Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Attention, potential car buyers: New electric vehicle charging stations are on their way to highway locations near you.
All 50 states received final approval Tuesday to begin construction on a first nationwide network of EV charging stations that places one roughly every 50 miles (80 kilometers) along interstate highways, part of the Biden administration's plan to spur widespread adoption of zero-emission cars.
The Transportation Department said it had OK'd EV charger plans from a last set of 17 states, triggering the release of US$1.5 billion in federal funds to all jurisdictions nationwide -- or $5 billion over five years -- to install or upgrade chargers along 75,000 miles (120,000 kilometers) of highway from coast to coast, with a goal of 500,000 EV chargers nationwide. Plans for the other 33 states and the District of Columbia were approved earlier this month.
By year's end, drivers could start seeing expansions and upgrades to existing highway EV stations in states such as California, Colorado, Florida and Pennsylvania that now feature at least four fast-charger ports, enabling EVs to fully recharge in about an hour.
Construction of new EV charging locations could begin by next spring.
"America led the original automotive revolution in the last century, and ... we're poised to lead in the 21st century with electric vehicles," said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He said the plans will "help ensure that Americans in every part of the country -- from the largest cities to the most rural communities -- can be positioned to unlock the savings and benefits of electric vehicles."
The approval is a major step toward building widespread acceptance and use of electric vehicles among consumers, who most often express hesitancy over EVs' shorter range and limited availability of public chargers. President Joe Biden has set a goal that 50 per cent of new U.S. car sales be electric by 2030, and his administration touts new tax credits next year of up to $7,500 as making electric vehicles accessible for everyday Americans. Still, the five-year plans suggest a potentially long and bumpy road ahead for a highway EV network, with states citing risks such as a lack of electricity grid capacity, supply chain shortages and equity concerns.
For instance, while Texas, California and Florida say their grid should be able to handle increased capacity of a million or more EVs, other states aren't so sure.
"Capacity will become a concern in future years as charging infrastructure and EVs become more ubiquitous," New Mexico said in its plan.
Vermont wrote that "Unmanaged or unplanned for EV charging could cause utilities to incur significant costs to maintain grid reliability and create challenges for grid operators" and that some locations "may also necessitate intensive grid upgrades and buildout."
Mississippi cited potential shortages of EV charging station equipment, which it said "may cause significant setbacks" in construction. Several states also expressed concern that they would not be able to acquire charging stations that meet the American-made provisions.
"It may delay implementation by several years," New Jersey officials wrote.
Under the Transportation Department requirements, states also must focus first on more expensive fast chargers on highway routes that typically cost $40,000 to $100,000 to install, rather than keying in on neighbourhoods and communities with Level 2 chargers that are cheaper but take a few hours to provide a full charge.
Currently, electric vehicle owners charge their vehicles at home 80 per cent of the time, typically at single family houses. But that is likely to change as the less affluent who don't have a garage to house a charging station buy EVs.
Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law provides an additional $2.5 billion for local grants to fill remaining gaps in the charging network in rural areas and in disadvantaged communities, which are less likely to own the higher-priced electric vehicles or have charging stations readily available near them. The Federal Highway Administration said Tuesday that it will begin taking applications for that money later this year.
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
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Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.