 million per the government’s funding formula. A second, competitive grant program designed to further increase EV charging access in locations throughout the country, including in rural and underserved communities, will be announced later this year. For more information on the federal program and the newly formed U.S. Joint Office of Energy Transportation please visit driveelectric.gov.
