US states sue Trump admin again over billions in withheld EV charging funds

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia are suing President Donald Trump's administration for what they say is the unlawful withholding of over USD 2 billion dollars in funding for two electric vehicle charging programmes, according to a federal lawsuit announced Tuesday.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington is the latest legal battle that several states are pursuing over funding for EV charging infrastructure that they say was obligated to them by Congress under former President Joe Biden, but that the Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration are impounding.

The Trump Administration's illegal attempt to stop funding for electric vehicle infrastructure must come to an end, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a release. This is just another reckless attempt that will stall the fight against air pollution and climate change, slow innovation, thwart green job creation, and leave communities without access to clean, affordable transportation."  The Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The Trump administration in February ordered states to halt spending money for EV charging that was allocated in the bipartisan infrastructure law passed under the previous administration.

Several states filed a lawsuit in May against the administration for withholding the funding from the USD 5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure programme for a nationwide charging buildout. A federal judge later ordered the administration to release much of the funding for chargers in more than a dozen states.

Tuesday's separate lawsuit addresses the withholding of funding obligations for two other programmes: USD 1.8 billion for the Charging and Fuelling Infrastructure Grant programme, as well as about USD 350 million in Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator money.

Tuesday's lawsuit is led by attorneys general from California and Colorado, joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, and the governor of Pennsylvania.

The Trump administration has been hostile to EVs and has dismantled several policies friendly to cleaner cars and trucks that were put in place under Biden, in favour of policies that instead align with Trump's oil and gas industry agenda.

Once in office a second time, President Trump immediately ordered an end to what he has called Biden's EV mandate. While Biden targeted for half of new vehicle sales in the US to be electric by 2030, policies did not force American consumers to buy or automakers to sell electric vehicles.

Biden did set stringent tailpipe emissions and fuel economy rules in an effort to encourage more widespread EV uptake, as the auto industry would have had to meet both sets of requirements with a greater number of EVs in their sales mix.

Under the Biden administration, consumers could also receive up to USD 7,500 in tax incentives off the price of an EV purchase.

The Trump administration has proposed rolling back both tailpipe rules and the gas mileage standards, cut the fines to automakers for not meeting those standards, and eliminated the EV credits.

Trump has also repeated incorrect information about the status of the federal charging programmes; without all of the funds available, only a fraction of what was obligated has been spent so far.

We had to have an electric car within a very short period of time, even though there was no way of charging them and lots of other things, Trump said in a Dec 3 press conference about the proposed weakened fuel economy rules. In certain parts of the Midwest, they spent -- to build nine chargers they spent USD 8 billion. So, that wasn't working out too well.

The lawsuit comes amid those regulatory changes and as the pace of EV sales have slowed in the US as mainstream buyers remain concerned about both charging availability and the price of the vehicles.

New EVs transacted for an average of USD 58,638 last month, compared with USD 49,814 for a new vehicle overall, according to auto buying resource Kelley Blue Book.

Automakers, meanwhile, have responded to consumers accordingly.

Earlier this week, Ford Motor Co announced it was pivoting away from its once-ambitious, multi-billion dollar electrification strategy in lieu of more hybrid-electric and more fuel-efficient gasoline-powered vehicles.

In the spring, Honda Motor Co also said it would take a significant step back from its EV efforts.

Still, EVs are gaining traction in other areas around the world.