By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – The U.S. might need to have more than 100,000 electric car charging stations, a government watchdog said Tuesday at a congressional hearing.

According to testimony from the Government Accountability Office, approximately 1100 charging points were owned by federal agencies as of March. The December executive order signed by President Joe Biden directed the U.S. to stop buying gas-powered vehicles until 2035.

House Oversight and Reform Committee will hold a hearing about the U.S. USPS plans to acquire mainly gas-powered, next-generation delivery trucks. Biden’s executive orders do not cover the USPS.

Only 0.3% or 1,777 of the 657,000 electric vehicles owned by the government were electric in 2020. For 2020, $4.2 billion was spent on vehicle expenses, which included $730 million fuel.

On Tuesday, the General Services Administration (GSA), stated that federal agencies had ordered 1,854 additional zero-emission vehicles as of March 10.

GAO stated that GSA had been able negotiate lower prices for certain EV models. “GSA negotiated a discounted Chevrolet Bolt price in fiscal year 2021 – almost 10,000 less than its retail market price.”

Each year, the U.S. government purchases approximately 50,000 vehicles. Biden signed an executive order stating that light duty vehicles purchased by the government would be “emission-free” by 2027.

This definition of “emission-free” includes plug-in hybrid EVs with a gasoline engine.

Congress last year approved legislation to provide $7.5 million for infrastructure projects that would create a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle chargers.

Separate legislation was approved by the Biden administration last year, which provided $9 billion to USPS and Federal Government to purchase EVs. However, this bill remains stalled.

Biden has refused to sign on to California’s plan for ending the sales of new light-duty gasoline-powered vehicles before 2035.