President Donald Trump recently scrapped the Biden-Harris administration’s $5 billion electric vehicle charging program, which has been criticized for failing to produce a sufficient number of charging stations. Emily Biondi, the associate administrator for the Office of Planning, Environment, and Realty, wrote a letter to the state Department of Transportation directors on Thursday explaining that the program would be suspended.
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program was a significant part of former President Joe Biden’s green energy agwhich promotedromote consumer adoption of electric vehicles. The $5 billion for the program was included in the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act. However, the program faced intense scrutiny for underdelivering its promises.
“The new leadership of the Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) has decided to review the policies underlying the implementation of the NEVI Formula Program. Accordingly, the current NEVI Formula Program Guidance dated June 11, 2024, and all prior versions of this guidance are rescinded,” Biondi wrote in her letter.
She continued, “As result of the rescission of the NEVI Formula Program Guidance, FHWA is also immediately suspending the approval of all State Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment plans for all fiscal years. Therefore, effective immediately, no new obligations may occur under the NEVI Formula Program until the updated final NEVI Formula Program Guidance is issued and new State plans are submitted and approved.”
Last year, The American Tribune reported on Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg being questioned by CBS News hots Margaret Brennan on why the administration had only produced “7 or 8″ charging stations despite having billions of dollars at its disposal. “Back in 2020, the Federal Highway Administration says only seven or eight charging stations have been produced with the seven-and-a-half billion investment that taxpayers made back in 2021. Why isn’t that happening more quickly?” Brennan asked.
“The President’s goal is to have half a million chargers up by the end of this decade. Now in order to do a charger. It’s more than just plugging a small device into the ground. There’s utility work and this is also really a new category of federal investment. But we’ve been working with each of the 50 States every one of them is getting formula dollars to do this work, engaging them and the first handful,” he said.
Brennan then scoffed, “Seven or eight, though?” Buttiegieg emphasized the long-term timeline, stating, “Again by 2030, 500,000 chargers, and the very first handful of chargers are now already being physically built. ” The clip quickly went viral on social media at the time, sparking intense criticism from conservatives about the expenditure of tax dollars.
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Watch Buttigieg below:
The American Tribune wrote, “Pete Buttigieg illustrates President Biden’s goal to install 500,000 electric chargers by the end of the decade. After a $7.5 BILLION investment of taxpayer dollars, the Biden administration has set up 7 electric charging stations.” Co-founder and editor of the American Tribune Will Tanner said, “Only 7 or 8 [electric vehicle] charging stations have been produced with the $7.5 BILLION investment that taxpayers made back in 2021.” The craziest thing isn’t even that Mayor Pete wasted so much money, but that he doesn’t even know if it’s 7 or 8.”