The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced today that the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County will receive nearly $4.7 million in federal funding. This funding aims to upgrade and expand Nashville’s network of publicly-available electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and charging stations throughout the city. The initiative will significantly enhance access to EV chargers across Nashville, addressing concerns about “range anxiety” for electric vehicle users.
The grant comes from the 2023 application to the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program (CFI Program), submitted by Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s Office, the Department of General Services, and the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT). The goal is to strategically place electric vehicle charging infrastructure in publicly accessible locations, in collaboration with Nashville Electric Service (NES) to power these locations.
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Mayor O’Connell expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “From Choose How You Move to EV infrastructure, we’re accelerating our transportation future here in Nashville. Thanks to this grant from the Biden-Harris administration, we have the opportunity to give those choosing to drive EVs more convenient public charging options, allowing us to tackle the single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Nashville.”
The “Electrify MUSIC City Project” will establish an accessible and reliable Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (EVCI) network. This program will double the number of EV charging locations in Nashville, ensuring 63% of its charging locations are in historically underinvested areas.
The project includes maintaining existing EVCI and installing 43 new Level 2 chargers and DC Fast Chargers, which will provide Nashville with 78 dual-port chargers across 34 locations in Davidson County. To encourage the use of multimodal and shared-use transportation, several charging stations will be located at or near transit hubs, such as the Hermitage and Donelson park-and-ride lots and the North Nashville Transit Center. The project will also focus on stations near community-based, publicly accessible locations, such as libraries, police stations, and community centers.
Kendra Abkowitz, Senior Director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and Resilience, highlighted the impact of transportation on emissions, stating, “The transportation sector accounts for 51% of Nashville/Davidson County’s community emissions. Nashville will use the $4.7 million from the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program to upgrade and install EV infrastructure in convenient and publicly accessible locations across the county.”
Gerald C. Smith Sr., Director of the Department of General Services, emphasized the importance of providing alternative fueling options with an expected 200,000 electric vehicles on Tennessee roads by 2028. He stated, “This investment propels Metro’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure forward, replacing outdated equipment and expanding service. Nashville’s residents and visitors will have more options to charge their EVs.”
NDOT Director Diana Alarcon also expressed her excitement, saying, “I couldn’t be more thrilled to get started on this important work of adding essential green transportation infrastructure all across Nashville. These kinds of federal investments in Nashville demonstrate a commitment to a high-quality, sustainable network that gets people where they want and need to go, and I’m grateful to our partners at USDOT and FHWA for making our city a priority.”
To report a non-emergency issue affecting a Metro Nashville street, visit hub.nashville.gov.
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