The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) has put its loan programs and grant funding on hold for now, which is also true of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (DOT).
For advanced, clean vehicle technology, the last one that’s been posted this year from the DOE through the Fiscal Year 2025 Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) Program Wide funding is focused on battery technology, including thermal technologies for zero-emission vehicles. This funding opportunity is going to award up to $88 million for projects that will seek innovative transportation solutions for on- and off-road vehicles. Submission deadline for concept papers was April 1, 2025; and submission deadline for full applications will be June 18, 2025.
The EPA stopped accepting applications to the 2024 Clean School Bus (CSB) Rebate Program on January 14th, 2025. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 authorized the EPA to offer rebates to replace existing school buses with clean and zero-emission models. The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act national grants, designed to offer funding assistance to accelerate the upgrade, retrofit, and turnover of the legacy diesel fleet, are closed for now, too, but the EPA.
It’s not clear how much will be available in funds through the DOT. The 5-year National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Funding by State that was funding through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and scheduled from fiscal year 2022 through FY 2026, at first appears to still be in place. The agency has a chart broken out by state with actual and estimated funding by state, with $885 million estimated to go out this year and $4.155 billon in 2026.
However, the Federal Highway Administration said in February it would suspend the approval of grants under the NEVI program. The funding, included in the bipartisan infrastructure law passed under former President Joe Biden, was meant to allocate $5 billion over five years to install chargers in every state. That suspension came from a January 29 signed Executive Order calling for the elimination of the federal government’s nonexistent “electric vehicle mandate.”
The suspension of funding new charging stations will likely mean the U.S. will have at least 200,000 high-speed chargers in place by 2030, said Mark Morelli, CEO of Vontier Corp., which manufactures EV chargers and fuel dispensers. That’s half of earlier expectations of about 400,000, according to Transport Topics.
On May 6, 2025, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy issued a statement about approving 180 grants to “get America building again.” The funding is primarily focused on improvements made to bridges, airports, railroad structures, and highways. Under the Low or No Emission (Bus) Grants, all of them have already been granted through 2024, without any new grants coming up in this category.
In April the Trump administration froze $250 million in grants to a nonprofit helping companies replace diesel trucks at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. It’s part of a broad federal effort to cut back $20 billion in green energy funding. The program by Climate United, announced last October, would offer affordable leases for new electric heavy-duty trucks operated by small fleets and individual truckers serving the ports.
Climate United is a national public-private investment fund removing financial barriers to clean energy projects so every American benefits from good-paying jobs, lower energy bills, domestic manufacturing, and cleaner air. The grant, which would have funded about 500 electric trucks, remains frozen by Citibank, which holds the funds, as a legal dispute plays out between the EPA, the bank and Climate United, a nonprofit based in Maryland, according to a published report.
U.S. Dept. of Energy Secretary Chris Wright in early May said that his agency doesn’t plan to move forward with billions of dollars worth of Biden-era loans as the Trump administration reviews the department’s $400 billion-strong green bank. Wright criticized Biden for issuing billions of dollars in loans and grants between the time that Trump was elected in November through the inauguration day.
As discussed two weeks ago at ACT Expo 2025, it looks like fleets, transportation planners, and clean vehicle and infrastructure partners have to look outside federal government funding programs for now. Green Auto Market will continue reporting on it, including resources for funding through state, local government, nonprofit organization, and for-profit company available loans and grants in clean transportation and energy.
There’s a lot to look into, with a May 7 lawsuit filed by states against the DOT being one of them. New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of 16 other attorneys general filed suit against the DOT and Secretary Duffy for illegally cutting off critical funding to support states’ plans to build a nationwide electric vehicle charging network. Joining Attorney General James in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.
They’re challenging the previously mentioned January 29 Executive Order signed by President Trump calling for the elimination of the federal government’s nonexistent “electric vehicle mandate.”
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) may be a good source to tap into for that state’s incentive programs. In April, NYSERDA increasing incentives in its Charge Ready NY 2.0 program from $2,000 to $3,000 per port to reduce equipment installation costs for Level 2 chargers at multifamily buildings and workplaces. Incentives for chargers located in disadvantaged communities have been increased to $4,000 per port. according to Utility Dive.
Other states are making current offers, and it’s likely more funding will become available. Please contact Editor Jon LeSage at jlesage378@gmail.com if you know of any funding resources through state, local government, nonprofit organization, and for-profit company available loans and grants in clean transportation and energy. Plus, any new developments with federal funding would be good to know about, too.
China tariffs relaxed but not for EV imports: Under a temporary truce on tariffs reached over the weekend, the U.S. will cut extra tariffs it imposed on Chinese imports last month from 145% to 30% for the next three months, the two sides said, while Chinese duties on U.S. imports will fall to 10% from 125%. Reuters also reported that China had already been saddled with 25% U.S. tariffs that Trump had imposed on many industrial goods during his first term, with lower rates on some consumer goods. Today’s announcement leaves these duties unchanged, along with tariffs of 100% on electric vehicles and 50% on solar products imposed by former Democratic President Joe Biden. We’ll have to wait and see how these tariffs might drive up prices for shoppers overall, said Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. The U.S. has not been importing much in the way of made-in-China electric vehicles. In 2023, the U.S. imported approximately $388.8 million worth of EVs from China, which was only about 2% of total U.S. EV imports, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission.
ZETA statement on House’s battery and mineral supply chain provision: The Zero Emission Transportation Association’s Executive Director, Albert Gore, issued the following statement in response to bill text of the House Ways & Means Committee provisions of the budget reconciliation package:
“The U.S. battery and mineral supply chain — and the fast-growing EV manufacturing industry it feeds into — has created more than 240,000 jobs in every corner of the United States. Businesses throughout the auto industry, from critical mineral and material developers to battery manufacturers and automakers, are making investments supported by the certainty offered by our federal government. In turn, these investments are creating new economic opportunities in local communities, from Reno, Nevada, to Casa Grande, Arizona, to Savannah, Georgia.
“We are concerned that, as written, this budget reconciliation text would significantly reduce federal investments in American job growth that are currently working very well in strengthening the domestic battery and mineral supply chain. At a moment when our industry needs certainty more than ever, this legislation could slam the brakes on America’s progress towards global competitiveness in manufacturing, while ceding leadership to other countries. We look forward to working with Members of Congress in both chambers to ensure that this critical supply chain continues to be built in the United States.”
House committees have begun holding markups for the various pieces of the reconciliation package on the federal budget reconciliation package. The House Ways and Means Committee is tasked with developing legislation that will increase the federal budget deficits by no more than $4.5 trillion over a 10-year period (2025-2034), while other committees are responsible for reducing spending by at least $1.5 trillion.
CARB reverses ACF regulation: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has agreed to formally repeal aspects of its Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulation, which follows an earlier reversal of California policies that clarifies the state will not enforce the 100% zero emission vehicle mandate for model year 2036. Following legal challenges from a coalition of 17 states led by Nebraska and trucking industry groups, CARB has agreed to fully repeal those portions of the rule and has further clarified it will not enforce the 100% zero-emission sales mandate for model year 2036, until and unless CARB obtains a waiver from U.S. EPA, according to ACT News.
