Why Biden Admin’s Multi-Billion $ EV Charging Program Has Short Circuited

• The Biden administration has designated billions of taxpayer dollars to build electric vehicle (EV) chargers, but lagging market demand and government red tape are getting in the way, according to experts who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
• The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced Thursday that it was awarding $150 million to upgrade existing public EV chargers, just one week after announcing another $623 million in subsidies to states to bolster EV charger construction. The grants from the FHWA are part of two EV charger programs established by the Biden administration in the November 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program, which were designated collectively $7.5 billion for charger construction and upgrades.
• However, there have only two stations have been built due to NEVI as of December, according to the Department of Transportation, with experts telling the DCNF that lack of demand, regulations and union requirements are stalling construction. 
• The EV charger rollout carries a number of restrictions, stalling progress on their installation.
• For example, there is an FHWA provision requiring all electricians working on the project to be certified by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union’s Electric Vehicle Industry Training Program or have obtained certification from a Department of Labor-approved certification program with charger
• “So it’s unlikely that these things are going to meet the need, and the government can’t determine what that need is anyway,” Kish told the DCNF. “They don’t have the capability of doing that. Intrapreneurs, people looking at the market and saying, ‘Hey, we ought to put in some EV chargers; we can make some money on the side,’ would be the way for this to actually happen, but that’s not what this program is. This program is ‘Give money to groups that will support us in the election.’”
• Many have also raised concerns about the EV charging stations’ reliability, with drivers in Chicago in January being unable to charge their EVs due to the frigid temperatures. The Biden administration has previously dismissed concerns that battery performance for EVs was severely affected by cold weather.

Source: dailycaller.com