On Wednesday, the California Energy Commission gave its approval to a plan to invest $2.9 billion in accelerating the state's goals for charging electric vehicles (EVs) and refueling hydrogen fueling stations by the year 2025.
According to the energy commission, the investment will result in the installation of 90,000 new electric vehicle (EV) chargers across the state, which is more than double the 80,000 chargers that have already been deployed.
Together with money from utilities and other initiatives, it is anticipated that these investments will ensure that the state meets its objective of deploying 250,000 chargers by the year 2025, as stated in the report.
To encourage the use of medium and heavy duty cars that produce zero emissions, the state has committed $1.7 billion.
Patty Monahan, the Lead Commissioner for Transportation at CEC, stated in a statement that "the proposal would enhance access to charging and hydrogen fuelling for consumers, businesses, and public agencies while supporting our burgeoning manufacturing environment and creating jobs."
The United States Department of Transportation gave its stamp of approval in September to plans for installing charging stations for electric vehicles along approximately 75,000 miles (120,700 kilometers) of highways in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
The $1 trillion infrastructure plan allocates $5 billion over the next five years to assist states in the installation of electric vehicle (EV) chargers along interstate highways. To assist in the construction of electric vehicle chargers, states now have access to more than $1.5 billion in funding.
Earlier this year, the White House made the announcement that it had given its approval to 35 of the 50 state plans.
In August, California passed legislation that will mandate that all new vehicles sold in the state must be either electric or plug-in electric hybrids by the year 2035.