National electric highway coalition forms in US
The Electric Highway Coalition and Midwest Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Collaboration have merged.
The new body, the National Electric Highway Coalition, is comprised of electric companies from across the country, including 51 investor-owned electric companies, one electric cooperative and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The coalition is committed to providing electric vehicle (EV) fast charging ports along major US travel corridors by the end of 2023.
“With the formation of the National Electric Highway Coalition, we are committed to investing in and providing the charging infrastructure necessary to facilitate electric vehicle growth and to helping alleviate any remaining customer range anxiety,” says Edison Electric Institute President, Tom Kuhn.
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EEI reports that to date, member companies have invested more than $3 billion in customer programmes and projects to deploy EV charging infrastructure and to accelerate electric transportation.
The organisation estimates that more than 100,000 EV fast-charging ports will be needed to support the projected 22 million EVs that will be on US roads in 2030.
“By merging and expanding the existing efforts underway to build fast-charging infrastructure along major travel corridors, we are building a foundational EV charging network that will help to encourage more customers to purchase an electric vehicle,” Kuhn says.
The Midwest Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Collaboration was established in January by five midwest states, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, with a view to working together to increase the deployment of EV charging stations across the region.
The Electric Highway Coalition, on the other hand, was utility led. It was formed in March by the six major utilities, American Electric Power, Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Entergy Corporation, Southern Co. and the Tennessee Valley Authority, to build out a network of fast chargers across the east and southeast of the US. Others soon joined and by July its membership had more than doubled.
With the merger, Coalition member service territories cover a substantial portion of the US, with the exception of a large swathe across the less populated centre of the country.
