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ENB Pub Note: The EV markets should be supported by the open market and not subsidies. For example, the Tesla charger network, built with no subsidies, is nationwide. As of January 2025, Tesla’s Supercharger network consists of over 7,000 stations with more than 65,800 connectors worldwide. The network spans three main regions: Asia Pacific (over 2,800 stations), North America (over 2,800 stations), and Europe (over 1,300 stations). If I were President Trump, I would see about making the funds available to Elon and Tesla to finish building out the network. Just saying.
Tesla’s charging network graphic is set here just to show what works compared to the 7 stations on which billions of taxpayer dollars were wasted.
Here is the background on the graft and theft that has been implemented on the EV Charging stations:
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Section 30C Tax Credit:
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For Individuals: Offers a tax credit of 30% of the cost of EV charging equipment and installation for home chargers, up to a maximum of $1,000 per charger. The charger must be installed at the individual’s principal residence in an eligible census tract (low-income or non-urban areas).
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For Businesses: Provides a tax credit of up to 30% of the cost of purchasing and installing EV charging equipment, with a maximum of $100,000 per charging port (a significant increase from the previous $30,000 per property limit). To qualify for the full 30% credit, businesses must meet prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements; otherwise, a base credit of 6% applies. The chargers must be located in eligible census tracts with a poverty rate of at least 20% or a median family income below 80% of the statewide median.
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Eligible Entities: Tax-exempt organizations, governments, and tribes can claim the credit through “elective pay” (direct pay), allowing them to benefit from the incentive even without tax liability.
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Additional Provisions: The credit applies to bidirectional (two-way) chargers and, as of January 1, 2023, includes charging stations for 2- and 3-wheeled electric vehicles used on public roads. Costs for components, parts, and labor essential to charger operation are eligible, but permitting and inspection costs are excluded.
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Other IRA Funding for Chargers:
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The IRA allocates $975 million to the General Services Administration (GSA) for upgrading federal buildings with sustainable technologies, including $25 million specifically for EV charging ports at federal facilities. This funding supports 782 charging ports across 33 federal buildings in 21 states.
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Additional programs, such as the Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Program ($1 billion) and Grants to Reduce Air Pollution at Ports ($3 billion), allow funding for EV charging infrastructure as part of broader vehicle replacement initiatives.
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The Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant Program, a new competitive grant administered by the Federal Highway Administration, can fund EV charging infrastructure in disadvantaged communities to address “charging deserts.”
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Complementary BIL Programs: While the IRA focuses on tax credits and specific grants, the BIL provides the bulk of federal funding for EV charging infrastructure, which works in tandem with IRA incentives:
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National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program: Allocates $5 billion to states from 2022 to 2026 to build a network of fast chargers along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs), with chargers every 50 miles and within 1 mile of the corridor. Funds cover acquisition, installation, operation, maintenance, and data sharing.
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Grants for Charging and Fueling Infrastructure: Provides $2.5 billion for competitive grants to states, tribes, and local governments for strategic deployment of publicly accessible chargers in communities and along corridors.
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NEVI-funded chargers must meet strict standards, including 97% operational uptime, 150kW power output per charger, and interoperability requirements to ensure a uniform user experience.
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Eligibility and Requirements:
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Chargers funded or incentivized by the IRA and BIL must be installed in the U.S. or its territories and, for Section 30C, in eligible census tracts. The Department of Energy provides a mapping tool to help identify qualifying locations.
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NEVI projects prioritize equitable deployment, with states required to submit annual plans detailing strategic and equitable use of funds, often soliciting public input to ensure access for underserved communities.
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Buy-America requirements apply to NEVI-funded chargers, ensuring domestic manufacturing and materials sourcing.
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IRA-Specific Spending and Charger Outcomes:
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Section 30C Tax Credit: The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the 30C credit will provide $1.3 billion in savings for charger installations from 2022 to 2031. However, no specific data is available on the exact amount claimed or the number of chargers installed under this credit by May 2025.
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GSA Investment: The GSA has committed $20 million of the $25 million allocated for EV charging ports, supporting 782 ports across 33 federal buildings. These are either installed or in progress, but the exact number activated by May 2025 is not specified.
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Other IRA programs (e.g., Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles, port grants) do not provide granular data on charger-specific spending or activations, as they are part of broader initiatives.
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BIL (NEVI and Other Programs) Spending and Charger Outcomes:
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Total Allocation: The BIL allocated $7.5 billion for EV charging, with $5 billion for the NEVI Formula Program and $2.5 billion for competitive grants.
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Funds Authorized and Spent:
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By early 2025, over $2.4 billion of the $7.5 billion had been authorized to states for NEVI projects, with more funds committed but not yet disbursed.
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States have been slow to spend due to complex contracting, performance, and equity requirements. Fewer than half of states had started taking bids by December 2023, and many were still in the planning or bidding phase by 2024.
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Chargers Activated:
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As of December 2024, 37 NEVI-funded charging stations with 226 charging ports were operational across 13 states (Hawaii, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and others).
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By March 2024, only 7 stations with 38 ports were operational, indicating slow progress.
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Recent grants aim to support over 11,500 ports, but the number completed by May 2025 remains unclear due to ongoing construction and reporting lags.
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As of January 2025, over 206,000 public chargers (including non-federally funded) were operational in the U.S., driven by federal and private investments, with 24,800 federally funded chargers underway.
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Challenges: The slow rollout is attributed to:
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New program complexities, as most state transportation agencies lacked prior experience with EV charger deployment.
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Strict federal requirements (e.g., 97% uptime, 150kW power, Buy-America rules) increasing costs and timelines.
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Bureaucratic delays in state planning, bidding, and construction processes.
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Equity and labor requirements, including DEI rules, adding administrative hurdles.
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Comparison and Context:
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The $7.5 billion BIL allocation aims to support 500,000 public chargers by 2030, equating to roughly 5,000 stations with 20,000 ports. The current 226 ports represent a small fraction (about 1%) of this goal, despite over $2.4 billion authorized.
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The IRA’s $1.3 billion (estimated) for 30C credits and $25 million for GSA ports are smaller in scope, and their direct impact on charger activations is less documented compared to NEVI.
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Private companies like Tesla have built significantly more chargers (e.g., over 2,000 Supercharger stations) without federal funds, highlighting inefficiencies in the federal process.
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The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates the U.S. will need 1.2 million public chargers by 2030, including 182,000 fast chargers, underscoring the scale of the challenge.
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IRA Implementation: The IRA provides the 30C tax credit (up to $1,000 for individuals, $100,000 for businesses per charger), $25 million for federal building chargers, and additional grants for heavy-duty and port-related charging. These incentives target low-income and non-urban areas and support equitable access.
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Money Spent: Over $2.4 billion of the BIL’s $7.5 billion has been authorized, with $20 million of the IRA’s $25 million for GSA ports committed. The total spent on 30C credits is not specified but estimated at $1.3 billion over a decade.
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Chargers Activated: As of December 2024, 226 NEVI-funded ports across 37 stations are operational. The GSA’s 782 ports are in progress, and 30C credit-funded chargers lack specific activation data. Progress is slow due to bureaucratic and regulatory hurdles.
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Outlook: While the IRA and BIL provide substantial funding, the rollout lags behind expectations. Experts anticipate faster progress in 2025 as states streamline processes, but achieving the 500,000-charger goal by 2030 remains ambitious.
The Center Square writes
17 states sue the Trump administration for access to $5 billion in EV charger funding, despite most failing to build a single charger.
A 17-state-and-territory coalition led by California, Washington, and Colorado is suing the Trump administration to maintain access to $5 billion in EV charger funding passed by Congress in 2021 but put on hold by the current administration. [emphasis, links added]
A majority of the coalition, including lawsuit leaders California and Washington, has failed to build any chargers using $3.3 billion in awarded funds over the past four fiscal years.
Following President Donald Trump’s order to eliminate electric vehicle mandates, the Federal Highway Administration suspended the approval of state EV charger network plans submitted for federal grants under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law in 2021.
It provided $5 billion in National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure grant funding.
The FHWA’s notice said that “until new guidance is issued, reimbursement of existing obligations will be allowed to not disrupt current financial commitments.”
According to the NEVI dashboard maintained by the National Association of State Energy Officials, $3.3 billion has already been awarded.
That means the suspension mainly impacts the $1.7 billion in unallocated funding that would have otherwise gone out through fiscal year 2026, but is required by the IIJA “to remain available until expended.”
Forty-four states and territories, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, issued at least one solicitation for NEVI funding.
Of the 44 soliciting states and territories, 38 have been issued funding, of which only 16 have at least one operational NEVI station, despite four years of funding between fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2025.
The lawsuit filed by 17 attorneys general requests that the courts block the withholding of NEVI grants, citing the explicit congressional mandate in the IIJA.
In its plan suspension notice, the FHWA say the NEVI program is “unique in that this Program requires the Secretary to approve a plan for each State describing how the State intends to use its NEVI funds,” and simply “has decided to review the policies underlying the implementation of the NEVI Formula Program.”
This suggests that while the IIJA may have required the FHWA to disburse $5 billion in NEVI grants, that it’s also true the IIJA grants the FHWA the power to temporarily suspend NEVI plans for review.
The lawsuit says that, “The Secretary must distribute to each State its share of NEVI Formula Program funds unless the State fails to timely submit its State Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plan or if the Secretary determines a State has not taken action to carry out its [State P]lan.”
Despite having secured $302 million in NEVI funding since fiscal year 2021 of the $384 million it requested, California is yet to have completed a single NEVI-funded charger.
Washington has been awarded $56 million, but also has no completed NEVI chargers. Of the 17 states and territories filing suit, only eight have completed any NEVI chargers.
The lawsuit says the IIJA creates clear guidelines for the FHWA to follow if it determines a state is not carrying out its plan, including identifying actions to rectify concerns and providing at least 90 days to address those concerns, and providing notice of 60 days of its intent to withhold or withdraw funds.
Should courts find that the IIJA’s explicit procedures were violated in excess of the powers available to the FHWA, it’s likely the FHWA will have to reinstate the rescinded state plans and at some point resume the awarding of NEVI funding.
Top photo by Oxana Melis on Unsplash
Read rest at The Center Square
The post 16 States, DC Sue Trump Admin Over EV Charger Funds, Most Have Built None appeared first on Energy News Beat.
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