US President Barack Obama has launched an initiative to promote the deployment of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructures across the country.

He is providing up to $4.5 billion (£3.37bn) in loans to support the commercial-scale deployment of innovative EV charging facilities.

The Obama Administration has also launched a process to identify where to prioritise zero emission and alternative fuel corridors, including EV charging stations.

In the past eight years the number of plug-in EV models increased from one to more than 20, battery costs have decreased by 70% and the number of EV charging stations have risen to more than 16,000, it added.

Furthermore, the government has announced a collaboration with 50 automakers, utilities, states and EV charging firms to build more charging infrastructure. They include Tesla, BMW and General Motors.

• charging, EV, Obama, US