U.S. mayors rally around EVs

The Future. U.S. mayors believe that electric-vehicle adoption is the most promising tech innovation in the fight against climate change. Nearly every major car manufacturer is pivoting to EVs and phasing out gas-powered vehicles by 2030… and EVs are gearing up for their big iPhone moment — the year where everyone you know will start plugging in to drive.

Charged up
Cities are excited about getting a jump.

• A survey from the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that more than half of 103 mayors surveyed believe that EVs are the most promising innovation to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption.
• In comparison, back in 2016, only a quarter of surveyed mayors said they believed that.
• 69% of mayors reported that they have a specific strategy to build out the needed charging infrastructure.

Additionally, 70% of mayors cited investing in public buildings and shifting to sustainable energy sources as other ways to reduce energy consumption and superpower efficiency.

Your wish, granted
Despite all the love for EVs, the mayors also note that in order to get plans up and running, they’ll need some assistance from federal, state, or private partners (i.e., money, money, money). Well, good thing for the mayors, President Biden’s infrastructure law will give cities the boost they need to adopt EVs at scale.

The infrastructure law earmarks $550 million in funding for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, which is meant to underwrite large-scale energy-efficiency projects (like EV-charging stations!), and some smaller grants for more targeted projects.