California sues the Trump administration for the 50th time. Here’s how to make money from an electric car charging network
California has filed its 50th lawsuit this year against the Trump administration, this time over the suspension of federal funding for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, officials announced Tuesday.
Since this spring, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration have allegedly refused to approve any new funding for two grant programs created by President Biden, the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program and the Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator Program, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. These programs are designed to build, repair and maintain electric vehicle chargers.
The U.S. electric vehicle charging network continues to expand. California has more than 201,000 public electric vehicle charging ports, compared with only about 120,000 gasoline nozzles statewide, according to state data. But more is needed to combat climate change.
The lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration’s actions violated the Constitution’s separation of powers because the funding was approved by a bipartisan majority in Congress. It asked the court to declare the government’s actions unlawful and order it to resume processing the funds, amounting to approximately $3 billion.
“The term ‘bipartisanship’ is not often heard these days, but it underscores that this is not about party politics — it is about the future of our country, our economy and our planet,” the California lawyer said. Gen. Rob Bonta told reporters Tuesday. “Trump is halting programs designed to reduce the pollution and smog that warms the planet, expand access to cleaner vehicles and create thousands of green jobs, and in doing so, he is overstepping the equal branches of Congress that control this country’s finances.”
Bonta is leading the lawsuit along with the attorneys general of Washington state and Colorado, and is joined by a coalition of 13 other states and Washington, D.C.
The White House press office and the Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump in January directed all federal agencies to immediately stop disbursing funds from the two grant programs as part of his executive order titled “Unleashing America’s Energy,” which called such efforts “onerous and ideologically motivated” and costly to American consumers.
These five-year grant programs were created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act passed by Congress in 2021. The Charging and Refueling program allocates $2.5 billion to state and local governments for electric vehicle chargers and hydrogen fueling infrastructure, while the Accelerator program allocates funds to state and local governments for maintenance and repair of electric vehicle chargers.
Together, Bonta said, they provided $179.8 million in federal funding to California to help build its network of public fast electric vehicle chargers.
These include $59.3 million to the California Department of Transportation to build freight corridors for medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles; $55.9 million to the California Energy Commission for zero-emission freight along major freight corridors and major ports; and $63.1 million to Caltrans to repair and replace damaged electric vehicle chargers. A common complaint from EV drivers is that early chargers often failed to work properly.
These funds are separate from those awarded under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan, a separate $5 billion plan under Biden to promote a nationwide electric vehicle infrastructure network in the United States, was also suspended by the Trump administration this year. The funds recently started flowing again after a federal court overturned the moratorium following lawsuits from California and other states.
State officials said the money secured in Tuesday’s lawsuit is critical to California’s electric vehicle adoption and climate goals.
“California will defend the Constitution, our communities and the future we are building,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “With 2.4 million zero-emission vehicles on our roads and key projects ready to go ahead, we are taking the matter to court.”
California leads the nation in the adoption of zero-emission vehicles, with at least 7.1 million plug-in passenger electric vehicles expected to be on the road by 2030. The state was working to ban the sale of all new gasoline-powered cars by 2035 before the Trump administration signed off on the blocking measure. The state sued in return.
Trump also ended federal tax credits for electric vehicles. This month, the president announced a proposal to weaken fuel economy and emissions standards to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and trucks.
Bonta said the state’s 50 lawsuits protect $168 billion in federal funds that the current administration is trying to withhold from California.
Tuesday’s filings were also filed by the attorneys general of Arizona, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Last week, a federal judge overturned the Trump administration’s ban on federal permits for wind energy projects, another challenge posed by California and a dozen other states.
