The BIL includes a historic $7.5 billion dedicated investment to build out a national network of EV chargers. As part of this investment, the BIL includes $300 million to establish a Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (Joint Office) to study, plan, coordinate, and implement issues of joint concern between the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Transportation. This Ride and Drive Electric FOA and related activities align with the Joint Office mission to provide a modernized and interagency approach to support the deployment of zero-emission, convenient, accessible, equitable transportation infrastructure.

With more than 3 million EVs on the road and over 140,000 public charging ports, the transition to electrified transportation is occurring rapidly. Federal investments will accelerate this transition and catalyze additional private sector investment. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 alone, the Federal Highway Administration released $1.5 billion in funding under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program to begin the effort to electrify over 75,000 miles of the national highway system, the Federal Transit Administration awarded over $1.1 billion towards projects that will more than double the nation’s fleet of zero emission buses, and the Environmental Protection Agency announced $1 billion in funding for Clean School Buses after receiving unprecedented demand in funding applications. The actions build on well over $100 billion that the private sector has invested in EV, battery, and EV charging manufacturing in the United States to date.

It is critical that the transition to electrified transportation be inclusive and equitable in providing benefits to all Americans, while creating high quality jobs. This Ride and Drive Electric FOA and any related activities seek to encourage the meaningful engagement and participation of underserved communities and underrepresented groups including Tribes. Consistent with Executive Order 14008, this FOA is designed to support the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities in accordance with the President’s Justice40 Initiative. The Ride and Drive Electric FOA will seek to advance the mission and vision of the Joint Office by addressing discrete challenges to a convenient, affordable, reliable, secure, and equitable EV charging network by enhancing institutional capacity, encouraging holistic approaches, fostering inclusive and equitable outcomes, and ensuring a world-class customer experience.

This Ride and Drive Electric FOA seeks applications to address discrete barriers to a future where everyone can ride and drive electric. Specifically, this FOA will directly advance the goal of building a national network of EV chargers for all Americans by supporting EV charging reliability, resiliency, equity, and workforce development. Enhancing and expanding EV infrastructure nationwide will also indirectly contribute to the goal of having 50% of all new light-duty vehicle sales be electric by 2030. Detailed technical descriptions of the specific Topics include:

• 1 Enhancing EV Charging Resiliency

Equitable Access and Opportunity in Electrification

• 2A Community-Driven Models for Electric Vehicle Charging Deployment
• 2B Workforce Development

Improving EV Charging Performance and Reliability

• 3A Increasing Commercial Capacity for Testing and Certification of High-Power Electric Vehicle Chargers
• 3B Validating Public EV Charging Infrastructure Real-World Performance and Reliability