$7.5B investment in EV charging has only produced 7 stations in two years

Don’t blame the messenger. Of course when a democratic president fails to execute on a policy, his political opponents are going to be the ones that point it out. That’s irrelevant. The point is that it should not take years to build out some goddamn EV chargers with $7.5 billion in funding. If it does, then we shouldn’t spending that money because there’s a more fundamental problem with the government’s ability to execute that needs to be fixed first.

The reaction you expressed is exactly the wrong one for anyone who wants to see government build infrastructure, or do more in general. It would be a disaster for republicans if democrat-run governments could actually deliver on their promises and deliver cost-effective, efficient public services in transit, education, healthcare, etc. The defensive reflex that seeks to insulate government failures from accountability only helps republicans.

It doesn’t take years as a rule. Many, many complex physical builds are completed in far less time than “years.”

Well, we can compare it with Tesla rollout of their supercharger network.

2012 - 7

2013 - 63

2014 - 380

(based on Wikipedia with cited sources there)

So second year is +56, third +317.

So a comparable rate should be possible.

Ok. I'll bite. And ask this: What does Tesla know that everyone else doesn't? Their charging stations are decently common in high population density areas. I presume their ability to GTD wouldn't change if they ventured into less dense areas. So what do they know?

> insanely high energy requirements

That is just for small personal cars, not even SUV or trucks. And requires a few megawatts... Very good argument to cancel this whole insanity.

> coal and oil extraction

EV charging stations are still using oil and coal. Some are even build with diesel generators, as a "backup" (like at night).

Twelve years into deployment, and with their fourth version so far.

> The first Superchargers in the world opened in 2012 in the United States. Six stations were deployed along Interstate 5 in California, enabling trips from Los Angeles, California and San Francisco, California and two stations deployed along Interstate 95, enabling trips between Boston, Massachusetts and Washington, DC. By mid-July 2013, 15 stations were open across the United States.

So, a little more than seven - barely - in the first two years of the project, if you count the presumably non-zero time in advance of the first install for construction, permiting, etc.

The Federal Highway Administration & White House only finished speccing out requirements in February 2023. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/02/28/2023-03...

With due cause, in my opinion. It was hard work! This isn't just "how do we charge", but a much more comprehensive effort to make information on chargers available in real time. So people can see where chargers are, find working ones, pick where to go that will give them fast charging, and also give them a view to see over time which chargers tend to be reliable or not.

There was a very smart effort to make sure enough open data would come from this initiative so that consumers can effectively use this infrastructure, and have faith in it, which seems to have been a bit of a missing link in the past with out-of-service and slow charging experiences degrading trust. This is also key to monitoring these chargers to make sure these folks remain qualified for their funding!

Once standards were set, then folks have to design or update equipment to match. Data registries need to be setup to host these extensive APIs. We should expect this to take time.

I am very on board here. The pace does not seem slow to me. There's a lot do complexity that had to go into building standards that would make sure this money is well used.

That we haven't used billions of dollars in a year and change does not seem weird to me. It seems responsible, if we're trying to govern & help a complex ecosystem forward to benefit common welfare. This, to me, seems good. Outrage is easy, appreciating & helping the world is more complex. I'd love to see a world that can better curate & appreciate how complex things are, that can dig into the depth. A world of nuance leads to people who are aware & helpful.

Then the Biden admin should have taken a couple grains of that $7.5B and communicated more of the details. I have a friend with an EV. Finding a charging station can be challenging. More than once I've heard, "Where are the charging stations Biden promised?"

Yes, it might take time. But better comms would be wise. Sure that might delay EV adoption, but so releasing gas from the national stockpile to keep the price of gas down.