Sixteen states and Washington, D.C., are suing President Donald Trump’s administration for illegally withholding billions of dollars’ worth of funds allocated to them for building electric vehicle (EV) chargers, according to a federal lawsuit announced on May 7.
The lawsuit, which stems from Trump’s pause on National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program fund allocations, challenges the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) authority to halt the funding. They argue that Congress, which approved the money in 2021 as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, holds that authority.
"President Trump has unleashed an attack on an increasingly popular consumer choice—the electric vehicle," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in the lawsuit.
The 16 states include Washington, Colorado, California, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin, plus Washington, D.C. It is led by attorneys general from California, Colorado and Washington.
The lawsuit also highlights disruptions caused by the suspension, such as delays in infrastructure builds and financial setbacks for contractors and state agencies.
"Clean energy is not just smart for the environment; it creates new jobs for Marylanders and strengthens our economy," said Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in the lawsuit.
It’s also provided monetary motivation for businesses like convenience-stores to install EV chargers.
“There's not really a business model there to make a large investment without grant funding because it's a large capital investment, and the business volume is just not there right now,” Tom Healy, vice president of facilities development and maintenance at Nouria told CSP in March.
Upon inauguration, Trump paused federal funding of many programs and revoked the electric vehicle EV mandate. The Department of Transportation (DOT) has frozen the NEVI Program.
A letter from DOT on Feb. 6 stated it is rescinding the current NEVI Formula Program Guidance, and the FHWA is updating it to align with current U.S. DOT policy and priorities. FHWA aims to publish the new draft in the spring.
The rescinding means an immediate suspension on the approval of all state electric vehicle infrastructure deployment plans for all fiscal years. No new obligations may occur under the NEVI Formula Program until the updated final NEVI Formula Program Guidance is issued and new state plans are submitted and approved, the letter said.
Former President Biden put a mandate into place in 2021 that 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.
In a separate but related initiative in 2021, the Biden administration also signed the NEVI program into law, which was launched by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) through its Federal Highway Administration as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). 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.
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.
However, the push for EVs is facing some resistance as President Trump paused federal funding programs and revoked the electric vehicle EV mandate on Jan. 20 that former President Biden put into place.
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