On Jan. 10, the Biden Administration contributed to California’s plans and efforts to replace gasoline powered vehicles – cars and light trucks – with zero emission vehicles.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration awarded $122.8 million in grants to the State and several local cities to continue building out electric vehicle charging and alternative fueling infrastructure.

California was one of 27 states to receive these grants. According to the press release, the number of publicly accessible EV chargers has more than doubled since the start of the Biden Administration in 2021.

“The Biden Administration has made historic investments to support the EV transition and make sure it’s made in America,” said former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in the press release. “These investments will help states and communities build out a network of EV chargers in the coming years so that one day, finding a charge on a road trip will be as easy as filling up at a gas station.”

Besides the California Energy Commission, which will receive $55.9 million, five local jurisdictions also received grants for EV stations.

However, the recent fires in and near Los Angeles have raised concerns about dangers of relying on EV vehicles if the electricity has been shut off. Further, local recharging stations are likely to have lines of cars trying to charge before evacuations.

The CEC will use its funds to install 21 public EV charging stations and one hydrogen refueling station to support zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty semi-trailer trucks, resulting in at least 130 high-powered EV charger ports. They will be deployed in California, west from the Nevada border.

Closer to Idyllwild, the city of San Bernardino, was awarded nearly $14.1 million to create its first public charging network. It will install 101 EV chargers at 15 municipally owned locations, including parks, community centers, a library, City Hall, the Police Department, and several downtown core parking locations. All sites will include Level 2 and DC fast chargers, in addition to chargers for micro-mobility, like e-bikes and e-scooters, and include reliability and resiliency features.

The other four jurisdictions – the Environment Department of the City and County of San Francisco, the cities of Santa Cruz and San Jose, and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District – will receive almost $53 million. All of the funding is to install more EV charging ports throughout the State.

“FHWA is working to expand the nation’s EV charging network to guarantee that every American can reliably and accessibly fuel their trips, no matter where they live,” said former Acting Federal Highway Deputy Administrator Gloria M. Shepherd in the announcement release. “The grants announced today will continue this important work by investing in alternative fueling infrastructure in communities, creating economic opportunities, and advancing equity in EV charging by ensuring all Americans can share the benefits of an electrified future.”

Before these awards, the FHWA noted that “there are more than 206,000 publicly available EV charging ports with 38,000 new public chargers turned on in 2024 thanks to private sector investment, and a combination of direct federal funding, federal tax incentives, and state and local funding.”