Trump Admin Wants States To Kill National EV Charger Program

Since taking office recently, U.S. President Donald Trump has enacted a series of policy changes – many of them via executive order, and several impacting the automotive industry in various ways. That includes Trump’s decision to reverse many of his predecessor Joe Biden’s EV-related policies, nullifying an executive order issued by Biden in 2021 that sought to ensure that half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. were all-electric by 2030, and it also put a halt to distributing unspent funds from vehicle charging stations. Now, those moves also include killing off the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program.

According to Wired, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has ordered states to stop plans related to the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, which had previously earmarked $5 billion for the installation of new EV chargers across the U.S. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) also instructed states to decertify plans that dictate where and how those charging stations would be built, as well as what companies are contracted to do that work.

The memo containing these instructions notes that the Trump Administration plans to write new guidance for the program, which will then be open to public comment. However, some believe that the order isn’t legal, so it may also face challenges in court. “There is no legal basis for funds that have been apportioned to states to build projects being ‘decertified’ based on policy,” said Andrew Rogers, a former deputy administrator and chief counsel of the Federal Highway Administration.

During his time in office, Biden launched a $2.3 trillion-dollar infrastructure plan with $174 billion earmarked for EVs and clean energy – $100 billion of which was reserved for clean energy conservation rebates, $15 billion toward building 500,000 new EV charging stations, along with $20 billion for electric school buses, $25 billion for zero-emission transit vehicles, and $14 billion in other tax incentives. Trump has most recently enacted new tariffs on Chinese goods – in addition to those imposed by Biden last fall – and may also terminate the contract between Oshkosh Defense and USPS for all-electric mail carriers.