Taxpayers in the United States have paid over $1 billion and two years of effort for the construction of new electric vehicle charging stations.
Yet, the federal government has only been able to build seven EV charging stations and 38 parking spaces for EVs out of the $7.5 billion allocated to help build those stations out of a targeted 500,000 new charging stations built by 2030.
This inefficiency fueled public frustration over tax expenditures and government mismanagement – highlighting the challenge of building a nationwide EV charging network.
When President Joe Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in November 2021, he allocated $7.5 billion for the building of new EV charging stations. Of this, $5 billion was given to states to fund the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program aimed at establishing a rapid charger network along major highways.
Progress, however, has been slow – with only seven EV chargers built across four states. This slow pace could impede the government-mandated transition to more EV usage –especially given the Environmental Protection Agency's new emission regulations requiring more electric and hybrid cars.
Twelve additional states that have awarded contracts for charging station construction have yet to begin or complete building of new charging stations. Seventeen other states have yet to issue proposals.
Alexander Laska, deputy director for Transportation & Innovation, Climate and Energy Program at Third Way, expressed concerns about the project's timeline. Delays were partly due to new standards for EV chargers, which must provide 150 kilowatts of electricity, have 97 percent uptime and be located within a mile of a highway.
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These standards, while necessary, reportedly complicated approval processes and energy requirements–slowing progress. The NEVI program aimed to reduce "range anxiety" by increasing rapid charging capacity by 50 percent, but states must first build the EV chargers.
Currently, the U.S. only has slightly under 10,000 fast charging stations, including over 2,000 Tesla Superchargers that are considered fairly reliable. Non-Tesla charging stations often suffer from poor performance.
Concerns raised over Biden administration's mismanagement of taxpayer dollars
In a letter to the Biden administration, Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Jeff Duncan (R-SC) and Morgan Griffith (R-VA) voiced concerns about the alleged mismanagement of taxpayer dollars.
"We have significant concerns that under your efforts American taxpayer dollars are being woefully mismanaged," they wrote. "The problems with these programs continue to grow – delays in the delivery of chargers, concerns from states about labor contracting requirements and minimum operating standards for chargers"
Nick Nigro, founder of market research firm Atlas Public Policy, noted that state transportation agencies that received the funds generally lacked experience in deploying EV charging stations before this law.
The Federal Highway Administration responded to criticisms by emphasizing its commitment to creating a reliable nationwide EV charging network, noting progress as states bring NEVI stations online.
A White House spokesperson added that EV sales were rising faster than sales for traditional gas-powered cars. The White House then claimed this is because of Biden's "Investing in America Agenda," which aimed to make EVs more affordable and charging more accessible. (Related: Sustainable energy? Individual EV charging stations use equivalent power of 280 homes every single hour.)
Learn more about electric vehicle infrastructure in America at RoboCars.news.
Watch the following video about how Tesla charging stations are being stripped for copper, leaving Tesla owners stranded at charging stations without a way to leave.
This video is from the PureTrauma357 channel on Brighteon.com.
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