Trump vehicle charger funds freeze is first move to unwind EV policy
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The Trump administration is freezing a $5 billion program to build electric vehicle chargers along major highways — and it isn't done unwinding former President Biden's EV policies.
- Likely next up on the chopping block: tax credits that can slice as much as $7,500 off the price of qualifying EVs.
Why it matters: Pulling the plug on funding for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program takes away an important security blanket for potential EV buyers who worry about where to charge on long road trips.
- High-speed chargers were to be installed 50 miles apart along major highways nationwide under the program, which Congress approved as part of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.
Yes, but: Two federal judges have already ordered the Trump administration to lift freezes imposed on federal funding.
The big picture: Trump has moved quickly to reverse what he calls Biden's "EV mandate."
- He's already revoked Biden's 2021 executive order aiming to make 50% of new vehicle sales electric or plug-in hybrid by 2030.
- He's reviewing regulations that effectively push carmakers to build more EVs and plans to terminate the EPA waiver that allows California and 11 other blue states to phase out gas-powered cars by 2035.
Zoom in: In a memo released Thursday, the Federal Highway Administration ordered states to halt the NEVI charger rollout until the Transportation Department provides new guidelines in the spring.
- "Effective immediately, no new obligations may occur under the NEVI Formula Program," the letter reads.
- If states owe money to contractors for construction work already under way, the federal government will reimburse them.
The other side: "On a bipartisan basis, Congress funded this program to build a new vehicle charging network nationwide. The Trump administration does not have the authority to halt it capriciously," Beth Hammon, a senior vehicle charging advocate at NRDC, said in a statement.
- "Stopping funding midstream will result in chaos and delays in states across the nation."
Where it stands: The government already has $3.3 billion out the door for NEVI.
- But "out the door" doesn't mean spent. Only 251 fast-charging ports funded by NEVI were open as of mid-January across 16 states, though projects for 3,000 have been funded.
- Ahead of Thursday's memo, multiple state departments of transportation had paused implementation of their NEVI programs.
Between the lines: Another way to solve the nation's EV charging conundrum is to make Tesla's SuperCharger network universally accessible, a new study suggests.
- "By adding magic docks to Tesla Superchargers or open-sourcing their connector design, we could achieve fast consecutive charging coverage with 500 fewer new stations," said lead author Corey Harper, of Carnegie Mellon's College of Engineering.
- "We estimate that this could save between $166 and $332 million in NEVI programming costs" — an option that would no doubt please Trump's chief cost-cutter, Elon Musk, whose company would be the beneficiary of such a plan.
Reality check: The NEVI program is just one puzzle piece in the national buildout of EV charging infrastructure.
- An array of federal, state and local funding sources, along with billions in private investment, have already made it easier to find a charging station.
- The number of public chargers doubled during the Biden administration, from around 95,000 to more than 207,000.
The bottom line: Automakers have made huge, multi-billion-dollar bets on EVs, but sales growth hasn't met expectations, with EVs representing less than 10% of total car sales.
- Trump's policies are making it even less likely those bets will pay off.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to provide investment figures for the NEVI program.
