The Trump administration has ordered states to halt a program to build fast charging stations for electric vehicles on highways across the country, according to a memo released by the Federal Highway Administration. The letter to the state transportation directors responsible for implementing the program informs them that any plans approved by the Biden administration are suspended “until further notice.”
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program was approved by Congress as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. It was intended to fill gaps in the U.S. electric vehicle charging network and was supported by $5 billion in grants. President Trump has long criticized the program and regularly lied about its details during the 2024 campaign.
To this end, Trump often suggested that the Biden administration had spent $9 billion to build eight electric vehicle charging stations. Sometimes he has lowered this figure to eight chargers. In fact, according to The Washington Post, 55 charging stations have been built so far. A little over $2 billion has been allocated to the states, and much of it has not yet been spent.
The mandate, as stated in the new memorandum, provides for the fulfillment of NEVI’s financial obligations provided that the state already has a contract with the management company. Any unfinished contracts are likely to be suspended indefinitely.
Can an organization such as the FHA unilaterally put an end to a program that has been approved by Congress? The legality of this is unclear, but Loren McDonald, principal analyst at Paren, an electric vehicle charging analyst firm, said: “I don’t believe the FHWA has the authority to do this.”
Ryan Gallentine, managing director of the national business association Advanced Energy United, said that states “are not obligated to stop these projects based on this announcement alone.” He also urged state leaders to “continue to implement this program until the new guidelines are finalized.”
The move is also expected to be challenged in court. “My guess is that the lawsuits from the states will start soon, and it will go to court and Congress,” McDonald said. “But the Trump administration will only succeed in wreaking havoc and slowing down the process for a while.”
Trump has been rolling back EV policies since his first day in office. He issued an executive order that reversed Biden’s goal of converting half of the country’s vehicles to electric vehicles by 2030. He is expected to go after the federal tax credit for electric vehicles soon.
But will this hurt Trump’s best friend Elon Musk? After all, Tesla was one of the largest recipients of these NEVI grants. It’s worth remembering that this mandate does not cancel any contracts that have already been signed. In other words, Musk is probably quite happy with the $31 million his company has already received from the government. He also long ago endorsed the proposed elimination of the federal tax credit, probably because it would hurt competitors much more than Tesla.
