For a while, the road to driving a fully electric vehicle was gaining speed, with tax credits helping to fuel sales and dealer incentives driving up interest.
“They were like, ‘Hey, we have a two-year incentive to give you free charging with Electrify America,’” EV driver Antonio Zorrilla said as he plugged in at a charging station in Falls Church, Virginia.
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WATCH HEREThat sold Zorilla, who said it’s been easy to stay on the road in the D.C. area with just a 30-minute charge.
There are more than 3,500 public charging stations in the D.C. area and there were supposed to be more coming.
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But on President Donald Trump’s first day in office, he signed an executive order directing federal agencies to freeze funds allocated by the Biden-era bipartisan infrastructure law, including billions of dollars for states to install charging stations.
In February, the Federal Highway Administration said no new projects could begin while the program is under review. A Department of Transportation spokesperson told the News4 I-Team the program needs “major reform.”
How the federal freeze has affected EV charging station construction in the DC area
For now, Maryland is waiting to see if they’ll get almost $35 million. The state Department of Transportation already began work on 22 charging stations – work that is allowed to continue since the funding freeze came after they started. But plans for future EV charging stations are on hold, mostly along busy highways.
“We are currently waiting on the DOT to provide that guidance,” said Joe McAndrew, assistant secretary at Maryland’s DOT.
Virginia is limbo now, too, waiting for the majority of its $83 million from the federal program. A spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation told the I-Team only one new charging station is operating from the program so far at a Pilot Travel Center located in Skippers, Virginia. Awards for 51 other projects were withdrawn.
"Without that infrastructure and without that federal support, it means that a lot more of the burden is going to be on states in that area,” said Michael Brooks with the Center for Auto Safety.
So far in the D.C. area, there are this many charging stations, according to the Department of Energy:
- D.C.: 334
- Maryland: 1,462
- Virginia: 1,786
A lawsuit filed by D.C. and several states, including Maryland, argued the federal government is illegally withholding EV charging station funds awarded to states. The I-Team asked the DOT about the lawsuit and have not heard back.
‘People are kind of hesitant to buy EVs at this point’
Questions about infrastructure are the biggest holdup now for many drivers considering going fully electric, Brooks said.
"People are kind of hesitant to buy EVs at this point because of some of that uncertainty,” he said. “They don't know, for instance, what the charging infrastructure in America is gonna look like in five years.”
Almost 6 million EVs are on the road now, in a new high, according to the Alliance of Automotive Innovation. There’s only one public charging port for every 30 vehicles.
The FHA said it aims to publish new guidance for the EV program after getting public comment this spring.
An EV driver named Cooper said he moved from a hybrid to a fully electric car and isn’t overly concerned about the pause in federal funding for charging stations. But he’s keeping a close eye on what might be coming down the road.
“If the existing infrastructure starts to crumble, will I be forced to go back to a gas engine? In that case then yeah, you know, probably will have to,” he said.
Search for publicly available charging stations here.
Reported by Susan Hogan; produced by Rick Yarborough; shot by Carlos Olazagasti, Jeff Piper and Steve Jones; and edited by Jeff Piper.
