EVgo secures $1.25 billion loan as Biden races to approve more EV spending

United States Department of Energy Announced $1.25 billion loan to electric vehicle charging company EVgo, as the Biden administration races to finalize its spending on EVs before Donald Trump takes office. The money will finance EVgo’s plan to install approximately 7,500 chargers at approximately 1,100 charging stations across the US over the next five years, with a particular focus on fast-charging 350-kilowatt stalls that can charge two vehicles simultaneously.

But more importantly, it shows how President Joe Biden intends to spend as much money as possible for EV projects before leaving office. Trump has promised Biden should reverse or cancel most of the spending on EVs Once he assumes office. He has said he would eliminate the $7,500 tax credit for new EV purchases and eliminate remaining Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) spending on EV charging infrastructure.

With a little more than a month left in office, Biden’s Energy Department is rapidly approving EV-related loans. Stellantis and Samsung Whereas, preliminary approval was given for a battery factory in Indiana worth $7.54 billion Rivian will get $6.6 billion For an EV plant in Georgia.

The administration says that the purpose of the loan is also to create employment. For example, EVgo said its expansion project will support the creation of 180 external construction jobs and more than 550 maintenance and support jobs.

EVgo, which is based in Los Angeles, is working with General Motors on the installation of thousands of EV chargers across the country. Companies recently celebrated its activation His 2,000th charging stall,

After his election, Biden vowed to build 500,000 chargers by 2030 to spur more EV sales, including $7.5 billion for charging expansion in the bipartisan infrastructure bill. While the first few years of funding were quite sluggish, recent updates show that things are finally picking up pace.

“There are currently more than 204,000 publicly available charging ports, with approximately 38,000 new public chargers already added this year and approximately 1,000 new public chargers each week due to a combination of direct federal funding,” DOE said in its release. “Are being added.” , federal tax incentives, state and local funding, and private investment.

It includes both a Level 2 charger and a DC fast charger. This is nearly double the number of ports in operation at the beginning of 2021 when Biden first took office.