Amid high gas prices and a tight state budget, Massachusetts must do more to swiftly spend federal funding for EV charging to help drivers go electric
April 30, 2026
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Alex Mountfield, alex.mountfield@sunstonestrategies.com, 202.599.7509
Mollie Michel, mollie.michel@sunstonestrategies.com, 718.536.6336
BOSTON — Massachusetts made meaningful progress on rolling out federal EV charging dollars in 2025, but the vast majority of funding remains unspent, according to a new Sierra Club report out today.
“Massachusetts received nearly a hundred million dollars of federal funding for transportation and despite plans, has yet to actually build critical infrastructure to help relieve range anxiety and give EV owners more options for charging,” said Vick Mohanka, Chapter Director at the Massachusetts Sierra Club. “With less than 3% of it spent today, there’s no guarantee that we’ll have access to it tomorrow. At a time where gas prices are punishingly high, this should be a key priority to help families in the Commonwealth and create jobs.”
In February 2025, the Trump administration illegally froze the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. Sierra Club, a coalition of states, and nonprofit partners challenged in federal court and successfully lifted the freeze. NEVI funds were unavailable to Massachusetts for roughly seven months in 2025 and only fully secured after a final court order in January 2026. Despite these months-long obstructions, 2025 was still the most productive year in the program’s four-year history.
States have to jump through a lot of hoops to implement and spend federal funds for EV charging — including developing statewide plans for NEVI, selecting projects, “obligating” funding (which legally binds the federal government to reimburse their spending), and moving ahead with permitting, design, and construction. By the end of 2025, Massachusetts had:
- Opened 0 NEVI charging stations to the public.
- Obligated 79% ($50M) and spent 3% ($1.7M) out of its $63M of available federal dollars for EV charging stations along highways
- Obligated 2% ($0.33M) and spent 0.59% ($0.09M) out of its $16M of available federal dollars for EV charging stations in communities
To speed up the rollout of federal EV charging funds, the report recommends Massachusetts and other states use their attorneys general offices to address issues with access to funds, engage with utility regulators and public service commissions to stretch funding, set targets and timelines for rolling out funds, and maximize coordination between state agencies, project applicants, and electric utilities.
Beyond federally-funded projects, last year was also the biggest year on record for deployment of privately-funded EV charging stations. According to data released by Paren, more than 18,000 new fast-charging ports were installed nationwide in 2025 (a 30% year-over-year increase). As of today, Massachusetts has at least 4,240 charging stations with 10,816 charging ports open to the public, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.