by John Engel: The governors of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin signed a memorandum of understanding
Thursday to form the Regional Electric Vehicle Midwest Coalition — an effort designed to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and deployment of charging infrastructure.REV Midwest will coordinate on regional EV infrastructure strategies and siting to spur medium and heavy-duty fleet electrification, evaluate challenges and opportunities of manufacturing, and identify disadvantaged communities to ensure an equitable transition.
“Today’s REV Midwest partnership is a bipartisan effort to build the future of mobility and electrification and connect our communities,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said. “Our partnership will enable the Midwest to lead on electric vehicle adoption, reduce carbon emissions, spur innovation, and create good-paying jobs.”
PROCESS
A. Participating States will maintain a Taskforce of senior leadership from each state.
B. The Taskforce will meet regularly to share updates and input on REV Midwest.
C. The Taskforce will regularly maintain information describing REV Midwest activities.
D. The Taskforce will identify barriers to private sector and publicly supported charging
station development and work together on recommendations to remove these barriers.
E. The Taskforce will complete progress reports at regular intervals summarizing progress
made towards the goals of REV Midwest.
F. The Participating States agree to support the Taskforce and its responsibilities.
The U.S. needs 1.03 million new charging stations to support President Biden’s goal of electric vehicles making up 50% of car sales by 2030, new analysis shows.
The analysis by policy think tank Third Way comes as major automakers have made (non-binding) agreements to significantly boost the share of EVs sold to meet pressing climate goals. But current EV charging infrastructure is extremely inadequate.
“While private companies are building out more and more EV charging infrastructure to accommodate the accelerating shift towards EVs, we need federal support to ensure a robust buildout and to make sure this infrastructure is available to all drivers, including those in rural and underserved communities,” authors Ellen Hughes-Cromwick and Alexander Laska wrote.
The report estimates that $7.5 billion set aside for EV charging infrastructure in the bipartisan infrastructure deal could help fund as many as 600,000 charging stations. The authors recommend an expansion of the 30C Alternative Fuel Refueling Property Credit through budget reconciliation to finish the job.
There are 96,000 public chargers, and 14,000 private ones, in the U.S., according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Third Way projections:
- 50% of light-duty vehicle sales must be Evs to meet 2030 goal
- 27 million EVs on the road in 2030 to meet 50% sales goal, requiring 1.125 million public chargers
- $6.5 billion funding needed in addition to the bipartisan infrastructure deal to support EV infrastructure buildout
