It’s difficult to get politicians on both sides of the aisle to agree on much these days, but apparently the need for electric vehicles – personal and commercial – is one of those things.
House Bill 1221 sailed through the Indiana House 94-0 and passed the Senate 33-13. The legislation, which paves the way for electric vehicle charging stations to be put in place across the state, was signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb on Friday.
Specifically, the measure allows private companies, like gas stations, to buy and sell electricity from the utilities that service their area for the purpose of electric vehicle charging. That’s achieved by changing the regulations so more gas stations and other retail-oriented outlets can build charging stations and provide charging services without being regulated like a utility.
The policy was an Indiana Chamber priority.
“We had heard quite a bit from both our electric utility members and our automakers – and their suppliers – about the need for electric vehicle infrastructure in Indiana coming into this legislative session,” says Greg Ellis, Indiana Chamber vice president of environmental and energy policy and federal relations.
The bill’s only bit of opposition centered on the 2020 cessation of the Blue Indy electric car-sharing service in Indianapolis.
But few argue that electric vehicles aren’t the wave of the future. The policy is a pressing one because it allows Indiana to take advantage of federal money available through the recently passed infrastructure bill from Congress, as well as Russia’s invasion into Ukraine and the impact that is having on the nation’s oil supply.
The passage of HB 1221 comes on the heels of the announcement of REV Midwest, a regional electric vehicle coalition formed by Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The governors of those states are joining forces to build a new network for charging electric vehicles. The bipartisan plan aims to improve the region’s economy while also reducing toxic emissions from cars and trucks.
In addition to creating jobs and improving public health, REV Midwest’s backers say it will help the Midwest compete for private investment and federal funding. Along with those objectives, the plan promises to make it easier to find charging stations, which could boost adoption of electric vehicles if it eases drivers’ concerns about the range of their batteries.
“When the Governor signed the (memorandum of understanding), it was kind of an exclamation point on the need for us to get moving on the issue,” Ellis states.
Indiana has been behind the curve in electric vehicle infrastructure, he says, but he thinks this bill along with the formation of REV Midwest will bring the state to at least the middle of the curve nationally.
Indiana has a total of 13,995 electric vehicles on the road and only 830 publicly available charging stations, according to EVAAdoption LLC, a research firm and advocacy group for the electric vehicle market.
That’s nearly 17 electric vehicles for every charging station, a ratio that is below the national average of 14. Even more troubling, the state’s total number of charging stations – 830 – is well below the national average of 2,143 and second to the last among Midwestern states.
“The big issue with electric vehicles is range,” Ellis says. “That’s something Purdue (University) is working on. But we think more charging stations would go a long way to helping get more electric vehicles on Indiana roads.”
And not just passenger vehicles.
House Bill 1221 allows electric utilities to create pilot programs deploying charging infrastructure for “public use” electric vehicles, such as public transit, school buses and emergency vehicles, and recover the expense of those programs by charging higher public rates.
“House Bill 1221 is Indiana’s first step in putting an electric vehicle strategy in motion,” Ellis stresses. “And it’s an important first step.”
