Al Root
Electric-vehicle charging stocks, but not the operator of the biggest U.S. charging network, are falling again in response to President Trump's flurry of post-inauguration executive actions.
In midday trading Wednesday. EVgo stock was off 5.7%, while ChargePoint and Blink Charging shares were down 1% and 3.1%, respectively. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.8% and 0.3%, respectively.
Shares of the three companies were down about 7% for the week, on average, bringing their loss since the Nov. 5 election to about 40%. Stock in Tesla, the leader both in EV production and charging, was down 0.3%, for a loss of 0.9% for the week and a surge of 68% since the election.
The new president doesn't want funds earmarked for charging infrastructure during the Biden administration to be distributed. It is another headwind to EV adoption in the U.S.
"All agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022...or the [2021] Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act," Trump said in his "Unleashing American Energy" executive action on Monday.
There was about $7.5 billion in the Infrastructure Investment law. That money went to the states and, for the most part, is long gone. The IRA includes tax credits for building EV charging stations.
It isn't clear if the president can cancel tax credits that were codified in law. Doing so might take new legislation, but it is clear that Trump has the power to affect the disbursement of money and funding of new projects.
One goal of the Biden-era laws was to see 500,000 charging stations in the U.S. There were about 200,000 at the end of 2024.
China has roughly 10 times more public EV charging spots than the U.S., according to Bloomberg's BNEF energy research division. Europe has about four times as many as the U.S.
Battery-electric vehicles account for roughly 25% and 15%, respectively, of new-car sales in China and Europe. Americans bought about 1.3 million all-electric cars in 2024, up about 7% from 2023 and accounting for about 8% of total car sales.
If the charging network expands more slowly, or not at all, it would discourage people from buying the cars. So would other Trump proposals. He wants to end federal tax credits worth up to $7,500 for qualifying EV purchases. He also wants to relax federal emissions regulations that essentially require auto makers to sell more all-electric cars.
Those policies aren't great for Tesla, which has roughly 50% of the U.S. market for all-electric cars. But Tesla has the largest network of fast- charging stations in the country, so a slower expansion of the overall charging network could make its cars relatively more appealing for EV buyers. What is more, Tesla's software manages trips and charging, making "refueling" relatively easy.
More important, investors expect CEO Elon Musk's close relationship with Trump to benefit the auto maker. Tesla plans to launch a self-driving robotaxi service in late 2025, and that process would be easier if the Trump administration creates federal standards for self-driving cars.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 22, 2025 13:30 ET (18:30 GMT)
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