Commercial, GHG Emissions, Industrial, Power Prices, Regulation, Utilities  -  November 10, 2017

Ceres report weighs cost of increased EV infrastructure

The development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the United States would result in benefits that far outweigh the costs, according to a report released Nov. 2 by Ceres and M.J. Bradley & Associates.

The study, Accelerating Investment in Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure, looked at 12 utilities in California, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania to evaluate how they would benefit from the installation of private chargers at vehicle owners' homes and publicly accessible chargers to accommodate plug-in electric vehicles.

The cost of investing in this infrastructure would be offset by cost savings to vehicle owners from reduced fuel and maintenance expenses, financial benefits to electric utility customers from increased utility revenue for EV charging and the value to society of greenhouse gas reductions from using EVs instead of gasoline vehicles.

The study was released in the wake of threats from Washington, D.C., to cut the electric vehicle tax credit.

"Properly designed PEV market incentives can advance diverse state and local policy goals at the same time – including energy independence and security, climate change mitigation, air quality improvement, and local economic development," Michael Bradley, president of M.J. Bradley & Associates, said in a statement. "State and local policymakers should prioritize these policies and programs in the near-term to aid in the transformation of the transportation sector from one that is dominated by petroleum fuels to one that is increasingly powered by electricity."

The cases considered in the analysis estimated that approximately 75% of charging infrastructure cost would be for home chargers and the rest for publicly accessible chargers.

The statistics presented in the report are followed by recommendations from Ceres about policy programs to enhance the charging stations infrastructure in the U.S., including rebates, grants and tax credits, as well as vehicle purchase incentives and utility electric vehicle programs.

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