The struggling electric vehicle (EV) industry recently received another troubling report, as consumer interest in the novel technology has waned over the last year or so. The report illustrated the depth of one of the EV market’s biggest hurdles: charging infrastructure. The research looked at Los Angeles, the third largest EV market in America with hundreds of thousands of battery-powered cars on its roads, and how the city is considered a “charging desert.”
Reportedly, Los Angeles has almost 600,000 registered EVs, comprising just under 5% of all cars. However, compared to the number of EVs on L.A. roads, there is a substantial lack of charging stations to provide crucial electricity needed to power the vehicles’ batteries. The city is far from being able to accommodate the mass adoption of EVs.
“The surge in the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) has brought an unexpected challenge to the forefront. Despite being the third-largest EV market in the nation, Los Angeles and its surrounding areas face a critical shortage of charging infrastructure. A recent study by real estate giant CBRE has dubbed this region a “charging desert,” highlighting the growing disparity between EV ownership and accessible charging options,” according to Kurt Knutsson, Cyber Report Guy, as reported on Fox News.
Furthermore, a “charging desert” was defined by an advanced analysis from CBRE, which created a digital mapping tool to assess the charging needs around the nation. The study from the commercial real estate firm determined that numerous Los Angeles neighborhoods, including Inglewood, Long Beach, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Lomita, Southwest Torrance, Westwood (UCLA), Fullerton (Cal State Fullerton), and Redondo Beach, lacked the necessary charging infrastructure.
Obviously, if Los Angeles, one of the largest markets in the nation for EVs, is underprepared for the electric revolution in automobiles, then the rest of the country is certainly not ready to transition away from gasoline-powered vehicles. “Though the city of L.A. is working to help meet this demand by installing chargers on light poles, L.A. and the rest of the U.S. have a long way to go before having the infrastructure to support America’s shift from gasoline-powered vehicles,” Cyber Report Guy concluded.
The American Tribune reported on a letter from last year in which thousands of car dealers wrote an open letter to President Biden urging him to “tap the brakes” on his administration’s EV agenda and the push to coerce the American consumer through regulations to ditch the internal combustion engine over the past few years.
The letter read in part, “These vehicles are ideal for many people, and we believe their appeal will grow over time. The reality, however, is that electric vehicle demand today is not keeping up with the large influx of BEVs [battery electric vehicles] arriving at our dealerships prompted by the current regulations. BEVs are stacking up on our lots.”
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It continued, “Mr. President, it is time to tap the brakes on the unrealistic government electric vehicle mandate. Allow time for the battery technology to advance. Allow time to make BEVs more affordable. Allow time to develop domestic sources for the minerals to make batteries. Allow time for the charging infrastructure to be built and prove reliable. And most of all, allow time for the American consumer to get comfortable with the technology and make the choice to buy an electric vehicle.”
Watch Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg get called out on the Biden administration’s investment in EV charging stations below: