Trump administration stops nationwide EV charging program

The Trump administration has ordered states to stop a program to build fast EV chargers on highways throughout the country, according to a memo released by the Federal Highway Administration. The letter informs state transportation directors, who are in charge of instituting the program, that any plans approved by the Biden administration are now suspended “until new guidance is issued.”

The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program was approved by Congress as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It was intended to fill gaps in America’s EV charging network and was supported by $5 billion in grants. President Trump has long decried the program and regularly lied about the specifics during the 2024 campaign.

To that end, Trump would often suggest that the Biden administration spent $9 billion to build eight EV charging stations. Sometimes he would lower the figure to just eight chargers. In reality, 55 charging stations have been built so far, according to data provided by The Washington Post. Just over $2 billion has been allocated to states, and much of it hasn’t been spent yet.

The mandate, as outlined in the new memo, will fulfill the financial obligations of NEVI, so long as a state already has a finalized contract with a charging company. Any unfinished contracts will likely be put on indefinite hold.

Can an organization like the FHA unilaterally put the kibosh on a program that was approved by Congress? The legality here is unclear, but Loren McDonald, chief analyst at the EV charging analytics firm Paren, said “I don’t believe FHWA has the authority to do this.”

Ryan Gallentine, managing director at the national business association Advanced Energy United, said that states “are under no obligation to stop these projects based solely on this announcement.” He went on to call on state leaders “to continue executing this program until new guidance is finalized.”

This move is also expected to be challenged in court. “I’m assuming the lawsuits from states will start soon, and this will go to court and Congress,” McDonald said. “But the Trump administration will succeed in just causing havoc and slowing things down for a while.”

Trump has been chipping away at EV policies since his first day in office. He issued an executive order that eliminated Biden’s target to transition half of the country’s vehicles to EVs by 2030. It’s expected that he will soon go after the federal tax credit for electric vehicles.

But won’t this hurt Trump’s bestie Elon Musk? Tesla, after all, was one of the largest recipients of those NEVI grants. It’s worth remembering that this mandate doesn’t rollback any contracts that have already been finalized. In other words, Musk is probably perfectly happy with the $31 million his company already snagged from the government. He has also long-approved of the proposed elimination of the federal tax credit, likely because it would harm competitors much more than Tesla.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/trump-administration-stops-nationwide-ev-charging-program-172002768.html?src=rss https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/trump-administration-stops-nationwide-ev-charging-program-172002768.html?src=rss