What does the landscape for electric vehicles look like in Tennessee?
That’s the question panelists at the Electric Mobility Innovations Conference, held at the Partnerships in Education and Industry (PIE) Innovation Center sought to answer.
“Building an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure” was the subject of the panel, which featured Lizzy Gaviria, grants analyst at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Office of Energy Programs; Lance Irwin, vice president of partnerships and project development at Seven States Power Corporation; and Savannah Robertson, program coordinator at Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Air Quality Office.
The panel was moderated by Courtney Piper, of Piper Communications, who kicked the panel off by inquiring about the status of the program Drive Electric Tennessee, which was started in 2018 with the goal of having 200,000 electric vehicles on the roads of Tennessee by 2028.
Gaviria, whose TDEC office has been involved in the Drive Electric Tennessee initiative, told attendees that as of 2023 there were about 36,000 electric vehicles registered in Tennessee.
Since 2019, she says, there has been an increase in electric vehicle registrations by 29,000, adding, “We’re continuing to see that go up.”
Contributing to these registrations is “range confidence,” Irwin said.
Knowing that one’s vehicle can go somewhere with enough power to safely get back home is an important factor, with Irwin noting most people with electric vehicles will primarily charge their cars at home.
“It’s a paradigm shift, and it’s very hard [to transition to an EV] if you’re not seeing the infrastructure,” Irwin said.
Beyond that, if someone does not have a garage for their car, where will they charge their vehicle is the question Irwin said many who are interested in EVs are asking.
The morning of the conference, on Jan. 31, TDOT announced it had awarded $21 million in federal funds to 23 applicants hoping to establish fast-charging electric vehicle stations in Tennessee.
Those 23 applicants will bring about 30 new charging locations, and Robertson said this will help to fill “infrastructure gaps” as the state continues to pursue its electric vehicle goals.
From there, Piper asked, “How many fast-charging locations do we currently have operating in Tennessee?”
Responding, Gaviria said there are presently 97 commercially and publicly available charging stations.
“That’s part of what [TDEC is] trying to address — when you go to a fast charging station, you want to feel confident that you’re going to have the charging power that you need and a connector-type you can use,” Gaviria said.
Irwin added that there’s a fast-charging network, which was established by TDEC in partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority, and it allows for EV drivers to provide comments and feedback on charging range.
He recalls reading a comment regarding a charging station in a rural area, which said, “Thank goodness this is here. I wouldn’t have made it home.”
For the residents of that rural community, an EV charging station may not yet make since, but Irwin says it expands range confidence. He also said it can be a tool for more rural communities to bring in new clientele to their local businesses and restaurants.
Depending on the power offered at a given charging station, it can take around 30 minutes to get a charge, so having the option to enjoy what a community offers is a perk.
In some cases, there are attempts to make charging stations more compatible with the electric vehicle lifestyle by offering rest areas and lounges.
“I don’t think [convenience stores] are going to go away,” Irwin told attendees. “In the UK, they’re doing what they call a ‘forecourt,’ but it’s basically a nice sort of restaurant, a coffee shop, a lounge and really nice, accessible restrooms — a Buc-ee’s kind of restroom. I think that’s a business opportunity to have a place, not just a convenience store model.”
Beyond the personal EV, there’s also the question of public transportation.
Robertson noted there’s an app called Transit, which she said thinks of “mobility as a service,” adding, “It’s kind of like Google Maps, where you can look at how can I get from point A to point B without having to use my own individual vehicle, or Uber or Lyft.”
She said one’s dependency on having their own vehicle will lessen in the future, and cited the pilot car-sharing program in Knoxville called Zipcar.
With Zipcar membership, one can have access to a car when they need it, and then return it to the charging station after use.
Additionally, she said there are 12 electric buses in Knoxville.
With public transportation, Gaviria noted there will be a need for greater power and longer turnaround times for charging.
Similarly, trucking fleets will also require significant power to continue delivering goods. Whether the Environmental Protection Agency would be sponsoring these measures, through the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act or by other means, remains to be seen.
[ad_2]
Source link