Newly elected President Donald Trump plans to revoke the electric vehicle (EV) mandate, he said in his inaugural address on Jan. 20. “With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal, and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers,” he said. “In other words, you’ll be able to buy the car of your choice.”
The mandate that the Biden administration put into effect in 2021 aimed for 50% of all new vehicles sold in the United States to be electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen-powered by 2030; stricter fuel economy standards for automakers; EV tax credits for consumers; grants to grow the EV charging network across the country; and domestic manufacturing of EV infrastructure.
What does President Trump’s reversing of the mandate mean for convenience stores, which make up about half of the locations that have received NEVI (National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure) funds? How will the slashing of electric vehicle tax credits affect EV sales? And will it all result in a decrease in EV adoption?
“The big winner [of NEVI funds] has been gas stations and convenience stores because they have real estate,” Ryan McKinnon, director of communications at Charge Ahead Partnership, a coalition based in Richmond, Virginia, with the goal of growing the charging network, said on an EV outlook webinar he hosted. “They're already located right off the highway. They have the amenities. They have everything people want, and people have been trained through decades of driving to stop at these locations. So, they're the prime candidates to offer EV charging.”
The United States will be rich again, Trump said in his speech, “and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it.”
“While it’s premature to see how all of this plays out, there is much to consider,” said Mitch Morrison, vice president of retail relations at CSP.
What Is the NEVI Program?
The NEVI program was launched by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) through its Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which was signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021.
It includes $5 billion worth of grants to the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico to support the installation of EV charging infrastructure, with multiple rounds of funding from 2022 to 2026.
There are two programs under the NEVI initiative. The corridor program focuses on building EV charging stations along major highways and corridors so that EV drivers can travel long distances without running into charging gaps. The community program focuses on providing EV charging to urban, low-income and underserved communities.
The DOT must approve the state requests before the grants are funded, but with two years left of the five-year plan, states are at different degrees of approval.
“I believe almost every state has had their annual plan approved [for 2025], and it is once those annual plans are approved each year the funding is unlocked by the FHWA and then can be distributed out to the states,” Loren McDonald, chief analyst, at EV data company Paren, San Fransisco, and founder of EVAdoption, a consulting firm for the EV industry based in Danville, California, said at the webinar. “So there's really only one year left that has not been approved.”
Before Trump's inaugural address, Tom Healey, vice president of facilities development and maintenance at Nouria, who is involved with Nouria's EV program, highlighted at the Electric Vehicles Vision Group (EVVG) meeting on Nov. 19 how pivotal federal grant programs like NEVI have been for the convenience-store chain.
“From our perspective, in order to make the business model more viable for us, is the grant fund that has been available,” said Healy. “There are many questions on how that is going to evolve [under the new administration].”
Nouria, a 183-store chain based in Worcester, Massachusetts, has installed five EV charging locations in partnership with EV Connect, an EV charger manufacturing company. Nouria was awarded a NEVI project in Bridgton Maine.
The Electric Vehicle Vision Group brings together stakeholders from across the EV industry for networking and discussion on strategic issues, practical implementation and trends that affect the development of the EV infrastructure. EVVG operates under the Vision Group Network, co-founded by Roy Strasburger, CEO of StrasGlobal and president of Compliance Safe, Temple, Texas.
"[Gas stations] have everything people want, and people have been trained through decades of driving to stop at these locations. So, they're the prime candidates to offer EV charging.” —Ryan McKinnon, Charge Ahead Partnership
What Will Happen to NEVI?
In his executive order “Unleashing American Energy” on Jan. 20, Trump said under the heading “Terminating the Green New Deal” that “all agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 … or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act …, including but not limited to funds for electric vehicle charging stations made available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program, and shall review their processes, policies and programs for issuing grants, loans, contracts or any other financial disbursements of such appropriated funds for consistency with the law and the policy outlined in … this order.”
It’s unknown the extent to which the Trump administration can alter or stop the program.
One possibility is that because the $5 billion was approved in advance, the funding will be untouchable, said McDonald.
The second scenario is that funding will continue to the sites that have been under contract and approved, but new sites might not get funding, he said.
Nouria's Healy does not expect the funds that have already been allocated to be clawed back.
“We've been awarded them for sites in the state of Maine, and we are moving forward with those without a concern… But the expectation is we'll do these projects and then money will be released to us,” Healy said. “We signed some contracts and some agreements, so I think the government's obligated to pay that out… It would really be a challenge for us to move forward with any infrastructure installations without the grant funding being in place.”
EV Incentives for Consumers
The NEVI program incentivized businesses to invest in EV chargers, helping lay the groundwork for more public charging stations. This is important to EV adoption because consumers fear of charge gaps are a top concern preventing them from purchasing an EV. More EV purchases rationalize more EV chargers; more EV chargers rationalize EV purchases.
Without the help of government funding, a retailer might only see demand and want to invest in one charger at a location, but to qualify for a NEVI grant, a retailer is required to install four DCFC (direct current fast charging) chargers at a location, said Jay Smith, executive director at the Charge Ahead Partnership, during the EVVG meeting in November.
The cost of chargers with the grant could make it worth it, he said. A retailer might think, “‘Look, I'll put the four in because it gets me this amount of money, makes it worth to do.’ So that is a real tangible example where the incentives are driving behavior.”
EV Tax Credits
Incentives for consumers to purchase electric vehicles also comes from tax credits that the government offers.
When a qualifying consumer purchases an EV, the EV tax credit is applied to their federal income tax liability, reducing the amount owed. For example, if someone qualifies for a $7,500 tax credit and owes $10,000 in taxes, their liability is reduced to $2,500.
What will happen to EV sales if the tax credit is tightened or eliminated?
Kate Wright, executive director at Climate Mayors, a group of mayors working together to combat climate change, pointed out at the EVVG meeting that 300,000 drivers have already taken advantage of the IRA incentives and wasn't sure that there were many more potential buyers that would be motivated by the incentive. Mike Austin, executive editor at Road & Track magazine and a facilitator of the EVVG meeting, noted that few vehicles besides Tesla qualify for such incentives because of the domestic manufacturing requirements.
Nathan Niese, managing director and partner at the Boston Consulting Group, a business consulting group based in Boston, also mentioned at the EVVG meeting that Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has publicly stated that his company does not rely on these credits for profitability, positioning Tesla to endure this potential policy shift better than competitors; however, he noted that other automakers might struggle without the financial incentive.
Prior to the Trump administrations threat to slash energy programs, the Biden administration revised its 2030 EV adoption goals downward, according to Smith.
"Whatever the answer is, it is driving decision-making on retailers' side about their inclination to invest." —Jay Smith, Charge Ahead Partnership.
There are also tax credit incentives for manufacturers that require them to get their materials domestically to comply with domestic sourcing requirements. Without these incentives, investment in U.S.-based battery production and other supply chain elements may decline, potentially increasing reliance on international suppliers and raising costs, according to EVVG.
“I can tell you whatever the answer is, it is driving decision-making on retailers' side about their inclination to invest,” said Smith of the Charge Ahead Partnership. “And that's just one of the factors. We can get into all the other factors that retailers look at, whether to invest, but I do think they're keeping their finger on a pulse to see what EV adoption looks like.”
EV leaders are concerned that state-level actions could fill gaps left by federal policy and the complexity of a “patchwork” approach, with some states offering incentives while others do not, leading to uneven adoption across the country, according to the EVVG discussion.
“Let me put it this way, I'm not losing sleep over doom and gloom if incentives dry up or change or reuse,” said Chris Normandeau, director of New York-based FirstService Energy, an energy management partner of real estate business FirstService Residential. “The industry is moving forward one way or another, and it's not something I'd bet against regardless of who's in the Oval Office or Congress.”
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