US states are using money from the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to install DCFC stations along major highways under the Federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program. However, installing fast charging takes time.
I attended an open house hosted by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) on their Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Deployment Plan. The Commonwealth is using funds from the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to install dozens of EV charging stations along major highways under the Federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.
As expected, I needed to learn a lot of acronyms to review the presentation, but I won’t go down that rabbit-hole.
The Commonwealth is working with three site developers to install Level 3 DC Fast Charging (DCFC) stations along the major state and interstate highways. Each station is required to offer other convenience services to ensure that they become self-sustaining businesses, not just charging locations. The developers who won the bids to enter this program are private companiesexperienced in developing roadside gas stations and convenience retail operations, not experienced Charge Point Operators (CPO), although that may be in their business future.
The Commonwealth and the developers are currently in the phase of identifying the sites, getting the permitting and designing the stations. The Federal funds are intended to offset the costs of providing the DCFC service, not fund the entire business.
that have been prioritized for charging stations. They are labeled as Alternate Fuel Corridors (AFCs).
The MassDOT staff who were there to address the 50 or more attendees answered lots of questions about the project. Though the project is on schedule, there were two primary challenges that they noted.
- Sourcing charging equipment – The developers are sourcing the chargers from equipment manufacturers, e.g., ChargePoint, EVgo, etc., at the same time developers in the other 49 states. It may take 8-10 months to get the level 3 chargers. Demand appears to be out-stripping supply, since this doesn’t even include non-Federally funded projects.
- Access to Power – Siting a good location in a transportation hub does not necessarily correlate to where grid power is accessible. Though power demands are similar to what is needed for a typical gas station, it still takes time to locate the grid connection, get the permits, and have the utility bring the power to the site.
It was striking that neither the state or the developers were using Charge Point Analytics solutions or other AI-based tools to determine good siting locations. Given the size of the state and the focus on highway off-ramp areas, perhaps that was not necessary.
The other challenge that the officials admitted is the potential that a new Federal administration may “claw-back” funds for programs like NEVI. Changes is policy every four years often causes whiplash for industries that trying to move from early adopter to early majority. It set the photovoltaic industry back several times over the last five decades.
The first site has been identified and is in the design process. The goal is to have all the stations online in 2025. Let’s get it done!
