California has launched its largest electric vehicle charging infrastructure program to date, the state’s energy commission announced on Aug. 5.
The $55 million “Fast Charge California Project” will cover as much as the entire cost of installing fast EV chargers at businesses and other public sites statewide. The new program is part of the California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project, which has helped build nearly 10,000 public EV chargers throughout California since 2017 and is the nation’s largest project of its type.
“Installing more fast chargers is vital to California’s zero emission vehicle transition, and the Fast Charge California Project prioritizes ready-to-build fast charging projects, with eligible projects in disadvantaged communities going to the top of the list,” Hannon Rasool, director of the California Energy Commission’s fuels and transportation division, said in a statement.
The new program is California’s first statewide EV charging program, as well as the first to consider funding the full cost of charger installation.
Sites must be publicly accessible to qualify for the state program. In addition, sites located in tribal areas, low-income communities and other areas less likely to support public, fast EV chargers will receive preference.
The launch of California’s new program coincides with the relaunch of a $5 billion federal EV infrastructure charging program that was frozen by the Trump administration earlier this year. A coalition of 16 states, including California, successfully sued the administration over the freezing of the signature Biden administration effort to expand EV charging access across the country.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made no mention of the lawsuit when he unblocked the program last week with new, stripped down guidance.
“While I don’t agree with subsidizing green energy, we will respect Congress’ will and make sure this program uses federal resources efficiently,” Duffy said.
But even before the federal program was restarted, states such as Massachusetts, New York and California had sponsored their own programs to support public EV charging.
“This program is designed to get fast chargers in the ground…fast,” said Evan Wright, director of EV infrastructure and operations at the Center for Sustainable Energy, the nonprofit administering the new California project.
To that end, applying projects should be “ready to build,” per the release, with the utility design finalized and all necessary permits approved.
