Corporate America is coming for your EV chargers

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     February 22, 2023 So, you've splurged on an electric vehicle and embarked on a cross-country road trip. Where will you stop to fuel charge up? How about the [Subway Oasis](, a rest stop sponsored by America's favorite sandwich chain, featuring wifi, restrooms, picnic tables, and green space? Electric car charging ports will need to become more common if the US is going to put an end to gas-powered motor vehicle travel, and Subway, it seems, would like a bite of the profits. We're going to see the growth of the electric vehicle charging industry play out differently across the country. The 2021 infrastructure law provided $5 billion for states to install EV chargers along interstate highways, and, in September, the US Department of Transportation announced that it had [approved each state's plan]( for using those funds. Subway has not announced where it plans to open its first Oasis, and while I think the (coming) ubiquity of EV charging ports is a good thing, the corporatization of everything leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Subway's Oasis reminds me of the Capital One Café, which my colleague [Ali Breland describes]( as a literalization of "how financialized capital has taken over our lives." Elon Musk wants to [beam advertisements into space](, at which point we might as well start [subsidizing time](. America's obsession with corporatization is nothing new—gas stations are privately owned and often outfitted with a Subway or a Dunkin'—but I'd still like to imagine a world where I could charge my car without lining a billionaire's pockets. Although I guess I do just that every time I [charge my phone](. There's no escape. —Abigail Weinberg Advertisement [St. Martin's Publishing Group]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Virginia Has Its Own Ron DeSantis, and He’s Taking Aim at African American Studies]( Glenn Youngkin wants to make sure your kids aren't learning any "inherently divisive concepts." BY ARIANNA COGHILL [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( [Trending] [Will SCOTUS overturn this 1996 law governing the internet?]( BY ABBY VESOULIS   [The corruption at Fox News is worse than you assumed]( BY DAVID CORN   [Big Oil expands assault on California's health and climate laws]( BY AARON MIGUEL CANTÚ   [Did the US military take out a $12 hobbyist balloon with a $400,000 missile?]( BY JACKIE FLYNN MOGENSEN Advertisement [St. Martin's Publishing Group]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [Meet the religious crusaders fighting for abortion rights]( Christian conservatives worked to topple Roe. Can members of different faiths save abortion access? BY ABBY VESOULIS Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755