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Ownership of electric vehicles continues to rise in the U.S., with nearly six million battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids currently on the road. Even though that’s still a fraction of the overall market and the growth rate of EV sales has slowed, automakers remain invested in the eventual transition away from gasoline, as 2024 sales of traditional internal combustion engine cars fell below 80% for the first time in modern automotive history.

Continued EV sales growth shows that at least for a significant portion of auto consumers, range anxiety is no longer an issue. But it is a persistent fear in the EV market that is getting a new test with the Trump administration looking to slash EV incentives from the federal government.

The majority of EV owners charge up at home, but from city streets and interstate highways to parking garages and airports, the EV industry is concentrated on installing enough chargers in public places to help end range anxiety, while building pure-play charging business models that can stand on their own and turn a profit.

According to the latest figures compiled by Paren AFDC+ Charger Database, there are 68,000 public and private Level 3 (fastest) and Level 2 EV charging stations across the country, each with one or more individual ports, for a total of around 266,000 ports. Installing, operating and servicing the chargers, it’s an industry that is a fundamental driver of widescale EV adoption — and right now, it’s an industry that is struggling to maintain traction in what has lately become an uncertain and politicized marketplace.

Despite a recent surprise Tesla’s sales event at the White House, Trump and his top administration officials — from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary and former fossil fuels industry CEO Chris Wright — have made it clear that stripping away federal support for EVs is among changes being sought as they prioritize oil and gas in energy policy. Already impacted by the slowdown in EV sales, charging companies are battling a recent freeze on an important federal funding program, while also waiting to see how OEMs are affected by the Trump administration’s tariffs and resulting trade wars, particularly involving essential steel and aluminum.

Former President Joe Biden, as part of his signature agenda to combat climate change, set a goal that half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030 would be electric, which also meant having an adequate, reliable nationwide charging infrastructure by then. To address the build out, the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) formula program was authorized by Congress under the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.

NEVI earmarked $5 billion in grants, apportioned annually over five years, to states’ departments of transportation to deploy a network of 500,000 high-speed EV chargers by 2030, primarily along interstate highways, but also rural roadways and low-income communities. Funding is available for up to 80% of eligible project costs. State DOTs are responsible for developing projects and coordinating with site owners and charging companies, which can be an arduous process, markedly different from planning routine infrastructure projects.

A national issue that the funding seeks to address is that while public chargers are relatively plentiful in big cities and suburbs where EV adoption is high — think San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Houston, Chicago, Miami and New York — they’re lacking in rural and remote communities in places like Montana, Wyoming and upstate New York, where EVs sales are low. That geographic disparity contributes to charging anxiety. Drivers are worried that there aren’t enough charging stations outside of metro regions, which accentuates their fears of running out of juice, especially on long trips. And harrowing tales of broken, vandalized or otherwise non-working chargers feed into the trepidations.

According to Paren, four of the five years of NEVI funding, or $3.2 billion, has been approved for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Yet only $616 million has been awarded by 33 states to 104 applicants for 1,000 charging stations. To date, 60 charging stations with a combined 268 ports have been built, using $33 million of NEVI funds. While the federal government has not released figures, Paren estimates that perhaps less than $25 million has actually been transferred to states to reimburse charging companies for incurred expenses.

‘Killing those evil EVs and EV chargers’

Stark evidence of the Trump administration’s plans to target EV charging came on Feb. 6, when the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration issued a memo to state DOTs informing them that it was suspending NEVI. The memo stated that FHWA will publish revised NEVI guidelines this spring and solicit public comment before final rules are determined. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy subsequently told Fox Business News that any existing contracts that have been signed “are still going to be funded, but there will be no new funding priorities or projects as we go through a review process.”

The NEVI freeze created immediate confusion among state DOTs, especially as to whether the approved funds will indeed be allocated. “We need that to happen, because this program works on a reimbursable basis,” said Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Many states, he said, “have essentially issued stop work orders, even for existing contracts, because they don’t want to be left holding the bag if the feds decide not to reimburse for any work.”

Historically, new administrations have set their transportation priorities and shifted them accordingly. Yet amending programs and funding that are authorized in law — including NEVI, for which funding has been delayed — would require an act of Congress. The Trump administration, nonetheless, sidestepped Congress and unilaterally suspended NEVI and its funding formula while it considers new guidelines.

In the interim, if those approved funds are not allocated to states, the courts may end up determining whether the freeze is legal. In a ruling on March 6, a federal judge blocked the president’s hold on congressionally approved funds obligated to state agencies and governments, which could conceivably apply to any attempts to renege on NEVI funding.

Loren McDonald, chief analyst at Paren, has a jaundiced view of the motivation behind the NEVI pause. “The administration’s plan is not to actually impact the deployment of charging infrastructure,” he said. “It’s to drive the narrative that we’re killing those evil EVs and EV chargers.”

For the small sector of EV charging companies, headlined by a trio of publicly owned pure-plays — ChargePoint Holdings, Blink Charging and EVgo — all of the EV uncertainty has been enough to keep shares under considerable pressure, with year-to-date declines of 35% to 50% and two of the three stocks currently trading below $1.

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Stock market performance of EV charging pure-plays in 2025.

ChargePoint provides infrastructure hardware, software and services to businesses and fleets that operate EV charging networks. Competitors Blink and EVgo own and operate their own chargers and networks, while also supporting third-party operators. All three experienced substantial stock falloffs starting in 2024, and investors are keeping a wary eye on their performance over the coming months.

The rest of the EV charging industry encompasses a diverse array of players, among them privately held startups, a joint venture between eight automotive OEMs known as IONNA, highway truck stop and travel centers like Love’s, Kwik Trip and Pilot Flying J, convenience store chains including Wawa, Sheetz and 7-Eleven, and big-box retailers such as Walmart, Target and Costco.  

Nearly half of the NEVI awardees are members of the National Association of Truck Stop Owners, the trade association for more than 250 highway truck stops and travel centers, and SIGMA, which represents fuel marketers. David Fialkov, executive vice president of government affairs for both groups, is critical of NEVI’s “incoherent patchwork, not only of grant requirements, but of regulatory and market backdrops in different states that are wholly untethered to one another.” So if the program’s pause “is a bona fide effort to turn it into something more market-oriented and consumer-oriented,” Fialkov said, “we think that’s ultimately better for the market.”

The future of EV charging station demand and deployment

McDonald says a look at the industry numbers shows that the reality is, “whatever they attempt to do is probably going to have little to no actual impact on deployment.”

In 2025, for example, about 10% of fast-charging ports may be funded through NEVI. McDonald estimated that a total of about 16,000 new fast-charging ports will be added this year. “From a macro perspective, the industry is not dependent on federal funding,” he said. At most, he added, “only about 1,500 of those will be NEVI-funded, and maybe even fewer,” depending on the breadth of changes to the program.

During an earnings call on March 4, Rick Wilmer, president and CEO of ChargePoint, told analysts that NEVI-related deals represented an “insignificant portion” of its revenue in 2024 and the company did not anticipate NEVI changes would have a material effect on its business.

According to Paren data, ChargePoint has received three NEVI awards totaling $1.75 million.

Separately, Wilmer told CNBC that in the context of NEVI, ChargePoint supports its customers that operate charging stations and sell electricity. “We’re very intentional about not doing that, because it would put us in direct competition with them,” he said. “We provide the technology and the solutions and help our customers apply for and win NEVI funding. So in the grand scheme of things, NEVI is a very small portion of our business.”

Pilot CEO Adam Wright on EV charging: We think demand is going to push through

ChargePoint reported positive results for the fourth quarter of its FY2025, ended in January, though full-year revenue declined more than 17%, and its stock has fallen roughly 60% over the past year.

The EV charging industry is going through an evolution right now, according to Craig Irwin, an industry analyst at Roth Capital Partners, and companies not dependent on subsidies have better prospects. “The focus on putting credible products out there without subsidy dollars is a winning strategy,” he said. “People want chargers in front of their libraries, real estate developments and other public places. The demand is still there.”

A spokesperson for EVgo, which sites its public chargers in just such high-use urban and metro areas, said that it has received minimal funding through NEVI. The company generates revenue from the utilization of its charging network and taps into other incentive programs offered by state governments and utility companies, whose programs do not include the same geographic constraints as NEVI.  

In December, EVgo announced the closing of a $1.25 billion guaranteed loan from the U.S. Department of Energy, a financing commitment it has pointed to as a sign of certainty. “This loan ensures we are fully funded to add at least 7,500 [ports at roughly 1,100 charging stations], more than tripling our installed base over the next five years,” CEO Badar Khan told analysts during its earnings call earlier this month.

Yet the Trump administration has threatened to find ways to retroactively pull DOE loan funding approved in the last days of the Biden administration, which sprinted to get deals finalized before Trump’s inauguration.

EVgo has been growing, reporting fourth-quarter 2024 revenue up 35% year-over-year, and up 60% for the full year. But despite those gains, the company continues to operate at a loss.

Blink says it does not depend much on NEVI to fund its charging infrastructure, relying instead on hardware sales, software subscriptions, charging revenue and corporate partnerships. “The majority of our other funding is within the largest utility companies,” said CEO Mike Battaglia. “There are some [state] grants out there, as well, that we take advantage of.”

Blink achieved record charging revenue last year, and significantly grew the Blink-owned network, according to its recent Q4 and full year report on March 13. Yet, revenue declined in the fourth quarter and for the full year in comparison to “exceptionally strong equipment sales in 2023,” Battaglia said. The company said it expects revenue will pick up in the second half of 2025 and to have a better idea as to when it will achieve adjusted EBITDA profitability later in the year.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Then there’s the elephant in the room — Tesla, whose sales and stock price have plunged lately following a post-election surge. Tesla is in a unique position, as a manufacturer of both branded EVs and charging stations — and whose CEO Elon Musk has emerged as a central character not just in the sector, but across the entire economic and political landscape.

It has heavily invested in building out its network of superchargers, which are compatible with a growing number of other OEMs’ EV models, including GM, Ford, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Rivian. And its proprietary NACS charging connector and port is being adopted by other charging companies. Ironically, considering that Musk favors getting rid of EV subsidies, Tesla is the second-largest recipient of NEVI funds, granted more than $41 million for 99 sites. Elon Musk said in the lead-up to the election that any Trump policies that hurt EVs would hurt his competitors more than Tesla, but recently, Tesla and other Musk firms have been lobbying the government, at least on the issue of tariffs.

With so much uncertainty looming over the EV charging industry — plus the shakeout that typically occurs among nascent tech industries — there’s bound to be consolidation this year. Several companies have already declared bankruptcy or gone out of business, including the North American affiliates of European utility-owned charging companies, Enel X and EVBox, and Tritium, which runs an EV charging equipment plant in Tennessee and was acquired by an Indian conglomerate after declaring insolvency in 2024.

Depending on the outcome of the NEVI situation, companies that heavily rely on its funds and can’t access alternative capital sources may go belly up or partner with other entities. The fate of the public companies remains to be seen, while Tesla spins in its own topsy-turvy orbit. In the meantime, EV adoption does continue to increase, and more chargers will be installed in a growing number of places. It’s the pace, and the winners and losers, that are yet to be determined.

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Dive into spring with Beatbot’s marvelous AquaSense 2 robotic pool cleaners

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Dive into spring with Beatbot's marvelous AquaSense 2 robotic pool cleaners

Spring is here, and that means it’s pool season prep time! There’s no better way to kickstart your spring cleaning than with the Beatbot AquaSense 2 Series—the ultimate robotic cleaner designed to effortlessly prepare your pool for sunny days ahead.

Beatbot is inviting pool owners everywhere to “Spring Forward, Clean to Perfection” with up to 20% off the AquaSense 2 Series – Ultra, Pro, and Standard. The limited-time offer is available from March 17 through March 31 on Beatbot’s official website and Amazon store. Read on to find out how Beatbot can keep your pool in prime condition, and don’t miss out on this fantastic discount.

Beatbot AquaSense 2 Ultra

Headlining Beatbot AquaSense 2 Series is the premium AquaSense 2 Ultra, a pool-cleaning powerhouse that sets a new standard in smart cleaning technology. It’s packed with cutting-edge features designed to make your pool maintenance not only easier but smarter and more thorough than ever before.

At the heart of the AquaSense 2 Ultra is the revolutionary HybridSense AI Pool Mapping technology. This isn’t your average robotic cleaner – it uses an AI camera alongside ultrasonic and infrared sensors to create a precise map of your pool. No matter your pool’s shape or layout, the Ultra intelligently plots the most efficient cleaning path, ensuring every inch – from floor to walls, waterline, and even the water’s surface – is spotless. Plus, with the Beatbot app, you can easily track cleaning progress and view detailed cleaning maps in real time.

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Say goodbye to juggling multiple pool-cleaning devices—the AquaSense 2 Ultra delivers unmatched convenience with its unique 5-in-1 cleaning system. This robotic marvel tackles everything: water surface, waterline, floor, walls, and even a ClearWater Clarification System. Powered by an industry-first 11-motor submarine propulsion system, it transitions effortlessly between floating and diving, guaranteeing complete and comprehensive coverage every time.

Never worry about overlooked debris again. The Ultra’s Advanced AI Cruise Debris Detection system scans your pool after the initial clean, intelligently identifying and removing any stragglers like leaves. Its AI-driven camera and sensors continually learn and improve, recognizing different leaf types such as oak, maple, palm, and more. The result is an impressively thorough clean that traditional robots simply can’t match.

And when it comes to effortless pool management, the AquaSense 2 Ultra truly shines. With dual side brushes designed to sweep debris directly into the cleaner’s path, even pool corners and edges get pristine cleaning. Plus, the Beatbot app’s advanced navigation control lets you manually steer the AquaSense 2 Ultra across the water’s surface, making spot cleaning both precise and fun.

Finally, retrieval is easier than ever with Beatbot’s exclusive Smart Water Surface Parking technology. When cleaning finishes, or battery life falls below 15%, the AquaSense 2 Ultra autonomously returns to the pool edge, floats to the surface, and automatically releases water to make retrieval lighter and effortless. If it drifts, simply use the app’s one-touch retrieval button to bring it back to you.

The Beatbot AquaSense 2 Ultra is normally priced at $3,450 and is 15% off until March 31.

The AquaSense 2 Pro

The Beatbot AquaSense 2 Pro takes pool cleaning convenience to the next level with the 5-in-1 cleaning system. Featuring Beatbot’s exclusive ClearWater Clarification System and Smart Water Surface Parking, the AquaSense 2 Pro ensures every inch of your pool stays spotless with minimal effort on your part. Powered by nine precision-engineered motors, including dual floating chamber motors and surface propeller motors, it delivers exceptional maneuverability and efficiency.

Beatbot

Plus, the AquaSense 2 Pro offers smart app-based control for targeted surface cleaning, backed by a robust 13,400 mAh battery capable of up to 11 hours of surface cleaning or five hours of cleaning floors, walls, and waterlines. With AquaSense 2 Pro, maintaining a pristine pool has never been simpler.

The Beatbot AquaSense 2 Pro is usually priced at $2,499 and is 15% off until March 31.

Beatbot AquaSense 2

The Beatbot AquaSense 2 delivers powerful, reliable cleaning performance, combining advanced technology with user-friendly convenience. Equipped with a robust 200W brushless main pump motor, this 3-in-1 robotic cleaner effortlessly tackles floors, walls, and waterlines, providing full coverage with optimized path navigation and impressive 5500 GPH suction power.

Its innovative double-pass waterline scrubbing system thoroughly removes grime, leaving your pool spotless after every cycle. Ideal for pools of all sizes, including larger ones, the AquaSense 2 features a high-capacity battery that powers up to four hours of continuous floor cleaning.

Plus, its intuitive navigation and powerful suction provides stable, efficient cleaning on vertical surfaces and hard-to-reach areas. With AquaSense 2, a pristine pool is easy to achieve, so you can spend more time swimming and less time maintaining it.

The Beatbot AquaSense 2 is typically priced at $1,499 and is 20% off until March 31.

Spring forward into sparkling perfection – grab the AquaSense 2 model that best fits your needs today for up to 20% off and experience the ultimate pool-cleaning upgrade.

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Toyota the EV battery supplier? Honda will use them to power up its 400,000 hybrids in the US

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Toyota the EV battery supplier? Honda will use them to power up its 400,000 hybrids in the US

Toyota is now a battery supplier? That’s the plan. Honda will use Toyota’s batteries to power up its around 400,000 hybrids sold in the US.

Toyota will supply batteries for Honda hybrids in the US

Toyota’s $14 billion battery plant in North Carolina is ready for business. The facility will begin shipping out batteries next month, and it looks like Toyota already has its first customer.

According to a new Nikkei report, starting in fiscal 2025, Toyota will supply batteries for the roughly 400,000 Honda hybrids sold in the US.

Honda currently uses batteries from China and Japan for vehicles sold in the US, but the company is (like most) preparing for changes under Trump.

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Honda’s electrified vehicles, including EVs and hybrids, accounted for over a quarter of US sales last year. The company sold over 308,500 hybrids and 40,400 electric vehicles in the US in 2024. The batteries will likely be used in the CR-V and other Honda hybrid vehicles.

Honda-Toyota-EV-batteries
Honda Prologue Elite (Source: Honda)

Earlier this month, an extra 10% tariff on imports from China took effect. And that’s on top of the 10% imposed in February.

With more expected, including a 25% increase in vehicles imported from Japan, automakers are tightening up their supply chains.

Toyota-new-bZ4X
Toyota’s new bZ4X AWD model introduced in Europe (Source: Toyota)

A 25% tariff on Japanese vehicles, up from 2.5% currently, is estimated to cost the six major Japanese automakers about $20 billion in the US.

Tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada could cost Honda roughly $4.7 billion alone. Teaming up with Toyota to use its batteries for its hybrids is part of Japan’s broader global plans to ween off dependence on China and others for batteries and other emerging tech.

Toyota-Honda-EV-batteries
(Source: Toyota)

The new US plant, Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina (TBMC), is over seven million square feet, or about the size of 121 football fields.

As Toyota’s first in-house battery factory outside of Japan, the plant could be a game changer as Trump’s tariffs take effect. Securing Honda as a buyer will already help Toyota cut costs as it ramps up output.

Toyota plans to ramp up electrified vehicle (EV, PHEV, and hybrid) sales in North America from around 40% last year to 80% by 2030.

Electrek’s Take

Trump’s tariffs are already causing havoc, with nearly every automaker warning that they put the US further behind. Overseas automakers are not the only ones feeling the heat, either.

The “Big Three,” GM, Ford, and Jeep maker Stellantis all build vehicles in Canada and Mexico. GM cut output at its plant in Mexico in January, where the electric Chevy Equinox, Blazer, and Honda Prologue are made. Stellantis halted operations at its Brampton Assembly Plant in Canada last month, where it was expected to launch the Jeep Compass EV production. What’s next?

For Toyota, it looks like its $14 billion bet to build batteries in the US is already paying off. Now, we just need it to introduce more EVs.

After unveiling three new electric SUVs in Europe last week, including the updated bZ4X, Toyota hinted more is on the way for the US. Check back soon for updates.

What do you think? Do you want to see more Toyota EVs in the US, like the new C-HR+? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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Oil rises as Trump says Iran will be held responsible for any future Houthi attacks

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Oil rises as Trump says Iran will be held responsible for any future Houthi attacks

U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as military strikes are launched against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis over the group’s attacks against Red Sea shipping, at an unspecified location in this handout image released March 15, 2025.

White House | Via Reuters

Oil prices rose on Monday after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would hold Iran responsible for any future attack by the Houthis, a militant group in Yemen that has launched missile strikes on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and on Israel.

U.S. crude oil futures rose 40 cents, or 0.6%, to $67.58 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent traded higher by 44 cents, or 0.62%, at $71.02 per barrel.

“Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN,” Trump said in a post on social media platform Truth Social. “IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!”

Trump’s threat comes after the U.S. launched a new wave of airstrikes against the Houthis over the weekend. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday the U.S. campaign will continue until the militant group halts its attacks.

“This campaign is about freedom of navigation and restoring deterrence,” Hegseth told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “The minute the Houthis say we’ll stop shooting at your ships, we’ll stop shooting at your drones, this campaign will end. But until then, it will be unrelenting.”

The Houthis began targeting commercial shipping traversing the Red Sea in late 2023 in support of Hamas, after the Palestinian militant group launched a surprise attack on southern Israel and Israel responded with a ground and air campaign in Gaza. The Houthis and Hamas are both allied with Iran.

The Houthi missile strikes have forced international shipping companies to reroute container ships that would normally pass through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

Trump has reimposed a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran with the goal of driving down the Islamic Republic’s oil exports. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently said the Trump administration’s goal is to collapse Iran’s economy.

The White House believes Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon, an allegation the Islamic Republic denies. Trump’s national security advisor, Mike Waltz, said Sunday that “all options are on the table” to ensure Iran does not acquire a nuclear bomb.

“We cannot have a situation that would result in an arms race across the Middle East in terms of nuclear proliferation,” Waltz said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Trump has said he wants to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran. In 2018, the president withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal negotiated by President Barack Obama, an agreement called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

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