An overview of federal transportation electrification funds

BY APRIL BOLDUC, PRESIDENT, ELECTRIC Vehicle ASSOCIATION

Happy new year! Here’s hoping that 2022 will be productive and meaningful for the work we do in the electric vehicle (EV) community to advance the adoption of electric cars, trucks, and buses.

We are fortunate the focus in Washington turned toward EVs in 2021, and that federal funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) look to bolster electric transportation. I found the following excerpts from both the White House and the U.S. Department of Energy efforts to be very helpful in understanding what is on the horizon.

The information was compiled by the Smart Electric Power Alliance’s EV Working Group of which I’m a past co-chair and author of two transportation electrification reports on EV program development and implementation best practices.

Excerpts from White House fact sheet addressing IIJA, issued 11/8/2021:

Public Transit: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will replace thousands of transit vehicles, including buses, with clean, zero-emission vehicles.

• Electric Vehicle Infrastructure: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will invest $7.5 billion to build out the first-ever national network of EV chargers in the United States. The deal is also a critical element in the Biden-Harris Administration's plan to accelerate the adoption of EVs to address the climate crisis and support domestic manufacturing jobs. The deal will provide funding for the deployment of EV chargers along highway corridors to facilitate long-distance travel and within communities to provide convenient charging where people live, work, and shop – and funding will have a particular focus on rural, disadvantaged, and hard-to-reach communities.

• Clean School Buses: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will deliver thousands of electric school buses nationwide, including in rural communities, to help school districts across the country buy clean, American-made, zero-emission buses and replace the yellow school bus fleet for America's children. The deal invests in zero- and low-emission school buses, in addition to more than $5 billion in funding for public transit agencies to adopt low- and no-emissions buses. These investments will drive demand for American-made batteries and vehicles, creating jobs and supporting domestic manufacturing, while also removing diesel buses from some of our most vulnerable communities.

Excerpts from U.S. DOE fact sheet addressing IIJA, issued 11/9/2021:

• The infrastructure deal will:

  • Invest more than $7 billion in the supply chain for batteries, which are essential to powering our economy with 24/7 clean, affordable, and resilient energy and transportation options. This will include producing critical minerals, sourcing materials for manufacturing, and even recycling critical materials without new extraction/mining.

  • Expand the authority of DOE's Loan Program Office (LPO) to invest in projects that increase the domestic supply of critical minerals and expand LPO programs that invest in manufacturing zero-carbon technologies for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, trains, aircraft, and marine transportation.

  • Invest $5 billion in an EPA effort to replace thousands of polluting diesel school buses with electric buses.

Excerpts from Executive Order 14057, published 12/13/2021:

• Through a coordinated whole-of-government approach, the Federal Government shall use its scale and procurement power to achieve 100 percent zero-emission vehicle acquisitions by 2035, including 100 percent zero-emission light-duty vehicle acquisitions by 2027.

• Transitioning to a Zero-Emission Fleet. Each agency's light-duty vehicle acquisitions shall be zero-emission vehicles by the end of the fiscal year 2027. Each agency with a fleet comprising at least 20 vehicles shall develop and annually update a zero-emission fleet strategy that shall include optimizing fleet size and composition; deploying zero-emission vehicle refueling infrastructure; and maximizing acquisition and deployment of zero-emission light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles where the General Services Administration (GSA) offers one or more zero-emission vehicle options for that vehicle class.

• Establishment of Federal Leaders Working Groups. The following Federal Leaders working groups are hereby established, to be housed within the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ): 100 Percent 24/7 Carbon Pollution-Free Electricity; Zero-Emission Vehicle Fleets; Net-Zero Emissions Buildings; Net-Zero Emissions Procurement, including a Buy Clean Task Force; and Climate Adaptation and Resilience. The Chair of CEQ shall designate the chair or co-chairs for each working group and provide guidance on their membership and responsibilities. The working groups shall provide semiannual reports to the National Climate Task Force on actions, findings, and progress toward government-wide goals.

• The Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator of GSA shall coordinate with States, Tribes, and local governments to facilitate wider adoption of zero-emission vehicles and, where appropriate, use the Federal Government's acquisition programs for non-Federal Government purchasers.

• In coordination with the Chair of CEQ, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Secretary of Energy shall provide tools and technical support to agencies to develop targets for greenhouse gas emissions, zero-emission vehicle fleets, energy, and water required under this order; and shall collect, analyze, and report agency data for the purposes of monitoring and evaluating performance toward the goals of this order.

Excerpts from White House fact sheet addressing Executive Order 14057, issued 12/8/2021:

• The President's executive order directs the federal government to use its scale and procurement power to achieve 100 percent zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) acquisitions by 2035, including 100 percent zero-emission light-duty vehicle acquisitions by 2027. The federal government will work with American vehicle, battery, and charging equipment manufacturers and installers to transform its fleet into the largest zero-emission vehicle fleet in the Nation, reaching 100 percent zero-emission vehicle acquisitions by 2035. This will accelerate the advancement of America's industrial capacity to supply zero-emission vehicles and electric vehicle batteries and create and sustain good union jobs in manufacturing, engineering, and skilled trades.

• The federal government will transform its portfolio of 300,000 buildings, a fleet of 600,000 cars and trucks, and annual purchasing power of $650 billion in goods and services to transition federal infrastructure to zero-emission vehicles and buildings powered by carbon pollution-free electricity.

• Together, the President's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Budget for Fiscal Year 2022, and Build Back Better Act will provide agencies with the funding necessary to achieve the goals of the executive order. [Note: The IIJA has been enacted; the Build Back Better Act is still pending.]

Excerpts from U.S. DOE Secretary Granholm statement addressing Executive Order 14057, issued 12/8/2021:

• Through this historic executive order and its accompanying Federal Sustainability Plan [see the Granholm statement above], the Biden Administration will leverage the federal government's procurement power and scale to achieve 100 percent zero-emission vehicle acquisitions by 2035, including 100 percent zero-emission light-duty vehicle acquisitions by 2027.

• The Biden Administration expects this action will catalyze the development of at least 10 gigawatts of new clean electricity production by 2030 and accelerate America's capacity to supply zero-emission vehicles and electric vehicle batteries, spurring the creation of new jobs in manufacturing, engineering, and skilled trades.

White House fact sheet addressing administration's EV-Charging Action Plan, published 12/13/2021.

Joint U.S. DOE/DOT news release addressing creation and activities of new Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, published 12/14/2021.

Additionally, here’s an informative recap detailing the plan to grow the EV charging network to 500,000 stations.

Let’s do our best to make 2022 an even better year for the adoption of EVs. There’s no doubt our time has come and time is of the essence as the Electric Vehicle Association continues our work to educate our communities on the benefits of driving electric.