Michigan State University will use a $500,000 federal grant to study ways to design a nationwide electric vehicle charging station network.
The National Science Foundation grant will allow MSU to continue studying how to build smart cities that will accommodate EV charging technology.
It’s estimated that the U.S. will have nearly 19 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030.
Much of the project focuses on where EV charging stations should be built.
Professor Dong Zhao with the MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction says once that’s determined, the actual construction of those sites can follow.
“So, based on the engineering, I think the construction of charging stations is not that difficult,” Zhao said. “When the budget’s ready, the money’s ready, the resources are ready…we can get them built quickly.”
Zhao says EV infrastructure depends on fast-charging stations that will be built along roads and highways, and “slow chargers,” which could one day be incorporated into home design.
“The charger will be part of our garage in our home energy system,” he said. “So that’s a huge new system based on the advancement and expansion of EV.”
Zhao says his team will focus on research sites in Detroit and Grand Rapids.
He hopes to develop a model for an EV charging station network within two to three years.