The state's Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta have announced that a multi-state lawsuit was filed in federal court challenging actions taken by President Trump’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to thwart Congress’s US$5bn program to expand EV charging infrastructure. The lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration’s "unlawful" actions would cost Californians more than US$300m, eliminate thousands of well-paid jobs and hobble a critical, emerging tech industry.
On the first day of his administration, President Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies to immediately stop releasing funds appropriated through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including US$5bn that Congress appropriated for EV charging stations under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.
Following that directive, the lawsuit states that FHWA effectively halted the NEVI Formula Program by, among other things, unlawfully withholding billions in funds that Congress had directed to the states for building EV infrastructure.
Newsom commented: "President Trump’s illegal action withholding funds for electric vehicle infrastructure is yet another Trump gift to China – ceding American innovation and killing thousands of jobs.
"Instead of hawking Teslas on the White House lawn, President Trump could actually help Elon – and the nation – by following the law and releasing this bipartisan funding."
California, Colorado, and Washington led a coalition of 17 states in suing FHWA. The lawsuit states that FHWA’s unlawful actions deprive the states of billions of dollars in appropriated funds, ignores Congressional mandates, violates the U.S. Constitution and will devastate the ability of states to build the charging infrastructure necessary for making EVs accessible to more consumers, combating climate change, reducing other harmful pollution, and supporting the states’ green economies.
“The President continues to roll back environmental and climate change protections, this time illegally stripping away billions of dollars for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, all to line the pockets of his Big Oil friends,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The facts don’t lie: the demand for clean transportation continues to rise, and California will be at the forefront of this transition to a more sustainable, low-emissions future. California will not back down, not from Big Oil, and not from federal overreach.”
California’s State Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plan anticipated that California would need hundreds of thousands of additional EV charging ports to support passenger cars and trucks and incrementally more charging ports for medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses to meet climate goals. The plan, approved by the federal government, would leverage public funding and private investment to build out a statewide charging infrastructure, including $384 million from the NEVI program.
The lawsuit requests the court to declare that President Trump’s directives are unlawful, vacate the actions and permanently stop the administration from withholding the funds.
California is home to more than 30% of new ZEVs sold in the US. With the rise in EV and plug-in hybrid demand, the state says it is committed to rapidly deploying funds to develop and ensure a reliable and easy-to-use charging network. The state has doubled down on improving the charging network and making it even easier to buy an EV:
More than 178,000 public or shared private electric vehicle charging ports have been installed throughout California, plus more than 700,000 at-home charging ports.
California has recently put more than US$640m toward the deployment of zero-emission truck and bus recharging and refueling infrastructure, US$500m to put another 1,000 ZEV school buses on the road, and more than US$1.3bn for public transportation projects including several that support zero-emission buses.