In February, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released a proposal to update the Build America, Buy America waiver for manufactured products, bringing the required percentage of components used to make electric vehicle (EV) chargers purchased through funded programs from 55 to 100%.
Trisha DelloIacono, Head of Policy at CALSTART – a nonprofit organization that works nationally and internationally with businesses and governments to develop clean, efficient transportation solutions – said her company “strongly supports the goal of expanding U.S. manufacturing and creating American jobs. However, domestic manufacturing goals must be aligned with real-world supply chain capacity. Without corresponding domestic production capacity in place, this proposal would undermine the very manufacturing growth it seeks to promote.”
Key components used in the manufacturing of EV chargers “are simply not manufactured at sufficient scale in the United States,” explained DelloIacono. “Requiring 100% domestic manufacturing essentially blocks the implementation of critical infrastructure, weakening U.S. manufacturers and threatening the jobs tied to this growing industry.”
Source: CALSTART
