This in-depth Vox article discusses the Transportation Electrification Accord and the future of EV's in the U.S. AEE is mentioned as one of the organizers of the Accord. Link to the full article here. Excerpts below:
Though only about 1 percent of US vehicles are electric today, and many consumers have not researched or even heard of EVs, some forecasts have them as high as 65 percent of new US vehicle sales in 2050. We are on the front end of a steeply rising S-curve, a rate of change not seen in the US transportation sector for decades.
There’s been trepidation about utilities owning EV chargers, questions about whether such investments serve all ratepayers and whether charging is better left to markets. Until 2016, California prohibited utilities from owning EV chargers. But chargers weren’t getting built, so the state reversed the prohibition and promptly approved plans for all three of the state’s utilities to being deploying thousands of charging station.
Speaking of road maps, last week also brought the introduction of the Transportation Electrification Accord, a list of principles meant to “educate policymakers on how to advance electric transportation in a manner that provides economic, social and environmental benefits.”
So far, signatories include GM and Honda, along with a wide range of service companies, utilities (including Exelon, operator of the nation’s largest nuclear fleet), labor groups, consumer advocates, and environmental groups. (Signatories endorse the principles, though they are not binding.) It was organized by Advanced Energy Economy, Energy Foundation, Illinois Citizen Utility Board, Natural Resources Defense Council, Plug-in America, and Sierra Club.
Link to the full Vox article here.