Electric vehicles: The Biden administration wants to standardize EV charging stations, such as petrol stations

CNN
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Each petrol station is essentially the same – the nozzle fits all vehicles, the pump takes regular credit cards and the price is on a large sign. The Biden administration wants to make charging stations for electric vehicles much more like this.

The new proposed rule will require that the half a million electric vehicle chargers it plans to finance be interoperable, in the same way that a petrol pump works with any vehicle. Charging stations funded under the federal program will also be open to all – and prohibit membership requirements – and set a common standard for payment and other technologies. The charging stations were to be built along US highways.

The proposal, which came from the Department of Transportation and the Department of Energy on Thursday, comes as consumers at the pump continue to pay record-high gas prices. As CNN previously reported, the US average for the price of a gallon of ordinary gas reached $ 4.96 according to the latest reading from AAA on Wednesday. It marked the 12th day in a row, and the 29th time in the last 30 that gas has set a record in America.

Although President Joe Biden recently admitted that there was nothing he could do to bring gas prices down in the short term, his push for electric vehicles is part of his plan to meet the climate crisis. In August last year, the president announced a goal that half of the vehicles sold in the country by 2030 will be battery electric, fuel cell electric or plug-in hybrid.

The new initiative is part of the administration’s efforts to ensure electric charge availability for all Americans and to address the key concerns to prevent drivers from purchasing electric vehicles. The key among them is range anxiety, a driver’s fear that he or she may not have enough charge to reach the next plug-in station.

The Biden administration is also addressing other concerns by demanding standardized pricing and payment systems, and investing billions in other measures such as fast-charging battery technology.

If it is completed as designed, the rule will apply to chargers funded by the federal infrastructure law that was signed in November last year. That includes about $ 5 billion that will go to states to build charging networks, including funding for chargers along interstates and other major routes.

“To support the transition to electric vehicles, we need to build a national charging network that makes finding a charge as easy as refueling,” said Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg.