Congress at the urging of the Biden administration agreed in 2021 to spend $7.5 billion to build tens of thousands of electric vehicle chargers across the country, aiming to appease anxious drivers while tackling climate change.
Two years later, the program has yet to install a single charger.
DB2
The states blame the Fed’s.
And the Fed’s blame the states.
And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return, we can only look
Behind, from where we came
And go round and round and round, in the circle game
I love Joni.
This is a bureaucratic snafu. The states do not see the money forgetting about it and not setting up the mechanism to distribute the money.
Remember the COVID-19 pandemic rent payments by the Federal government. The states set up the payment operations at the end of the mess. Land lords got nothing for close to two years.
This report linked above will wake people on the state level up.
The wheels of government grind slowly. First the agency in charge must issue rules under the law. They go out for a comment period and finally get issued in final form. That takes months. States must do likewise. People who want to spend the money have to file applications. Which get reviewed and finally approved. And then they start the usual permitting process under EPA, state, and zoning regs.
And then there can be lawsuits challenging if the rules comply with the law or the law is constitutional.
Don’t hold your breath.
Nothing is fast. The Covid relief payments paid to bank accounts with direct deposit for tax refunds probably set a record. The fastest the govt has ever issued checks.
The longer the delay the longer Tesla has to establish more market share and mindshare as the only EV brand that you can own and go on long road trips.
Mike
And the more value there is to the Tesla charging stations and the software that helps find them.