Equitable Access to Charging Is Essential
Commute time is the single greatest predictor of escaping poverty – and in most affordable neighborhoods in America, unfortunately, the fastest commute is a car commute. Millions of families depend on unreliable, dirty vehicles that are expensive to maintain and fuel in order to get to work.
Electric vehicles can provide clean, reliable, affordable transportation that saves families thousands of dollars – especially as more models (including more used electric cars) become available. It is critically important that we avoid a “charging divide” that prevents historically underserved communities from accessing this technology.
The Biden Administration’s commitment to help deploy 500,000 charging stations nationwide, the funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the National EV Charging Initiative’s upcoming Summit January 20 all represent opportunities to address the charging challenges that face historically underserved communities. Together, we are working to:
Support Apartment Drivers. Low income drivers are more likely to live in apartments, and we need to ensure it’s as cheap and easy for them to charge as it is for drivers with dedicated garages. A variety of technologies and business models can help – updated building codes, power-management solutions for charging, convenient fast charging, even mobile charging services.
Encourage a Clean Commute. Workplace charging is another key access point for low income drivers, especially those driving used vehicles with shorter ranges and those who face longer commutes. To date, most workplaces that provide charging have been tech companies and universities; we need to encourage and support more blue-collar employers to follow suit. It should be as cheap and easy to charge your car at work, as it is to park your car at work.
Connect Rural America. Decades ago, we agreed America needed an interstate highway system that allowed us to travel freely from one end of the country to another. Similarly, we need to ensure that sparsely populated rural areas have enough fast charging to ensure all drivers can access electric vehicles.
Electrify Everything. With support from the Biden Administration and funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are also moving quickly to electrify school buses, transit systems, trucks, and more. Electric bikes and scooters, too, hold promise for providing more transportation options to underserved communities. In all these cases, we also need to ensure that historically underserved communities receive the support and funding they need to provide charging for these vehicles.
Support more than hardware. An excessive focus on hardware in our charging investments will leave historically underserved communities further behind. Charging is important – but only as a tool for unlocking access to affordable, reliable, clean mobility. We need to work together to ensure that charging investments are complemented by robust community engagement, brand-neutral marketing and technical support programs, and programs to increase access to electric vehicles of all kinds.
If done wrong, transportation electrification could leave a generation of Americans further behind, trapped driving increasingly obsolete vehicles. Working together, by contrast, we can use the electrification process to disrupt historic inequalities and build a more equitable transportation system.
