In making the tri-state announcement the parties to the agreement noted that the goal is to make EVs more attractive to purchasers by addressing the range anxiety issue. It is hoped that the building of a recharge network along the Interstate Highway system will also encourage EV charging development on other roadways and in smaller communities regionally.
Colorado has seen EV buy-in grow from 100 to 8,000 vehicles on the road since 2011. Utah currently ranks 7th in EV adoption. Nevada ranks 13th. The latter currently has 2,104 EVs and almost 32,000 hybrids registered.
The three states offer a number of EV initiatives including:
Some of the money to pay for the charging infrastructure may come from the recent Volkswagen nationwide settlement. The states may also draw on money from federal zero-emission initiatives.
The three states will also take advantage of the recent federal government commitment of $4.5 billion aimed at building a charging infrastructure for more than 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) of highways in 35 states to ensure that EV drivers will be able to recharge every 80 kilometers (50 miles).
There is a sense of inevitability to the rise of EVs. Automotive manufacturers have increased the number of vehicle choices since 2010 from 2 to 25 with more coming. General Motors just delivered its first Chevy Bolt to customers in the home town of Tesla Motors, Fremont, California, just to up the ante on the competition between the two companies seen as leaders in the EV marketplace. Ford Motor Company, however, has no intention of being left out of the running as a top EV competitor and is gearing up to have 40% of its entire model line all electric by 2020.
