Destinations Roll Out Electric Vehicle Charging Stations as a Tourism Draw

25.08.2023 - 14:35 / skift.com / Dawit Habtemariam

Destinations and businesses may have an opportunity to grow their tourism economies and brands with electric vehicle drivers. Large sums of newly available federal funding could help them install charging stations at locations that bring visitors — and revenue.

To promote the proliferation of electric car adoption, the Biden Administration and Congress are making billions of dollars available to states and businesses to invest in charging stations.

In February, the Biden Administration made nearly $5 billion available over five years to states to boost electric vehicle infrastructure.

State governments will build a network of charging stations spaced a maximum distance of 50 miles apart along designated corridors. As of September, all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have been approved for fiscal years 2022 and 2023.

Another Biden program, budged at $2.5 billion, governments, agencies and other entities are eligible to apply for grants to receive funding to build publicly accessible charging stations along designated alternative fuel corridors. At least 50 percent of this funding has been aside for community grant programs where priority is given to projects that expand charging infrastructure within rural areas, low-and moderate-income neighborhoods and communities with a low ratio of private parking space. 

Under the discretionary program, communities and private businesses like hotels and attractions can submit bids for grants to help pay for charging stations, which can cost upwards of $100,000, according to Cree Lawson, founder and CEO of Arrivalist, a visitation intelligence company. The program was set to launch on November 15 but has been delayed for an indefinite period of time, he said.

Some destination marketing organizations are working with their state government officials to take advantage of the federal program to support their state’s visitor infrastructure. Visit North Carolina, which expects to receive $109 million over five years, is working with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to identify the Alternative Corridors and where to put the stations, according to Visit North Carolina Director Wit Tuttell. From there, Visit Carolina will build out these areas to provide more transportation options for residents and visitors. 

In many states, electric vehicle chargers tend to be scattershot, more focused on local needs and travel and concentrated more in urban areas than rural areas, turning large segments into EV deserts, according to Arrivalist’s Lawson.

North Carolina hopes to make electric vehicle drivers comfortable enough to travel around the state. “We think that’s really going to help to alleviate the fears of anyone and a lot of them to get