Washington DC Auto Show, located near White House, dedicated the entire pavilion to electric vehicles for the first time. The change comes especially during the time Biden’s administration is working on combating climate change. The Autoshow ends on the weekend, and big changes are expected as the US shifts from fossil fuels to electric vehicles.
The Biden administration also has plans to convert an estimated 600,000 of its fleet to alternative fuels as part of a renewed commitment to combat climate change. Major issues like the infrastructure and the cost of the vehicles are being tackled one by one as the country shifts. This is a big change as the Auto Show has all EVs. It showed a world with all vehicles being electric. chief executive of the Washington DC Auto Show, John O’Donnell stated, “EVs have now been adopted on a global scale,”
O’Donnell further added, “We’ve had other technologies and declared them a pavilion, but I thought it was very important right now for us to make it larger and more high profile.” Not just because of the current debate over EVs in Washington but also to “dispel the myth the US car dealers do not want to sell electric vehicles”.
Infrastructure for EVs
Matthew Nelson, director of government affairs at Electrify America, said the infrastructure that serves the public must be “future-proofed”. Ultra-fast charging at 350 kW of power, or the equivalent to 20 miles of range per minute, has been his paramount message to government stakeholders.
Nelson stated, “We think it’s really important that the chargers paid for today are able to charge faster than the vehicles on the market today. The vehicles are getting faster and faster every model year. If we design for today’s vehicles it will be outdated in five years.”
A sponsor of EV pavilion on the Auto Show, Electrify America the largest EV charging network in the country. With 800 charging stations, the areas covered also include remote locations. Furthermore, the company plans to increase the numbers to 1,800 charging stations by 2026. To meet Biden’s goals, other charging station installers should come forward as 500,000 charging stations are expected. While automakers have been working on installing their own charging stations to provide a unique experience for their customers. The majority of the charging stations are expected to be made publicly available to everyone. There are 31 different brands of auto manufacturers in the US that use the same non-proprietary standard for charging and Nelson said leveraging the consensus around that single standard is in the public’s interest.
