If you've been thinking of buying an electric vehicle (EV), you might want to be sure there are already charging stations convenient to your home or office, because a $5 billion federal program to build more of them has just been axed by the Trump Administration.
In a memo issued last week, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) ordered states not to spend any funds allocated to them under the Biden Administration's program to build out a national EV charging network.
“The new leadership of the Department of Transportation … has decided to review the policies underlying the implementation of the NEVI Formula Program,” Emily Biondi, the FHWA’s associate administrator for planning, environment and realty, wrote in the memo. “Accordingly, the current NEVI Formula Program Guidance dated June 11, 2024, and all prior versions of this guidance are rescinded.”
A former deputy FHWA administrator, Andrew Rogers, said the memo "appears to ignore both the law and multiple restraining orders" issued by federal courts, according to a Politico report.
While auto manufacturers rushed to build electric cars over the last few years, there are still few public charging stations around the country and sales of EVs have failed to meet expectations.
Only 14 states have at least one operational charging station, according to the EV States Clearinghouse.
Trump has been consistently florid in his remarks about EVs, at one point saying supporters of electric carges should "rot in hell." Last month, he revoked a Biden order that aimed to make half of all new vehicles sold in teh US electric by 2030.