Tesla, along with other electric vehicle manufacturers and environmental organizations, has asked the Biden administration to invest in charging infrastructure for electric buses, trucks, and other medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.
According to a letter sent this week to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the groups want the administration to allocate 10% of the money for electric vehicle charging in the bipartisan infrastructure bill signed last November, a pot that includes $7.5 billion to infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.
“Most public EV charging infrastructure has been designed and built with passenger vehicles in mind,” the letter, also signed by the Environmental Law and Policy Center, Moms Clean Air Force, and Lightning eMotors, reads. “The size and location of spaces reflect an interest in servicing the driving public, not larger commercial vehicles.”
“Most public EV charging infrastructure has been designed and built with passenger vehicles in mind,” the letter, also signed by the Environmental Law and Policy Center, Moms Clean Air Force, and Lightning eMotors, reads. “The size and location of spaces reflect an interest in servicing the driving public, not larger commercial vehicles.”
The majority of cars on the road are passenger vehicles. However, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles account for a disproportionate share of smog-causing pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.
Electrifying that category of vehicles, then, could eliminate a larger portion of emissions while also improving air quality and mitigating climate change. According to the letter, the United States requires a charging infrastructure to make this possible. The Biden administration has already made truck pollution a priority: the Department of Transportation is funding electric transit buses for state and local governments, and the Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new rule requiring new trucks to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 90 percent by 2031.
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