A lawmaker in one American state could make it hard for owners of electric vehicles to get out of the state in the event of a hurricane. Here’s the potential law and why it’s important.
What Happened: States have passed laws aimed at banning the sale of gas-powered vehicles in the future. One state took it a step further by seeking to ban electric vehicle sales in the future.
One of the leading states for electric vehicle purchases could now see a temporary ban on using electric vehicles during the time of a crisis.
Florida Republican state Sen. Jonathan Martin is considering legislation to ban electric vehicles like those from Tesla Inc TSLA to be used during hurricane evacuations in the state, according to Electrek.
Martin told the state’s Department of Transportation that electric vehicles could block traffic during evacuations if they run out of battery charge.
Martin serves on the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources and the Select Committee on Resiliency.
The Select Committee on Resiliency met with the Florida Department of Transportation executive director of transportation technologies in Florida.
Among the topics discussed were the $198 million the state is going to get from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for electric vehicle charging infrastructure from the current administration led by President Joe Biden.
The legislation requires electric vehicle charging stations to be 50 miles apart and serve all electric vehicles.
“With a couple of guys behind you, you can’t get out of the car and push it to the side of the road. Traffic backs up. And what might look like a two-hour trip might turn into an eight-hour trip once you’re on the road,” Martin said.
Martin said his concern is with the electric vehicle infrastructure available in the state of Florida.
Related Link: 4 Stocks To Watch This Hurricane Season
Why It’s Important: The Florida Department of Transportation told Martin it isn’t a fan of banning electric vehicles during hurricane evacuations and that it is looking into portable EV chargers.
“We have our emergency assistance vehicles that we deploy during a hurricane evacuation that have gas … we need to provide that same level of service to electrical vehicles,” Department of Transportation director of transportation technologies Trey Tillander said.
The Tampa Bay Times reported around 1% of the vehicles in Florida are electric vehicles. One of the owners of an EV is state Sen. Tina Polsky.
“I don’t think you can ban an electric vehicle from evacuating because that may be the only car someone has,” Polsky said.
In December 2022, there were 203,094 electric vehicles registered in the state of Florida.
The increased funding for charging infrastructure could help ease concerns over charging.
Ultimately, once people are on the road headed out of the state, they likely won’t be able to stop at a charging station, similar to people not being able to quickly stop at a gas station.
Just like people prepare for the evacuation by filling up their vehicle with gas, owners of electric vehicles will likely need to fully charge their vehicle before evacuating the state.
The comments from the state senator may have Florida residents thinking about owning at least one non-electric vehicle or a hybrid to ensure they have the best chance to exit the state without future restrictions and without the potential of running out of charge and not finding stations prevalent.
Photo: Henryk Sadura via Shutterstock
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