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EV Charging Solutions, one of the largest electric vehicle fast-charging network operators on the West Coast, plans to build 52 such stations at 21 locations across Washington state by the end of the year.
The build-out of electric vehicle charging stations is part of an $8.1 million grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation to bolster the number of charging stations across the Evergreen State.
“We’re honored to partner with the Washington State Department of Transportation to increase consumer access to public fast charging and accelerate the transition to zero-emission transportation,” Gustavo Occhiuzzo, CEO and co-founder of EVCS, said in a news release. “Our goal is to democratize the EV charging experience by tackling some of the largest hurdles EV drivers face today. This includes access to reliable and fast public EV charging across all applications, simplified pricing, and location convenience. With help from the ZEVIP grant, we’re able to address these issues for Washington EV drivers, making EV adoption more seamless.”
ZEVIP is the Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Partnership, a broad program to make electric vehicle charging more accessible.
Per the news release, EVCS plans to build charging stations in Port Townsend, Poulsbo, Bainbridge Island, Gig Harbor, Kingston and Port Orchard. The company is also adding charging stations in Twisp, Pateros and Newhalem, locations along the Cascade Loop National Scenic Byway.
Last year, Gov. Jay Inslee said Washington will follow California’s lead and ban the sale of new gas-powered motor vehicles in the state by 2035. Standards adopted by the Department of Ecology require automobile manufacturers to sell an increasing percentage of electric and other zero-emissions vehicles based on overall sales until reaching 100% by 2035.
Lawmakers set a goal of phasing out sales of new internal combustion-powered vehicles by 2030 as part of the 16-year, nearly $17 billion “Move Ahead Washington” transportation package that passed the Legislature during last year’s session.
In 2020, Washington lawmakers passed and Inslee signed it into law Senate Bill 5811 directing the state Department of Ecology to adopt California’s emissions standards as they’re rolled out.
Baruch Feigenbaum, senior managing director of transportation policy at the free market Reason Foundation, thinks the state is pushing electric vehicles too hard.
“First, 52 chargers is okay, but Washington is a large state,” he said in an email to The Center Square. “At a minimum chargers will be needed along the entire I-5 corridor from Portland, OR to Vancouver, BC and that is going to require a lot more than 52 chargers per year. How many gasoline and diesel pumps are in this corridor? I guarantee that it is many multiples of 52. Many intersections (with multiple fuel stations) have 52 pumps by themselves. So this scaling won't work.”
People like their gas-powered automobiles, he pointed out, because electric vehicles are currently a lateral technology at best.
“We're also seeing that folks are holding onto their cars longer,” Feigenbaum said. “The average age of an automobile on the road hit a new high, at more than 12 years. This is because automobiles are better made and also more costly. Clearly many people that are buying new ICE [internal combustion engine] vehicles today are not going to be purchasing another new vehicle in the near future.”
As far as practicality and cost go, electric vehicles are a regression, he noted.
“And more folks are buying used automobiles because they cannot afford the costs of new vehicles,” Feigenbaum said. “Those vehicles are almost certainly not going to be electric vehicles. Even today, many electric vehicles have range problems and the ones that don't are very expensive. Ten years is a pipe dream and I think 20 will be a challenge as well.”