Question 1: How could this policy change impact Texas?

 

Back in 2022 Biden’s Infrastructure and Job Investments Act set aside $5 billion to build electric vehicle charging stations throughout the country.

 

$408 million was expected to go to Texas by 2026, more than any other state. But The Natl Assoc of State Energy Officials says Texas has only actually received about half of that money ($234.2 million) so far.

 

Last month the Trump administration (Federal Highway Administration) decided to pause the program and “update guidance to align with current priorities” - presumably meaning spending more money on traditional gas-powered cars and less on EVs.

 

Even though Texas already has plans in place to start building the EV chargers, the White House says they won’t send them any more grant money once those are complete.

 

 

Question 2: Is there anything Texas could have been doing differently?

 

They could have built the chargers faster.

 

It was up to Gov. Abbott to decide which companies to give that money to, But it’s taken the state a long time to actually spend the money it’s received. 

 

Only three EV charging stations have actually opened in Texas so far under the program. Two of them are owned by Tesla. 

 

But the slow pace is a nation-wide issue. The Washington Post reported in March 2024 that only seven charging stations with 38 ports had been opened under the program. By the end of 2024 there were 31 stations. Rhode Island is the only state that’s finished building all its stations, and that’s because they only built two of them. 

Question 3: What happens to the money now?

 

Now it’s unclear when or if Texas will ever receive that federal funding it was promised.

 

Besides the three stations that already opened, there are 80 more charging stations that have been promised a total of $30 million to build, but now it’s unclear if they’ll ever get their funding. 

 

Some were announced in December 2023, some were announced earlier this year. 

 

But there’s another $200 million more that Texas has received but not actually obligated to a specific company or made plans to build chargers. Now, it might be too late if the White House decides not to approve any more chargers under this program.

 

The Federal Highway Administration’s memo to states says they will be “held harmless” for not using that money, so it’s possible Texas will be able to use it for something else.

 

We reached out to TxDOT to find out their plans going forward, but they didn’t respond. 

 

Question 4: How many EV drivers are in Texas and what does this mean for them?

 

There are 230,125 electric vehicles registered in Texas. (Only California and Florida have more.)

 

There are 10,737 public charging stations to support those vehicles. That breaks down to 21 cars for every station.

But if more people buy EVs, That’s not nearly enough stations if the state ever plans on seriously phasing out gas-powered cars.

 

The Environmental Protection Agency says a full EV infrastructure needs 56 stations per 1,000 square feet, or a station no more than three miles away no matter where you are.

 

Guess which state is furthest away from meeting that goal? Texas needs almost 16,000 more charging stations to meet the EPA guidelines, according to Everything Policy. No other state is more than 10,000 away.

 

So even if this federal program was never disrupted and Texas was able to build all the expected stations, they would still be pretty far away from supporting a true state-wide EV infrastructure.