Vice President Kamala Harris announced an action plan to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicle (EV) charging in accordance with the bipartite infrastructure law. The plan instructs federal agencies to take the first steps necessary to achieve President Biden’s vision for at least half a million electric vehicle charging stations, and calls on a diverse group of stakeholders to work with the administration to achieve and expand this goal. Fortunately, the people and organizations necessary to put this steel in the ground are already in place.

As stated in the White House announcement:

Following the bipartite infrastructure law, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) will establish a joint energy and transportation office focused on the deployment of electric vehicle infrastructure , working hand-in-hand to gather feedback and advice from industry leaders, manufacturers, workers and other stakeholders who will ensure the nationwide grid provides convenient charging for all.

The National EV Charging Initiative stands ready and willing to be this partner, bringing together “automotive manufacturers, power providers, electric vehicle and charging industry leaders, labor unions and public interest groups to signal that they are ready, willing and able to support federal action on a national charging network for light, medium and heavy vehicles.

This diverse group of key partners recently released a set of guiding principles, which go beyond the typical aphorisms of such consensus-based work, and provide helpful guidance to the administration as it takes the first steps. needed to invest billions of dollars in electric vehicle charging. infrastructure in a way that advances our common climate, air quality, equity and economic development goals.

The principles of the topline are included below. The full document is available here.

1. A new level of collaboration among all stakeholders is needed to achieve the Biden administration’s goals for transportation electrification.
2. Building electric vehicle infrastructure is expected to build stronger, healthier and more prosperous communities by emphasizing community-based solutions and increasing access to electric transportation options in historically underserved communities.
3. There is an urgent need to extend and broaden access to charging infrastructure to serve light, medium and heavy electric vehicles.
4. The private sector should step up its unprecedented investments, increasing funding to government and utilities to fund charging infrastructure that serves all communities and all types of vehicles.
5. Building the recharging ecosystem must create inclusive economic growth and good jobs at good wages.
6. Electric utilities, regulators, charging service providers and stakeholders must work together to accelerate the electrification of transportation in a way that supports the power grid and benefits all utility customers.
7. The national electric vehicle charging ecosystem is expected to provide a convenient, reliable, transparent and secure experience for all drivers.

To a president who took inspiration from JFK, the Initiative responds with a mixed voice: “We are not here to ask what our country can do for us, but to ask what we can do to help unite. our country with a homogeneous network of zero. – emissions pricing infrastructure.