The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) on Thursday proposed minimum standards and requirements for electric vehicle recharging projects funded by a US$5 billion government program.
“Everyone should count on fast charging, fair pricing and easy-to-use payment,” said Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The deployment of a nationwide network of fast and reliable EV battery charging stations is central to the Biden administration’s plans to spur consumers to switch to the technology, even as efforts to secure substantial additional funding in the U.S. Congress are frozen.
By 2030, Biden wants 50% of all new vehicles sold in the US to be electric or plug-in hybrids and for the country to have 500,000 new charging stations.
He did not endorse phasing out sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2030.
The standards aim to ensure that the government-funded charging network “is easy to use, reliable and accessible to all North Americans, and interoperable between different charging companies, with similar payment systems, pricing information and charging speeds.” said USDOT.
The set of rules proposed by the Federal Highway Administration is intended to ensure that electric vehicle owners can use charging stations across the country.
“Everyone should be able to find a working charging station whenever and wherever they need it – without worrying about paying more or having worse service depending on where they live,” said Buttigieg.
“You shouldn’t have to have half a dozen apps on your phone just to be able to pay for the top-up service,” he added.
The rules aim to ensure that charging stations built across the country can communicate and work on the same software platforms.
Authorities also want publicly funded chargers to have at least four ports capable of charging four vehicles quickly at the same time and not exclusive to certain drivers.
The proposed rules also require chargers to work 97% of the time and have standards in place so third-party apps can provide real-time vehicle battery charging information.
Source: CNN Brasil
