WASHINGTON (AP), Monday’s federal strategy by the Biden administration aims to build 500,000 charging stations across the country for electric cars and lower the price of electric cars, with the ultimate goal of transforming America’s auto industry.
Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, stated that electric vehicles are the future of transportation in America and worldwide at an EV charging station in suburban Maryland.
President Joe Biden’s $1 Trillion infrastructure law last month authorized a national network of charging stations. He also set aside $5 billion for the states to build them. Maryland will receive $63 million. Additionally, the law provides $2.5 billion in local grants for charging stations in rural and disadvantaged areas.
Biden’s 2 trillion social and environment policy bill is currently pending in Senate. It includes a $7500 tax credit to lower electric vehicle costs. Harris stated that electric vehicles should be accessible to everyone. It should be easy and accessible to everyone. It’s just like filling up your car full of gas.
Harris stated that the auto industry is already moving towards electric vehicles. He added that “we need to make it faster and make sure it’s driven by the United States.”
Harris stated that public chargers in urban, suburban, and rural areas make it easier to buy an electric car. He also said that “figuring out how to charge it” is the biggest obstacle most people face to purchasing one.
She said that people who live in apartments might not have a driveway where they can plug in a plug. Rural residents might have to travel miles to get a charger.
Harris visited Brandywine’s maintenance facility, just outside Washington. She was shown how chargers work, and she learned about a plan for electrifying the fleet of government vehicles in Maryland’s Prince George’s County.
Harris exclaimed, “There’s not sound or fume!” as she charged one vehicle in the county. Harris asked, “How can I tell it’s working?” She laughed.
Mahidhar Reddy (CEO and founder of SemaConnect), a Maryland-based company that created the charging station, stated that the car is fully charged once the display turns steady green.
According to the White House, the new EV charging strategy creates a joint office between federal Energy and Transportation departments. It issues guidelines and standards for states and consults with manufacturers, state and municipal governments, civil rights groups, tribes, and environmental justice and civil right groups.
Officials hope that the advisory committee for electric vehicles will be established by both departments.
The White House stated that electric cars would be adopted faster by personal and commercial vehicles to help achieve Biden’s goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, while creating thousands of new jobs.
This effort is also intended to aid the U.S. in leapfrogging China in the plug–in EV market. The U.S. market share in plug-in electric vehicles is currently one-third of the Chinese EV market .
Biden set the goal of electric cars and trucks accounting for half of all new vehicles sold by 2030.
LMC Automotive Consulting expects that the U.S. will see nearly 400,000 fully-electric vehicles this year. This is almost twice last year. While EVs make up just 2.6% of all sales, the firm anticipates that sales will rise to more than 730,000 next and more than 2,000,000 by 2025.
Even with 2 million sales, EVs would still only account for 12% of U.S. vehicle sales.
Republicans, including those who voted for the new infrastructure law have criticised Biden for being too preoccupied with electric vehicles technology while Americans are dealing with an increase in gasoline prices and natural gases prices .
Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Republicans also criticized a Democratic bill that would provide an additional $4500 tax credit for vehicles made at U.S. plants that operate under a union-negotiated collective contracting agreement. The No. 2 House Republican in Louisiana, Steve Scalise. 2 House Republican, Steve Scalise, the No.
Last month, Biden ordered the release of a record 50,000,000 barrels of oil from America’s strategic reserve. This was in coordination with other large energy-consuming countries. As fears of another economic slowdown are growing from the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, gas prices have fallen over recent weeks.
