In his State of the State address in January, Gov. Jerry Brown set a new goal of 5 million zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) on the road in California by 2030. Just a day later, the Governor formalized this goal through an Executive Order, which identified an expansion of charging infrastructure – specifically, 250,000 installed chargers by 2025 – along with an expansion of vehicle rebates as the most critical needs in order for the state to hit the target. A new bill sponsored by AEE would address the charging infrastructure challenge and set the state on course toward having the charging capacity needed to support a mass market for EVs.

This is a guest post from AEE’s state partner, the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council. To learn more about Michigan EIBC, click here. To learn more about AEE’s nationwide coalition of state and regional partners, click here. 

With the pace of technological innovation accelerating, mobility is changing rapidly. Transportation is becoming more connected, more autonomous, and more shared, particularly in urban environments. Electrification is the enabler of this transformation, facilitating this combination of automation, advanced computing, and sharing in the way we get around. That makes electric vehicles (EVs) more than an alternative to gasoline-propelled cars. It makes them the platform for the next phase of human mobility.

Last Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown set another ambitious and significant marker for California: 5 million zero emission vehicles on the road by 2030. As previewed in the governor’s final State of the State speech the day before, his Executive Order calls for substantial investments in electric and fuel cell vehicles, along with the necessary infrastructure to fuel and charge them. Transportation is the next frontier in building California’s advanced energy economy, and with this action, Gov. Brown has taken a big step forward.