Drivers of all-electric vehicles could soon cross the U.S. Northeast without worrying that they will have nowhere to charge their battery.
The new regional initiative, called the Northeast Electric Vehicle Network has been launched last week and will bring together 11 northeastern states plus Washington, D.C. to build an electric car charging network. The network plans to install hundreds of public chargers over the next years in order to encourage people to adopt an EV.
According to Plug In America, a San Francisco advocacy group, over 15,000 EVs are currently on the U.S. roads.
“The ultimate goal is for electric vehicle drivers to never have to worry about having access to charging stations as they drive from Maine down to D.C.,” said Brett Taylor, director of policy and communications for the Delaware Department of Transportation.
The states that are part of this network are as follows: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. The states will collaborate with charging network companies to work on placing charging stations, and with automakers, both large retailers and small shops.
As some reports said, the Northeast imports nearly 25 billion gallons of petroleum each year, so if electric vehicles replaced just 5% of conventional ones, the region could save around $4.6 billion every year.
[via Inside Climate News]
