How not a SINGLE electric vehicle charging station has been constructed in the two years since Biden demanded $7.5 BILLION be spent on a nationwide network

Not a single electric vehicle charging station has been completed in the two years since Joe Biden got Congress to spend $7.5 billion on constructing a national network of them. 

Industry insiders blamed delays on the red tape of the law's contracting and performance requirements, Politico reported Tuesday.

The bulk of the funds, $5 billion, are to go toward building fast chargers along major interstates - what's being called the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure or NEVI program. 

To satisfy the federal program's requirements, chargers must be built at least every 50 miles over major highway routes and be operational 97 percent of the time.

They also must take credit card payments and certain components must be made domestically.

'Anybody can throw a charger in the ground - that's not that hard, it doesn't take that long,' a Biden administration insider told the website. 'Building a network is different.' 

The official told Politico that the sluggish pace is to be expected, given the goal is to create a 'convenient, affordable, made-in-America equitable network.' 

Biden officials said they are expecting a surge of charging stations to break ground in early 2024. 

'This program has suffered from a number of frustrating delays, and will still yet, as industry tries to catch up to the rules that were put in place,' Patrick Murphy, who is leading the Vermont Agency of Transportation's NEVI funding, told Politico.

'But we also recognize that those rules will help shape the kind of consistent convenient national network that we need to grow EV adoption,' Murphy added.  

So far just two EV charging stations have started construction - one in Pennsylvania and one in Ohio. 

The NEVI funds are handed down to states, which can then contract the construction of the charging stations out to private companies. 

Every state, so far, has submitted a plan to receive the NEVI funds. 

If a governor were to reject the funds, municipalities are allowed to apply for the dollars.

Politico found that 27 states and Washington, D.C. have yet to start soliciting bids, with officials in Missouri saying that process may not begin until 2025. 

Fifteen states and Puerto Rico have started gathering bids, while six states have awarded contracts for their first round of charging sites. 

The delays could be costly for the president politically. 

Biden has pushed an electric vehicle agenda since taking office and the lack of built charging stations could hurt that messaging during his 2024 reelection bid. 

Former President Donald Trump has already indicated that he would roll back any electric vehicle infrastructure plans should he retake the White House after next year's November election. 

Trump has long been skeptical of the greening of the American economy, calling climate change a 'hoax' by China and suggesting that windmills kill birds and cause cancer. 

As for electric cars, Trump said in September to an audience of autoworkers in Michigan, 'They say the happiest day when you buy an electric car is the first 10 minutes you're driving it.'

'And then after that, panic sets in because you're worried, "Where the hell am I going to get a charge to keep this thing going?"' he mused. 

Congressional Republicans have also made moves to pump the brakes on Biden's electric vehicle agenda. 

Republican Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman tried to defund the NEVI program with an amendment in November, which was voted down. 

Administration officials told Politico they weren't worried about a rollback because red state governors and private sector business leaders have signed on.

Ohio's Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, for instance, said he's committed to the NEVI program, which is 'truly positioning Ohioans for the electric future.' 

'This groundbreaking further demonstrates the state's commitment to installing chargers as quickly as possible for the benefit of Ohio drivers,' DeWine said of being one of the first two states to hit that mark.