Are we really ready to stop selling gas-powered cars in 14 years?
With the goal of a cleaner and greener future, the California government leads the country to bold initiatives in continuously minimizing gas-powered cars by promoting the use of electronic vehicles. EV charging stations are a detrimental part of this dream. The question of whether there are already enough charging stations in the country is debatable. Consumers have not yet been convinced to zero out the selling of gas-powered cars as they believe infrastructures are still insufficient.
According to Brian Maas, president of the California New Car Dealers Association, the consumers’ concerns include charging stations, range of the vehicles, cost, and maintenance. Currently, there are only 73,000 chargers in California. Experts say we have to have at least 1.2 million chargers by 2030 to seamlessly support all EVs in the state. The last thing you would want when driving an EV is to stop at nowhere, clueless about where to charge your vehicle. The good thing is, the government is laying the groundwork for its sustainable goal by allocating the budget needed for this. Governor Gavin Newsome was said to have proposed a $500 million budget for 2021 to 2022 to meet the 54,000 chargers short of the 2025 goal.
In a recent article featured in The Sacramento Bee, they write: “California already has more than 73,000 electric chargers, but a report from the California Energy Commission (CEC) projects the state will need 1.2 million public and shared private chargers by 2030 to support the number of electric vehicles on the road.”