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EV Legislation

GM Aspires to Go All-Electric by 2035: What It Means for EV Infrastructure

GM’s recent announcement aiming to offer an all-electric lineup of light-duty vehicles by 2035 is big news. GM is one the top car manufacturers in the world, and other manufacturers are likely to follow suit. The company is allocating $27 billion to support the pivot to electric vehicles. In light of President Biden’s plans to make the federal fleet all-electric by 2035, it suggests that massive EV adoption is just around the corner, not around the block. This is exciting, yes, but also puts some urgent priorities into the spotlight. 

Over the next decade, as we envision EVs becoming increasingly common across our neighborhoods, cities and states some key questions come to mind: Where are the EV chargers? Who doesn’t have access yet to EV chargers yet, and where do they live?  What about our rural

GM plans to become carbon neutral in its global products and operations by 2040 and has committed to setting science-based targets to achieve carbon neutrality. (Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors)

communities, where residents must drive further for everyday needs like groceries?  What about our disadvantaged communities, which often have the most to gain from reducing vehicle emissions given that they often live closest to the most dangerous transportation pollution? 

In recent memory, we can recall that the haphazard rollout of the Internet spurred the Digital Divide, where only certain communities had high speed access. With adequate foresight, the EV rollout offers us an opportunity to get it right this time. 

Planning is a critical component of any EV initiative within a business, community, state or region. Whether the objective is a Level 2 charge installation in a business parking lot or a corridor-wide buildout of fast chargers across a state, a few key questions must be addressed. Where is the optimal location? What fees will apply, if any? Will charge stations be accessible to the general public? Multiply questions like these on a national scale and the complexity could quickly threaten to overwhelm steady progress without careful, coordinated planning. Decisions now will have consequences for years to come.

Increasingly, the auto industry is recognizing that the future for transportation is electric, and we can expect other manufacturers to follow GM with strong EV announcements. The Biden Administration is certainly providing leadership, with its pledges to support electric vehicles and EV infrastructure. The progress is welcome given that EVs are terrific for local economies, and everyone stands to benefit from a rapid EV rollout no matter where they live. Getting the coordination right from the  federal level all the way to local businesses and organizations — with  state and local government entities working alongside in helping plan the transition to electric vehicles — will maximize those benefits for the most people.

Kirk Brown is President and CEO of Recharge America

Electric Vehicles Are Front and Center for the Biden Administration

President Joe Biden signs his "Made in America" executive order

 

President Joe Biden signs his "Made in America" executive orderElectric vehicles (EVs) are taking center stage in Washington D.C. policy discussions.

President Biden announced plans this week to convert the entire fleet of federal vehicles, estimated to number 645,000, to electric as part of his Buy American Executive Order. It’s just the latest in a series of statements and pledges that underscore the president’s focus on electrifying our transportation system.

As a presidential candidate, Biden talked regularly about the many advantages of EVs. His $2 trillion Energy and Climate Plan calls for expanding EV tax credits to cover hundreds of thousands of additional vehicles, as well as the installation of 500,000 EV chargers across the United States.  

With this latest Biden EV announcement, it is clear that this White House views EVs as a central strategy  for addressing multiple challenges confronting the nation. 

US Federal Fleet to Go Electric, Says Biden 

“The federal government…owns an enormous fleet of vehicles, which we’re going to replace with clean electric vehicles made right here in America by American workers, creating a million auto worker jobs and clean energy and vehicles that are at zero emissions,” Biden said on  Monday.  While the timeline of this transition remains unclear, the focus on EVs is not. 

On fuel, maintenance, power and performance, electric fleet vehicles are unmatched. Current limitations are supply and initial sticker price, but as manufacturing volumes increase and battery technology advances, these should rapidly subside. 

Some states already provide incentives for organizations to purchase fleet vehicles. In Massachusetts, for example, under the state’s MOR-EV program, commercial and nonprofit fleets, which include company-owned vehicles, companies with vans, rental car companies, and companies that provide vehicles to employees instead of paying mileage, are eligible to receive purchase rebates of up to $2500 per vehicle. (Vehicles must have been purchased on or after June 25, 2020). 

As we pointed out in an earlier Recharge America blog post about EV equity and access, government initiatives that promote EV adoption are an effective means of ensuring that people of all backgrounds and geographic locations can access and take advantage of all the benefits EVs offer.