Bills' merger makes clean-driving future possible
The merger of two separate but related pieces of legislation in Olympia now approved by the House and Senate strengthens what each sought to accomplish: encouraging and preparing for cleaner and greener transportation in Washington state and doing so within this decade.
The first bill sought to set a requirement that all new vehicles sold in the state, as of 2030, would have to be zero-emission vehicles, either plug-in electrics or other zero-emission vehicles. During the course of the session, that legislation, facing some push-back, was stepped down from a mandate to a goal; still a useful tool for encouraging more to consider purchasing plug-in electric vehicles EVs as a meaningful way to reduce the states largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.
The second piece of legislation, House Bill 1287, looks at what happens on the other end of the plug, helping to ensure access to a reliable and easy-to-locate system of stations for charging electric vehicles on the road and at home. That bill requires the state Department of Commerce to develop and maintain a map of publicly available electric charging stations while forecasting future needs; requires private and public electric utilities to plan for increased demand as the number of electric vehicles on the road grows; and requires rule changes in the State Building Code regarding charging stations at residential apartments.
As the price of electric vehicles has steadily declined and the mileage range of their batteries has increased, the last bit on hesitancy on the part of the car-buying public has been the availability of charging stations, especially when miles from home. Running out of juice rather than gas puts a new twist on the old problem of running on empty. The legislation will help ensure that as more EVs hit the road, the charging infrastructure particularly for fast-charging will be nearly as common as gas stations.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-bills-merger-makes-clean-driving-future-possible/