Three years ago, the US government opened the funding spigot as Congress, with support from the Biden administration, directed $7.5 billion in funding to build tens of thousands of public charging stations. Those stations would ease the transition from gas-powered cars to electric ones, policymakers argued, allowing the government to reach its goal of making at least 40 percent of car sales zero-emission by 2030.
Now the administration is changing over, and members of the Donald Trump transition team are broadcasting a more skeptical stance towards EV charging. Last week, Reuters reported that members of the upcoming administration intend to redirect EV charging funds to other purposes, including onshoring battery-mineral processing, on the grounds that charging isn’t a “national defense” priority. The electric vehicle ride-hail and charging company Revel is reacting to this uncertain climate with strategy: It’s going where it’s wanted. This week, the firm—which already operates four large charging stations in the New York City area and is due to open another in Los Angeles in 2026—announced details of its next raft of charging stations in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company has signed eight leases in San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland, with all hoping to open in 2025. Revel’s strategy of sticking to blue cities points to a concern among electric vehicle and climate advocates as the administration transition draws closer: that electric vehicle charging stations—and electric vehicles themselves—will be further sucked into the political maelstrom. Has the red-state/blue-state divide come for the charging station? EV Charging Gone City Revel’s strategy isn’t attuned to the particulars of national politics, says CEO and cofounder Frank Reig. The company does double down on dense cities, where grid capacity is constrained and where Revel might be able to carve out an early advantage in charging stations