New US President Donald Trump has ordered the authorities to stop supporting public charging stations.
US President Donald Trump has decided to ban government subsidies for public charging stations.
For the same reason, the US Department of Transportation has announced that state approvals of new public charging stations will be stopped.
This decision also affects the existing, government-sponsored program, the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI), which was decided under Joe Biden.
In a letter sent to transportation authorities in each state, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has made it clear that the previously approved plans in the NEVI program are no longer valid.
The letter is titled "Suspending Approval of State Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plans" and informs that all previous approvals of charging station projects must be shut down.
The authority itself states this.
The NEVI program, which was to stretch a budget of $5 billion over 5 years, required states to submit detailed plans for how they would set up charging stations.
Under the previous government, plans for the first four years were approved. This means that $3.3 billion had already been 'spent'.
But now the authorities say that all previous guidelines in the program have been withdrawn. If the states still want to set up public charging stations, they will do so without money from the federal government.
– The new leadership in the Department of Transportation (US DOT, ed.) has decided to review the policy framework for the implementation of the NEVI Formula Program.
"As a result, the current NEVI program guidelines dated June 11, 2024, as well as all previous versions of these guidelines, are cancelled," the letter states.
The FHWA also emphasizes that all current charging station plans must be immediately put on hold.
– Therefore, with immediate effect, no new grants can be made under the NEVI program, because updated guidance has been issued and new state plans have been submitted and approved.
The precise consequence of this decision is still unclear, as the FHWA has not commented further on how the guidance might be changed.
Donald Trump's new administration has previously made it clear that electric cars must fend for themselves, both when it comes to purchasing them and installing charging stations.
Conversely, several states and interest groups are attempting to block similar decisions by filing lawsuits.
In other cases, courts have rejected attempts to freeze appropriations, as the law states that the president cannot single-handedly put a stop to money that has already been committed and approved by a majority in Congress.
The NEVI program was enacted as part of the 2021 infrastructure package and has been a central part of the previous administration's goal of making electric vehicles widespread in the United States.
It is unknown whether the FHWA's new decision will be met with lawsuits and lawsuits, but it has been seen in the past that a court has intervened and stopped government interference.
Some experts believe that even if the Trump administration attempts to limit the use of the funds, states will still be able to find alternative ways to promote the deployment of charging stations.
It is unclear how long the current ban on using public funds for charging stations will remain in place. If the decision is not reversed, it could have long-term consequences for the expansion of electric vehicle infrastructure in the United States.
For now, the states are awaiting further clarification on how they should deal with the funds that were previously allocated to establish public charging stations.
