This month, President Donald Trump stopped all new funding under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program, which was created by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. Under the program, states were promised $5 billion in federal funds to build 500,000 charging stations by 2030.
Pennsylvania was allocated $171.5 million over five years, and so far, $59 million has been spent or earmarked to build a strategic network of charging stations fit for a state that boasts more roads than any other state in the Northeast. The promise of the NEVI program meant we could chart our own future in the commonwealth, and build out our valuable roadway corridors with dependable electric vehicle infrastructure to attract visitors, travelers, and residents alike.
Like lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in the General Assembly, I welcomed EV infrastructure funding from the start and encouraged applicants for the program.
While the stop order certainly illustrates Trump’s well-documented animus against clean energy — and his true love for oil and gas — I also fear canceling new EV charging growth serves another end in the agenda: eliminating competition for Tesla and Elon Musk.
Without the NEVI program, hundreds, if not thousands, of companies across the country are being denied critical seed funding to establish themselves, create local jobs, and become a part of market competition. Such losses will only slope the EV playing field further in favor of Tesla, whose CEO even admitted as much, tweeting that ending subsidies “will only help Tesla.”
Apologists can save their free-market arguments. Tesla, SpaceX, and the Trump Organization were all significantly grown with our tax dollars. Through state and federal rebate programs to sell its cars, direct loans to develop its product, millions in tax abatements to expand its facilities, and exclusive government contracts, Musk has benefited through billions in public money for his companies.
What’s more, the resulting outcome also hurts the consumers who stand to benefit from a broader, more accessible EV infrastructure network.
Trump, meanwhile, famously owes his start to heavily subsidized real estate deals set up by his father, dating back to the New Deal economy. He has only continued to benefit from similar government incentives throughout his real estate career. Even his first major project, the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan, involved negotiating a 40-year tax abatement with the city.
All that’s left for these two is to pull up the ladder behind them.
The NEVI program once extended that ladder to companies like Wawa and Sheetz — our local companies — and Tesla, too. The difference to Tesla, however, matters much less. Its head start in charging infrastructure and exclusive government inroads not only ensure the company’s survival, but also its victory against competitors.
Tesla’s Supercharger network, already the most dominant in the nation, requires other automakers and electric companies to either partner with Tesla or build their own networks. Cutting those networks off at the knees is an unfair development.
Musk also now commands the purse strings of the nation. With control over key sectors like EV infrastructure, space exploration, and communications, Musk’s position could easily enable him to align federal policies with his business interests. Already, Musk’s companies stand to gain $11.8 billion over the next few years through 52 contracts with organizations such as NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the General Services Administration.
A free market fosters innovation and growth, but we’re quickly learning that when one entity can shape policy to its advantage, it disrupts the principles of competition and opportunity.
We should be upset, but not surprised, to see the NEVI program cut. Capitalizing on loss is what billionaires and their corporations do best.
State Rep. Mary Jo Daley is chair of the Pennsylvania House Tourism, Recreation and Economic Development Committee. She represents the 148th Legislative District in Montgomery County.