The White House hits the accelerator pedal to increase electric vehicle adoption
(credit: Getty Images | DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP)
The news earlier this week that the ambitious 54.5mpg Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency target is dead in the water was unwelcome for those worried about the ever-growing problem of climate change. But we can take some cheer from yesterday's announcement from the White House detailing plans to boost the uptake of electric vehicles here in the United States.
The plan involves a concerted effort from the government (the Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, US Air Force and US Army) as well as a number of states, utilities companies, automakers, and EV infrastructure companies that is meant to make life a lot easier for EV drivers in the coming years.
As we've repeatedly noted, it's all well and good being able to buy an electric car, but widespread adoption will require the same kind of infrastructure support that already exists for fossil fueled vehicles. That's where this plan comes in. Among the specific measures announced there is $4.5 billion in loan guarantees for companies building charging facilities, the creation of alternative fuel and zero emissions corridors, more EVs on state and federal government fleets, and a plan for hackathons to find new solutions to topping up EV batteries.
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