The Biden administration heavily pushed electric vehicle adoption and incentives this year, but some reports have sounded the alarm on a slowing demand as customers are hesitant to make the transition to a greener alternative.
Potential EV buyers often cite high costs and the lack of charging stations coupled with range anxiety as reasons not to make the switch.
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE BLOWS PAST EXPECTATIONS, SURGES BY MOST SINCE EARLY 2021
According to a recent survey by S&P Global Mobility, 44% of respondents were concerned about the availability of charging stations.
President Joe Biden and the agencies focused on quickening the EV transition are working to ease those fears and build up the nation’s charging infrastructure.
Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, states were allocated $7.5 billion to expand EV charging networks across the United States. Funds are expected to go toward projects that build more stations in cities, along highways, and in other public locations, hoping to place the chargers no more than 50 miles apart.
A Federal Highway Administration spokesperson told the Washington Examiner the agency has made $2.4 billion from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, or NEVI, Formula Program available to all 50 states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
As of December, 11 contracts through the NEVI program have been awarded to states, including Colorado, Alaska, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont.
Biden’s goal of 500,000 federally funded EV chargers by 2030 is expected to be met early in 2026, according to the FHWA spokesperson.
Nearly half the respondents in the S&P Global Mobility survey, 48%, said the high price of EVs is the No. 1 barrier. The president is also hoping to assist with the high upfront costs of EVs by updating rebates earlier this year through the Inflation Reduction Act signed in 2022.
Starting in January, drivers who opt to purchase a new vehicle can get up to $7,500 off the sticker price if they make less than $150,000, or $225,000 for heads of households and $300,000 for married couples. Buyers of used electric vehicles can get $4,000 off a car priced at less than $25,000 if they make under $75,000, or $112,500 for heads of households and $150,000 for married couples.
“For the first time, the Inflation Reduction Act allows consumers to reduce the up-front cost of a clean vehicle, expanding consumer choices and helping car dealers expand their businesses. The IRS has focused on streamlining this process for car dealers as part of its commitment to improving service and helping taxpayers claim the credits they are eligible for,” Chief Implementation Officer for the Inflation Reduction Act Laurel Blatchford said in an October press statement.
The Biden administration also proposed the strictest-ever regulation with the Environmental Protection Agency in April, requiring automakers to lower emissions from cars and light trucks by 10% annually through 2026. The rule would require around two-thirds of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2032.
Republican lawmakers and conservative groups have pushed back against the EPA’s regulations.
At the start of December, more than 200 Republicans signed on to a letter led by freshman Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) demanding any final government funding bill include language blocking the EPA from enforcing the regulations. Biden promised to veto legislation aimed at banning the EPA’s EV rules. The White House said it would “catastrophically impair” the EPA's ability to regulate vehicle investment and public health.
At the state level, nearly two dozen states have followed California, a longtime champion of electric cars, in signing on to the Clean Air Act, the nation's most stringent set of standards. The Advanced Clean Cars II Act, proposed by the California Air and Resources Board in 2022, sets new vehicle sales to be 100% zero emission, with full compliance set for 2035.
Most recently, Minnesota, Colorado, and Delaware have followed California's path, but not without criticism from GOP leaders.
Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control said the mandate will begin with a 43% requirement for the 2027 model year, increasing to 82% for the 2032 model year, and finally up to 100% in 2035.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“I would like to see that happen naturally as opposed to the government saying, ‘OK, we’re going to put our finger on the scale and move this artificially,' quicker than manufacturing and technology and all of those other sectors can allow,” state Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, the Republican minority whip, said, per Delaware Public Media.
The Biden administration plans to continue pushing his ambitious climate agenda in 2024, including a shift to predominantly EVs, but setbacks are inevitable. While Biden made EV rebates more accessible at car dealers, a qualifying electric car can no longer include battery components manufactured by a “foreign entity of concern." Republicans often criticize the U.S. reliance on foreign-made components to produce EVs.