Transportation

Louisiana submits plan for EV charging stations

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September 12, 2022

Louisiana expects to tap $73 million in federal funds to build a network of electric vehicle charging stations along its highways over the next five years, according to a report in thecentersquare.com.

The state's transportation department sent the plan to federal officials last month as part of the federal infrastructure bill that provides nearly $5 billion over five years to create a network of 500,000 charging stations nationwide spaced out every 50 miles.

Louisiana received $14.1 million for 2020-2021 and expects more than $73.3 million over the program's life.

The state estimates that it will install 300 to 760 charging ports. The range is wide due to unpredictable factors like inflation, site variations, supply chain changes and other changes in labor or hardware costs.

The EV infrastructure plan also fits Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards' climate action plan to reduce greenhouse emissions by 25% from 2005 levels by 2025, then by 50% by 2030.

Edwards wants to transition half of public fleets to zero- and low-emission vehicles and fuels by 2035, and all fleets by 2050. He also wants to build 250 EV charging stations for every 100,000 residents by 2050.

Louisiana as of July had 153 EV chargers statewide.