We are less than 6 years away, yet only 7 have been built. The situation is so dire that even Democratic senators are complaining.

Just seven electric-vehicle (EV) charging stations have begun operating with funding from a $5-billion U.S. government program created in 2021, marking “pathetic” progress, a Democratic senator said on Wednesday.

Automakers and others say drastically expanding EV-charging stations is crucial to the wide deployment of electric vehicles, which are part of the Biden Administration’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.The seven EV-charging stations deployed to date under a 2021 U.S. program consist of a few dozen total charging ports, said Shailen Bhatt, who heads the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), at a Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) committee hearing.