How a Biden Administration Helps EVCS

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For EV enthusiasts generally and EVCS specifically, the election results are cause for great optimism. Joe Biden has shown himself to be a true friend to the electric mobility industry, so we thought we’d outline a few ways a Biden presidency will likely benefit our company, our mission and our customers.

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Subsidization of EV Infrastructure

According to The Detroit News, while at a campaign stop in Toledo, Ohio on October 12th, Biden boasted of plans to create a nationwide “network of 500,000 charging stations” by 2030, primarily along major US highway routes where traditional fueling stations still dominate. He made a similar claim during the first presidential debate. While specifics were hazy, the implication is that federal funding will be made available to network operators like EVCS who have the know-how and wherewithal to implement his vision.

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Federal Rebates

CleanTechnica.com published an article on November 1st detailing some of Biden’s EV-related tax proposals. They include restoring the $7,500 tax credit permanently for all US-made EVs, narrowing it to those earning less than $250,000 per year, and removing the manufacturer cap, which penalizes industry leaders like GM and Tesla. This will make EVs more accessible, especially to those with limited means, thereby increasing the number of EVs on the road and, by association, the need for infrastructure.

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Government Fleet Vehicles

A November 9th piece in Car and Driver emphasized Biden’s vision of EVs as “the future of transportation.” As such, he’s not only looking to promote greater EV participation in the market, but also within the government itself, replacing outdated ICE fleet vehicles with modern, American-made electric alternatives. We have always touted our history of working with government municipalities and our fleet-specific turnkey solutions, so we should be well positioned to assist in such a transition.

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Fuel Economy Standards

The Trump administration rolled back many of the Obama-era fuel economy standards over its four years in power. According to FactCheck.org, these “were originally set to hit an average of 54.5 miles per gallon for passenger cars… by 2025.” The idea was to incentivize auto manufacturers to produce vehicles (like EVs) that would curtail fossil fuel usage and therefore reduce pollution. With Biden in the White House, it seems almost assured that, although delayed, a return to these standards will be fast-tracked, requiring more installations to support the greater EV output.

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Bringing Attention to Climate Change

Biden has made the climate change battle a consistent part of his platform and routinely plugs electrified transportation as a necessary part of the solution. Moreover, he sees the California EV market, where EVCS has been a key player in infrastructure generation, as a model of environmental activism for the rest of the nation to follow. According to CNBC, he proclaimed, “I’m all for electric cars. I’ve given big incentives for electric cars. What they’ve done in California is just crazy.”

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Additional Factors

Biden’s spirited tone toward EVs will promote the idea of responsible mobility to nationwide audiences. His investments in environmental sciences will encourage new technology advancements. His plan to rein in COVID will get more EVs back on the road as people start traveling again. And his promise to reduce foreign tariffs will lower the cost of international auto parts, making EVs cheaper to produce and more affordable to buy. All of these things will result in a need for the kind of infrastructure we provide.

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Obviously, such change won’t happen in a bubble, but fortunately, Biden seems to have the support of the big carmakers as well. On a recent call regarding battery technology, GM’s VP of Electric & Autonomous Programs, Ken Morris, stated, “We’re looking forward to working with the Biden administration in support of policies that will foster greater adoption of EVs across all 50 states and encourage investments in R&D and manufacturing.” Promising news, indeed.

Congratulations President-elect Biden and we look forward to working with you on building a zero-emission transportation future.

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See the full news stories cited above here:

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2020/10/15/joe-biden-electric-vehicles-were-not-investing/3671492001/

https://cleantechnica.com/2020/11/01/joseph-biden-aims-to-improve-us-ev-tax-credit-restore-it-for-tesla-gm/

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a34620816/biden-presidency-cars-evs/

https://www.factcheck.org/2019/05/the-facts-on-fuel-economy-standards/

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/30/trump-and-biden-both-say-they-support-electric-vehicles-in-debate.html

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Back

The Race to Democratize Charging Infrastructure

According to McKinsey & Company, “As the number of EVs on the road increases, annual demand for electricity to charge them would surge from 11 billion kWh now to 230 billion kWh in 2030… Modeling indicates that nearly 30 million chargers would be needed to deliver so much electricity in that year. While most of these chargers would be installed at residences, 1.2 million would [need to] be public chargers.” More importantly, these public chargers must be targeted to drivers of all ages, genders, races, cultures, income levels and geographic segments. As such, EVCS has identified three primary areas necessary to increasing the democratization of charging infrastructure:

Navigating California’s New EV Mandate

California’s going all in on electric. On August 25th, Governor Gavin Newsom made a very important announcement concerning the future of transportation in the Golden State: “We can solve this climate crisis if we focus on the big, bold steps necessary to cut pollution. California now has a groundbreaking, world-leading plan to achieve 100 percent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035.” Big and bold, indeed. And while highly encouraging, it brings up a number of questions moving forward.

How EVCS is Repairing Reliability Concerns

One of the biggest concerns among EV drivers today is the reliability of public chargers. One recent survey from the Department of Bioengineering at UC Berkeley claims as many as 23% of public chargers in the Bay Area alone are, as Wired sums up, “nonfunctioning at any given time, stymied by broken screens, shoddy credit card or payment systems, network connection failures, or damaged plugs.” And that’s in a locale prioritizing the conversion to electric. Testimony from motorists seems to corroborate these findings. A CEC survey of 1,290 EV drivers found that fully 60% had experienced damaged or inoperable chargers, while almost half needed assistance from customer service. We find this wholly unacceptable and have taken measures to ensure that chargers in the EVCS network rise to the standard of operability our customers expect. Here are a few ways we’re doing that:

Installation of the Month (July 2022): Kenwood Inn & Spa

A key focus for us over the last several years has been the installation of additional chargers at holiday hot spots, tourist destinations, and other key points of interest. Not only will it help dispel long-range travel anxiety among many new EV drivers, but it will also lead to a significant reduction in carbon emissions otherwise generated by gas-guzzlers during peak vacation seasons. Moreover, our egalitarian approach to site selection means we’re just as likely to install a charger at a McDonald’s as we are at a Morton’s since we understand the value in catering to a broad clientele. However, higher net worth individuals continue to drive EV sales in the US (a June 2021 Fuels Institute study specifies middle-aged males with household incomes over $100,000), so catering to venues that offer a luxury experience will encourage even greater participation by this group while serving as a bellwether for lower-income drivers who are attracted to the idea of electric mobility as a symbol of status.