U.S. EPA Awards $250 Million for EV Charging Infrastructure Along I-95 Freight Corridor

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Oct. 23 announced the award of nearly $250 million to the Clean Corridor Coalition to develop charging infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles along the Interstate-95 or I-95 corridor. The award will support the development of 24 freight truck charging sites, providing 450 charging ports along the I-95. The new EV charging infrastructure is expected to lower emissions by 18.6 million metric tons of carbon emissions by 2050.

The funding comes from the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, a part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act which allocates almost $5 billion in grants toward projects to reduce air pollution and carbon emissions. The majority of this funding, approximately $4.6 billion, would go toward competitive implementation grants.

The Clean Corridor Coalition is a collaboration between state agencies across the northeastern states of Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, and Connecticut to establish a regional network of EV charging sites for freight trucks passing through the I-95, one of the busiest corridors in the northeastern region.

The interstate highway is a key part of freight transport in the eastern U.S., particularly for heavy-duty freight trucks. While these trucks and buses only make up 4 percent of all vehicles, they are responsible for almost 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. Hence, there is a great need for electrification of vehicles along this highway to reduce carbon emissions and meet the climate goals of the four states.

Building robust EV charging networks throughout the U.S. to meet increasing demand for EVs is a priority for the Biden administration. Earlier this month, the U.S. Energy Department announced a conditional loan guarantee of over $1 billion for the EVgo project to establish a nationwide EV fast-charging network. The loan would support the development of around 1,100 charging stations with 7,500 charging ports installed across the U.S.