For a station built with NEVI funds, the federal standards in 23 CFR Part 680 set the floor: every DC port must deliver at least 150 kW with a CCS1 connector, the station must be open 24/7, anyone must be able to pay by contactless card with no membership required, and the station must average above 97% uptime over a year. Any Level 2 ports at the site carry J1772 connectors. This checklist reads each requirement as what it demands of the station you buy and run.
Key Takeaways
- NEVI’s floor: DC ports of at least 150 kW with CCS1, J1772 on Level 2 ports, 24/7 opening, contactless payment with no membership, uptime above 97%.
- Half the list is bought with the hardware; the other half — hours and uptime — is run by the operator every day.
- The requirements bind funded stations only; private stations set their own terms.
- EVDANCE’s DC and AC units sit below and outside the corridor spec — stated plainly, they serve other project types.
The Requirements as a Builder’s Checklist
| NEVI requirement (23 CFR Part 680) | What it demands of your station |
|---|---|
| DC ports of at least 150 kW | A charger in the 150 kW class per port, and a grid supply and electrical design sized for that output — this row fixes the project’s scale |
| CCS1 connectors on DC ports | The connector is a specification item on the hardware order, verified on the exact model, not a brochure category |
| J1772 connectors on Level 2 ports | If the site adds AC posts, their connectors are specified to the same rulebook |
| Open 24 hours, 7 days | Site design and operations that never close: access, lighting and a support route at 3 a.m., not just at opening |
| Contactless card payment, no membership required | Payment hardware at the station and a tariff anyone can use — an app may be offered, but cannot be the only way to pay |
| Average annual uptime above 97% | Monitoring, spares and a repair service able to evidence the figure on the running station, year after year |
The payment row is the one buyers most often under-specify: whether a station takes credit cards is a hardware-and-contract decision made at purchase, and retrofitting it into a funded project’s evidence file is much harder than specifying it on day one.
Bought Requirements and Run Requirements
The checklist splits in two, and confusing the halves is how funded projects get into trouble:
- Bought on day one: port power, connector types, payment hardware. These are settled by the hardware order and the station design — check them against the rulebook before anything is purchased.
- Run every day: 24/7 access and above-97% uptime. No charger ships with these inside the box; they are produced by the operator’s monitoring, maintenance and repair system, and measured on the live station.
Before relying on any summary, read the requirement as it stands in the current text of 23 CFR Part 680 — funded projects are audited against the rule, not against articles about it. The cost of commercial chargers is also shaped by this list: the 150 kW floor is why NEVI hardware sits in a different price class from depot and destination equipment.
Where EVDANCE Hardware Sits Against This List
Measured against the checklist, EVDANCE’s range is not NEVI corridor hardware, and it is better for everyone when that is stated plainly. The EV-RHDC30K-L compact DC charger delivers 22 kW DC (OCPP 1.6J, IP54) — far below the 150 kW per-port floor, built for depots, fleets and destinations, and its listing does not name the DC connector variant. The EV-AC03201T dual-connector AC station (two Type 2 connectors, up to 43 kW shared, OCPP 1.6J, RFID, IP54) serves AC projects whose own documents set the terms. If your project is a corridor build, specify hardware that meets the table above; if it is one of the far larger number of non-corridor projects, start from our commercial charging page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do these requirements apply to every fast charger in the US?
No. They bind stations built with NEVI funds. A privately funded station sets its own power, payment and reliability terms — which is why two fast chargers on the same highway can offer very different experiences.
Is the 150 kW figure per port or per station?
Per DC port. Each funded DC port must be able to deliver at least 150 kW — a station cannot average a strong port and a weak one into compliance.
Where is the official text?
In 23 CFR Part 680, published on the eCFR site and linked below. Programme documents from your state add the round-specific terms; where any summary and the rule differ, the rule governs.
Related Reading
- Do EV Charging Stations Take Credit Cards?
- How to Use a Public EV Charger (and How to Stop It)
- How Much Do Commercial EV Chargers Cost?
