The federal government is handing out hundreds of millions in grant money to help build electric vehicle charging stations across the country, with $30 million earmarked for Bay Area projects.
The Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program is sending $15 million in grants to both Contra Costa County and the Bay Ara Air Quality Management District to help build publicly accessible electric vehicle charging stations.
The Air District will distribute its $15 million through its Charge! Program, which incentivizes the purchase and installation of new charging stations, and will prioritize projects in disadvantaged communities across the nine-county Bay Area.
“This generous federal award will be indispensable to the Bay Area’s efforts to transition to a cleaner transportation network with both immediate and long-lasting benefits in the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and the reduction of toxic air pollution burdens in our most impacted communities,” said Philip Fine, the Air District’s executive officer.
As a result of the grant, new charging stations could crop up at all manner of publicly accessible locations, including shopping centers, municipal facilities, transit hubs, parking lots, office buildings and public parks, among other places.
Contra Costa County’s grant is intended to bring charging stations primarily to rural, low-income and disadvantaged communities by building them at 15 local libraries, according to the Federal Highway Administration, which administers the grant program.
Thus far, the program — which was created by the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — has awarded more than $622 million to organizations in 22 states, including ten in California.
“As California leads the charge toward an electric-vehicle powered future, we must make sure EV charging and refueling stations are broadly accessible to drivers across the state,” said U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, D-Calif.
“That means investing in public charging sites across major corridors, urban neighborhoods, and rural and low-income communities,” Padilla said in a news release. “Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re deploying more of the technology needed to make EVs accessible to all Californians.”
The Contra Costa and Air District grants are part of a $168.5 million package of awards given to 10 organizations in the state, including the cities of Palmdale, Eureka and Blythe, as well as the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District, the counties of San Joaquin and Ventura, the Victor Valley Transit Authority and the California State University at Los Angeles.
And where’s the generation to support them?
***crickets***
This should really help the already overloaded power grids.
“Hertz is selling 20K electric vehicles to buy gasoline cars instead
ByPeter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, CNNWire
Friday, January 12, 2024 2:30AM”
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“Hertz, which has made a big push into electric vehicles in recent years, has decided it’s time to cut back. The company will sell off a third of its electric fleet, totaling roughly 20,000 vehicles, and use the money they bring to purchase more gasoline-powered vehicles.”
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People don’t even wanna rent the Krap…..
And they will sell them for 1/3 or less of what they paid for them.
…do they read the news? ..EV sales are declining now 🙁
Fact: Approximately 40% of the chargers at stations around America are not working. Many parts have been stolen for the copper in the wiring . Look at all the wind turbines that are not working right now. I don’t have a % of those inop, but I bet it exceeds 25%.
i was just going to comment that if they are unmanned they will get stripped of copper wire and pipe.
Building these will not promote EV sales either.The EV station property owners wont get much if they are relying on commission for profit.All these will add a new section to your electric bill.”infrastructure surcharge so they wont raise your rates…for the gullible that think its all free.
Definitely this government crew is living in the ozone and not reality. But maybe the $15M can support those who will be keeping their EVs after the rest sell theirs off. I suspect most of those just use the EV for a short commute or going the the store. There are other solutions in the pipeline that are more effective, less costly and far more practical and will be coming to market. Forty years ago these kind of “officials” would have been laughed at and not a chance of being elected. What a strange bunch they are. I don’t think I’ve seen the charging station near me ever filled up.
The Electric Car Con Explained
http://tinyurl.com/2p9r3hjv
Better off with a hybrid vehicle. Gas is here to stay.
Electric vechiles support illegal child labor, China, land fill overflow, land erosion due to mining and air pollution (due to unregulated country’s trying to burn caustic material’s generated from tons of battery’s). Electric vechiles are not sustainable. Electric vechiles are time wasting and will be found to be the worst polluters yet. Will strain our already strained electric grid. Just my opinion after researching pros and cons of Electric vechiles.
How many charging stations will that much money build?
If 10 charging stations are built with that money, I’ll be surprised.
The rest of the money will get stolen for other projects or simple grafts.
It takes 3or4 charging stops to get here from San Diego in a Tesla. What a joke.
I get there on less than 2 tanks. the one refuel stop takes less than 10 minutes.
How long does it take to do a full re-charge x 4 = ???
That money might be better spent to retrofit all the windmills to reverse direction to blow all the “greenhouse gases” back over to India and China, it makes as much sense as electric vehicles. And don’t forget about the 75+ active volcanos around the world spewing “greenhouse gases” daily. EVs are as my Dad used to say “Does as much good as pissin’ in the ocean” for the climate.
Just what low income families need. 🤣
That means investing in public charging sites across major corridors, urban neighborhoods, and rural and low-income communities,” Padilla said in a news release.
“will prioritize projects in disadvantaged communities across the nine-county Bay Area”.
They will put the charging stations were people can least afford a electric car. Makes a lot of sense.
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Handouts funded by US debt.
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China is smiling.
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Max out all of your credit cards spend all of your savings and see what happens. That’s what our government is doing, it’s going to be a rude awakening for this country. May God help us.
Sorry Padilla; the only things California leads the charge in are stupidity and fiscal irresponsibility.
Delusion is a dangerous thing.
Did the government ever subsidize gas stations????????? There’s this thing called the free market that is apparently a foreign concept to Democrats.
Keep voting democrats.
“Bay Area awarded 30M” HELLO. do they think that money just fell out of the sky, that’s tax payer money.
If you want a EV you should pay for the charging stations yourself.
Did the government pay to put in gas stations? NOT !
Biden, use my tax dollars to fix the roads or use my tax dollars to help homeless veterans.
So they are putting charging stations in “disadvantaged” neighborhoods. With the cost of EV’s, how many can afford one? This seems like a crime waiting to happen. What a waste of money.
But we have given over 75 BILLION to Ukraine…just saying…
Anyone ever wonder why a quart of oil costs more than a gallon of gasoline?
I did & all I can find on the subject is one article that concludes they can’t figure it out either.
Maybe the little plastic quart bottle costs $5 to make… yeah, that must be it.
https://www.gmpartscenter.net/blog/inflation-oil-costs
$30M??? That will probably get you MAYBE 30 charging stations. Wind mills in the North Mid-West & Texas: frozen & inoperable; EV charging stations in New Hampshire: frozen & inoperable; wind mills in the Atlantic: killing whales.
All the while, Newsom (our IDIOT governor) will have us drinking sewer water by the end of his term. With the billions of dollars he’s spent on our illustrious high speed train to nowhere, he could have built desalination plants…. but NO, THAT would require common sense.