Biden's push for electric vehicles could take funding away from infrastructure projects

The federal government operated 645,000 vehicles in 2019, clocking up 4.5 billion miles.

NBC News

By Paul A. Eisenstein

January 26, 2021

President Joe Biden wants to replace the government's fleet of almost 650,000 vehicles with all-electric models produced in the United States, simultaneously addressing both his climate change and manufacturing agenda. Biden has put both at the top of his list during his first week in office, while the new members of his administration have also outlined other critical targets, such as beefing up spending on the nation’s deteriorating transportation infrastructure. But some of the goals create potential conflicts that the Biden administration could find difficult to address. For one thing, the president’s broader push to see American motorists switch from gas to battery power threatens to put even further strains on the already shrinking federal Highway Trust Fund used to maintain roads and bridges. The fund is largely dependent upon gas taxes — that haven’t increased in nearly three decades. Increases in fuel economy over the years have trimmed revenues, a situation made worse by the sharp decline in travel during the pandemic. But the rise of electric cars could choke off funding entirely.

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