PennDOT announces electric vehicle charger program details

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) today announced program details for the Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator (EV-RAA) program.

The program, created through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), will focus on repairin­­­­­­g and replacing broken or non-operational electric vehicle (EV) chargers to improve the reliability of existing EV charging infrastructure across the state.

“With increasing demand of EV vehicles, Governor Shapiro’s commitment to strengthening access to alternative fuels across the state remains in force,” PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said. “This funding will allow businesses and organizations that adopted EV early the opportunity to fix or upgrade outdated equipment and participate in the EV market.”

PennDOT released the EVC-RAA Funding Opportunity on May 23. The online Proposal period will open on July 2, and close on August 14, at 5 p.m. EDT. . Eligible parties will have an opportunity to pursue funds for the repair or replacement of listed non-operational chargers. There are 174 locations eligible for funding on the final list established by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

The BIL established the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program to provide funding to states to strategically deploy EV charging infrastructure and to establish an interconnected network to facilitate data collection, access, and reliability.

PennDOT applied for funding through the EVC-RAA program and was awarded $5 million. In accordance with FHWA requirements, funding may only be used to bring charging stations up to FHWA standards, including the requirements to operate a minimum of four charging ports and maintain a greater than 97 percent uptime.