Oregon upgrading, repairing electric vehicle charging stations

A $10 million grant will go toward repairs and upgrades of electric vehicle charging stations in Oregon.

The funds were awarded through the Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator program. The Oregon Department was one of 24 recipients across 24 states and one of 14 state DOTs to receive this type of grant, according to an ODOT news release.

Within Oregon, 135 public electric vehicle charging stations have been identified by the Federal Highway Administration as eligible for repairs or upgrades. The grant will fund those projects and also allow for the installation of more Level 2 or DC fast-charging ports at these sites.

“Given this is a new federal grant program, we’re still working on the best, most efficient way to distribute these funds and how to engage the private sector,” the news release said. “The charging stations are owned by private companies, so we’ll work with them to repair the broken charging ports and upgrade stations.”

ODOT’s Climate Office will oversee the distribution of the federal funds within the state.

A Google map shows the electric vehicle charging stations identified by FHWA as in need of repair. ODOT said this is not a list of the stations that will receive funds but, rather, a “pool of potential sites.”

Oregon officials did release the following estimates on repairs to be covered by the grant money:

• Level 2 charging ports repaired (up to 148)
• New Level 2 charging ports installed (up to 208)
• DC fast-charging ports repaired (up to 35)

• New DC fast-charging ports installed (up to 30)

ODOT said approximately 2,900 public electric vehicle charging ports at 1,160 stations were available across the state as of January 2024.

Repair and upgrade projects could begin by the end of 2024, according to ODOT. LL

More Land Line news from Oregon.