Economy Murica Builds 7 EV Charging Stations in 4 Years with $7.5 Billion Allocated Funds

[Orgasmo]

Congrats to Muricans for such an amazing feat of civil engineering!

President Biden has long vowed to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations in the United States by 2030. Those stations, the White House said, would help Americans feel confident purchasing and driving electric cars, and help the country cut carbon pollution. But now, more than two years after Congress allocated $7.5 billion to help build out those stations, only 7 EV charging stations are operational across four states. And as the Biden administration rolls out its new rules for emissions from cars and trucks — which will require a lot more electric cars and hybrids on the road — the sluggish build-out could slow the transition to electric cars.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/03/28/ev-charging-stations-slow-rollout/

 

[cottagecheesefan]

At least they are up to 7! I had posted that it was being reported as recently as December that they only had one station in Ohio that had not even opened yet lol

seems to be true. As per politico, as of 12/5, no charging stations have been opened. As per the WH, one station is set to be opened, and some other states have plans to beging working on them (proposals, etc).

Congress provided $7.5B for electric vehicle chargers. Built so far: Zero.

The sluggish rollout could undermine President Joe Biden’s reelection messaging promoting electric vehicles.

www.politico.com

As per the WH statement from a week later, probably trying to cover for how bad a headline that was. They are proud to announce Ohio is set to unveil the program's FIRST charging station!

Full Charge: The Economics of Building a National EV Charging Network | The White House

Heather Boushey, Chief Economist, Investing in America Cabinet The President’s modern American industrial strategy seeks to address market failures that prevent the U.S. economy from serving the nation’s economic and national security needs, including by building a clean energy economy...

www.whitehouse.gov

Implementation is already underway. All 50 states plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have developed detailed plans for building the necessary infrastructure in their jurisdictions, and many states have begun issuing proposals or awarded contracts for installing NEVI-funded chargers. Ohio has now announced the opening of the first charging station funded through the NEVI program, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Maine have broken ground on new stations, and additional activity is expected in several other states in the coming weeks.

 

[DiddlyDoodly]

Watched Doug Demuro's review of the new Cyber Truck. Not very impressed.

 

[Sweater of AV]

No, America hasn't spent $7.5 billion on 7 EV charging stations. Also, it has not been four years:

more than two years after Congress allocated $7.5 billion to help build out those stations, only 7 EV charging stations are operational across four states

It sounds like reading comprehension and mathematics are failing at the high school level though.

 

[DiddlyDoodly]

No, America hasn't spent $7.5 billion on 7 EV charging stations. Also, it has not been four years:

more than two years after Congress allocated $7.5 billion to help build out those stations, only 7 EV charging stations are operational across four states

It sounds like reading comprehension and mathematics are failing at the high school level though.

You don't still see a problem with this?

 

[Sweater of AV]

You don't still see a problem with this?

Well DippityDoofus, before we get to that, do you see a problem with lying?

 

[Islam Imamate]

No, America hasn't spent $7.5 billion on 7 EV charging stations. Also, it has not been four years:

more than two years after Congress allocated $7.5 billion to help build out those stations, only 7 EV charging stations are operational across four states

It sounds like reading comprehension and mathematics are failing at the high school level though.

Its true that OP got some facts blatantly wrong to exaggerate the problem but the problem is still there. In America its just plain hard to build infrastructure and especially large infrastructure at scale and its because of excessive red tape. Environmental review in particular is abused by folks who don't want any given development to go through. Firms will have to write(and sometimes rewrite) environmental impact statements that could be thousands of pages long for instance. In other cases local residents will argue that any new development of any kind, whether its student housing or a bus stop, will cause "noise pollution" and therefore shouldn't be built or at least should require another, you guessed it, environmental impact statement.

So anytime you want to build anything of note you have to go through this rigmarole all the while consultants are sucking the money from the budget. Another way these projects bleed money is through a certain deceptive practice by contractors. They outbid their competitors with very low bids which due to laws that require the city to go for the lowest bid(ostensibly to avoid corrupt city officials choosing pricey contracts from favored contractors) gets them the contracts. But those bids are often unreasonably low so the contractor, after getting the job and starting work, will say "akshually I need more money so here's a change order" and thus we get projects with delays that go overbudget.

 

[cottagecheesefan]

Its true that OP got some facts blatantly wrong to exaggerate the problem but the problem is still there. In America its just plain hard to build infrastructure and especially large infrastructure at scale and its because of excessive red tape. Environmental review in particular is abused by folks who don't want any given development to go through. Firms will have to write(and sometimes rewrite) environmental impact statements that could be thousands of pages long for instance. In other cases local residents will argue that any new development of any kind, whether its student housing or a bus stop, will cause "noise pollution" and therefore shouldn't be built or at least should require another, you guessed it, environmental impact statement.

So anytime you want to build anything of note you have to go through this rigmarole all the while consultants are sucking the money from the budget. Another way these projects bleed money is through a certain deceptive practice by contractors. They outbid their competitors with very low bids which due to laws that require the city to go for the lowest bid(ostensibly to avoid corrupt city officials choosing pricey contracts from favored contractors) gets them the contracts. But those bids are often unreasonably low so the contractor, after getting the job and starting work, will say "akshually I need more money so here's a change order" and thus we get projects with delays that go overbudget.

The politico article I mentioned from December was saying the biggest delay is third party firms fighting for the contracts and/or already given the contracts take forever.

If they really thought it was critical infrastructure, being funded by the government, they should just bring in the army corps of engineers to build them.

Instead tho, they go to third parties that likely donated to various campaigns and such.

Seems it would be way more cheaper and effective to just install 5 charges at already existing rest stops and service stations.

They don’t need to pay a firm hundreds of millions to build entirely new service centers that do a lot more than just vehicle charging

 

[MMAisGod]

No, America hasn't spent $7.5 billion on 7 EV charging stations. Also, it has not been four years:

more than two years after Congress allocated $7.5 billion to help build out those stations, only 7 EV charging stations are operational across four states

It sounds like reading comprehension and mathematics are failing at the high school level though.

I know your comment wasn't to me, but I re-read that quote 4x, and still don't understand where the "lie" part is at about the amount spent. Is it not saying that, after over 2 years, $7.5 billion was allocated, for the stations, but, only 7 are operational, across 4 states? I'm so confused haha. I'll have to return my degree if I'm missing something.

 

[Islam Imamate]

The politico article I mentioned from December was saying the biggest delay is third party firms fighting for the contracts and/or already given the contracts take forever.

If they really thought it was critical infrastructure, being funded by the government, they should just bring in the army corps of engineers to build them.

Instead tho, they go to third parties that likely donated to various campaigns and such.

Seems it would be way more cheaper and effective to just install 5 charges at already existing rest stops and service stations.

They don’t need to pay a firm hundreds of millions to build entirely new service centers that do a lot more than just vehicle charging

I read an article about how Turkey and Italy build transit. When you think of efficient public governance you wouldn't think of those two countries but actually they're pretty good at building transit. The core argument is that in those countries the process is standardized and predictable. Instead of hiring artists to build unique modern architecture they buy generic art to decorate their stations. Instead of endless community meetings where busybody citizens can object to every little detail and insist on "environmental impact statements"(which often have nothing to do with real environmental concerns) there is a standard procedure between the government and contractors to deal with historic preservation when archeological discoveries are found(which is often given the rich historical legacies of both countries).

Kind of wild to admit that the US could learn from Turkey and Italy on efficient governance but its true it seems.

I know your comment wasn't to me, but I re-read that quote 4x, and still don't understand where the "lie" part is at about the amount spent. Is it not saying that, after over 2 years, $7.5 billion was allocated, for the stations, but, only 7 are operational, across 4 states? I'm so confused haha. I'll have to return my degree if I'm missing something.

OP said four years, not two, and implies that the $7.5 billion was spent just on the seven stations.

 

[DiddlyDoodly]

Well DippityDoofus, before we get to that, do you see a problem with lying?

If the TC said "There is no way to make skunks taste good", and you reply "That is not true, they're better with a little salt", to me it's still a fucking skunk.

Even if all of the facts were correct in the OP, there is still a problem.

 

[jrams]

I know your comment wasn't to me, but I re-read that quote 4x, and still don't understand where the "lie" part is at about the amount spent. Is it not saying that, after over 2 years, $7.5 billion was allocated, for the stations, but, only 7 are operational, across 4 states? I'm so confused haha. I'll have to return my degree if I'm missing something.

They haven't spent the money yet.

"Nick Nigro, founder of Atlas Public Policy, said that some of the delays are to be expected. “State transportation agencies are the recipients of the money,” he said. “Nearly all of them had no experience deploying electric vehicle charging stations before this law was enacted.”

Nigro says that the process — states have to submit plans to the Biden administration for approval, solicit bids on the work, and then award funds — has taken much of the first two years since the funding was approved. “I expect it to go much faster in 2024,” he added."​

(what a name)
The money is earmarked but not spent until states get their proposal approved.

"Stations are open in Hawaii, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania and under construction in four other states."​

Awesome that Hawaii is one of the four. Really solves that range anxiety by putting them on the highways. Just need to drive to Honolulu.

 

[Belaya Smert]

Well DippityDoofus, before we get to that, do you see a problem with lying?

We let congress do it.

 

[Sweater of AV]

If the TC said "There is no way to make skunks taste good", and you reply "That is not true, they're better with a little salt", to me it's still a fucking skunk.

Swing and a miss.

We let congress do it.

See above.

 

[Belaya Smert]

Swing and a miss.



See above.

Why so serious?

 

[Sweater of AV]

I know your comment wasn't to me, but I re-read that quote 4x, and still don't understand where the "lie" part is at about the amount spent. Is it not saying that, after over 2 years, $7.5 billion was allocated, for the stations, but, only 7 are operational, across 4 states? I'm so confused haha. I'll have to return my degree if I'm missing something.

The title states that 7.5 billion was spent on seven stations, not that 7.5 billion was allocated.

 

[Sweater of AV]

Why so serious?

If "see above" caused you to think I'm being too serious then you might be overly sensitive.

 

[MMAisGod]

They haven't spent the money yet.

"Nick Nigro, founder of Atlas Public Policy, said that some of the delays are to be expected. “State transportation agencies are the recipients of the money,” he said. “Nearly all of them had no experience deploying electric vehicle charging stations before this law was enacted.”​

​

Nigro says that the process — states have to submit plans to the Biden administration for approval, solicit bids on the work, and then award funds — has taken much of the first two years since the funding was approved. “I expect it to go much faster in 2024,” he added."​

(what a name)
The money is earmarked but not spent until states get their proposal approved.

"Stations are open in Hawaii, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania and under construction in four other states."​

Awesome that Hawaii is one of the four. Really solves that range anxiety by putting them on the highways. Just need to drive to Honolulu.

The title states that 7.5 billion was spent on seven stations, not that 7.5 billion was allocated.

Ah I see, got it now. I just got 4D Chess'd lol.

 

[Belaya Smert]

If "see above" caused you to think I'm being too serious then you might be overly sensitive.

I said we let congress do it. The implication conceding that is was in fact a lie.

Maybe it’s your reading retention?

 

[Sweater of AV]

I said we let congress do it. The implication conceding that is was in fact a lie.

Maybe it’s your reading retention?

As already mentioned, see above. There is already a discussion on what is happening.

My reading is just fine. Your inability to follow basic instructions is concerning though.