NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Electric vehicles can do everything a gas-powered car can, but keeping them ready for the road is another story.
In the U.S., there are roughly three times as many gas stations than charging stations. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there are 50,858 charging stations in the country. That breaks down to 130,726 public chargers of which only about 29,000 are high-speed chargers.
This week, the Biden Administration announced an ambitious goal to build a network of 500,000 public chargers by 2030.
In an exclusive interview with NewsChannel 5, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Tennessee is helping build a bigger network.
"I'm impressed. A lot of work is going on in Tennessee on everything from the chargers to the jobs," said Sec. Pete Buttigieg. "I don't want us to be depending on components that are made in China when we could be getting components made in Clarksville, Tennessee. That's the direction we've been pushing in. We believe it very strongly as an administration and I expect Tennessee to be one of the state's that at the forefront of this EV job revolution."
In a number of ways, Tennessee is involved in electric station and electric vehicle manufacturing. Just recently, EV charger plant Tritium opened in Lebanon. Soon in Clarksville, LG Chem, a battery parts manufacturing facility, will be built.
Sec. Buttigieg says states will get federal funding to help achieve the goal.
"Including Tennessee, to help them ensure that at least every 50 miles — and ultimately at a much higher level of density than that — you can find a charge when you need it, and we're setting high standards to make sure it's not too complicated or difficult to figure out how much you're going to be paying," said Sec. Buttigieg.
Lipscomb University professor Dodd Galbreath said a key takeaway of the Biden Administration announcement is that the federal government is trying to ensure everyone can use the new expanded network regardless of car type or state policy. For example, Tesla is promising to make a portion of their superchargers compatible with other electric vehicles.
