Judge orders Trump admin to release billions in EV charging funds

AFP | Washington

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A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to release billions of dollars allocated for the construction of electric vehicle charging stations in over a dozen US states.

In a ruling Tuesday, US District Judge Tana Lin granted a preliminary injunction to require distribution of funds for National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) development, which was allotted $5 billion for use from 2022 to 2026.

Signed into law by then-president Joe Biden in 2021, the NEVI program was defunded by the Trump administration’s Department of Transportation in February, axing expected funding for 16 states and the District of Columbia.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly called climate change a “hoax,” abandoned electric vehicle booster programs and campaigned to drill for oil extensively. Trump has also blocked California’s plan to ban internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035.