“Were you at the National Press Club on Tuesday? That was a great conference put on by the Copper Development Association on electric vehicles, EVs. If you couldn’t make it, here’s three brief videos excerpting the first panel discussion:
Jason Hartke, President, Alliance to Save Energy
“Great question. I like really where the David’s [on this panel] are coming from in terms of making sure that we have the right policy framework. And just to back up a little bit on how I view the policy framework.
“We know there's a wave coming. And we can just watch it crash and see this EV revolution take hold in a haphazard way. Or we can get behind the wheel a little bit, pardon the transportation pun, and steer this thing to, just like David was saying, to make sure that we're hitting multiple values simultaneously.
“And I think that's critically important. And I think that the one thing that fights against us in this is the incrementalism of this town.
“David [Livingston of Atlantic Council Global Energy Center] mentioned bipartisan policy solutions. Our organization is dedicated to bipartisan policy solutions. They're hard to come by.
“And again, often incremental. How do we think bold? How do we come up with a really bold EV charging infrastructure plan that both sides of the aisle can rally around?
“Because it isn't just about climate change. Although it has a lot to do with climate change. It isn't just about our dependency on oil. This could be the biggest economic opportunity in our country. This could be similar to creating the interstate highway system.
“And we to get to that level of ... I think we need to get to that level of ambition if we are going to see the type of progress that we want. And be able to get things across the equity side, costs, accessibility.
“All those have to come from, I think, really big thinking and coming together and rallying people to come together.”
Amanda Best, Senior Commission Advisor, Maryland Public Service Commission
“During the hearings that we had on electric vehicles, as a big discussion is a perception of driver anxiety. Of, am I going to be able to charge my car?
And so those publicly accessible chargers are important. Because it does give people the peace of mind that I'm still going to have somewhere to charge. I'm not going to run out of a battery. And I'm going to be able to make it home.
At least from the regulator perspective, it's trying to balance who actually pays for those public chargers. Is it all ratepayer based? Or is it some sort of compromise between ratepayer and other funds? I think that's more of the perspective, at least from a state regulator.”
David Terry, Executive Director, National Association for State Energy Officials
“I’ve been in the space for a long time. I think some of the significant policy drivers that I would point to ... We'll get into more maybe during discussion and questions. But something that Guillermo [Areas of BMW] said, I think is particularly true, and comes with a trend that's emerging, and that's easy mobility and access. It's not just EVs.
So it's access both from an equity perspective. But also to address urban, rural, a variety of transportation needs.
We have seen just a remarkable up swell in the last five years. And the last few years in particular, of states across the country taking policy actions.
Obviously the coastal states. We all know about the ZEV mandates, et cetera. But I think, in part, it's a combination of taking action on climate, wanting to address long-term energy costs in transportation. That are moving many other states in that same direction.”