In August, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced the award of $5 million to North Carolina to build charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs).
The award came in two parts. The first is a $1 million grant to install 20 Level 2 EV charging stations at 10 community colleges across the state as part of the Providing Opportunities for Workforce Development and Energy Readiness in North Carolina (powerNC) project. Participating community colleges also will be able to add clean vehicle training courses that teach students how to build and repair electric vehicles and install, maintain and operate EV chargers.
The second $4 million award is to the City of Durham’s “Empower Durham: Equitable EV Charging in the City of Durham, NC – Community Component” project to install up to 20 fast-charging plugs at up to five locations.
The grants are part Round 1B of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $2.5 billion Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program and will fund the construction of more than 9,200 EV charging ports nationwide. USDOT says the program is intended to strategically deploy publicly accessible electric vehicle charging and alternative fueling infrastructure in the places people live and work – urban and rural areas alike – as well as along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs).
These grants are in addition to two other similar awards. The state received $5.7 million in a January 2024 announcement as part of Round 1A of the CFI program. A $5.92 million award through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program was also announced in January that will go to six businesses that will install and operate EV charging stations in nine locations along interstates and major highways. These nine locations represent the first of about 50 locations needed to fully build-out the state’s alternative fuel corridors as required by the NEVI program.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is bullish on the future of EVs in his state. “This is an exciting start, but there’s so much more to come for clean transportation,” he said. “By expanding the EV charging network, all North Carolinians will be able to choose transportation options that are more efficient, more affordable and better for our environment.”
