Feds Halt the National Electric Vehicle Charging Program
wired.com
wired.com
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/nevi/resources/state-pl...
It looks like it's being suspended while new guidelines are are produced.
To me, this makes sense. The program produced "more than 30" EV charging stations, which doesn't seem like a ton given that they've had 3+ years to do it. That's with over $1.5B spent already, according to https://driveelectric.gov/state-plans
I think it's reasonable to reform a program that's dramatically failing to meet its goal.
I would be really curious how much commercial ones cost.
Likely the government figures are inflated by lots of waste and consultants making huge money.
I don't mind the government spending money to do stuff, but spending money to not do stuff feels bad.
Most of the money spent so far was only spent in this last year.
The money has been _allocated_ but it hasn't been _spent_ yet and that's because it's taken a very long time for _States_ to come up with proposals that can be funded.
It's just taken much too long to happen, but that's at the state level (the Fed Gov is allocating the money but the States are managing it).
Looking at the Q4 2024 update, 9 states haven't even put out solicitations for EV installations yet, and 8 plus Peurto Rico just handed out their first money in Q4 2024. Those stations would be expected to come online in 2026.
Of course that now won't happen, the cancellation ensures the money will have been wasted.
https://driveelectric.gov/news/q4-2024-nevi-quarterly-update
Once again, it's not just the plans to build and connect individual EV stations. If you already have a place to put it and the electricity capacity available that part shouldn't take more than a few months. This wasn't about just anyone wanting to install a charger submit a quick proposal and get grant money. It was to make a coordinated system of chargers along with all the other related infrastructure to support them. To ensure chargers got installed in the places where its more complicated to get them deployed, and ensure they were deployed with reliable hardware and plenty of support infrastructure.
It took 6 months for the power upgrade portion to happen after we submitted it to the power company (no government involvement at play).
It was two years ago that the standards were released. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/02/28/2023-03...
The product development lifecycle for big, well integrated, software-complex infrastructure hardware I would assume is not short. Actual roll out would likely tail that significantly.
By comparison to some of the other actions afoot now, this doesn't feel like the worst. But it sure feels like it's in the same category of absolutely foolhardy, spiteful, and harmful Deconstruction & smashing of the State.
No, that money hasn't been spent yet. The money has been __allocated__ but it's taken a very long time for states to come up with and get plans passed locally at which point only then would the money be spent.
I feel for the youth and wish I could have done more when I was young.
There is a plan for that, take more land up north, e.g. Canada and Greenland.
So now I see why we’re demanding Greenland!
I guess that’s just planning ahead.
/s
I also think that it is an obviously extreme position that then will then obviously fail, but then the United States will fall back to "Canada and Greenland can only sell rare earth rights to the United States" to lock China out.
> "His aide said Trump’s CIA will have a greater focus on the western hemisphere, targeting countries not traditionally considered adversaries of the US, according to the Journal."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/05/cia-reported...
No one knows what the NEVCP is/or does. When Trump threatens Social Security payments (which he won't), then the People will rise up. In the meantime, enjoy the time off from work/school, the spring weather is lovely.
This seems like slow progress.
> The Federal Highway Administration said 37 electric vehicle charging stations have been completed with funds from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
> This claim likely comes from a March Washington Post article about the electric vehicle charging program’s slow rollout. But 30 more stations have been completed since the Post’s article
Now products have to be developed that are compliant. That's not going to be fast!
And then chargers have to get installed.
I'm surprised as many are installed as there have been. Nice work teams.
I know 2 voted who voted for the current president and both are in trouble because of him.
One owns section 8 housing, if feds stop the funding it will bankrupt him.
It's Russian-style oligarchs in bed with the government to benefit themselves.
Sure, there has been lobbying (aka corruption) all along. But this takes it to a whole new level.
https://electrek.co/2025/02/06/trump-just-canceled-the-feder...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-05/white-hou...
No sense in buyer’s remorse at this point. We just have to find some way to make the best of the situation.
We do need some changes though. Consider this, the allotted pres-vice pres pairings were the best the current system could come up with. So changes should really be made, so that in the future we encourage more competence in candidates for office here in the US.
Of course, now I think about it more fully, office holders would have to make those changes. So I guess I wouldn’t count on that happening either.
Sigh.
My wife works for the government and she can't even get a cup of free coffee from the government because it is considered a private benefit that doesn't work towards their mission.
The free market is like trickle down economics: something oligarchs make fools believe in so those fools don't notice they're being robbed.
As long as you think the big bad guvmit is worse than the billionaires robbing us then you'll eagerly sign up to be robbed.
When was the last time Bezos or Gates or Buffett held a gun to your head and said give me your money? We have no choice but to give the government any amount of money it wants even if the services it provides are negative.
People freely choose to pay other folks for goods and services, and if those folks offer a truly game changing experience, sometimes they become billionaires.
But yes, gasoline production and distribution gets a lot of subsidies.
Do roads require subsidies to exist? Won't the free market just build all the roads people demand? Do you support the corruption of the government taking MY money at GUNPOINT to build YOUR roads? Or maybe there's a point in building out infrastructure that isn't directly and immediately profitable.