How not a SINGLE electric vehicle charging station has been constructed in the two years since Biden demanded $7.5 BILLION be spent on a nationwide network
Not a single electric vehicle charging station has been completed in the two years since Joe Biden got Congress to spend $7.5 billion to build a national network of them.
Industry insiders blame the delays on the law's administrative burden on contracts and performance requirements. Politico reported this on Tuesday.
The bulk of the money, $5 billion, will go toward building fast chargers along major highways — what's called the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, or NEVI, program.
To meet the federal program's requirements, chargers must be built at least every 50 miles along major highways and be operational 97 percent of the time.
They must also accept credit card payments and certain components must be done domestically.
“Anyone can throw a charger in the ground — it's not that hard, it doesn't take that long,” a Biden administration insider told the website. 'Building a network is different.'
Not a single electric vehicle charging station has been installed in the two years since the bipartisan infrastructure bill was passed, which allocated $7.5 billion to build a national grid
President Joe Biden is photographed arriving in Boston on Tuesday. The president has promoted an electric vehicle agenda since taking office, and the lack of built-in charging stations could hurt that message during his 2024 re-election bid.
The official told Politico that this slow pace is to be expected since the goal is to create a “convenient, affordable, made-in-America equitable network.”
Biden officials said they expect a wave of charging stations to arrive in early 2024.
“This program has suffered, and continues to experience, a number of frustrating delays as the industry tries to catch up with the regulations that have been put in place,” Patrick Murphy, who directs NEVI funding for the Vermont Agency of Transportation, told me. , to Politico.
“But we also recognize that these rules will help shape the kind of consistent, convenient national network we need to grow electric vehicle adoption,” Murphy added.
So far, only two EV charging stations have started construction: one in Pennsylvania and one in Ohio.
The NEVI money is transferred to states, which can then outsource the construction of the charging stations to private companies.
Each state has so far submitted a plan to receive the NEVI funds.
If a governor rejects the money, municipalities can apply for the dollars.
Politico found that 27 states and Washington DC have yet to begin requesting bids, while officials in Missouri say the process may not begin until 2025.
Fifteen states and Puerto Rico have started collecting bids, while six states have awarded contracts for their first round of charging stations.
The delays could be politically costly for the president.
Biden has promoted an electric vehicle agenda since taking office, and the lack of built-in charging stations could hurt that message during his 2024 re-election bid.
Former President Donald Trump has already indicated that he would roll back all electric vehicle infrastructure plans if he were to retake the White House after next November's elections.
Trump has long been skeptical about the greening of the American economy. He called climate change a “hoax” by China and suggested that wind turbines kill birds and cause cancer.
On electric cars, Trump told an audience of autoworkers in Michigan in September, “They say the happiest day you buy an electric car is the first ten minutes you drive it.”
“And then panic sets in because you worry, 'Where the hell am I going to get charged to keep this thing going?'” he mused.
Republicans in Congress have also taken steps to put the brakes on Biden's electric vehicle agenda.
Republican Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman attempted to defund the NEVI program with an amendment in November, which was voted down.
Administration officials told Politico they were not concerned about a rollback because red state governors and private sector business leaders had signed on.
For example, Ohio's Republican Governor Mike DeWine said he is committed to the NEVI program, which “really positions Ohioans for the electric future.”
“This groundbreaking further demonstrates the state's commitment to installing chargers as quickly as possible for the benefit of Ohio drivers,” DeWine said of being one of the first two states to reach that goal.