These are some of the findings in a new report titled Clean Transportation Works: An Analysis of U.S. Investments, released by the Coalition Helping America Rebuild and Go Electric (CHARGE), which advocates for continuing some of the landmark federal programs begun by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and companion legislation known as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Both sets of legislation were passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden, with a focus on rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure to shepherd cleaner transportation solutions like electric vehicles and upgrades to public transit, bike lanes, sidewalks and more.
The second Trump administration has taken a dimmer view of many of these programs, halting funding, changing guidelines, and rejecting provisions around delivering equity and environmental justice.
CHARGE officials mostly point to the benefits these projects and programs have secured. Their message is aimed, in part, at lawmakers at both the federal and state levels, urging them to not abandon these initiatives as they consider funding authorizations next year.
“These investments have made real impacts in folks’ lives. They have built infrastructure. They have provided jobs,” said Bridget Sanderson, the CHARGE campaign manager. “And a lot of communities really want these programs.”
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program has been the centerpiece of a strategy to develop EV charging infrastructure. However, as of today, goals such as a network of 500,000 EV fast chargers has not yet been reached, with only 370 NEVI-funded fast chargers now open and in operation at 84 locations across the country, according to data collected by the EV States Clearinghouse. Of the $5 billion allocated to NEVI by the IIJA, only $526 million has been obligated, with a mere $44 million actually spent, according to the CHARGE report.
This means much of the build-out of NEVI-funded charging stations remains. The CHARGE report points out that if all funding allocated to NEVI and another program to advance lower-speed community charging were spent, this translates to about 11,200 jobs. Similarly, the publicly funded charging programs have a way of advancing private investment, said industry watchers. As of June of this year, the private sector had announced some $426 million in investment for the EV charging market in the United States, according to the report.
These are the kind of data points CHARGE and its members hope to impress upon federal policymakers and members of Congress as they urge continued momentum for NEVI and similar programs.
“The stability in these programs is really what will continue to push further private investments going forward, will ensure stability in the economy, making sure that our infrastructure is up to date,” Sanderson said.
The researchers take a forward-looking approach to electrified transportation and its ability to transform the economy with new investment. Fully implementing the clean transportation future imagined by the IIJA and IRA could have an economic development impact reaching some $4.6 billion in domestic manufacturing investments, contributing to more than 14,400 jobs, the report’s authors write.
Rachel Reolfi, a senior policy analyst for Atlas Public Policy, a research firm focusing on clean transportation and energy that conducted much of the research in the CHARGE report, was careful to note that this amount is not necessarily a direct reflection of projects funded via the federal program, but reflects some of the trickle-out effects of the federal spending.
“As demand for these clean transportation technologies grows, partially due to this federal funding, the demand for U.S.-based manufacturing is growing, and so we’re seeing that expand,” Reolfi said.
“If federal funding continues to flow, the deployment of these technologies picks up, we actually expect that those numbers could get even larger,” she added. “Or, on the flip side, could be at risk if there are challenges to that funding.”
Challenges to funding are not difficult to miss. Some $2.7 billion in funding from the Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant Program was rescinded by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to the report, citing the Climate Program Portal, which tracks obligated and outlaid funding.
“I’m a very hopeful and optimistic person,” Sanderson reflected. “I think that there are people in communities across the country who are seeing benefits that the IIJA and the IRA provided, that can also play a role in reaching out to members of Congress and the administration.”
