Week 3 of Trump vs EVs
As part of his war on government spending on things he doesn’t like, President Trump has ordered a halt to new spending on new public EV chargers under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program.
The order came via the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which has directed all 50 states to halt the rollout of any new EV chargers funded under the $5 billion program until new guidelines are issued this spring.
Almost $3.3 billion of that money already has been allocated to state governments and a large number of projects – for a total of 3,000 DC fast-charger ports – have already been approved, although fewer than 10% of those EV chargers have been put into service so far. A single DC charging station typically has multiple charging ports.
The order says no new NEVI obligations can be incurred, but also appears to instruct the states not to implement existing obligations:
- “Since FHWA is suspending the existing State plans, States will be held harmless for not implementing their existing plans. Until new guidance is issued, reimbursement of existing obligations will be allowed in order to not disrupt current financial commitments.”
NEVI was established under the Investment in Infrastructure and Jobs act passed by Congress and sifned into law by then-president Joe Biden at the end of 2011. Biden pushed for the program as part of his administration’s drive to promote sales and use of electric vehicles. It calls for a network of EV fast chargers at 50-mile intervals in several cross-country corridors.
Why Target EV Chargers?
While plug-in electrified vehicles have come a long way in the 14 years since the Nissan Leaf EV and Chevrolet Volt PHEV were introduced, the nation’s public EV charger infrastructure has developed far more slowly and is plagued with slow, poorly located and non-functioning stations.
Without a healthy public charging infrastructure that facilitates long-distance driving by making battery charging relatively quick and easy, EVs aren’t as attractive to consumers as they could be.
The nation’s major and best-functioning EV charging network was set up by Tesla, with millions of dollars in government funding. Tesla, is run by Elon Musk, Trump’s largest financial backer and head of his controversial new government cost-cutting initiative.
The Tesla SuperCharger network was open only to Tesla EVs for more than a decade, but Musk in 2023 has been allowing other automakers’ EVs to start using the chargers – for a fee. Cutting off funding for NEVI chargers is likely to help steer more customers to the SuperCharger network.
Questionable Authority
There’s some doubt, however, as to whether the FHWA order can really stop states from spending on already approved plans for charging stations.
Two federal judges have ordered the Trump administration to lift federal funding freezes imposed his first day in office.
That means states are under no obligation to stop approved NEVI projects based solely on the FHWA order, Ryan Gallentine, managing director of the business association Advanced Energy United, told the Associated Press.