Gov. Tony Evers announced the grants Monday. They include two stations in Dane County, one at a Kwik Trip on American Parkway north of Highway 18/151 and the other at a BP in Cottage Grove just south of Interstate 94.
Three other Dane County-area EV charging stations near major highways are either operational or in the planning stages, including a Kwik Trip in Mount Horeb, a travel plaza north of Edgerton and a hotel in DeForest. The first round of funding included $22.4 million for 52 stations statewide.
In a statement Monday, Evers said he was glad to join a coalition of 16 states in suing the Trump administration to force the release of the funds, approved under a bipartisan infrastructure law in 2021 under then-President Joe Biden. State officials spent months urging the federal Department of Transportation and its secretary, former Wisconsin congressman Sean Duffy, to release the funds, Evers said in the statement.
Participating businesses must pay at least 20% of the projects themselves as part of the grant matching program.
The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill could lead to a big, mad dash for consumers looking to buy electric vehicles or install rooftop solar before federal tax incentives expire in the coming months.
For years, the Evers administration had sought to update state laws in order to open the door to more than $78 million in federal funds, first approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2022, aimed at boosting the number of EV charging stations along state highways and interstates.
In March 2024, a little over a week before the deadline for Wisconsin to secure the funding, Evers signed legislation to apply for the grants.
But the Trump administration froze the grants last February.
In June, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to impound the funding, and Duffy later agreed to release the nearly $5 billion in funds, while still objecting to having the government subsidize clean energy projects.
“My administration and I have prioritized ensuring our state’s infrastructure meets the needs of the 21st Century since Day One because expanding our clean energy and electric vehicle infrastructure helps create jobs and bolster our economy, and it’s good for our planet, too,” Evers said in the statement.
Without court action, Wisconsin stood to lose out on nearly $63 million in National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure funds intended to bolster the state’s network of EV charging stations — particularly in more rural parts of the state outside of urban hubs like Madison and Milwaukee.
State Journal reporter Mitchell Schmidt contributed to this report.
© 2025 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.). Visit www.wisconsinstatejournal.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
