President Donald Trump and his cabinet members have made it fairly clear in word and deed that they don't love electric vehicles. But a federal court is now making the Trump Administration put its money where the court says it rightfully belongs, as $5 billion of funding of electric vehicle charging infrastructure that the White House had tried to block will be restored.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had announced that the Department of Transportation would be freezing the program last February. However, a federal judge ruled in June that the federal transportation wing had overridden the will of Congress in pausing the program. As a result, Secretary Duffy announced on Monday that the $5 billion of funding for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program will be restored — with some policy revisions.
"If Congress is requiring the federal government to support charging stations, let’s cut the waste and do it right. The Biden-Buttigieg Administration failed to deliver EV chargers despite their promises," said Duffy, referring to previous Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "Our revised NEVI guidance slashes red tape and makes it easier for states to efficiently build out this infrastructure."
This red tape slashing that Secretary Duffy described is primarily focused on easing the application burden on states that chose to participate. The NEVI program is intended to help states fund their own EV infrastructure, but the Trump administration claims that the application process and requirements to receive federal funding were far too stringent. The revised regulations remove certain restrictions on the distance between stations, minimize requirements for states to consider electric grid integration and renewable energy, and eliminate requirements for states to address consumer protections, emergency evacuation plans, environmental siting, and resilience and terrain considerations.
Additionally, previous program language focused on installing chargers in underserved and rural communities has been removed. These requirements meant that NEVI program applicants had to prove that at least 40% of the infrastructure benefits would be easily available to disadvantaged communities. The current administration claims that requires like these are why 84% of NEVI Formula program funds remained un-allocated.
The NEVI program was birthed in 2021 as a part of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law enacted by President Joe Biden. Former Transportation Secretary Buttigieg spearheaded the program, and previously planned to build over 500,000 public chargers by 2030.
Secretary Duffy's official statements suggested that this NEVI program restoration is happening through gritted teeth. The former Fox News host and The Real World: Boston star said that he doesn't "agree with subsidizing green energy" but "will respect Congress' will and make sure this program uses federal resources efficiently."
Similarly, the official program announcement didn't specify if the new administration plans to build fewer or more chargers than the Biden administration. In any event, we're certainly curious to see if these revised program requirements prod any of the non-participating states into adding electric plugs before the NEVI program winds down in 2026.
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