Congress provided $7.5B for electric vehicle chargers. Built so far: Zero.
The sluggish rollout could undermine President Joe Biden’s reelection messaging promoting electric vehicles.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/05/congress-ev-chargers-billions-00129996#:~:text=Biden signed the bipartisan infrastructure,according to the Energy Department.
The bulk of the infrastructure law funds, $5 billion, are dedicated to building fast chargers along interstate highways under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program. The program requires the chargers meet a strict set of standards, such as being built at least every 50 miles over major routes, being operational at least 97 percent of the time and featuring credit card readers for easy payment.
But Aatish Patel, president of charger manufacturer XCharge North America, is worried the delays in installing chargers are imperiling efforts to drive up EV adoption.
“As an EV driver, a charger being installed in two years isn’t really going to help me out now,” Patel said. “We’re in dire need of chargers here.”