EVgo gets $1B loan for DC chargers

The electric vehicle charging company EVgo has secured conditional approval for a $1.05 billion loan from the US Department of Energy, the company revealed this morning. EVgo has applied to DOE’s Title 17 program, which exists to provide US Treasury-backed loans or loan guarantees for clean energy projects. If the deal is finalized, the money will be used to build around 7,500 DC fast chargers, with powerful 350 kW chargers its priority, EVgo said.

EVgo said the charger build-out will be concentrated in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Texas and should be completed by 2030.

Since the federal government is already spending billions on a network of DC fast chargers along highway corridors, EVgo is instead focusing on creating community charging stations, particularly in areas with a high density of multifamily developments and other communities where EV drivers have to rely on public chargers.

In fact, the company said 40 percent of the chargers will be deployed “in marginalized areas that have been overburdened by environmental impacts.”