Power outages amid the ongoing wildfires in California have stoked fears among electric vehicle (EV) owners that they could be unable to power their cars in an evacuation scenario.
Despite President Joe Biden and Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsomâs push to increase EV adoption, many Americans have remained reluctant to purchase the vehicles, often citing ârange anxietyâ â  the concern among drivers that they will run out of charge before reaching their destination or a charging station. Now, with more than 100,000 evacuations and widespread power outagesdue to the ongoing infernos, California EV owners have expressed fears their electric cars could threaten their ability to escape the fires, according to the Los Angeles Times.
A gasoline car âcan evacuate in any direction on any road and still get fuel when needed,â Matthew Butterick, a Los Angeles attorney who lives near Griffith Park, told the Times. âThe EV stations on evacuation routes would have massive lines and delays, gasoline stations less so. And the electric grid may not be available. Power companies turn off power to avoid sparking a fire and also to avoid legal liability. This is probably the future of all the hillside neighborhoods.â
Val Cipollone, a Berkeley resident who owns a fully electric Nissan Leaf, shared similar concerns as Butterick with the Times: âWho knows how far youâd have to drive . I used to think Iâd only need to drive to my place of work. But who knows, I might have to go much farther.â
Cipollone now plans to swap her EV for a hybrid, according to the Times.
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California led the U.S. in EV adoption in 2023, with 1.1 million EVs and the highest number of EVs per capita at 3,026 per 100,000 people. Washington, the state with the second EV adoption, trailed California by over 40% on a per capita basis, with 1,805 EVs per 100,000 people.
The Biden administration has spearheaded a push for EV adoption, providing a $7,500 tax credit and tens of billions in subsidies for automakers to retrofit their factories to accommodate EV production. The White House also introduced stringent tailpipe emissions standards, effectively requiring about 67% of all light-duty vehicles sold after model year 2032 to be electric vehicles (EVs) or hybrids.
Newsomâs administration has also supported efforts to boost EV adoption, with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in December prohibiting the sale of new gas-powered cars in the state by 2035.
CARB had also requested a waiver from the federal Environmental Protection Agency that would have allowed the state to require 100% of the stateâs truck fleet move to zero-emission models starting in 2024, ending with the fleet going 100% zero-emissions between 2035 and 2042. However, California regulators withdrew the request Wednesday.
Despite the strict regulation and subsidies, EV demand has slackened over the last year, with sales growing by just 31% in the first half of 2024, down from 50% in the first half of 2023 and 71% increase in the first half of 2022. Additionally, a June poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the University of Chicagoâs Energy Policy Institute found 46% of respondents were âunlikelyâ or âvery unlikelyâ to purchase an EV, while just 21% were âveryâ or âextremelyâ likely to make the change.
âEven after throwing money at EVs hand over fist, basically paying people tax dollars to drive these cars off the lots, you have a dire spiral of (1) not enough demand to support the number of cars being produced, and (2) the people you paid to buy them now wanting to go back to what they had before,â O.H. Skinner, executive director of the Alliance for Consumers and the former solicitor general of Arizona, previously told the DCNF.
Governor Newsomâs office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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