Podcast – Cities in Alabama prepare to support more electric vehicles
This week, Governor Kay Ivey and other state lawmakers announced a campaign to encourage more Alabamians to switch to electric cars.
The initiative is called “Drive Electric Alabama“.
Using a layer selection on this map of the city, you can see plenty of EV stations strewn all over Huntsville.
For the time being, there are enough charging points, but if the Drive Electric Alabama campaign succeeds in convincing the public to switch to EVs, there will be insufficient.
According to a Huntsville spokesperson, the city does not have to provide enough charging points, just as it does not have to set up gas stations.
However, the city welcomes public-private partnerships.
One agreement has already been reached with Tesla to install 12 superchargers in Midcity, which is scheduled to be completed in the coming months.
Although the state, in general, isn’t very electric car-friendly right now, Huntsville district Representative & House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels consider Huntsville to be the exception when it comes to arranging for that infrastructure.
Public-private partnerships, grants, and roughly $80 million from the president’s newly signed infrastructure bill, he adds, will help build that infrastructure across the state.
Anthony Daniels said:
We’re moving in this direction fairly quickly. Huntsville has been out front of this particular issue for some time, now that gives us an opportunity to share that risk with the state of Alabama and draw down on some of those dollars so that we can increase not just our fleet and our opportunity, but also increase the infrastructure so a person can drive from Huntsville to mobile and have access to EV charging stations on the way.
Anthony DanielsStatament
EVs can go approximately 200 miles on average before needing to be recharged, and as of 2020, around 3,000 Alabamians are driving them.
However, interest is growing, and firms are investing here as well.
Mercedes-Benz is building an electric car battery plant in Bibb County, while Hyundai plans to produce electric automobiles at its Montgomery plant.
Kelly Schrimsher, the Huntsville spokesperson, said that the city is already in talks with partners interested in providing more EV charging points to public property.
