Florida plans to build air taxi pads using $200M intended for EV chargers
Florida plans to build air taxi pads using $200M intended for EV chargers
In Brief
Posted:
Only one state boasts more EVs than Florida, but the state has fewer chargers per vehicle than the national average. Despite that, state officials have decided to redirect federal funding intended for EV charging to build out an electric air taxi network, according to a report from the Miami Herald.
Florida was awarded nearly $200 million under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program that is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. But the state never spent the money, claiming that private companies have done a sufficient job building EV charging networks. The Florida Department of Transportation said it will instead use that money to build 32 landing pads with charging stations for electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, or eVTOLs.
The market for eVTOLs remains nascent. While startups have been making strides toward production-ready aircraft, they’ve also started pivoting to defense applications.
But the Florida DOT is hopeful that the small aircraft, which generally hold four to five passengers, will alleviate the state’s notorious traffic.
The NEVI program, under updated guidance from the Trump administration, allows states with “fully built out” EV charging corridors to reallocate the money toward “EV charging infrastructure on any public road or in other publicly accessible locations.”
Other states like New York and North Carolina have used the funding to build chargers in communities, which allow renters and homeowners without assigned parking to charge EVs.
Florida’s plan envisions landing pads and chargers for air taxis at places like golf courses, luxury apartment buildings, and airports, the Herald said.
Newsletters
Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news
Related
Latest in Transportation
Sponsored
Sponsored
Sponsored
Sponsored
Ads
Categories
Read More
After Assad's fall, Syria's Kurds are left in limbo, feeling abandoned by the U.S. Children play outside a vacant school that is now being used to house displaced people in Qamishli, Syria. Claire Harbage/NPR...
Google just declared itself a contender in AI design at IO 2026 Google announced at its annual Google I/O event on Tuesday that it’s launching Pics, a new AI-powered design and image-generation app for Google Workspace. The tech giant says it designed the app to be accessible to everyone, from teachers to small business owners. With Pics, users can generate everything from social media...
The global Vitamin B12 Market is poised for significant expansion over the next decade, supported by growing consumer awareness of nutritional deficiencies, increasing adoption of dietary supplements, and rising demand for fortified food products. According to Fact.MR, the market is expected to be valued at USD 312.4 million in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 575.4...
Apple MacBook Rumors: New M5 MacBook Pros Could Arrive Sooner Than You ThinkIf the rumor mill is to be believed, 2026 will feature an unusually large harvest of Apple products. This is shaping up to be a standout year for MacBooks, and we might be only a week or two away from seeing the first new models.The MacBook Pro is lined up to be the first MacBook update of the year, with Apple bringing...
Altman and Amodei share a moment of awkwardness at India’s big AI summit In Brief Posted: 5:49 AM PST · February 19, 2026 Image Credits:Ludovic MARIN / AFP / Getty Images What would have been a moment of united commitment to global tech innovation at the ongoing India AI Impact Summit instead proved an awkward one: When Prime Minister...
