How States Can Deploy EV Fast Chargers Faster
Across the country, state transportation agencies are working to accelerate deployment of publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) fast-charging infrastructure.
With federal funding available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program, expectations are high. Yet states face familiar challenges: project delays, cancellations and long timelines between funding awards and operational chargers.
Successful EV charger deployment depends on more than construction funding. States need sustained administrative support to convert federal and/or state funds into compliant, competitive and well-managed charging projects.
Over the past decade, the Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE) has worked with states and utilities leading EV charging deployment, including administering the California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project (CALeVIP), the largest statewide incentive program of its kind in the nation.
Drawing on that experience, CSE offers practical lessons to help states design and implement incentive programs that move charging projects to completion faster, more equitably and with stronger long-term performance.
Learning from iteration
CALeVIP’s initial project launch in 2017 provided $186 million in rebates for more than 7,000 Level 2 and DC fast chargers across California. As an early large-scale program, it revealed structural challenges that can slow charging deployment, including limited applicant readiness, underdeveloped processes and coordination gaps among applicants, utilities and jurisdictions.
The next generation of incentives, CALeVIP 2.0, was redesigned around those early lessons. For the most recent incentive project, progress for DC fast charger deployment was significant:
- Payment timelines shortened by 60%.
- Cancellations declined 35%.
- Average energization time (utility power delivery) dropped 87%, from 715 to 95 days.
- The fastest time from award to energization dropped to as little as 40 days.
These improvements were driven in part by stronger applicant readiness requirements, better project tracking and closer coordination across deployment processes. The following lessons show how states can apply similar strategies to design EV infrastructure programs that move faster, reduce risk and deliver more reliable results.
Five lessons for designing effective programs
1. Require ready-to-build projects
One of the most important shifts in CALeVIP was moving to a “ready-to-build” standard. Under the recent Fast Charge California Project, applicants were required to secure building permits and complete utility service designs before applying.
That approach ensured funded projects were viable from the outset and significantly improved application quality. Cancellations decreased 35% from CALeVIP 1.0 to 2.0. Even with stricter requirements, demand remained strong—the nearly $55 million project exhausted available funding in six months.
The takeaway: clear, firm requirements help the market adjust while reducing delays, cancellations and administrative costs.
2. Give the market time to prepare
More stringent requirements only work if developers and site hosts have time to meet them. CSE recommends a pre-launch runway of at least six months between project announcement and the application window opening. That gives applicants, especially less-experienced ones, time to understand the rules, prepare plans, secure permits and complete utility coordination.
Early awareness is essential. For the Fast Charge California Project, outreach targeted charging providers and potential site hosts such as convenience stores, grocery stores, shopping centers and parking operators, through webinars and coordinated email, social media and digital campaigns.
3. Coordinate early across stakeholders
EV infrastructure deployment requires coordination among utilities, transportation agencies, permitting authorities, site hosts and private developers. When that alignment happens late, projects typically face months of avoidable delays.
Leading states engage these partners early to coordinate utility service requests, permitting and approvals, procurement, construction and other project phases. This reduces bottlenecks and helps projects move more efficiently from award to energization.
Local permitting coordination can further reduce delays. Streamlined permitting standards, already adopted in several states, can help keep projects on track while maintaining safety and quality.
Peer-learning resources such as the EV States Clearinghouse and local Clean Cities and Communities coalitions offer templates, toolkits and guidance that can help state agencies move faster. Other resources include the federal EV Infrastructure Playbook and State Portal that provide model practices.
4. Track progress in real time
Even with strong planning, EV charging projects can be delayed by permitting backlogs, supply chain constraints, construction challenges and other issues. Real-time tracking helps agencies identify bottlenecks early, intervene when timelines slip and provide defensible performance data for policymakers and stakeholders.
CALeVIP 2.0 implemented a customized EV infrastructure Construction Progress Tracker to monitor project milestones and flag potential delays before they become larger problems. Today, more than 150 fast-charging stations are using the system in an early rollout to report progress and strengthen project oversight.
Enhanced project tracking combined with CALeVIP 2.0 program design improvements helped reduce energization timelines. In 2018, the fastest projects moved from award to utility power delivery in 176 days. By Q1 2026, this had dropped to 40 days under the Fast Charge California Project, a 78% reduction.
5. Prioritize equity without constraining deployment
Although NEVI no longer includes equity targets, many states and utilities continue to prioritize equitable access to EV charging. Expanding charging infrastructure in disadvantaged communities can increase access where it is most needed, including areas disproportionately affected by air pollution. Additional public charging investment is also needed in rural communities and multifamily housing, where limited charging access can prevent drivers from realizing the cost savings of EV ownership.
CALeVIP demonstrates that equity can remain a priority without strict geographic requirements. The Golden State Priority Project required all sites to be in disadvantaged or low-income communities, while the Fast Charge California Project prioritized equity through scoring, processing and market signals. All applications for projects in disadvantaged and low-income communities were processed first. An EV Opportunities Interactive Map was created for the CALeVIP website combining data on EV registrations, existing charging infrastructure, utility service areas, and disadvantaged and low-income communities, allowing applicants to see areas with higher EV-to-charger ratios that would be likely to see greater usage.
Even without a geographic mandate, 64% of sites funded under the first window of CALeVIP’s Fast Charge California Project were in disadvantaged or low-income communities.
Setting the bar—and letting the market rise to meet it
The Fast Charge California Project shows that higher standards can accelerate deployment when expectations are clear from the start.
Window 1 closed to applications in January 2026 and awarded $55 million for DC fast chargers with more than 1,200 ready-to-build charging ports in 35 counties across the state, more than 60% in underserved communities. Since then, many of the ports have moved from award to utility energization, with an average buildout time of about three months.
Where to learn more
For state transportation officials, legislators, public-sector leaders and utilities seeking faster deployment, stronger equity outcomes and greater accountability, the path forward is clear: design programs that demand readiness, coordinate early and track performance from award through operation.
- State DOTs can access CSE’s NEVI Playbook for more detailed guidance based on CSE’s experience administering the largest state EV infrastructure program in the nation.
- To learn how data-driven program design can support your state’s EV infrastructure goals, contact CSE at consult@energycenter.org.
- Read more articles in this series.
- Learn more about upcoming CALeVIP funding opportunities.
Bailey Muller
Senior Manager
Bailey Muller oversees the largest statewide EV infrastructure incentive program in the nation, the California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project (CALeVIP). As senior manager, she leads incentive program design and coordinates a team that provides technical assistance, outreach, incentive…
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