Trump tries to block EV charger money — again. Michigan impact ‘clear as mud’

• The Trump administration has ordered a halt in state spending on EV chargers through a program that promised $110 million to Michigan
• It’s the latest in a series of attacks against Biden-era climate policies, as Trump aims to downplay green energy and embraces fossil fuels
• State officials are scrambling to discern what the order means for Michigan, which has spent only a fraction of its dollars

The Trump administration has ordered a halt in spending through a federal program that promised Michigan $110 million to build electric vehicle chargers, an apparent attempt to circumvent lawsuits targeting his efforts to block congressionally-approved funding for climate priorities.

The Federal Highway Administration late Thursday alerted state transportation officials across the country that the agency was nullifying charger deployment plans the states submitted as a prerequisite for accessing the money.

“Effective immediately, no new obligations may occur under the NEVI formula program,” the memo stated, referencing the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program.

It was the latest targeted attack on EVs under President Donald Trump, who has often derided former President Joe Biden’s efforts to combat climate change as a “green new scam.”

Several experts have questioned the legality of the move, while environmental groups decried it.

“It's very illegal for the Trump administration to be intervening right now and trying to claw back that money under some guise of … a bureaucratic change,” said Courtney Brady, a regional deputy director for the climate advocacy group Evergreen Action. 

Related:

• EV transition a slow go in Michigan. It needs 100,000 chargers, has 3,300
• Michigan’s EV transition in limbo as Trump halts climate spending
• Which Michigan counties have most EVs? Which have none? Politics play a role
• Michigan a top winner of climate funds Trump wants to revoke

Officials with the Michigan Department of Transportation were scrambling Thursday to figure out how much money Michigan stands to lose. To date, the state has spent only a tiny fraction of the EV charger funds it was set to receive.

“All of this is kind of clear as mud for the time being,” said agency spokesperson Jocelyn Garza.

Here’s what to know: 

What the order says

Thursday’s order is part of Trump’s wide-ranging effort to deprioritize green energy and instead favor the fossil fuel interests that donated heavily to his campaign.

In just over two weeks in office, he has repeatedly targeted the Biden administration’s EV charger program, an Inflation Reduction Act-funded effort to build a network of chargers along major highways. 

Last week, Trump ordered a broad spending freeze on federal climate funds, “including but not limited to funds for electric vehicle charging stations.” 

Thursday’s memo builds upon that order, specifying how the administration aims to retool the program. It appears to be designed to indefinitely delay states’ ability to access charger funds.

“The new leadership of the Department of Transportation has decided to review the policies underlying the implementation of the NEVI Formula Program,” wrote Emily Biondi, the highway administration’s associate administrator for planning, environment and realty. 

As a result, federal guidance that directed states on how to spend the money has been rescinded. 

Biondi said the federal department will issue new guidance this spring. Only then can states begin the time-consuming process of writing plans that specify how they’ll spend their cut. Those plans need federal approval before states can access any more money.

What Michigan was poised to receive

Michigan was slated to receive $110 million from the program through 2026, but so far has spent just $2.2 million.The feds have authorized Michigan to spend a total of $77.2 million, which leaves more than $30 million still unauthorized in federal coffers.

At the very least, the order appears to leave Michigan unable to access those dollars. It wasn’t immediately clear how much of the authorized-but-unspent money Michigan is allowed to spend.

According to Thursday’s memo, states can still be reimbursed for “existing obligations” under the EV charger program, language that some experts have interpreted to mean that states can fulfill existing contracts with companies that won grants to install chargers.

Michigan has more than 30 contracts that are “in some stage of negotiation,” Garza said.

“What we’re trying to do is determine how much of that…we can continue to follow through on,” she said.

What the new order means for Michigan

Likely an even slower build out of Michigan’s spotty EV charging network.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has set a goal to install 100,000 publicly accessible EV chargers in Michigan by 2030. But as of Tuesday, there were just 3,776 statewide.

Still, efforts to expand Michigan’s charging network will not stop if federal funds dry up. 

The state of Michigan and utilities like DTE Energy and Consumers Energy are still subsidizing charger deployment, and Whitmer has requested $10 million for chargers in her 2025-26 budget proposal.

What does it mean for Michigan’s auto industry?

More uncertainty.

Even before Biden began subsidizing the shift to EVs, the state’s automakers had announced plans to start shifting away from gas-powered vehicles.

That’s in part a response to competitive pressure, as other automakers outpace the Detroit Three in a race to corner a global market that’s steadily shifting to EVs. 

By decade’s end, EVs are expected to surpass half of all vehicle sales in Europe and China – two of the world’s biggest auto markets. But flagging domestic demand has slowed the US transition — and auto industry leaders say a dearth of publicly-accessible chargers is partly to blame.

Beyond targeting chargers, Trump has promised to cancel a $7,500 federal tax credit for EV purchases and rescind fuel economy standards that are encouraging automakers to shift to EVs. 

If enacted, experts expect those policy changes to further extend automakers’ timeline for the EV switch, which in turn could jeopardize the billions of taxpayer dollars that Michigan lawmakers have spent to convince automakers to build EV plants in Michigan.

Bridge reporter Lauren Gibbons contributed to this report.