Despite vowing to construct 500,000 EV charging stations by 2030, the Biden administration has only succeeded in building eight.
Those 8 charging stations came with a price tag of $7.5 billion.
Speaking to CBS News’ Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said constructing the chargers is “more than just plunking a small device into the ground. There’s utility work and this is also a new category of federal investment. But we’ve been working with each of the 50 states, every one of them is getting formula dollars to do this work.”
“Again, by 2030, 500,000 chargers,” he asserted. “And the very first handful of chargers are now already being physically built. But again, that’s the absolute very, very beginning stages of the construction to come.”
The EV charging station effort was part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $5 billion in formula funding for states with a goal to build a national charging network. 10% is set-aside each year for the Secretary to provide grants to States to help fill gaps in the network,” a fact sheet says. “The Law also provides $2.5 billion for communities and corridors through a competitive grant program that will support innovative approaches and ensure that charger deployment meets Administration priorities such as supporting rural charging, improving local air quality and increasing EV charging access in disadvantaged communities.”
