Biden wants more electric cars on the road. What about charging stations?

The president has demanded that 40 percent of new cars be electric by 2030. But motorists remain concerned about electricity shortages, no matter how rare. Two years ago, President Biden gathered at the White House the heads of the three largest U.

Summary:S. automakers, Ford, General Motors and Sterantis (which makes Fiat - Chrysler cars). On this occasion, Biden gladly sat behind the wheel of an electric SUV. Most importantly, all three companies together promised that by the end of the decade at least 40 percent, if not half, of the cars they sell will be zero-emission vehicles.

Across Pennsylvania Avenue, Congress has been busy pushing this lofty goal. The infrastructure bill, the details of which have yet to be finalized, would provide $7.5 billion to support the National Electric Vehicle Charging Network. According to experts, this money is urgently needed if the U.S. wants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and reduce the global impact on the planet. Transportation accounts for 29 percent of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, and more than half of those emissions come from passenger and other vehicles.

If the U.S. wants to meet the White House's goal of introducing electric cars by 2030, much will have to be done in combination. However, this means that only 10-11% of the cars on the road in 2030 will be electric.

Adequate charging infrastructure is not the only obstacle to achieving the goal. Vehicle manufacturers need to maintain their commitment to providing more electric vehicles at lower prices. Utilities must take on the extra weight of vehicles at prices people can afford. Americans must get used to the idea of giving up the car they have always known.

But creating more charging stations, especially public ones, is the Holy Grail of the organization. According to a recent analysis by Nicholas and colleagues, 2.4 million public and employee charging stations will be needed by 2030. If that goal is reached. Today there are 216,000.

Biden originally requested $15 billion, which the White House said would provide 500,000 charging stations. Congress cut that proposal in half. That means enough money for 250,000 fast charging stations. Given the number of charging stations the private sector can build, it doesn't cover everything, but it's a good start Nicholas says.

What follows is a joke. Most electric cars can be charged at home, away from public chargers such as gas stations, especially at the beginning of the transition. Charging in such a home will be slower, and it may take overnight to recharge the battery. For the two-thirds of Americans who live in private homes with their own garages or streets, this may be normal. They come home from work, open their car and are ready to go the next day. This is especially true for electric car owners, who tend to have higher incomes, are better educated, have multiple cars, and live in separate homes.

Nevertheless, studies show that those with good residential charging capabilities are worried about the lack of public infrastructure, even if they don't need it very often. The most popular electric cars today have a range of 250 miles. What happens, the potential owner asks, if they need to drive 300 miles a day? What chargers are available to service them?

On the one hand, this seems like a silly concern. The average daily trip is less than 40 miles, which electric cars can easily handle. But drivers want to know they won't get stuck, especially if someone needs to go to the hospital and forgot to plug in an outlet last night.

That's why the promise of federal money is so appealing. The White House newsletter says the federal government will focus on building fast-charging stations near highways; a drug that can charge a car battery in 20 minutes, compared to six to eight hours, will cost tens of thousands of dollars more. The money would also go to agriculture, disadvantaged and hard-to-reach communities #187. The White House said. In this case, the money helps.

But the state must also focus on the toughest issue -- how to impose fees to ensure that people who live in apartments or use on-street parking have access to the rates. A few years ago, Jeremy Micklek used plug-in hybrid cars for his work. At the time, he was living in an apartment in Pittsburgh. If he wanted to charge his car at home, he had to find a place to park in front of the house and then pull a long extension cord one and a half meters into the outlet. In doing so, there was a risk of tripping on the sidewalk. Fortunately, he was able to find a job, primarily at Carnegie Mellon University. There, as a professor, he studied electric cars.

Cities around the world were beginning to experiment. In Amsterdam, the government will install street chargers at the request of residents. (A quarter of new cars classified in the Netherlands last year were electric or plug-in hybrids.) In London, at least 1,300 streetlights were converted to chargers. In the U.S., charging stations used by shoppers and malls during the day may be available to nearby residents at night.

Finally, in densely populated cities, some sort of back-up program may be needed to ensure that residents' cars are charged as needed. This requires money and numerous meetings.