First-Ever National EV Charging Summit Features Unprecedented Public, Private Collaboration
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and other top Biden administration officials joined an unprecedented coalition of business, labor and environmental advocacy leaders at the first-ever National EV Charging Summit on January 20. The event showcased a new level of collaboration supporting the historic federal commitment to build out a U.S.-wide electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
“This administration knows that the future is electric,” Granholm said in a video address to the summit, which had more than 2,500 people registered to attend. “But we’ve got a lot of work ahead.”
“This is our moment to be bold,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg said. “We’re not going to get this done without working hand in glove together.”
The virtual event, hosted by the National EV Charging Initiative, featured conversations on key challenges to successfully implementing the $7.5 billion authorized by the bipartisan infrastructure strategy President Biden signed into law to install charging stations along highways and in communities nationwide.
There was strong emphasis also on the willingness of the public and private utility, automotive and other sectors to work collaboratively in the building of the network.
Deputy Secretary Trottenberg and Michael Berube, DOE’s deputy assistant Secretary for sustainable transportation, appeared together publicly for the first time to preview the new Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. They announced they will release a new national guidance to states in mid-February to help them develop an affordable, accessible and reliable national EV charging network.
“They need the federal government to set the vision and direction,” Berube said, while adding the guidance is not set in stone and will evolve along with the multi-year effort to build out a national charging network.
In addition, a number of companies and organizations also announced and outlined their respective commitments to helping build out a national EV charging network, including:
General Motors committing nearly $750 million to accelerate home, workplace and public charging, including goals of providing access to more than 100,000 charging spots in the U.S. and Canada, adding more than 3,200 DC fast chargers throughout the United States by the end of 2025 and working with dealers to install up to 40,000 Level 2 destination chargers.
AMPLY Power leveraging its December acquisition by BP to begin applying global scale and resources to growing and accelerating EV charging infrastructure adoption.
Greenlots changing its name next month to Shell Recharge Solutions as part of a broader effort to help its parent company Shell’s global goal of operating 500,000 chargers by 2025 and 2.5 million chargers by 2030.
Tritium announcing a new U.S.-based DC fast charger manufacturing facility will come online in the third quarter of 2022, with final locations being considered in Tennessee and Texas. It will be the Australian-based company’s largest global manufacturing facility and will initially be able to manufacture 5,000 DC fast chargers per year and can be expanded to build 10,000 DC fast chargers annually.
AmeriCrew rolling out a new workforce development initiative to train up to 250 military veterans to install and support EV chargers.
A full list of the Summit’s commitment videos and related blogs can be found by clicking on respective logos at https://www.evcharginginitiative.com/fact-sheet.
EV Charging Summit panelists and speakers
○ Jigar Shah | Director, U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office
○ Maria Bocanegra | Commissioner, Illinois Commerce Commission and Chair, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) EV Task Force
○ Richard Kauffman | Chair, Generate Capital and Chairman, New York Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
○ Danielle Eckert | Director of Government Affairs, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
○ Don Cravins | EVP and COO, National Urban League
○ Britta Gross | Managing Director, Mobility, RMI
○ Cathy Zoi | CEO, EVgo
○ John Bozella | CEO, Alliance for Automotive Innovation
○ Andrea Marpillero-Colomina | Clean Transportation Consultant, Green Latinos
○ Manish Bapna | President & CEO, Natural Resources Defense Council
○ Carla Peterman | Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer, PG&E
○ Nick Nigro | Founder, Atlas Public Policy
○ Brian Wolff | Chief Strategy Officer & Executive Vice President, Public Policy and External Affairs, Edison Electric Institute
○ John Boesel | President and CEO, CALSTART
○ Leslie Aguayo | Environmental Equity Program Manager, The Greenlining Institute
“The Summit demonstrated that America is ready for bold action on EV charging,” said Colleen Quinn and Nancy Ryan, partners at eMobility Advisors and organizers of the National EV Charging Initiative. “Trade associations, businesses, regulators, labor and other stakeholders stepped forward with strong commitments consistent with the Administration’s values of inclusivity, accessibility, affordability, and collaboration.”
A full recording of the event can be accessed at https://www.evcharginginitiative.com/live-stream.
About the National EV Charging Initiative
The National EV Charging Initiative brings together automakers, power providers, electric vehicle and charging industry leaders, labor, and public interest groups to signal they are ready, willing and able to support federal action on a national charging network for light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles. Members collaborate to accelerate shovel-ready charging infrastructure projects that will put people to work, infuse the economy with billions of dollars of investment, and increase access to clean transportation.
Learn more at evcharginginitiative.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ben Finzel
RENEWPR
[email protected]
(202) 277-6286
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