The Biden administration is giving $623 million in grants to create electric vehicle charging points in the United States as part of President Joe Biden’s effort to steer drivers away from gas-powered vehicles.
While EV sales have grown in recent years, accounting for 9% of all passenger vehicle sales in 2023, the funding comes after a gradual decrease in demand from consumers, with General Motors, Ford, and Tesla cutting back on their investments, the Guardian reported. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg praised the investment on Thursday.
“America led the arrival of the automotive era, and now we have a chance to lead the world in the EV revolution — securing jobs, savings and benefits for Americans in the process,” Buttigieg said. “This funding will help ensure that EV chargers are accessible, reliable and convenient for American drivers, while creating jobs in charger manufacturing, installation and maintenance for American workers.”
The grants will be distributed to 47 EV charging stations across 22 states, including Puerto Rico, in addition to 7,500 new EV charging stations, according to a Department of Transportation statement.
Boosting EV production and adoption has been a central issue for Biden, but Republican lawmakers have worked to kill several orders and pieces of legislation moving the country away from gas-powered vehicles.
“Congress should enact the provision … which prevents taxpayer funding from being used to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the proposed rule,” they wrote in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) last year.
Car dealers have also thwarted Biden’s EV ambitions. EV Voice of the Customer, a group of auto dealers from across the country, has asked Biden to ease up on federal regulations demanding two out of every three vehicles sold in the U.S. be electric.
“Mr. President, no government agency, no think tank, and no polling firm knows more about the automobile customer than us,” the group wrote. “Mr. President, it is time to tap the brakes on the unrealistic government electric vehicle mandate. Allow time for the battery technology to advance. Allow time to make BEVs more affordable.”
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Biden’s goal of establishing 500,000 EV chargers will not suffice for a full transition away from gas-powered vehicles, needing 28 million chargers before 2030, according to the Guardian report.
“In the United States, the rate of EV adoption is growing at a rate that is almost double that of charger installation growth rates,” Brent Gruber, executive director of J.D. Power’s electric vehicle practice, said. “The construction of new charging stations is not keeping up with the demand.”