The California Energy Commission is offering $10 million in grant funds for electric vehicle charging stations on designated corridors from San Jose southward.
The direct current fast charging stations will be installed son Interstate 5 (I-5), State Route 99 (SR 99), and along United States Highway 101 (US-101) from San Jose travelling south in California.
The project is part of California’s Electric Charging Highway Corridor, designed so that electric vehicles can travel from the Oregon border south to Baja California.
Officials hope the corridor will give electric vehicle owners confidence that they can recharge when driving long distances along a freeway or highway. The state hopes to alleviate range anxiety, a major block to consumer purchases and use of plug-in electric vehicles (PEV).
The charging infrastructure coverage must allow EV drivers with a light duty electric vehicles with a 75 mile all electric range to drive the entire length of a designated corridor without danger of being stranded.
The host stations must be within three miles of the corridor, and charging stations must be accessible 24 hours per day.
The charging equipment must allow payment to be made in multiple ways, such as pay per use and subscription methods, including ability to accept a credit or debit card without incurring any additional fees, inconvenience or delays.
The funds are available through the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology.
Applicants may submit only one proposal per corridor. The application must pass administrative and technical screening before competing based on evaluation criteria. Only the highest ranked application in each identified corridor that obtains at least the minimum passing score will be recommended for funding.
Applications are due November 19. The commission expects to announce winners in January 2016.
The solicitation contact is: Tonya Heron, California Energy Commission, (916) 654-4423 [email protected].
The application documents are available on the CEC website.
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