(Radio Iowa) – The application process is underway for millions in federal dollars to fund new electrical vehicle charging stations along Iowa’s interstate highways. The D-O-T’s Stuart Anderson says Iowa is getting 50 million dollars to fund the new E-V chargers, and there will be 20-30 million available in this first round. “The cost of each individual application or site could vary significantly based on for example, the amount of electrical power at that location already,” Anderson says. He says some of the sites could require some upgrades from the electrical utilities to provide the necessary power levels to serve the chargers. The chargers will go along Interstates 35, 80, 29, and 380. Those applying for the money have to be within one mile of the interstate and provide a certain number of amenities.

“Of course, we want safe and well-lit locations, we want to have access to restroom facilities, and access to services like food and beverages,” Anderson says. “So we anticipate the most likely locations and applicants will be from convenience stores or truck stops those types of facilities.” Anderson says there are specifications that require a certain level of chargers be available. He says they could charge a vehicle in around 20 minutes, depending on the model. Anderson says Iowa had three-point-75 million registered vehicles at th end of 2023, and a little more than 15-thousand of them are two types electric vehicles.

“The full battery electric vehicles, we have eight-thousand-772 of those electric vehicles. And then we also have plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. And we have six-thousand-387 of those registered in Iowa,” he says. The deadline for applications to get the federal funds to build an electric vehicle charger is March 13th.