The Executive Order Project - Transportation: Planned Fredericksburg-area EV Charging Stations at Risk
Three planned area charging stations are affected by Department of Transportation move to temporarily suspend funding of state-approved projects.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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President Donald Trump’s Executive Order Unleashing American Energy has as one of its cornerstones ending the so-called Green New Deal. Thursday evening, a memo from the U.S. Department of Transportation took a step in that direction by “suspending the approval of all State Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment plans for all fiscal years.” This includes public electric vehicle charging stations whose funding was approved by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Across Virginia, 53 such charging stations are planned according to a Virginia Department of Transportation map of National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) funded stations (see below). All but one of these are in the planning phase.
There are three planned stations in the Greater Fredericksburg area. They are:
Four Charging Ports at Spotsylvania Towne Centre Mall (Award: $569,789.00; Match: $395,954.91)
Four Charging Ports at Sheetz Store #543, 9825 Hospital Blvd, Fredericksburg, VA 22408 (Award: $866,697.00; Match: $216,674.00)
Four Charging Ports at Love's in Ruther Glen (Award: $600,000.00; Match: $708,973.04)
Currently, the impact on these stations is not known.
In an email to the Advance from Marshall Herman, director of communications at VDOT, the organization “is in receipt of the Federal Highway Administration’s recent directive on the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program and is working to determine the impacts in Virginia.”
Investment in electric vehicles and charging stations has surged in recent years. According to a report from Atlas Public Policy, between 2000 and September 2024 companies have invested $208.8 billion in EV and battery manufacturing, with $122.6 billion of that invested in battery production. Half of these investments have occurred since the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.
According to the report, “These investments are slated to create an estimated 240,000 permanent jobs.”
Nationally, Nick Nigro, founder of Atlas Public Policy, was quoted in Wall Street Journal story saying: “This pause should be as short as possible to minimize the costs of building this infrastructure and preparing our grid for growing demand. A considerable delay will add to the lead China has on the U.S. in the race for the future of jobs in energy and transportation.”
In an email to the Advance, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va) said: “Americans with EVs need charging stations to get where they need to go, and that’s why I’ve been proud to announce federal funding for Virginia to build out EV infrastructure. President Trump has no clear legal basis to halt federal funding from the NEVI program, which was created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that we passed in Congress. This is another example of the Trump Administration’s unlawful overreach.”
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