Back in November 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI), which was included in the measure, allocated $7.5 billion to build 500,000 EV chargers in the country by 2030. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory projected the need for 1.2 million EV chargers – including 182,000 fast EV chargers – by 2030 to meet the increasing demand.
The U.S. has around 180,000 EV chargers, including 41,000 fast EV chargers. As part of the NEVI's $7.5 billion budget, the bipartisan infrastructure law allocated $5 billion to build fast chargers along interstate highways. The number of chargers has not increased two years later.
According to several reports, industry insiders are pointing fingers at the red tape associated with the new contracting and performance requirements imposed on states and the charger industry to access federal funds as the primary cause of the delays. The NEVI stipulates that chargers must be built at least every 50 miles along major highways, be operational 97 percent of the time, accept credit card payments and incorporate domestically manufactured components.
As a result, fewer than half of the states have initiated the bidding process for charger construction, even though more than $2 billion has already been authorized for distribution. To date, only two charging stations have begun construction – one in Pennsylvania and one in Ohio. (Related: EV owners complain about "logistical nightmare" caused by lack of charging stations.)
Trump rebukes Biden for pushing EVs on Americans
The problems with NEVI, alongside delays in federal funding for new EV charging station construction, could have serious political repercussions for President Joe Biden. The incumbent chief executive could see his bid for a second term get hit, especially after former President Donald Trump promised to roll back the NEVI if he returns to the White House.
Trump, a longtime skeptic of "green" initiatives, has vocally denounced climate change as a "hoax" and criticized how EVs are forced upon the population. He quipped during a rally with auto workers in Michigan back in September: "They say the happiest day when you buy an electric car is the first 10 minutes you’re driving it, and then after that, panic sets in because you’re worried, 'Where the hell am I going to get a charge to keep this thing going?'"
During the same September rally, Trump attacked Biden for pushing his ambitious EV goals. This plan from the Biden administration, he added, combined a "mandate" and an "assassination" attempt on the auto industry and the lives of its workers. Biden's push for electric cars has left automotive workers' unions in Michigan uneasy and skeptical.
United Auto Workers member John Jackson remarked how Biden "is forcing the issue" of EVs on Americans. He continued: "He's mandating through his [Environmental Protection Agency] that we have 50 percent electric cars by 2030. It's ridiculous; that's seven years away."
"It doesn't make sense. We don't have infrastructure for it, and it's going to destroy all of our jobs."
Head over to FlyingCars.news for more stories about EVs and the difficulties that come with owning them.
Watch Next News Network's Gary Franchi explain why some states aren't happy with the Biden administration's nationwide EV charging network.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
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