Let’s be real: last week was not a great one for electric vehicle adoption in America. The federal EV tax credits came to an end, and though they helped to juice zero-emission car sales for months, a big slowdown is anticipated next.
On top of that, the Trump administration is using the government shutdown to cancel billions of dollars in clean energy investments—the very projects needed to ensure EVs can one day reach their full potential by running on a grid powered by renewable energy rather than fossil fuels.
But there is one bright spot in the current moment: EV charger growth is accelerating, and believe it or not, the very same Trump administration is helping to make it happen.
This unusual situation kicks off our Monday edition of Critical Materials, our morning roundup of industry and technology news. Also on deck today: Stellantis’ struggling U.S. brands stand to get a big capital investment, and how all of Elon Musk’s companies have a burnout problem.
30%: Trump Fails To Kill NEVI Funding, Speeds It Up Instead
Alpitronic EV Chargers
Photo by: Alpitronic
Longtime readers of this publication and industry pros probably know the acronym NEVI: the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program. Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the program allocated $5 billion in funding for DC fast chargers for states to dole out in the form of grant money. As part of its anti-green energy and cost-cutting push, the Trump administration sought to cancel that funding, but a federal court overruled that move in July.
Since then, Politico reports, more than 40 states are in the process of unlocking their NEVI funding—and red states like Texas and Montana lead the way. At least 32 say they have gotten a green light. And Trump’s Department of Transportation actually seems to be offering more flexibility on where these chargers can be placed.
The publication calls this “a major acceleration.” More on why, with emphasis mine below:
The new guidance that DOT issued in August largely kept the Biden administration’s rules but ditched a contentious requirement that chargers be placed every 50 miles along major highways. It also directed states to quickly submit updated implementation plans to access the funds. In the weeks since, at least 44 states and Washington, D.C., have submitted their plans, spokespeople for those states told POLITICO.
In a statement Friday, DOT spokesperson Nathaniel Sizemore said the Biden administration had added requirements to NEVI that were “difficult to understand and implement,” and that the huge amount of money that remained unobligated when the former president left office was “a clear signal of the program’s failure.”
“Earlier this year, Secretary Duffy and the Federal Highway Administration launched a review of the program’s guidance to make the NEVI program more efficient,” Sizemore said. “If a [state’s] submitted plan meets the requirements detailed in the updated program guidance, it will be approved and the State’s NEVI funding will be made available for obligation.”
State and industry officials said the rush to access the money was due to both pent-up enthusiasm for the charger cash and a positive reception to the flexibility offered under the new rules.
“We’re already seeing states reengage and move more quickly toward accessing funds,” said David Piperno, chief financial officer at SparkCharge, an EV fleet charging provider. “The overall tone has shifted and there’s a new urgency to put these dollars to work.”
One transportation official told Politico that the strategic placement of chargers in America is about to get better, and at more gas stations and existing stops, because there’s no longer this arbitrary 50-mile requirement. That was often very difficult to implement in, say, places like Alaska, which might have 80-mile stretches of rural highway with no communities along the way.
So, to recap: Trump tried to cancel EV charger funding, failed, declined to appeal in court, and has somehow put new rules in place that may actually be cutting red tape around deployment. What a time to be alive.
More from that story:
But it also reflects a growing reality: Millions of EVs are expected to hit the road in the coming years, regardless of Trump’s policies. And their drivers are going to need places to charge.
“If you look at the states that are putting their [charging] plans and their money back into play the soonest, it’s really states that recognize their EV adoption rate is going to continue to climb,” said Joshua Rodriguez, program director for environment at the nonpartisan American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. “Red or blue or purple, it doesn’t really matter.”
It’s a good sign that, tax credits or no, you can’t stop progress.
60%: Stellantis’ U.S. Brands Could Get A Big Capital Boost
2025 Jeep Wagoneer S Limited
Photo by: Jeep
One major criticism of Stellantis’ former CEO is that he steered capital and R&D investments toward the wrong brands within the European-American conglomerate. American brands like Jeep and Ram make much of Stellantis’ revenue, yet they’ve been dealing with overpriced and aging lineups for years. (I am not saying this magically would’ve prevented those brands from making lackluster EVs, but it certainly didn’t help.)
According to a new report, that could change soon. Bloomberg indicates Stellantis’ American brands are about to get a major boost:
Stellantis NV is planning to invest about $10 billion in the US as the troubled maker of Jeep sport utility vehicles and Ram pickups refocuses on the market that’s pivotal to its profits, according to people familiar with the situation.
The carmaker may announce in the coming weeks about $5 billion in fresh money on top of a similar amount earmarked earlier in the year, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The investments over several years could be funneled into plants—for re-openings, hiring and new models—in states including Illinois and Michigan, the people said.
[…] The new CEO has started scrapping some European investments, withdrawing support from a joint hydrogen fuel cell venture with Michelin and Forvia SE. Stellantis also is mulling a sale of its Free2move car-sharing business, Bloomberg reported this week. Earlier this year, the automaker hired McKinsey & Co. for strategic advice on Maserati and Alfa Romeo. It has repeatedly denied any plans to sell Maserati.
This U.S. focus makes sense for several reasons. For one, it’s Stellantis going where the money is; its sales are lagging in Europe, and it faces severe factory overcapacity there too. And Jeep, Ram and even Dodge are what pay a lot of the bills. Plus, the American investments are necessary at a time when the company is getting hammered by Trump tariffs.
With any luck, this will also mean better U.S. investments into, at the very least, hybrid powertrains. Stellantis can’t bet on V8 engines to win the future.
90%: Elon Musk’s Turnover Problem
Tesla Optimus humanoid robots walking
Photo by: Tesla
You can’t really disrupt an industry the way Tesla did without busting your ass. But one problem within the company is that it still runs at the pace of an early-stage startup, and this has led to rapid-fire turnover that’s somehow accelerated in recent years.
The Financial Times (subscription required) has the scoop on the burnout factor at Tesla, which is now endemic to Musk’s other companies too:
Important members of Tesla’s US sales team, battery and power-train operations, public affairs arm, and its chief information officer have all recently departed, as well as core members of the Optimus robot and artificial intelligence teams on which Musk has bet the future of the company.
While many left happily after long service to found start-ups or take career breaks, there has also been an uptick in those quitting from burnout, or disillusionment with Musk’s strategic pivots, mass lay-offs and his politics, the people said.
“The one constant in Elon’s world is how quickly he burns through deputies,” said one of the billionaire’s advisers. “Even the board jokes, there’s time and then there’s ‘Tesla time’. It’s a 24/7 campaign-style work ethos. Not everyone is cut out for that.”
Robert Keele, xAI’s general counsel, ended his 16-month tenure in early August by posting an AI-generated video of a suited lawyer screaming while shovelling molten coal. “I love my two toddlers and I don’t get to see them enough,” he commented.
It’s certainly not news that working for Musk can be brutal. But this situation is also intertwined with Tesla’s apparent pivot away from building newer and cheaper EVs, and more to the unproven spaces of robotics and AI, the story notes:
Tesla has traditionally been the most stable part of Musk’s conglomerate. But many of the top team left after it culled 14,000 jobs in April 2024. Some departures were triggered as Musk moved investment away from new electric vehicle and battery projects that many employees saw as key to its mission of reducing global emissions—and prioritised robotics, AI and self-driving robotaxis.
Employees also perceive Musk’s rivalry with [Sam] Altman—with whom he co-founded OpenAI, before they fell out — to be behind the pressure being put on staff.
“Elon’s got a chip on his shoulder from ChatGPT and is spending every waking moment trying to put Sam out of business,” said one recent top departee.
I suppose we’ll see what this era of Tesla is really capable of with tomorrow’s reveal of the allegedly cheaper Model Y variant.
100%: How Much EV Charging Does America Need?
2026 BMW iX at Ionna Rechargery
Photo by: Suvrat Kothari
If you say “more than we have now,” I’d certainly agree there. And I also think the U.S. over-indexes on DC fast-charging when it could stand to have more slower Level 2 charging everywhere, from movie theater parking lots to apartment complexes.
But let’s imagine the future when we’re past this current moment and EVs are at a tipping point. When do we hit “enough” public EV chargers? And what does that even look like? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
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