Trump freezes $5 billion in EV highway charging funding (February 6, 2025 )
February 6, 2025 — The Federal Highway Administration notified state transportation directors that the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program — a $5 billion initiative enacted by Congress in 2021 under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to build high-speed EV charging stations every 50 miles along U.S. highways — was being placed under indefinite review, effectively freezing all disbursements. States with active projects were told to halt spending immediately. Several states including Alabama confirmed they were pausing the program within days.
The NEVI program was part of a broader goal to build out a national charging network and address "range anxiety" — the leading reason consumers hesitate to switch to electric vehicles. Seventeen states and Washington, D.C., ultimately sued the administration, arguing the freeze was unlawful since Congress had already appropriated the funds. In January 2026, a federal district court agreed, issuing a final judgment in State of Washington v. U.S. Department of Transportation permanently barring the DOT from withdrawing states' NEVI funds or canceling their implementation plans. The administration responded weeks later by proposing a new 100 percent domestic content requirement for charging station components — up from 55 percent — widely seen as an attempt to make the program legally and logistically impossible to implement.
The administration simultaneously froze billions more in related charging programs: the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Program ($2.5B) and the EV Charger Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator Program also saw all new obligations suspended since the spring of 2025, prompting a second round of lawsuits from 16 states and D.C. in December 2025.
| https://www.npr.org/2025/02/07/nx-s1-5289922/trump-transportation-department-ev-charging-halt |