The war against electric vehicles

What will Elon tell Trump?

(Credit: Tesla)

It is now fair to say the current President is at war with the electric vehicle (EV) industry and its infrastructure. In just the past few days it’s been reported that Federal agencies have been ordered to shut down EV charging plugs at government buildings. That amounts to thousands of chargers used by government workers and government vehicles.

The Verge and Inside Climate News report they have seen an email from the General Services Administration (GSA) that says, “we have received direction that all GSA-owned charging stations are not mission critical,” and that the stations, “will be turned off at the breaker.”

GSA image when the agency was promoting “going green.” (Credit: GSA)

President Biden had ordered that chargers be installed, and EVs purchased, to phase out most of the government’s gas-powered fleet. The Verge cites a source as saying the government will now begin selling those EVs.

DISMANTLING BIDEN EFFORT

As part of Biden’s efforts, GSA promoted chargers and EVs. That history is being wiped away and deleted from the internet. It’s a bit like fading invisible ink with search links showing the subject of EV content, but click on the link and the data is gone. “The page you are looking for may have gone offline or does not exist."

On the left, a search page looking for GSA charging ports. The link suggests the GSA is working to expand EV charging. The link now leads to an error page.

It would appear President Trump has the authority to make this dramatic turnaround involving government owned charging ports and vehicles. However, a legal fight is expected over his administration’s pausing of a massive program that is helping pay for public charging stations across the country.

NOT IN MUSK’S BEST INTEREST?

One wonders what Elon Musk, Trump’s head of Government Efficiency, thinks about the President’s action. The owner of Tesla and the largest charging network in the country will likely be negatively affected. Is that just viewed as collateral damage in their effort to remake the government?

This larger charger program is a $7.5 billion effort. It is part of the big infrastructure bill that Biden got through Congress. The rollout of the regulations and the release of funds to help states and companies build chargers have been slow. Only 57 sites have been built since this program was approved by lawmakers. That has led to attacks from those who oppose the government incentives.

Charging station in Wisconsin that was partially funded by the Federal NEVI program. (Credit: NEVI/Kwik Trip)

The goal of the awkwardly-named National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program is to help build out 500,000 charging ports. The largest portion of the money, $5 billion, is for interstate corridors. Rural and underserved areas (usually considered red/conservative areas) get $2.5 billion in spending to provide EV infrastructure.

NEVI PAUSED

The Biden White House had a tendency to overplay the program, suggesting the half million charging stations were being built out by the President. NEVI is really about seed money. The Federal government will pay part (in some cases a majority) of the bill for local or state governments and private companies to build charging stations/ports.

The Trump administration has now slammed the brakes on this program. The new Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he needs to review the Congressionally-passed, Presidentially-signed program to, “make sure it fits into the USDOT priorities.” The bottom line, any money/stations that have been approved, with signed contracts, will not be affected. But, no new projects will be approved during this review period.

What does that mean? Loren McDonald runs an EV market analysis firm and keeps track of the NEVI money and projects. While only 57 sites have been built, he says that number will grow significantly even with the pause. McDonald says, “anywhere from 750 to 900 of the 1,000 awarded sites have signed contracts. But at most it is probably 850.” So another 850 sites with several charging ports will continue to be built. That is far short of 500,000 charging ports the Biden Administration hoped to build by 2030. As of February 2025, only $600 million of the $5 billion chunk of money is committed.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy appearing on his former FOX program talking about pausing the Federal incentive program to build EV charging stations across the country. (Credit: FOX)

Duffy, a former Congressman and Fox host, was asked on Fox if Congress should claw back that money. Duffy said that is up to Congress, but he added, “does the Congress need to invest in an infrastructure for one set of vehicles and maybe not another set of vehicles?”

Many historians believe the Eisenhower plan to build the U.S. Interstate system was an incentive for the auto industry in the late 1950s. And, once again, the automakers building EVs are also continuing to build internal combustion engine vehicles. Aren’t they getting the subsidy/incentive?

RECALIBRATE NEVI

Duffy claimed he is going to, “recalibrate what the program should look like.” It was the executive branch that set the guidelines for the distribution of the $5 billion.

Elon Musk wielding a chainsaw at the CPAC Convention last week. *Credit: AP/Jose Luis Magana)

So what does Elon Musk think? The man who has been promoting “sustainable transportation” and the use of solar power is working for a President that is at war with one of his businesses. Does Musk care? Musk’s proclamations and work with the Government Efficiency effort appear to be costing Tesla. Sales are down in California and China by more than 10% and in Germany by 60% after the CEO made positive comments about a far-right German political party.

The pause in the charge station program will cost Musk as well. Tesla is the number two recipient of NEVI dollars among private companies. Tesla has already been awarded $41 million. Musk might argue this is an example that his conflicts of interest don’t affect his work with Trump. What do Tesla stockholders think? It’s war.