STATES SUE OVER FREEZE ON CHARGER FUNDS
On Wednesday, a lawsuit was filed against the Trump administration by District of Columbia, New York, New Jersey, Colorado, California and other states claiming the federal government is illegally withholding billions in EV charger funding previously approved by Congress and allocated to the states.
The states argue the administration's decision to suspended $3 billion in funds intended to help augment the number of EV chargers across the nation, "will devastate the ability of states to build the charging infrastructure necessary for making EVs accessible to more consumers, combating climate change, reducing other harmful pollution, and supporting the states’ green economies."
The funds are part of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund which itself was part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by the Biden administration.
US HOUSE REPUBLICANS ADVANCE $250 EV FEE
Reuters reports that US House Republicans advanced a new $250 annual fee on electric cars and a $100 fee on hybrids. It does not include a fee on ICE cars. The fee originally proposed was $20 and it would apply to all cars. The fee is intended to fund road repairs as part of a tax reform bill under consideration.
Sam Graves, head of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee when speaking about the highway trust fund facing a $142 billion shortfall over five years says "The system for funding our federal surface transportation is broken."
The Electrification Coalition, an EV advocacy group, said the $250 fee was unfair since an average gas-powered vehicle pays just $88 yearly in federal gas taxes.
Ingrid Malmgren, Senior Policy Director for Plug In America, an EV advocacy group says, “EV drivers want to pay their fair share, but they don’t want to be punished.”
39 states now impose an EV registration fee according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. These fees vary by state. One example, Texas charges a fee that is $120 more than that which is being levied on ICE cars. While California charges a fee that is $170 less than the fee for gas cars.
VOLVO RECALLS 400,000 VEHICLES
In an effort to resolve an issue of rearview cameras not displaying when a vehicle is placed into reverse, Volvo is recalling 413,151 cars.
The issue will be addressed via an over-the-air software update. This recall comes one week after Polestar recalled 27,000 Polestar 2's for a similar issue.
Taking a look at automakers
TARIFFS CAUSE PRICE INCREASES
Effective May 2nd, Ford will be the first US automaker to raise prices on Mexican-sourced cars and light trucks. The prices increase is a direct result of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
According to Ford, the trade war would raise costs by $2.5 billion for 2025 but said it would lower the exposure to about $1 billion.
The Maverick pickup, Bronco Sport,
and Mustang Mach-E will see changes on dealer invoices effective May 2nd. These vehicles are expected to arrive on dealer lots by late June.
General Motors said it expects the tariffs will raise their costs by $4-$5 billion but expects to be able to offset this by at least 30%.
Rivian and Lucid have also indicated that tariffs will increase production costs.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe told Reuters the cost per vehicle was expected to rise by "a couple of thousand dollars" due to tariffs. He also said Rivian is was working on adjusting its supply chain to mitigate tariff costs.
Rivian incresed its forecast for capital expenditures to $1.8 billion and $1.9 billion. They had previously predicted costs to be $1.6 billion and $1.7 billion. This on account of tariffs affecting plant expansion costs.
Lucid's interim CEO Marc Winterhoff said the company expects a rise of 8% to 15% in overall costs due to tariffs, without taking into account any mitigation efforts.
RIVIAN TO BUILD $120M SUPPLIER PARK
Rivian also said it would invest $120 million to bring key suppliers closer to its Illinois plant ahead of production of the highly anticipated R2 mid size SUV.
"This will be a key enabler to increasing production at the plant in 2026 when we start to build R2 in addition to R1 and our commercial vans," CEO RJ Scaringe said in a blog post.
HYUNDAI INTRODUCES PLUG-AND-CHARGE
Hyundai has announced that owners of electric vehicles now have the ability to locate, initiate, and pay for a charge across multiple EV charging networks, all through the MyHyundai app. An active BlueLink subscription is required to utilize the feature.
Additionally, owners will be able to locate a charger and send it's location to their cars navigation system via the MyHyundai app.
The service integrates charing and billing for the following network providers:
IONNA
Tesla Supercharger
EVgo
ChargePoint and all ChargePoint Roaming Partners
which includes:
BC Hydro
Blink
Circuit electrique
EV Connect
Flo
Shell Recharge
Mercedes Benz Charging Network
SemaCharge
Hyundai also announced Plug and Charge for the
2025 IONIQ 5
2026 IONIC 9
and all future IONIQ and electric models also get Plug-and-Charge.
Plug and Charge allows owners to simply pull up to a charger, connect and automatically initiate charging. Payment is taken care of in the background within the vehicles infotainment unit. To take advantage of Plug and Charge, owners will need to have Plug and Charge enabled within their MyHyundai app and have an active BlueLink subscription.
INFRASTRUCTURE
MINNESOTA PUSHES FORWARD WITH $10M CHARGER EXPANSION
The Minnesota Department of Transportation announces 12 future locations of new electric vehicle charging stations along interstates 90 and 94 funded with nearly $10 million in combined state and federal funding.
The federal funds derived from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, which was part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress in 2021.
While the federal NEVI program was recently suspended and its future is uncertain, Minnesota DOT secured $4.5 million for this second round of funds and will provide another $4.7 million in state funding to total $10 million.
So Minnesota, expect to see new DC Fast Chargers installed in these following locations:
Barnesville
Fergus Falls
Rockville
Lake Elmo
Luverne
Worthington
Jackson
Blue Earth
Albert Lea
Austin
Stewartville
and St. Charles
WALMART ANNOUNCES AN EV CHARGING NETWORK
Walmart officially announced plans to install new EV fast-charging stations at thousands of Walmart and Sam’s Club locations across the country.
This network is not an extention of their agreement with Electrify America. This new charging network is in addition to the existing Electrify America units.
According to the announcement, Walmart has a store or club located within 10 miles of approximately 90% of America. That means underserved population centers will now have access to high speed charging improving access and potentially aiding in electric vehicle adoption.
Walmart plans to complete the build out by 2030.
TESLA LAUNCHES CHEAPER MODEL Y
On Tuesday, Tesla announced their long range rear-wheel drive Model Y costs $44,990. For those eligible for the federal tax credit, that cost decreases to $37,490.
The long range all-wheel drive Model Y remains unchanged at $48,990.
EV SALES NUMBERS
Numbers for March
New EV Sales increased by 18.5% month over month according to Cox Automotive data. The top five selling new EV models, ranked by sales volume, were the Tesla Model Y, Tesla Model 3, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Chevrolet Equinox and Hyundai Ioniq 5.
Meanwhile, used EV sales increased by 45% month over month in March. The top five selling models by volume were the Tesla Model 3, Model Y and Model S, followed by the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Chevrolet Bolt, collectively accounting for 48% of the market share for the month.
Retail share for EVs in the used market hit 2% for the first time ever.
March Transaction Prices
The average transaction price for new electric vehicles was $59,205, this is a 3.8% increase from the previous month and a 4.4% increase from the previous year.
The average listing price for used electric vehicles was $36,929, a 2.9% decrease from the previous month and a 2.2% increase compared to the same period last year.
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