Electric Vehicle Charging Will Be Political

The question is whether each local authority is willing to chip in where federal funding can reach. “The next 10 years (in charging EVs) is about the urban environment, the cities, middle and low-income people,” says Reig. In a world where electric vehicles have become political lightning rods, these are the places most likely to see charger action.

EV is charged bilaterally

If electric cars and their chargers could avoid the culture wars altogether, many people would prefer it. Joe Sacks is executive director of the bipartisan EV Policy Project, an advocacy group, and says getting more public chargers on the ground is critical to getting more electricity on the road. The group’s surveys show that customer fears about the range of EVs and an unreliable charging network are preventing some from buying electricity.

Filling companies are still in their early days and some are struggling to operate as profitable businesses. Charger financing hurdles can be an almost existential concern for the industry. “There’s this scary trend where funding for electric vehicles is seen as low-hanging fruit by some in the incoming administration,” Sacks says. Some political operators “use EV repression as a tool to implement whatever flavor politics is of interest to them. This disappoints us.”

For those who depend on federal pay, even under a less-than-enthusiastic Trump administration, there’s some good news: It’s going to be very difficult for the feds to get all of the federal charger funding back. There is a government already separated at least $3.5 billion in charger money to states. 42 states have begun accepting bids for charger contracts, and 12 states have at least one station up and running. These states run the political gamut: Texas, Utah, Kentucky, and Ohio all voted Republican this October and are leading the way in charging chargers. So are Democratic states, including New York, California, Rhode Island and Maine.

“There is broad support for electrification among many critical stakeholders,” says Jason Mathers, associate vice president of the zero-emission truck initiative at the Environmental Defense Fund. Manufacturers, unions, community organizations, politicians who want more EV jobs in their districts, and big companies already experimenting with electric cars, including Walmart and Amazon, all have reasons to want chargers on the ground. Advocates like Mathers don’t believe these constituencies will disappear simply because of a change in administration, meaning the pressure to build a charging network will continue.

Sacks, director of the EV Policy Project, says the multiple messages about EV charging should appeal to all policymakers. “We want the Trump administration to make the EV transition not only for the jobs that are here, but also maintaining our competitiveness against China.”

Sacks, for example, finds it heartening that the Trump administration is seeking investment in the domestic battery mineral industry. (Most of the mining and processing of battery materials today takes place overseas, particularly in China.) To fuel this kind of industry, more Americans will need to buy electric cars, and they can’t do that without lots of EV chargers. around. Making sure all Americans have access to these new chargers, not just those who live in specific “EV-friendly” states, could come down to getting that message across.