The Biden administration has released its plan to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations across the nation and to lower the cost of the vehicles. It is hoped that the U.S. auto industry can move from producing gas-powered to producing electric cars. “The future of transportation in our nation and around the world is electric,” said Vice President Kamala Harris while visiting an electric vehicle charging station in Maryland.

It’s all a part of the $1 trillion infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden last month. The new law allows for electric vehicle charging stations to be built across the country. As a part of this initiative, a total of $5b has been allocated for individual states for building the stations. Maryland, for instance, will receive $63m. The law also provides a further $2.5b in local grants for rural and disadvantaged communities for doing their part in building EV charging stations.

In addition to funding a nationwide network of charging stations, the $2 trillion social and environmental policy bill, proposed by President Biden, and currently pending in the Senate, offers a $7,500 tax credit to make an electric vehicle more affordable. According to Vice President Harris, the Biden administration hopes “to make electric vehicles accessible for everyone. Absolutely make it accessible for everyone and easy. Just like filling up your car with gas.”

As part of the initiative, Harris stopped by a maintenance facility in Brandywine, on the outskirts of DC, where the Vice President was shown how electric vehicle chargers work. “There’s no sound or fume!” Harris marveled, as a worker at the facility demonstrated how to operate the charger. “How do I know it’s actually working?”

A blinking green light, she was told, means the car is fully charged.

As part of the new EV charging strategy, a new office is to be created, staffed by workers of both the Energy and the Transportation departments of the federal government. This office will be responsible for developing guides and standards for states, and will coordinate consultations between state and local government, manufacturers, environmental justice and civil rights groups, Native America tribes, and more, said the White House. Working in tandem, the two departments also plan an advisory committee on electric vehicles, to be launched in early 2022.