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The Round 3a request for proposals is planned for late August 2026. Ahead of the procurement, Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is encouraging potential applicants to form project teams and begin discussions with the electricity utility and local permitting authority serving each proposed location.
Although the programme is US-specific, the preparation guidance highlights a wider charging-infrastructure issue: grid and site coordination need to begin before charger procurement, not after the equipment and location have already been fixed.
Editor note
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) programme is a US federal funding scheme providing $5 billion to individual states to support the deployment of public EV charging infrastructure. Its initial focus has been on creating a connected network of charging sites along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors, particularly major interstate highways.
For UK readers, NEVI can loosely be compared with England’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund, but the two have different priorities. LEVI provides funding to local authorities and is primarily intended to expand local charging provision, particularly for residents without access to off-street parking.
In simple terms, NEVI has largely focused on building a strategic US highway charging network, while LEVI is focused more heavily on local and residential charging provision.
Build the project team before submitting
MnDOT says an example project team could include the primary applicant, site host, hardware supplier, network operator and construction contractor. It is also directing applicants to speak to the local electric utility and begin work on a Utility Coordination Form before applications are submitted.
That sequence matters because a charging site is not simply a collection of chargers. The usable power, connection timescale, civil works, transformer requirements, metering arrangements and potential network upgrades can all affect what hardware can realistically be installed and when the site can open.
Grid capacity can shape the charger specification
Selecting charging equipment before understanding the available electrical capacity can create avoidable redesign later in a project. A site may be specified around a particular number of high-power chargers only to find that the required connection is unavailable, significantly delayed or more expensive than expected.
Early utility engagement gives designers more information to work with. It can influence the number of charging bays, maximum site demand, load-management strategy, phasing and whether energy storage or future connection upgrades should form part of the design.
The same principle applies outside publicly funded programmes. For fleet depots, public hubs and destination sites, the practical charger specification should be developed alongside the site electrical strategy rather than treated as a separate purchasing exercise.
Round 3 expands beyond Minnesota’s original corridors
Minnesota has already awarded projects through two earlier NEVI funding rounds along Interstate 35, Interstate 90 and Interstate 94. As of 1 July 2026, six funded locations were operational, with other sites at different stages of pre-construction and construction.
The state received approval in December 2025 confirming that its designated Alternative Fuel Corridors were fully built out for the purposes of the programme. That allows remaining NEVI funding to be used on other roadways, with the latest planning work identifying 74 potential clusters for the next round.
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