Update on our electrification programs, and join us for a virtual listening session this month
 Oct. 4, 2023
For more information, contact Matt Noble 503-779-9868
It’s been a busy year for the transportation electrification team in the ODOT Climate Office, so read on for an update on our various areas of work.
If you have questions or comments about any of these programs, you can attend one of the virtual listening sessions we’re holding later this month. Scroll to the end of this email for details about those sessions.
National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program
The new federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program is sending Oregon $52 million over five years to build EV fast charging stations across several Oregon highways and interstates. Learn more on the ODOT NEVI webpage.
- In October we will finalize a list of pre-approved vendors for the NEVI work. Pre-approved vendors will speed up the contracting process and get EV chargers installed sooner.
- We’re currently finalizing the “requests for proposals” for the first group of roads in our five-year NEVI plan: Interstate 5 south of Eugene, Interstate 205, and U.S. 97. We expect to publish the requests by late 2023 or early 2024.
- Pre-approved vendors will have several weeks to submit proposals for NEVI work. We’ll review their submissions and announce the winning vendors in 2024.
- We expect our hired vendors to begin installation work on the first NEVI charging stations in 2024.
Community Charging Rebates Program
In June we launched our new rebate program that provides rebates for Level 2 EV charging projects at multifamily homes and publicly accessible parking areas. Read our April program announcement email to learn more.
The first funding round for the program was a huge success. In total, we’ve allocated more than $1.72 million in funding to more than 90 projects across the state.
We’re planning to open a second funding round in early 2024. In the meantime, we’re making changes to the program to lower barriers and make it easier for more people to apply. Look for more updates from us on that soon.
GO EV Charge suite of online resources
GO EV Charge is our “one-stop shop” webpage for Oregon planners and decision makers to deploy electric vehicle charging projects that are equitable, cost-effective, and that will meet local needs while supporting statewide goals for electrifying transportation. The webpage went live in August this year.
The centerpiece document is a Guide for Oregon EV Charging Deployment, which outlines EV charging basics, best practices in station design and equitable site selection, planning level cost information, available funding resources, and much more.
We also created an online planning map for users to explore potential sites for EV charging throughout Oregon, and a data dashboard to estimate future charging needs in your community.
Fueling infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles
We’ve made progress on funding for fueling infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles like delivery vans and semi-trucks. This is an important step in transitioning both vehicle types to ones that run on electricity, hydrogen, or other alternative fuels that produce less greenhouse gas emissions.
In June we submitted two applications to a federal grant program for charging and fueling infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. One application was a partnership between Oregon, Washington, and California for charging/refueling stations along I-5 through all three states. The second application was for charging stations along I-84 in Oregon.
As of October 2023, both applications are still under review by the federal government.
This summer we also started a pre-approved vendor process for medium- and heavy-duty fueling infrastructure. Getting approved vendors in place now will speed up the contracting process in the future if we receive federal or state funding.
Join a virtual listening session with Climate Office staff
We invite you to join one session to comment, make suggestions, or ask questions about our electrification work. Both sessions are tailored for specific audiences, so please reserve your spot at the session that best fits you or your work. Registration is required to attend.
Listening Session 1: Industry and Utilities
Listening Session 2: General Public
Note: We’ll send all registrants a few questions in advance that we’d like their specific comments on. You may also make other comments at the meeting. We are not answering questions directly at the meetings, but you may still ask them. We'll collect questions and follow-up with individual answers about a week after the meetings.
ODOT meetings are open to everyone. Accommodations will be provided to people with disabilities. To request an accommodation to participate in this meeting, please contact Nikolah Papajack 971-600-4118 or call statewide relay at 7-1-1 at least 48 hours prior to the meeting.
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Electrifying Oregon’s transportation system is one of the ways we’re working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation over the next several decades. By 2050, emissions from transportation will be 60% lower than they were in 1990, according to data on our new transportation emissions website.
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