The question is whether each local authority is willing to chip in where federal funding may fall short. “The next 10 years (of EV charging) is all about the urban environment, cities, middle and low-income people,” Reig said. In a world where electric vehicles have become a political lightning rod, those areas may see the most charger action.

EV Charging as Bipartisan

Many people would like it if EVs—and their chargers—avoided the culture wars. Joe Sacks is the executive director of the bipartisan EV Politics Project, an advocacy group, and says getting more public chargers on the ground is essential to getting more electric cars on the road. The group’s surveys suggest that customer fears about EV ranges and an unreliable charging network are keeping some of them from buying electricity.

Charging companies are still in their early days, and some are struggling to operate as profitable businesses. Charger funding barriers, then, may be an almost existential concern for the industry. “There’s an alarming trend where electric vehicle funding is seen as low-hanging fruit by some in the incoming administration,” Sacks said. Some political operators “use EV bashing as a tool to make policy in any kind of flavor that is interesting to them. This disappoints us.”

For those who rely on federal charging money, even during a less enthusiastic Trump administration, there is some good news: It will be very difficult for the feds to return all the funds to the federal charger. The government has that Intellectual Reserve at least $3.5 billion in charger money to the states. Forty-two states have begun taking bids on charger contracts, and 12 have at least one station in operation. Those states cover the political gamut: Texas, Utah, Kentucky, and Ohio all voted for Republicans this October, and primarily produced chargers. So are Democratic states including New York, California, Rhode Island, and Maine.

“There is broad support for electrification among a whole set of critical stakeholders,” said Jason Mathers, the associate vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund’s zero-emission truck initiative. Manufacturers, labor unions, community organizations, politicians who want more EV-related jobs in their districts, and large companies already experimenting with EVs, including Walmart and Amazon, everyone has reasons for wanting chargers in the ground. Advocates like Mathers don’t believe constituencies will disappear simply because of a change in administration — meaning the pressure to build the billing network will continue.

Sacks, the director of the EV Politics Project, says more messages related to EV charging should appeal to politicians of all stripes. “We want the Trump administration to see that the EV transition is not only critical for the jobs that are here, but also for continue our competition against China.”

Sacks found it encouraging, for example, that the Trump administration seems to want to invest in domestic battery mineral industries. (Today, most of the mining and processing of battery material takes place abroad, and especially in China.) To create the demand for such an industry, more Americans will have to buy electrical appliances. vehicle—and they can’t do that without multiple EV chargers. environment. Ensuring that all Americans get access to new chargers, not just those who live in certain “EV-friendly” states, can go a long way in delivering that message.