Supply Chain

Electric Vehicles: The Path of the Future or a Jetson-Like Fantasy?

James Challou, MJLST Staffer

Last week President Biden contributed to the already growing hype behind electric vehicles when he heralded them as the future of transportation. Biden touted that $7.5 billion from last year’s infrastructure law, Public Law 117-58, would be put toward installing electric vehicle charging stations across the United States. This mass rollout of electric vehicle chargers, broadly aimed to help the US meet its goal of being carbon neutral by 2050, constitutes an immediate effort by the Biden administration to tackle pollution in the sector responsible for the largest share of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions: transportation. The administration’s short-term goal is to install half a million chargers by 2030. However, not all are as confident as President Biden that this movement will be efficacious.

The “Buy America” Obstacle

Despite President Biden’s enthusiasm for this commitment to funding widespread electric vehicle charging stations, many experts remain skeptical that supply can keep up with demand. Crucially, Public Law 117-58 contains a key constraint, dubbed the “Buy America” rule, that mandates federal infrastructure projects obtain at least 55% of construction materials, including iron and steel, from domestic sources and requires all manufacturing to be done in the U.S.

Although labor groups and steel manufacturers continue to push for these domestic sourcing rules to be enforced, other groups like automakers and state officials argue that a combination of inflation increasing the cost of domestic materials and limited domestic production may hamstring the push towards electric vehicle charging accessibility altogether. One state official stated, “A rushed transition to the new requirements will exacerbate delays and increase costs if EV charging equipment providers are forced to abruptly shift component sourcing to domestic suppliers, who in turn may struggle with availability due to limited quantities and high demand.”

Proponents of a slower implementation offer a slew of different solutions ranging from a temporary waiver of the Buy America rules until domestic production can sustain the current demand, to a waiver of the requirements for EV chargers altogether. The Federal Highway Administration, charged with oversight of the EV charger program, proposed an indeterminate transitional period waiver of the Buy America rules until the charger industry and states are prepared to comply with requirements.

Domestic Manufacturer Complications

Domestic manufacturers are similarly conflicted about the waiver of the Buy America rules, with some thinking they may not be able to meet growing demand. While many companies predict they can meet Buy America production requirements in the future, the Federal Highway Administration specified in its waiver proposal that a mere three manufacturers, all based in California, presently believe they have existing fast charger systems that comply with Buy America requirements.

Predictably, the waiver proposal is divisive amongst domestic manufacturers. Some companies are onboard with the waiver and requested even more flexibility. This includes automakers like Ford and General Motors, who say that a process of moving all supply chains to the US demands more time, particularly at the scale necessary to match the surge in federal funding. This is largely seen as the most stakeholder friendly move as it offers companies the opportunity to use the duration of the waiver to see if a clear competitive market materializes which in turn benefits stakeholders.

Contrarily, others have asked for the waiver period to be shortened to allow them to quickly recoup their investments into Buy America compliant manufacturing upgrades. Some companies are even more aggressive; they oppose the waiver altogether and argue that the waiver would disadvantage manufacturers that intentionally put money into meeting the Buy America requirements. These companies posit that domestic manufacturing provides immediate benefits like augmenting supply chain security and electric-vehicle cybersecurity and warn against dependency on foreign governments for electrical steel needs. They further add that the Buy America rule will fuel growth in the US market and create manufacturing jobs. Labor groups and some lawmakers have adopted this stance as one lawmaker from Ohio commented, “[f]ederal agencies should implement the new Buy America provisions as quickly as possible to give American companies the certainty they need to move forward with investments.”

Other Implementation Difficulties

 The inclusion of the Buy America rule in this legislation is not the only aspect of the EV charging project that has generated considerable debate. Regional challenges pose more of an issue than originally anticipated. Although many states reported common potential hurdles like vandalism, range anxiety, supply chain, and electricity challenges, unique geographic problems have also arisen. For example, Nebraska reported in its plan that a shift to electric vehicles could decrease revenue collection from gas tax. Iowa aired out concerns about stations being hit by and damaged by snow plows. Michigan cited rodent damage as a potential concern. Finally, Oklahoma flagged political opposition to the chargers as a problem that could be both pervasive and fatal to the overall electric charging process.

Moreover, the law caught a substantial amount of flak for a curious decision to skip interstate rest stops when installing the EV charging stations. Although at first glance this would appear to be a pivotal oversight, it stems from a 1956 law that restricts commercial activity, in this case including electric car charging, at rest stops. The Federal Highway Administration, to alleviate these concerns, issued guidance that says electric vehicle chargers should be “as close to Interstate Highway Systems and highway corridors as possible” and generally no more than one mile from the exit. Furthermore, some of the older rest stops are excluded from the 1956 guidance. However, this is not enough to sate critics as many continue to fight for the 1956 law to be changed. They claim that the existence of the restriction drastically inconveniences drivers, planners, and vehicles while potentially creating a wealth disparity by forcing low-income families, who traditionally rely more on public rest areas, to avoid purchasing electric vehicles.

Conclusion

President Biden deserves to be lauded for his ambitious plan for electric vehicles which attempts to square combating the effects of climate change with preserving American manufacturing while simultaneously improving infrastructure. It is worth questioning whether the law would be more effective if it simply focused its efforts on one of these areas. As a commentator at the Cato Institute noted, “The goal of infrastructure spending should be better infrastructure — and if you’re trying to pursue policies to mitigate climate change, well that should be the overall goal … Anything that hinders that should be avoided.”  Only time will reveal the answer to this question.


Who Has to Pay? Major Contractual Elements That Affect Which Party Bears the Cost of Supply Chain Delays and Price Increases in Construction Projects

Kristin Thompson, MJLST Staffer

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic there have been supply chain issues occurring around the world, causing constant price increases and delivery delays for construction materials.[1] While there are numerous factors that will affect exactly where the expenses of those delays fall, this article briefly outlines the major contractual elements that will come into play when determining whether the contractor, subcontractor or owner bears the risk. The first question that should be asked when investigating COVID-19 related supply chain issues is, “what does the contract say?” However, my first area of analysis begins when the answer to that question is “we don’t have one yet.”

 

The contract is not yet executed

This is the first major element to be addressed: what point of the contractual process the parties are in. To be clear, once the contract and subcontracts are executed the parties must rely on contract remedies and their pricing structures for relief. However, if the contracts have not yet been executed the contractor and subcontractors still have the potential to push the risk onto the owner or devise an equitable way to share those risks. They can build the supply chain-related price increases and project delay costs into their estimates, putting the owner in the position to either accept the increased cost and timeline or forego the project. During this pre-execution process the contractors will largely either be bidding a cost plus guaranteed maximum price model (“GMP”) or a lump sum model.[2] Here the GMP is ideal as the contractor can build the increased costs into the contingency. The lump sum model will call for an upward adjustment to their estimated total costs to account for the increases, chancing that those estimates will be enough. After adjusting their price model, the contractor and subcontractors can then add contractual language specifically saying that they are allowed time extensions for any and all supply chain delays, define their force majeure clause as inclusive of a pandemic or epidemic, and include change in law provisions that cover mandates issued as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The Contract is Executed

In this case, the parties will need to dive into their contract to see who bears the responsibility for extra costs and find out if they are able to extend their timelines without consequence. Issues relating to extra costs will be almost exclusively determined by whether or not a GMP or lump sum price model was used. Absent provisions stating otherwise, a GMP will allocate the extra costs to the owner up to the guaranteed maximum price as those costs come out of the contingency fee, while a lump sum contract will allocate them to the contractor as the costs will come out of the total bid price.[3] In the latter scenario, the contractor can then hold subcontractors to the price of their contract and make them bear their own price increases which would relieve the contractor from some of the extra cost burden. However, the contractor must keep in mind the reality in which a subcontractor would not be able to bear the extra costs and then either go out of business or refuse to perform. Legal action taken will either be futile if the subcontractor is insolvent, or expensive and time-consuming if they refuse to perform.

The parties then must determine whether or not schedule extensions resulting from supply chain issues are proper. This determination will largely be based on the force majeure clause and change in law provision located in the general conditions.

 

Force Majeure Clause

If the COVID-19 pandemic is found to be included as a force majeure event, the contractor will be allowed a time extension for the extra work relating thereto. Some contracts pre-dating the pandemic already used language relating to a pandemic or epidemic. The most regularly used form contracts, 200AIA.201-017[4] and ConsensusDocs 200[5],include broad force majeure provisions that have been read to include the pandemic.[6] The AIA provides for “other causes beyond contractors control,[7]” and the ConsensusDocs200 for “any cause beyond the control of constructor” and “epidemics.[8]” The specific delays must still be attributed to the pandemic, and proving causation will depend on the amount of proof the suppliers can provide to support that claim. The more challenging situations are those in which the contracts have narrow force majeure clauses or contain catch-all phrases.[9] Interpretation in these cases tend to be dependent on state law and vary widely.[10] If found to not include the pandemic, the contractor will not be guaranteed a time extension for delays and will be held to their original timeline absent other contractual provisions affording them an extension.

 

Changes in Law Provision

The final factor is whether the contract has a change of law provision. If so, executive orders or other changes of law related to the pandemic may allow for time extensions.[11] For instance, a delay in production because a factory producing specified windows had to cut their work force in half to stay in line with federal social distancing mandates would constitute a change in law allowing the contractor an extension while they wait for the windows. ConsensusDOCS 200 currently provides that “the contract price or contract time shall be equitably adjusted by change order for additional costs resulting from any changes in laws…[12]” thus laying out an avenue for relief for those party to a ConsensusDOCS 200 contract. Conversely, the AIA.201-2017 currently does not provide a change in law provision, taking away this option for the large number of contractors that use this form.

In sum, when viewing supply chain delays and expenses in an attempt to ascertain who bears the risk one should look to where the parties are at in their contractual process, the price model being used, the general conditions involved and the breadth of the force majeure and change in law provisions.

 

Notes

[1] Continued Increases In Construction Materials Prices Starting To Drive Up Price Of Construction Projects, As Supply-chain & Labor Woes Continue, The Associated General Contractors of America (November 9, 2021).

[2] Richard S. Reizen, Philip P. Piecuch, & Daniel E. Crowley, Practice Note, Construction Pricing Models – Choosing an Appropriate Pricing Arrangement, Gould + Ratner (2018).

[3] Joseph Clancy, How Do Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) Contracts Work?, Oracle (May 20, 2021).

[4] AIA Document 201-2017.

[5] ConsensusDOCS 200.

[6] Force Majeure Provisions: COVID-19, Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (June 3, 2021).

[7] AIA Document 201-2017 § 8.3.1.

[8] ConsensusDOCS 200 § 6.3.1.

[9] Douglas V. Bartman, Force Majeure in Construction and Real Estate Claims, American Bar Association (July 17, 2020).

[10] Id.

[11] Peter Hahn, Enough About Force Majeure! What Other Options Does a Construction Contractor Have for COVID-19 Pandemic Losses?, JDSupra (April 3, 2020).

[12] ConsensusDOCS 200 § 3.21.1