JOLIET, Ill. – The political battle over the future of EVs is playing out in parts of the St. Louis area and beyond. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to cut EV funding and end what he calls the “EV mandate” on day one of his upcoming presidency. 

However, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has other ideas and is charging ahead.

The Democrat governor glad-handed those around at a news conference celebrating the first plug-in at the newest state-funded EV charging station in Joliet, Illinois, Monday. A charging station in Troy, Illinois, is among those already up and running. 

Thousands more are in the process of being mapped out and paid for. The state has already awarded more than $60 million from multiple state and federal sources for nearly 1,200 charging ports at 265 locations. An IDOT document reveals the state expects $148 million in federal infrastructure funds for charging stations over 5 years. 

“I don’t drive an electric car. So, I would rather just get the money to pay for my gas or to help me buy an electric car,” Blake Cunningham, a 21-year-old driver in Troy, said. “It’s probably not the biggest waste of money that’s going on in the State of Illinois. So, it doesn’t bother me that much.”

“There will soon be a charging station along every highway, every 50 miles in Illinois. That’s just the start,” Pritzker boasted in Joliet. 

However, there may be a few bumps along the road. Look no further than Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention in the summer.

“All of the trillions of dollars that are sitting there not yet spent, we will redirect that money on important projects like road, bridges, dams,” he said. “We will not allow it to be spent on meaningless ‘green new scam ideas’… and I will end the electric vehicle mandate on day one!”

“Throughout the past five years, we have put our shoulder to the wheel to get the electric vehicle industry off the ground here in Illinois,” Pritzker said. “It will continue to grow with or without support from the Trump administration. People are choosing to do what’s right for the environment, to fight climate change.” 

IDOT has just announced $24 million in additional federal funding for more charging stations in 2025.