Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg defended the progress of the Biden administration’s electric vehicle charging station initiative on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Thursday, stating that the program is “on track” despite only eight stations being built so far with the allocated $7.5 billion.
Co-host Joe Kernen questioned the pace of the project, pointing out that the goal is to have 500,000 charging stations by 2030. “Have you looked at why there’s been such a slow start?” he asked. “We’re supposed to get to 500,000 of these charging stations by 2030, and yet we’ve only built eight with the $7.5 billion allocated.”
Buttigieg attributed the slow start to the fact that most of the construction will take place in the second half of the decade. He noted that the US currently has around 190,000 publicly available charging stations, roughly double the number when President Biden took office. However, he acknowledged that there are gaps in the market that the private sector is not addressing, which is why the government is providing funding for federally-supported chargers.
Buttigieg explained that the majority of the construction will occur between 2026 and 2028, with a handful of stations already operational. He emphasized the importance of federally-supported chargers, particularly in areas where it is not economically viable for private companies to build them, such as stretches of road or apartment complexes.
Buttigieg also highlighted the need for a robust charging infrastructure to support the administration’s goal of having half of all new car sales be electric by the end of the decade. He noted that while 80% of electric vehicle charging currently takes place at home, the country will need a more extensive charging network to meet the growing demand for electric vehicles.
