Background and Context
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program (the “NEVI Program”) was established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Public Law 117-58 and was authorized under paragraph (2) under the Highway Infrastructure Program heading in title VIII of division J of the IIJA. The NEVI Program provides $5 billion of funding to States to deploy electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and establish an interconnected network to facilitate data collection, access, and reliability. Although States are required to prioritize the allocated funding to infrastructure acquired or installed along designated EV Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs), any remaining funding may be used for EV charging infrastructure on any public road or in other publicly accessible locations when the State determines and the Secretary certifies that AFCs in a State are fully built out.
On January 20, 2025, the Administration issued Executive Order 14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” (EO 14154), under which one of the Administration’s express policies is:
“[T]o eliminate the ‘electric vehicle (EV) mandate’ and promote true consumer choice, which is essential for economic growth and innovation, by removing regulatory barriers to motor vehicle access; by ensuring a level regulatory playing field for consumer choice in vehicles; . . . and by considering the elimination of unfair subsidies and other ill-conceived government-imposed market distortions that favor EVs over other technologies and effectively mandate their purchase by individuals, private businesses, and government entities alike by rending other types of vehicles unaffordable. . . .”
EO 14154 directed all agencies to “immediately pause the disbursement of funds . . . for electric vehicle charging stations made available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program” and to “review their processes, policies, and programs for issuing grants . . . or any other financial disbursements of such appropriated funds for consistency with the law and the policy” outlined in the EO.
On February 6, 2025, the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Associate Administrator of the Office of Planning, Environment and Realty sent a letter to all directors of state departments of transportation (state DOTs) rescinding the NEVI Formula Program Guidance (dated June 11, 2024) and all prior versions of the guidance and suspending approval of State Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plans for all fiscal years. Pursuant to these actions, the FHWA suspended new obligations under the NEVI Program until updated final NEVI Program guidance was issued and state plans are submitted and approved.
The FHWA issued new guidance on the NEVI Program on August 11, 2025. This Interim Final Guidance focuses on clear and express statutory language, with the intent that the NEVI Program’s implementation becomes streamlined and flexible, and aligns with EO 14154 to eliminate previous mandates for EV charging infrastructure.
Interim Final Guidance Overview
FHWA made several changes to the June 11, 2024 guidance. Some of the major changes include:
- Simplifying the plan approval process.
- The new Interim Final Guidance only requires the following three components to the plan to be approved: (1) a description of how the State intends to use NEVI Program funds for each fiscal year; (2) a Community Engagement Outcomes Report (per 23 C.F.R. 680.112(d)); and (3) a description of physical and cybersecurity strategies (per 23 C.F.R. 680.106(h)). The old guidance required a significantly more specified and detailed plan, which also included state agency coordination, civil rights requirements, existing and future condition analysis, and many other requirements.
- Providing States with the flexibility to determine the appropriate distance between stations along AFCs to allow for reasonable travel.
- The new guidance allows States to consider the distance between stations that they deem appropriate to allow for reasonable travel and certainty that charging will be available to travelers. The old guidance required the distance to be no more than 50 miles between charging stations along AFCs.
- Providing States with more flexibility in determining when their system is built out, which would then allow NEVI funds to be used on public roads statewide.
- The new guidance allows States to make a preliminary determination that their system is fully built out (which later must be certified by FHWA). The old guidance reserved such authority to the Secretary.
Additional changes include:
- Minimizing the content required in State plans to statutory and regulatory requirements, providing more flexibility for implementation of the NEVI Program.
- Aligning community engagement requirements with regulatory requirements and reducing the consultation requirements to advance projects.
- Minimizing requirements for States to consider electric grid integration, renewable energy, and alignment with electric distribution interconnection processes, except where required by regulation.
- Encouraging selection of charging locations where the charging station owner is also the site host to accelerate project delivery.
- Eliminating requirements for States to address consumer protections, emergency evacuation plans, environmental siting, and resilience and terrain considerations.
- Eliminating requirements for States to conduct community outreach and participation – including with rural, Tribal, and disadvantaged communities – to facilitate equitable and accessible deployment of EV charging infrastructure.
This Interim Final Guidance document is effective on August 13, 2025, and FHWA is receiving any comments on the guidance until August 27, 2025.
States are required to submit new Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plans within 30 days of the issuance of the Interim Final Guidance, by September 10, 2025.
