NDOT should partner with private developers and use its allocated NEVI funds to fix and expand the Nevada Electric Highway

The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) is sitting on $25 million in federal NEVI funds allocated for building electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the state. Currently, the Nevada Electric Highway ( https://nevadaelectrichighway.com) has been abandoned ( https://scottexplains.com/f/nevada-built-an-ev-highway-and-then-abandoned-it) due to damaged and inoperable charging stations along US highways 6, 50, 93, and 95, making it difficult for EV drivers to travel between Las Vegas and Reno, towns in northeastern Nevada, and to visit state parks, Great Basin National Park, and other popular tourism sites in rural Nevada. It's a known issue that NDOT lacks the staffing and resources to maintain rural charging stations on its own, so a partnership with private developers is necessary. Nevada should take a page from transportation departments in other states and seek out private developers who currently operate travel centers, grocery stores, retail centers, and convenience stores along NEH routes to install and operate charging stations, and to take over abandoned chargers for restoration and operation. Selected developers will need to contribute funds toward the construction and/or repair of new or existing sites. For example, here's an article (https://electrek.co/2026/04/16/ohio-drops-51m-on-64-new-ev-charging-sites-heres-where-theyll-go/) about a recently announced NEVI-funded rollout of EV charging sites in Ohio. NDOT can take similar actions to improve and support EV transportation for Nevada and make our state more accessible for tourism.