With the Trump administration cutting funding for new chargers, EV owners could soon be in trouble
May 25, 2025 at 09:36
- Approximately 174,000 new charging points are needed annually to keep up with EV sales.
- Biden’s administration allocated $5B over five years to expand EV charging infrastructure.
- US charger installations dropped 21 percent during the first quarter of 2025 alone.
Sales of electric vehicles are on the rise in the United States, but the road ahead for charging infrastructure looks a whole lot bumpier. Despite growing interest in EVs, the pace of building high-speed chargers isn’t just lagging, it’s actively falling behind. Add in looming policy shifts under the Trump administration, and the gap between supply and demand could widen even further.
It’s understood that the number of high-speed EV chargers being installed across the US dropped more than 21% through the first quarter compared to last year. With this in mind, BloombergNEF has cut its expectations for EV installations this year from 360,000 to 285,000 units. The trend doesn’t look promising.
Read: California’s EV Chargers Outnumber Gas Pumps, Yet Only 10% Offer Fast Charging
“If we continue in this direction, BNEF’s outlook for annual US charger installations in 2030 could be adjusted downward by 30% or more,” analyst Ash Wang said, pointing to a possible long-term impact if the current pace doesn’t pick up.
Charger Goals Slipping Into Reverse
Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump suspended federal funding for EV chargers. Those funds were supposed to be distributed to states through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, which allocated $5 billion over five years to install chargers in every state across the country. The aim was to jumpstart installation efforts across the country and prepare the grid for rising EV demand. Without it, momentum has started to slow noticeably.
According to the Department of Energy, there are currently just over 208,000 public charging ports in the US. On paper, that sounds like progress. But to match projected EV and PHEV sales growth, roughly 174,000 new charging points need to be added every single year. Falling behind now makes catching up later exponentially harder, not to mention, a lot more expensive too.
Investment Stalls as Support Fades
As reported by Bloomberg, S&P Global believes that by halting government support for charging infrastructure they’ll be less private investments in the sector, leading to plug scarcity and negatively impacting EV owners.
“President Biden’s ridiculous EV initiative promised much but delivered nothing, leaving American taxpayers to cover the cost of crony deals that enriched the Democrats’ base,” White House spokesman Harrison Fields said when recently asked about the slowdown in charging infrastructure. “President Trump was elected to dismantle the Green New Scam, and he is fully committed to doing so.”
Politics aside, the numbers show a troubling mismatch. EVs are being sold, but the support network they need isn’t keeping pace. Unless policy and investment align with that growth, infrastructure could become the weakest link in the EV transition.
#Owners #Find #Left #Plug
