The federal government, aiming for half of all vehicles sold to be zero-emission by 2030, has earmarked $7.5 billion to install public chargers across the country over five years, including in the tristate
But Brandt Hastings, Volta’s chief commercial officer, says the region still has fewer public chargers per electric vehicle than the national average, and the whole country will need massive additional public and private investment to support emissions reduction targets .
“We need to build the charging network ahead of the demand for electric vehicles,” he said.
Even for drivers who have convenient charging at home, keeping electric cars charged can require lifestyle changes. Kathy Mulholland, 58, of Asbury Park, NJ, compares identifying charging stations along her route to the flight plans he made as a student pilot. Many use apps on their phones.
Some adjust their driving to extend battery life and avoid high speeds or rapid acceleration, or even the car’s ambient heat, which can drain the battery. They look for other ways to keep warm. “I learned to drive with heated seats and a heated steering wheel, but no heat,” said Joe Marganski, 67, of Guilford, Connecticut.
In the city, charging is more difficult, as many people live in apartments, without a dedicated parking space. City officials should find creative ways to make chargers convenient for apartment residents, said Alexia Melendez Martineau, policy manager for Plug In America, a nonprofit that advocates for an equitable conversion to electric vehicles. Policymakers should also think about how to make cars accessible to people with lower incomes who might struggle to pay high upfront costs, he added.
Justice40 initiative of the Biden administration requires that 40 percent of federal funds for public chargers be deployed in underserved communities.
Officials are also thinking about equitably distributing the environmental benefits of the conversion. Their concern is not only that cars and trucks produce about a fifth of the nation’s greenhouse gases, but also that neighborhoods with heavy truck traffic carry higher levels of air pollution, along with higher rates of hospital admissions due to asthma and heart and respiratory diseases.
