Chargers remain a big sticking point for EV adoption, and the Trump administration has only gone out of its way to make things worse for EV drivers. Whether it’s attempting to cut public charger funding or revising policies that attempt to make it easier to go electric, things are getting spiteful and annoying for the modern EV driver. But one shining beacon of hope appears to be out West, in America’s most populated state.
Welcome back to Critical Materials, your place for some of the biggest stories in the electrified vehicle news world.
Today, we’re focusing on charging. California presses onward despite a lack of support from the federal government. Meanwhile, a reconfiguration of standards on the federal level could shift where exactly EV stations are built, to the boon of gas stations but the chagrin of typical EV charging operators. Also, the Volkswagen ID.4 suffers from sales-related plant idling. Let’s get started, folks.
30%: California Isn’t Backing Down On EV Charger Growth
Photo by: Tim Levin/InsideEVs
It’s no secret that the Trump administration wants to cut the EV revolution off at the knees. The EV tax credit dies in less than 30 days from now, something that has caused a boon in immediate sales, but will likely taper off dramatically when it officially ends on Sept. 30.
Still, California has been adamant that it plans to continue to support EVs on the state level, even if the feds won’t. This has taken the form of Governor Gavin Newsom’s plan to reinstate state-level EV purchase incentives, but also support charging infrastructure, too.
The Wall Street Journal has a great piece about some of the roadblocks to continuing charging infrastructure in California, despite pushback from both the federal government and some stubborn truck manufacturers who still see a future in gas. Despite clearly political changes meant to dissuade EV adoption, production and support, some big companies are still in it for the long haul.
Another EV investment comes from the California Energy Commission, which this week awarded a $3.4 million grant to Moon Five Technologies, a clean-tech startup based in Berkeley, for more than 400 EV chargers targeting renters in disadvantaged neighborhoods, the company announced this week.
The investment comes as California and 16 other states are suing the Trump administration over its decision to end billions of dollars in funding for EV charging infrastructure across the country. The lawsuit says the funding cut deprives the states of money they were promised and hinders their ability to fight climate change.
But Moon Five Technologies’ Chief Executive Stephan Ng said he isn’t worried about the long term outlook for electric vehicles. “I think it’s better to look at the macro picture than these micro trends,” he said, referring, for example, to a recent hiatus to a federal initiative, the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, which was ultimately reopened in a pared-down form.
It’s clear that the world will continue to electrify—this is just a small bump in what is likely to be a big boon after nakedly political actions to tamp down EV adoption calm down. But things are likely to get super rocky for a short while. Maybe not in California, though.
60%: Trump Administration Aligns Charging Stations With Gas Stations
If you’ve been on any sort of EV charging journey, you’d quickly notice that the vast majority of charging stations aren’t actually in places you’d think. Charging stations for electric vehicles are often in parking lots of shopping centers, or in downtown main squares; not at a smelly gas station in the middle of nowhere, generally.
Well, that may just change. Reporting from Politico revealed that the Trump Administration has quietly revised some rules in EV charging infrastructure deployment in ways that give the upper hand to gas stations. The new rules are meant to prioritize station construction at spaces where the operator owns the land—ergo, gas stations.
By comparison, most EV charging stations often lease the land or have partnerships with their landowners. It’s a contested thing; EV leaders like Rivian and Tesla aren’t keen on associating that closely with gas stations. The Department of Transportation insists that drivers won’t have to change their habits to EV-charge if they’re coming from gas cars. It also thinks that doing things this way will establish EV charging infrastructure faster.
Politico isn’t so sure, though:
Another fact of life: The gas-station industry donates more to Republicans than it does to Democrats. In the 2024 election cycle, the three main gas-station industry groups — the National Association of Truck Stop Operators, the National Association of Convenience Stores and the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers — gave $551,500 to Democrats and more than $1.5 million to the GOP, according to data from the campaign-spending tracker OpenSecrets.
EV-makers that operate charging stations are a mirror opposite.
Rivian gave $4,000 to Republicans and $58 million to Democrats. And while Tesla CEO Elon Musk famously spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Trump’s reelection — and then led the administration’s push to dismantle federal agencies — Tesla itself gave almost $254 million to Democrats and $69 million to Republicans.”
Perhaps it’s not the worst thing in the world. We’ve tried several EV chargers attached to gas stations lately, and have found the experience to be generally positive overall (and with access to things like bathrooms). But requiring land ownership as part of the EV charger rollout does seem rather extreme.
90%: Volkswagen ID.4 Production Slows Down
Back when the Volkswagen ID.4 was introduced, the brand made a big deal about shifting production from Germany to the U.S. With its then-new American production facility, the ID.4 became one of the first non-American-branded EVs to qualify for the full tax credit.
Unfortunately, the ID.4’s sales haven’t quite kept up with Volkswagen’s dreams. Starting yesterday, the brand is idling the plant and furloughing 160 workers. Despite this, Volkswagen says that it is still committed to electrification and that EVs are still fundamental to the brand’s future. It insists that this is a market-based move to align output with what will surely be a decline in EV sales when the EV tax credit expires. Automotive News has more thoughts:
The spokesperson said VW will assemble fewer ID.4s per shift. Production of the two other nameplates built in Chattanooga, the Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport large crossovers, is not changing. ID.4 sales in the U.S. plunged 65 percent in the second quarter, resulting in a 19 percent drop during the first half of the year, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center.
The slowdown is the latest obstacle for the ID.4. In September 2024, VW issued a monthslong stop-sale and halted ID.4 production over faulty door handles.”
Meanwhile, Volkswagen continues on with its next-generation EV push, but what those plans are for America remain somewhat unclear.
100% What’s Been Your Best Charging Experience?
Photo by: Peter Nelson / InsideEVs
I know we love to talk about bad charging experiences, but what’s your best one? Personally, I enjoy the flexibility that EV chargers have compared to gas pumps. Sure, a Level 2 or DC fast charging event may be a lot slower than the few seconds it takes to refill a gas car, but I’ve embraced the change of pace.
Just this weekend, I took advantage of a “slow” fast charger (only 65 kW) to recharge a rental Hyundai Ioniq 5. I may have been there for what some would consider an eternity, a full hour to get to 90% charge, but it allowed me to have lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in town. These are experiences you don’t really get with a gas car.
Contact the author: Kevin.Williams@insideevs.com
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