(The Center Square) — Florida’s work preparing for a more electrified vehicle fleet is 20th off 33 states, according to a recent report.
Evaluation of states’ policies promoting electric vehicle adoption was judged in the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s 2023 State Transportation Electrification Scorecard. The report says electric vehicles account for only 7% of the U.S. light vehicle fleet.
The Sunshine State had the second-highest ranking of Southern states evaluated, trailing only Virginia (15th). Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina were not ranked.
Tennessee (23rd), North Carolina (tied 24th) and Georgia (32nd) were also ranked.
California was judged best prepared, followed by New York, Colorado, Massachusetts, Vermont and Washington.
States were graded on a 100-point scale in several categories. The largest was incentives for deployment (36 points).
Next was transportation electrification outcomes (23 points), which track progress on EV adoption, charging infrastructure and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; transportation system efficiency (17 points), a measure of equity in the reduction of emissions and deployment of EV infrastructure; and electricity grid optimization for EVs and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (nine points).
The authors of the scorecard recommend that policymakers in other states adopt California’s Advanced Clean Cars II regulations that require 100% of vehicles sold in the state to be zero-emissions by 2035. According to the report, seven states have adopted the 2035 deadline for 100% zero-emission vehicles like California’s while eight have adopted the truck standards.
The report also recommend the adoption of California’s zero-emissions requirements for heavy-duty trucks.
The study says those regulations “will increase light- and heavy-duty EV deployment in the states that adopt them and drive development in the EV and EV charging markets.”
