Access to fast public electric vehicle charging is consistently cited as a top concern among car buyers considering the switch to an EV. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program was established to help make progress on this issue, with a focus on travel corridors. With more than three years having passed since the program was established, and many are wondering what's going on with the NEVI Program.

Getting the facts on how much progress the NEVI Program has made as been undermined by an unfortunate slew of recent headlines and hearsay bemoaning the slowness and exorbitant cost of installing charging under the program. Some critics disliked the program in the first place, while others have earnest concerns. Even Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg publicly chimed in on NEVI Program questions to a helpfully reassuring and hilarious result. It's no wonder some are asking if the program is working.

The short answer is, yes, there has been strong progress in carrying out the NEVI Program to date. Before ground was broken to install physical charging assets, quite a bit of work was done to educate, support, and build capacity among charging stakeholders; and that capacity building continues. The first NEVI Program-funded station opened in December 2023 in Ohio, and since then, many states have or are poised to bring NEVI charging stations online in the coming months.

There is also room for improvement in NEVI Program implementation. A small group of states are dragging their feet on soliciting project applications for their NEVI funds, despite having had two rounds of state plans approved (most recently, the Fiscal Year 2024 plans). Furthermore, states that have made progress in soliciting projects and making awards need to take the lessons learned by doing, as well as resources containing guidance and best practices, to do more, faster.

Progress in bringing chargers online

As of the time of writing, 44 awarded sites totaling 183 direct current fast charging ports and over $25 million are open across 12 states according to the EV States Clearing House NEVI Awards Dashboard. That's strong progress to be sure, but those figures are only the tip of the iceberg. Many more stations are not yet on the visible surface, if I may continue the iceberg metaphor. Indeed, 37 states have issued 889 awards totaling around $500 million. Six more states, or 43 total, make the group that has issued at least one solicitation for project applications. The awarded sites that have opened so far represent only a small fraction of the progress made to date, and we can expect to see some of the awarded sites opening in the coming year.

The $500 million in awards is only about 20 percent of the $2.4 billion already allocated to states in the first three years of the program. There will be more awards with the allocated funds as well as two more years of funding allocations as states continue to implement the program.

Getting a $5 billion program rolling takes time

When I hear that the NEVI Program is rolling out too slowly, I wonder, "Slow relative to what?" In the United States, it is normal for charging projects to take 18 months. While it has been over three years since the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established the NEVI Program, the early months since establishment were dedicated to gathering feedback to establish federal guidance to states, states formulating their plans, evaluation and approval of those plans by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the subsequent allocation of first tranche of funding. Getting to the point of allocating the first tranche of funding to states took nearly a year to complete, and that doesn't include the funding solicitation cycle.

With the year of necessary startup time, some time for project solicitation and evaluation, and a typical 18 month project execution time, deployment of stations in most states is not getting into unacceptably "slow" territory yet. But that doesn't mean that the program can't be moving faster as we go along. I'll get more into that later on.

At least one state was candid and clear-eyed from its first draft plan about how long the build-out of NEVI Program charging stations could take. As I described in a post back in 2022, California expected to put out its first solicitation for proposals in the winter of 2022, to see the first operational chargers in the second quarter of 2025, and to finish building the NEVI stations by 2030. Theres a lot that goes into these three key milestones in pursuit of a robust, accessible charging network. To break it down, I think about the NEVI Program implementation and milestones in terms of five key cycles.

The first cycle is federal guidance, of which one round was needed before the inaugural state plans were developed and submitted. This cycle includes updated guidance, minimum standards and requirements, question and answer documents, and more. States take these as they come and apply them to their ongoing planning and project solicitation efforts.

The second cycle is state planning, which states are required to do annually. States consider the statute, guidance and rules from FHWA and the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (aka Joint Office), and feedback they solicit from their constituents and communities to produce a plan that they then submit to FHWA. FHWA evaluates the plans and approves each in whole or in part. The approval of a plan triggers the allocation of funds to the state for that plan year. States update plans through a similar cycle each year, adding information and data gathered in other implementation steps or based on updated guidance and rules.

The third cycle is the awards cycle. Once the state earns its funding allocation, it issues some kind of solicitation for projects, such as a request for proposal or notice of funding. The state collects project applications, evaluates them, and makes awards.

Meanwhile, project developers plan projects based on the solicitation. Developers may need to form a partnership with a site to host the chargers (if the project developer/applicant and the site host are not the same entity). The project developer then designs the project and applies for the funding.

Within any of those cycles is the opportunity to engage constituents and communities to gather input and feedback. Gathering input could be seen as intermediary steps, for example, between a draft plan and final plan or as a precursor to project development. You could also see stakeholder feedback as a cycle itself that feeds into the other three cycles at various points. Either way, the process to meaningfully engage and collect community input takes time. It can add to the overall timeline, but it produces a superior result. Failing to do so can have harmful consequences.

Upon receiving the award, project developers begin the project execution cycle, which includes steps like permitting, construction, connection to the electric grid, and official opening. This is the part that can take around 18 months, not including the potential for unexpected delays.

All of these steps toward bringing chargers online take time. Some of the cycles can happen concurrently after the first state planning cycle. But other than the state planning cycle, none happens on a fixed timeline. It is important that the federal agencies, state departments of transportation, project developers, and stakeholders have taken time for thoughtful, inclusive-though perhaps not perfect-processes as they carry out the NEVI Program. The program is a massive public investment that needs to deliver the available, reliable, and accessible charging experience it has promised. Cutting corners to put chargers in the ground as fast as possible would undermine that objective. Speed cannot be the only measure of success of the program, though timely deployment of chargers is important.

The good news is that the majority of states are making progress awarding, installing, and opening stations. That progress not only makes EV charging more accessible but also generates new insights that can accelerate progress as EV charging deployment continues through NEVI and outside of it.

Room for improvement in the buildout

One place we have seen delays is between the allocation of funds and the solicitation of project applications. Nine states have yet to issue even one solicitation over 15 months since the first round of state plans were approved for all 50 states plus DC and Puerto Rico. Those nine states total over $340 million dollars in funding that is, apparently, allocated but going nowhere. That time gap is largely within states' control, and states with large gaps must address this while federal agencies should provide support for them to do so. Delays at that stage undermine progress that can be made in the project planning and development cycle which trickles down to a delayed start in the project execution process, while would-be applicants wait for a solicitation to be issued.

Other kinds of delay can happen. Permitting processes and delays in grid connections have been pain points in EV charging broadly, extending the project execution cycle. Solutions to these must be pursued in local jurisdictions and utility service areas, and they are in some places. However, these are not problems with the NEVI Program itself.

States who have solicited awards should take lessons learned from their own experience, as well as best practices from successful peer states, to do more, faster as they move forward. The Joint Office is one entity that can support the exchange of information and learning.

Progress in building capacity to advance successful EV charging projects

Other than the tangible assets the NEVI Program has produced so far, non-infrastructure program spending is helping create capacity among EV charging stakeholders. This capacity will pay dividends beyond the five years of NEVI Program funding, as well as beyond completion of program investments in the following years.

At the Federal level, the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation is creating capacity. That office was established and funded through statute as part of the NEVI Program. It plays an important role in NEVI Program implementation by assisting the Federal Highway Administration in developing and issuing guidance for and evaluating state implementation of the program, including the annually required state plans. Perhaps more importantly, the Joint Office has produced a virtual library full of resources and helpful publications, and provides bespoke technical assistance for states, project applicants, and other charging stakeholders to aid any charging projects, whether within the NEVI Program and outside of it.

In this way, the Joint Office has been instrumental in enhancing the capacity of the Federal government to carry out its statutory responsibilities related to programs like the NEVI Program, while also building capacity at the sub-national level. Progress to date in building capacity across EV charging stakeholders can have a lasting and reinforcing effect on building more capacity and creating more progress to deploy physical infrastructure for EV charging.

Of the NEVI funding that reaches the state, the state DOTs may use a portion to conduct state planning, which includes engaging constituents and communities to gather input and feedback from them. This is another way that non-infrastructure spending is supporting successful infrastructure spending, building state capacity to engage constituents to produce community-informed plan, projects, and project selection criteria that will be stronger than uninformed efforts. What is more, community engagement can be a conduit to building knowledge and skill capacities in the engaged communities when done holistically.

Progress in the NEVI Program lays the foundation for additional private investment in charging

Sure, there is some room for improvement in the implementation of the NEVI Program, and that must be addressed. However, observers should take heart in the 44 open sites, the 889 additional sites in progress, as well as the two rounds of approved state plans, establishment of the Joint Office and its body of work, community input, and the other capacity built during the first three years of the NEVI Program. In addition, the NEVI Program is providing a catalyst for private investments in charging, even beyond what private entities are already providing toward the 20 percent cost share of projects under the program. Seeding the public charging market with this public investment sends a signal to the industry and increases the value proposition of charging stations installed outside of the program. In sum, these first few years of the NEVI Program are only the beginning as we accelerate progress on building a comprehensive charging network to make the switch to EV an attractive option for all drivers.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.