By: Kaden Uddin and Mimi McCrea
Imagine a world where a drive from Chicago to Nashville released 369 pounds of CO2. Don’t think too hard, because that’s our reality. This figure highlights the growing concern of greenhouse gas emissions across the country.
As emissions rise, electric vehicles (EVs) offer a promising solution. With advancements in technology and expanding infrastructure, EVs offer an alternative to gas-powered cars. Transitioning to electric transportation could significantly reduce carbon emissions while creating new economic opportunities in the clean energy sector.
According to the Pew Research Center, “half of U.S. adults say they are not too or not at all likely to consider purchasing an EV.” To learn more, Kaden Uddin and Mimi McCrea interviewed members of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the House Committee on Technology and Infrastructure.
Congresswoman Emilia Sykes from the 13th congressional district in Ohio believes that we must better find ways to promote electric vehicles to disadvantaged and under-resourced communities, stating that we can do so “by putting out government contracts in underserved neighborhoods across the country.” While this may improve the accessibility of EVs nationwide, millions of Americans still have problems affording these highly-priced commodities.
As seen in the IEA Global EV Outlook infographic (right), the US falls in 19th place when it comes to EV sales as a portion of overall transactions, a number we must improve as we move toward a more innovative, technical future. One solution to increase the affordability of EVs, and therefore increase the quantity of EVs purchased, is to enhance EV infrastructure by adding more national power grids across the nation.
Many Americans also hold doubts about the reliability of electric vehicles, especially with how difficult it is to find public charging stations. Pennsylvania Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan hopes to make “EV charging stations as common as gas stations” and plans to do so by finding privately commissioned artists to create public art installations at gas stations that implement three or more charging stations. Is this a viable solution? Congresswoman Houlahan plans to share her ideas in her upcoming committee session and hopes her fellow Democrats will support her.
This issue is bipartisan, as Republican Garret Graves from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure also believes that electric vehicles are at the forefront of society and must be made more accessible. Whereas Democrats think that government funding should come from taxpayer dollars, Congressman Graves believes that the money used to create more electric vehicle charging stations should be pulled from “tariffs on foreign countries.”
While the future of electric vehicles is unclear, widespread adoption of EVs could become a reality if policymakers make it more affordable and accessible.