DOT suspends Biden’s $5B electric vehicle charging network effort

Dive Brief:

• The Trump administration has suspended the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure formula program, informing state transportation directors in a Thursday memo that “no new obligations may occur” until guidance is updated.
• NEVI was included in the bipartisan infrastructure law passed by Congress in 2021 and represents one of the Biden administration’s most robust efforts to expand electric vehicle adoption. The program required states to develop EV charging infrastructure plans in order to access funds, but the Federal Highway Administration, or FHWA, now says it has suspended approval of those plans.
• Most of the NEVI funds have already been awarded to state transportation departments, according to Ryan Gallentine, managing director at national business association Advanced Energy United. Nonetheless, the FHWA’s announcement “creates great uncertainty for the billions of dollars states and private companies are investing,” he said in an email.  

Dive Insight:

“The new leadership of the Department of Transportation has decided to review the policies underlying the implementation of the NEVI Formula Program,” according to a memo from Emily Biondi, associate administrator of FWHA’s Office of Planning, Environment and Realty. “Accordingly, the current NEVI Formula Program Guidance dated June 11, 2024, and all prior versions of this guidance are rescinded.”

The memo also clarifies that “until new guidance is issued, reimbursement of existing obligations will be allowed in order to not disrupt current financial commitments.”

And Politico reported that the FHWA on Thursday also removed some web pages regarding the $2.5 billion Charging and Fueling Infrastructure grant program.

The Trump administration has been vocal in its opposition to utilizing public funding to support EV adoption. But some observers say it will take more than a memo to end the popular infrastructure program.

“Most of the unawarded money is sitting in state Department of Transportation bank accounts ready to be spent,” Gallentine said. “States are under no obligation to stop these projects based solely on this announcement. We call on state DOTs and program administrators to continue executing this program until new guidance is finalized.”

“I don’t believe FHWA has the authority to pause or rescind any aspect of NEVI,” Paren chief analyst Loren McDonald told Electrek. “I assume lawsuits from states will start soon, and this will go to court and Congress.”

President Biden set a goal for half of all new passenger vehicle sales in the United States to be electric by 2030. EVs accounted for almost 9% of U.S. light-duty vehicle sales in the third quarter of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

More than three dozen states have already announced NEVI awards totaling more than $3.2 billion, said Charge Ahead Partnership spokesman Ryan McKinnon, citing data from EVAdoption. “In many states, the NEVI program helped jumpstart investment in high-speed EV charging stations,” he said in an email.

NEVI didn’t solve all of the EV charging industry’s problems but “the program was a step in the right direction,” McKinnon said. “We hope the FHWA takes this opportunity to ensure state NEVI plans are encouraging private investment in EV charging while also being confident that that federal funds are not being wasted,” he said.