Liam Sawyer, of Indianapolis, charges his 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E, Friday, March 8, 2024, at an electric vehicle charging station in London, Ohio. The charging ports are a key part of President Joe Biden’s effort to encourage drivers to move away from gasoline-powered cars and trucks that contribute to global warming.
Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt poses for a portrait in his office, Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Washington. About 175 miles into his journey, he stopped at a new public charging station at the Pilot Travel Center along Interstate 70 outside Columbus, Ohio. The station, which opened in London, Ohio, in December with four chargers, can power an EV in about half an hour while drivers buy food and drinks and use amenities.
“We are building this national framework from scratch, partnering with states to set plans, and we want to make sure we are taking appropriate care to set this program up correctly,″ Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt said in an interview. “We’re committed to making sure that all Americans can charge where they live, work, shop, play, pray,″ said Gabe Klein, director of the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, which runs the federal charging program.
But he said the administration’s goal is to have chargers every 50 miles along U.S. interstates. Other major charging networks offered by Tesla, EVgo and Electrify America prioritize shopping centers, gas stations and grocery stores, but long-distance travel is where many Americans perceive the biggest gap.
“I actually don’t think these are moving very slow. I think they’re going really quickly given that they’re tiny construction projects that we’re deploying at a pretty significant scale,” said Preeti Choudhary, DriveOhio’s executive director. “Getting them in the ground quickly is important because we do have this growing contingency of EV drivers out there and they need to be supported when they’re driving across our state or across the country.