The White House is working to curb climate change and get more Americans to use electric vehicles.

On Thursday, the U.S. Departments of Energy and Transportation announced that they will allocate nearly $5 billion over the next five years to help states enhance the deployment of electric vehicle charger services. President Joe Biden's goal is to have 500,000 public electric vehicle charging on board charger in the U.S. by 2030, about 400,000 more than there are today.

It's the first time the U.S. government has shared new details about how the money will be spent since a bipartisan infrastructure bill was passed in November 2021. States will have until August to submit proposals on how they will use the money in accordance with the guidance.

The investment comes at a time when the global auto industry is aggressively transitioning to producing and selling zero-emission vehicles, inspired by tighter emissions regulations and the huge success of Tesla (TSLA.US).

As electric vehicles become cheaper and enter the mainstream, automakers plan to bring a number of new electric vehicles to market in the coming years. Ford's (F.US) F-150 Lightning, a $40,000 electric pickup, will go on sale this spring. Chevrolet will begin selling a $30,000 battery-powered SUV in 2023.

However, the lack of public charging stations is keeping people from giving up their internal combustion engine vehicles. A recent survey of California electric car owners conducted by the University of California, Davis, found that one in five people switched back to gasoline because charging was too much of a hassle. 2021 sees the electric car market share in the U.S. grow to 3.5 percent.

Officials would not say how many charging posts will be deployed for the $5 billion project or when the first on board charger points will open to the public. They called the move a first step toward the goal of deploying 500,000 charging posts.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill also provides $2.5 billion for a separate program designed to address electric vehicle charging in rural and poor communities and in areas with poor air quality.