The future of vehicular transportation is electric. Although electric vehicles (“EVs”) make a small percentage of the vehicles on America’s roads, they are bound to increase as decreasing production costs make them cheaper and the country’s network of public charging stations is beefed up. Arizona, a mostly red state that has, until recently, been under the control of Republicans, is surprisingly one of the states with the most electric vehicles in the country.
According to recent data from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, there are 28,770 registered electric vehicles in Arizona, making it the seventh state in terms of EV density. Another metric that looked at EV ownership per 1,000 residents found that there are just over four electric cars per 1,000 people; this measurement pushes Arizona up to sixth place, behind Oregon and Colorado and just ahead of Nevada and Vermont.
Despite Arizona’s relatively right-leaning history, the state has a strong and steadily growing EV community, and the state’s ranking was welcomed by electric vehicle enthusiasts. The ranking is in line with their membership numbers, which have been steadily increasing over the month. However, Arizona can definitely do even better, they say. Tucson Electric Vehicle Association vice president Jerry Asher says that while Arizona’s electric vehicle space has seen significant growth, this has mostly been in major urban areas.
The biggest challenge to electric vehicle adoption, Asher notes, is Arizona’s poor network of public EV charging stations, especially in non-urban areas. There are 1,448 level 2 and 385 fast-charging stations, says Arizona Public Interest Research Group Education Fund executive director Diane Brown. Many of these chargers aren’t available 24/7, she says, making public charging an often inconvenient option for EV drivers. To boost EV adoption and achieve 10% electric vehicle ownership by 2030, Arizona would have to significantly increase the number of public chargers within its borders.
The Arizona PIRG Education Fund says that to achieve 10% EV ownership by 2030, Arizona would need at least 14,888 Level 2 plugs and 1,098 fast ones, a feat that would require the aid of local, state and federal policies designed to make electric vehicle charging accessible, convenient and cheap, Brown says.
Fortunately, Arizona’s EV space has a lot working for it, such as the fact that most public chargers are installed at stores and libraries, says president of the Phoenix Electric Auto Association Jim Stack. The state’s existing charging infrastructure is good, he says, and it is constantly improving. A wide network of reliable public charging stations coupled with improving EV technology and reducing battery and production prices will eventually make electric vehicles as cheap and convenient as their internal combustion engine counterparts.
As more players such as Net Element (NASDAQ: NETE) join the electric vehicle space, the industry is likely to see stiff competition among carmakers, and that alone could accelerate EV uptake in different U.S. states, since competition often brings prices down.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Net Element (NASDAQ: NETE) are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/NETE
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