Arkansas to Receive $54 Million From Feds For More EV Charging Stations

The Federal Government wants electric vehicle charging stations across the US by 2030 and has designated $54 million to the state of Arkansas to make it happen here.

The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program is a $5 billion plan that establishes a national network of half a million EV charging stations by 2030 along federally designated Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFC).

To receive the federal funding, the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) is working on a plan to determine how the state administers federal funding in accordance with NEVI requirements and state laws. Approvals from the Feds are still pending.

There Are Conditions:

The designated AFC corridors must meet the following criteria:

• Charging stations within 1 mile of an AFC exit or intersection.
• 50-mile maximum distance between charging stations.
• Charging stations must be capable of simultaneously charging four
  EVs at 150kW per hour.

The plan stretches those Federal dollars out over the next five years with the goal of being in place fully by the year 2030.

What About Now?

Currently, out of the 171 publicly available charging stations in the state of Arkansas, only 5 are NEVI compliant.

MAps of available charging stations now from Chargehub.com.

Electric Vehicle Issues Worth Consideration:

• 2030 is just 7 1/2 years away, the US is having issues generating enough electricity now, are there any new electric generating plants coming online in the next few years as electric usage goes up?
• Since gas and diesel taxes are by the gallon and are supposed to pay for infrastructure upkeep of our roadways and bridges, at what point will new taxes or fees for driving electric vehicles come into play when gas and diesel usage goes way down? You know it will happen.
• How expensive is it to replace the batteries in vehicles that run strictly on batteries? The answer is, very.

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