Graphic courtesy of the White House.

Graphic courtesy of the White House.

The Obama administration will establish 48 national electric-vehicle charging networks on about 25,000 miles of highways in 35 states to increase adoption of electric vehicle usage, according to the White House.

The corridors, which were required to be established by December under a 2015 highway law, will be enabled by 28 states, utilities, and vehicle manufacturers such as General Motors, BMW, and Nissan Motor. EV charging firms have also agreed to work together.

As part of the effort, the Federal Highway Administration unveiled new roadway signs to help drivers locate charging stations. The broad-based agreement also included agreements from 24 state and local governments to purchase more electrified vehicles for their fleets and add charging stations.

There are now 16,000 charging stations in the U.S., an increase from the 500 that dotted the landscape in 2008, according to the White House.

Government fleets participating in the plan include California, Minnesota, and the city of Los Angeles. California will purchase 150 zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) and provide EV charging at 5% of state-owned parking spaces by 2020.

Minnesota has agreed to develop a fleet action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by transitioning the state's fleet to plug-in electric hybrids and ZEVs. The state has set a goal of 20% PHEV or ZEV by 2017.

Los Angeles will triple the city's current plug-in electric fleet to 555 vehicles from 200 by the end of 2017.

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