US President Donald Trump swore his oath of office on Monday, ascending yet again to the head of the federal government. As widely expected, he signed a swath of executive orders on his first day, many aimed at upending existing policies and satisfying grievances, whether that’s pulling the country out of membership of the World Health Organization or reversing the nation’s clean vehicle policies.
The Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 were signature pieces of former President Joe Biden’s term of office. Among other things, the two bills contained many provisions meant to boost US competitiveness in EV manufacturing and build out publicly funded charging infrastructure.
Specifically, the IIJA included $7.5 billion in funding for charging infrastructure. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure programs were modeled on federal highway funding programs, where the funds are disbursed to state departments of transportation, which then award the money to successful applications. NEVI was meant to create corridors of fast chargers along federal highways, and CFI to build out charging infrastructure in underserved areas.
That all seems very unlikely now. Trump has ordered the end of the “Green New Deal.” He has ordered that all agencies immediately pause any disbursement of funds for NEVI and CFI and that those agencies conduct a review of their policies. If those agencies want to hand out any of that money from now on, they will have to satisfy the new head of the Office of Management and Budget that doing so is consistent with the president’s desire to end any favorable treatment toward EVs.
EV tax credit and California’s waiver
The executive order “Unleashing American Energy” also kills off former President Biden’s goal of increasing EV adoption to 50 percent of all new vehicle sales by 2032. The order claims that it is ensuring “consumer choice” and “a level regulatory field” for vehicle sales.
