FHWA Waives Buy American Requirement for EV Chargers
A lot of transportation and infrastructure red tape requires the use of American-made products when it comes to serving the public good. The logic makes sense, as the roads and railways are for Americans and ought to be made by Americans. However, this process takes time, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is suspending the requirement when it comes to the production of EV charging stations in hopes of getting the network up and running faster.
Details
Do you enjoy reading? You can read the entire ruling at the Federal Register, over 17,000 words!
For those of us who have better things to do than read wordy government documents, we will tell you the gist.
All EV charges manufactured by July 1st, 2024, assembled in the United States, and installed and running by October 1st, 2024, do not need to have their steel, iron, and other construction materials sourced from the United States.
Once the tenth month of 2024 rolls around, the FHWA hopes that the charging network will be better established and it can resume the Buy American requirement.
“While FHWA acknowledges that some EV charger manufacturers may not be able to produce compliant chargers within the time frame set out in this waiver, FHWA believes that delaying the phases this waiver to account for such manufacturers goes against the purpose of Buy American requirements and the administration’s goals of realizing American production of EV charges,” FHWA says in its notice.
Truckers Most Affected
The notice applies to all forms of electric vehicles, but it is apparent that the meat and potatoes of the charging network will be those for commercial motor vehicles, especially big rigs. We calculated in an earlier article that to keep the trucking industry running 100% on electricity, it will take over 2,250,000 charging stations, perhaps more if the station layout is not optimal.
It will still be a very long time before trucks replace diesel with electricity (or another fuel source), but this cutting of legislative tape is sure to reduce the total amount of time it will take. The primary downside, however, is that American manufacturers such as PACCAR lose their competitive advantage.
Conclusion
If there is one thing truckers know, it is that nothing starts until action is taken. A drive across the entire country cannot start until the truck starts rolling, and the same logic applies with the electric charging network. The United States government will have to work diligently to make a nationwide electric charging system viable for the average fleet to use 100% electric big rigs.
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