Transportation Committee Report
On May 7, the US Coast Guard said it would approve a permit to replace the Newark Bay Bridge and its approaches, skipping greener alternatives despite environmental concerns. The permit would include authorization for improvements from Interchange 14 to 14A.
The Sierra Club and other organizations had petitioned the Coast Guard to reject the NJ Department of Transportation’s (DOT) environmental impact assessment on the grounds that the DOT failed to consider alternatives that would shift traffic to public transit and thereby reduce the projected growth in vehicular traffic. Instead, the Coast Guard accepted DOT’s position that those alternatives failed “to meet the stated purposes to improve long-term [structural] integrity of [the highway] and/or to provide the necessary capacity to meet projected 2050 traffic demand.”
EV Sales Hold Strong in 2025
Even in the face of severe headwinds thrown up by the Trump administration and the declining fortune of the Tesla brand, the sales of battery electric (BEV) and hybrid plug-in electric (PHEV) vehicles remained strong through the first quarter of 2025.
The 294,250 BEVs sold in the first quarter accounted for 7.5% of light duty vehicles sold in that period, and year-over-year first-quarter sales rose 11.4% over first-quarter 2024.
Domestic EV producers saw significant growth over the past year, with GM doubling its sales of electric vehicles and overtaking Ford as the number two EV producer in the United States, while Tesla’s share of the market fell from a high of 75% in first-quarter 2022 to 44% in first-quarter 2025 (Table).
While NJ’s incentive programs have been substantially cut back, federal incentives continue to be in place, including the all-important $7,000 federal tax credit for new purchases. As of May these incentives are untouched by DOGE (the Trump administration’s cost-cutting team), but we have to see if that holds as Congress debates the country’s tax laws.
A list of all state and federal incentives, including for chargers and discounted E-ZPass and utility rates, is available on the Sierra Club’s NJ Chapter website and below in the resources section.
Electric School Bus Initiative
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claims to have released federal funds previously approved in 2023 for school districts to purchase electric school buses, but some school districts are reporting that their access to those funds is still restricted and that EPA is slow to respond to emails, approve paperwork, and release the funds.
We are still waiting for New Jersey to announce the second round of funding under the Electric School Bus Program, which provides up to $15 million in grant money for three years.
Recently, the Brick Township Board of Education voted not to accept the grant they received in the first round after the new members of the Board, elected in November, opposed the grants on political/ideological grounds.
Medium & Heavy-Duty EVs
The Board of Public Utilities is reviewing rate filings submitted by all four public utilities in the state (PSEG, JCP&L, Atlantic City Electric, and Orange & Rockland Electric) that will enable the utilities to absorb the cost in their rate base of upgrading the electric power feed to fleet owners of medium and heavy duty trucks, buses, and other heavy equipment such as garbage trucks, cranes, and similar vehicles. Currently, these costs, referred to as “make ready” costs, are billed to the fleet owner, making it very expensive to convert their fleets to electric vehicles, particularly for governmental agencies such as townships and school districts.
The NJ Chapter of the Sierra Club will be intervening in these cases to support the approval of these rate proposals.
Resources
EV Sales: shorturl.at/9hEYp
EV incentives: tinyurl.com/3uym3ufm