EV Charging Needs to be as Simple as Buying Gas

Two recently passed bills in Washington state helps it take two large steps forward toward a bright, EV future.

Kate White Tudor of White Tudor LLC is the primary author of this guest blog and represents NRDC in Washington state.

Washington state has passed two leading laws on electric vehicles. The signing of these bills by Gov. Jay Inslee last week has helped ensure that people will be able to charge their EV as easily as buying gas (SB5192, Das) and will be able to charge their EVs at home, at work and on the road as the state moves toward a new goal of all new passenger vehicles being zero-emitting by 2030 (HB 1287, Ramel).

Making EV charging as simple as buying gas

If you drive an EV, you know EV charging networks can still be a patchwork — different networks require different apps, fobs or cards with bar codes, or calls to 1-800 numbers. Some require a monthly pre-paid subscription, even if you only charge once.

SB 5192, sponsored by Sen. Mona Das (D-Kent), will establish standards for the EV charging experience across Washington. EV chargers will show how much each charging session will cost. Drivers will pay only for the electricity they use, using a credit card. These requirements take effect in January 2023.

An estimated 1 million vehicles in the state must be zero emission by 2030, and over 2 million by 2035, to meet the state’s deep decarbonization goals.

Forecasting, planning and building an EV future

HB 1287, sponsored by Rep. Alex Ramel (D-Bellingham), includes sweeping policies to ensure Washington has the EV infrastructure we need to keep our climate promises including:

EV Charging in the building code: Washington already requires new buildings to wire 10 percent of parking for EV chargers, the strongest law in the country when adopted in 2019.

But this won’t be nearly enough to serve all the EVs the state needs to meet its commitments to reduce carbon pollution. According to the Washington State Energy Strategy, an estimated 1 million vehicles in the state must be zero emission by 2030, and over 2 million by 2035, to meet the state’s deep decarbonization goals.

HB 1287 will update the state building code to require both residential and commercial buildings to build enough EV charging capacity as we need to serve a rapidly electrifying fleet.

Looking into the EV future: HB 1287 will create a “crystal ball” for Washington to see into the future of transportation. The new mapping and forecasting tool will allow planners to explore scenarios, including emissions in overburdened communities, human health, transit capacity, passenger and commercial vehicle emissions and more to plan investments in EV charging infrastructure.

The model will help state and local governments, utilities and others figure out how many EVs will be on the road, what types of EVs they are, and where and when they will need to charge.

With the promise of new federal funding for EV infrastructure, decision-makers will need this crystal ball to make wise plans for EV charging investments.

Ensuring grid capacity for 1 million EVs: Putting millions of EVs on the road means additional load on the electric grid. Utilities will need to power multiple city and county electrified fleets, private vehicles, transit buses and local goods delivery, which may put a strain on local distribution systems absent good planning and smart-charging programs.

Utilities also must plan to power electrified freight vehicles, including trucks that travel from outside of their service territory.

Taking a big step to all EVs in 2030: HB 1287 already inspired many headlines by establishing a state goal for all passenger vehicles to be EVs in 2030.

However, the legislature put a condition on the 2030 goal — it would not take effect until the state passed a comprehensive road usage charge. Inslee vetoed this section of the bill, stating in his message that while he supported the important goal of 100 percent EVs, he stated it is “too important” to tie to implementing a new road user charge.

Inslee also stated he intends to advocate “for a national 100 percent zero-emission vehicle standard by 2035.” 2030 goal supporters already have stated their intent to continue pushing to establish an earlier 100 percent EV goal in state law.

We have so much work before us to achieve a zero-emissions future. SB 5192 and HB 1287 take us several big steps forward to ensure Washington will be one of the best states in the nation for driving an EV.

Source: greenbiz