Federal grant for Oklahoma electric vehicle charging infrastructure paused, $66 million project in jeopardy

A federal program to expand electric vehicle infrastructure has been suspended, pausing a $66 million grant award to Oklahoma.

The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program was part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. It was passed during the Biden Administration and was paused during the early days of the Trump Administration.

The Oklahoma grant was announced in 2022, with ODOT announcing plans for a network of chargers statewide, beginning with interstate highways.

Tim Gatz, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, said the state has spent around $2 million from the grant for planning, navigating the complex rules required for such programs. "We've gone through all of that, and we're at the point where we've selected the partners that we were going to need. Some of those were Loves, Tesla, Francis Solar and Francis Energy, and EV-GO."

Gatz said he believes the funding pause is a delay, not a cancellation.

"It's being reviewed along with a lot of other programs. We expect it will be re-enacted. When that happens, we'll go ahead and engage with those partners and continue to build out the charging infrastructure," said Gatz.

Federal records show most states have spent a small portion of the $3.27 billion Congress allocated for the program, with Oklahoma listed as having $2.3 million of unpaid obligations and $1.2 million spent as of February 5, 2025.