Coalition of 50 U.S. utilities plan to build a coast-to-coast fast-charging network by 2023

More than 50 U.S. utility companies have partnered to build a fast-charging network for EVs that spans the length of the country, along major travel corridors, by the end of 2023.

The National Electric Highway Coalition, as it’s called, was announced by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI).

Fifty EEI members; the Tennessee Valley Authority; and Midwest Energy Inc., a Kansas-based electric cooperative, make up the coalition.

It also combines two existing EV charging groups formed in the Midwest and in Southern and Eastern coastal states, the Electric Highway Coalition and the Midwest Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Collaboration.

Although the coalition did not set a specific goal for the number of charging station installations planned, they said its first actions would be to fill gaps in charging infrastructure along the interstate highway system.

The U.S. will require more than 100,000 fast charging ports for the 22 million EVs set to be on roads by 2030, up from 46,000 public charging stations and 1.8 million EVs today.

The coalition also welcomed the $7.5 billion set aside for charging points in the Biden administration’s recent infrastructure law.