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In the latest sign that the giants are behind the shift to electric vehicles, Walmart announced Thursday that it will install fast-charging stations at thousands of locations across the country. The startup will quadruple the company’s network of charging stations, which are currently available in more than 280 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores.
Walmart’s move could help quell public anxiety about buying an electric vehicle — anxiety about range, fear of being stranded with a dead battery and no chargers in sight. “We have a Walmart or Sam’s Club within 10 miles of 90 percent of the population in this country,” Vishal Kapadia, the company’s senior vice president of Power Transformation, said. For The Washington Post. “We know we can tackle range anxiety in a way no one else can.”
Since switching to electric vehicles became a reality not so long ago, it is finally becoming a reality. This year, the United States has achieved a milestone in 3 million electric cars On the road. That’s only about 1 percent of American cars, but sales are growing rapidly, with the formation of electric vehicles 7 percent of new vehicle registrations In January, twice as much as the previous year.
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New laws and modern trade hubs are pushing electric cars into the mainstream. President Joe Biden plans to build a national network of 500,000 charging stations by 2030, with the government recently allocating them $7.5 billion for this effort. ca has Ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035with at least half a dozen other countries Follow along. On the business side, automakers All in this direction – albeit in the American tradition Large trucks and SUVs. With Walmart adding chargers nationwide, the nation’s largest retailer is now on board, too. A century later, the internal combustion engine’s century-old grip on the country is beginning to look shaky.
The adoption of electric vehicles has long been plagued by fears that they will not be able to meet people’s daily driving needs. A study last spring, for example, found that people underestimated the number of daily tasks that electric vehicles could perform just as much. 30 percent. Perhaps in response to those concerns, automakers have been letting cars out with it longer ranges. Ram recently announced that its upcoming electric truck, the Ram 1500 REV, will sport a battery option that can use 500 miles on a single charge – Roughly enough for an eight-hour road trip.
the The shock of buying an electric car It was also a drag on sales. But Tesla, which controls about two-thirds of the electric car market in the US, lowered their prices In January, it pressured its competitors to follow suit. The Model Y, for example, went from $65,990 to $52,990, a 20 percent decreaseThe company has said it will Prioritize affordability in its next generation of vehicles. Mass-market electric cars may become as cheap as gasoline-powered cars this year, according to the The New York Times. This is thanks in part to subsidies and tax breaks in the Inflation Reduction Act, the landmark climate law that Biden signed last year. For people who buy new electric cars, the IRA offers up to $7,500 credit tax; This week, Ford announced that its entire line of electric vehicles is Eligible for half or all of this credit.
One indication that Americans are starting to feel comfortable with electric cars is that they are becoming less polarized. In the first decade of the 2000s, the hybrid Toyota Prius appeared, It became a cultural flashpoint, having become associated with an ethical brand of environmental protection. Fast forward to last spring, and longtime America’s best-selling vehicle and Republican favorite—the Ford F-150 pickup truck—has become all-electric, with The waiting list is for three years at the time of its release. The IRA may also help change political calculus by sending Billions of dollars are pouring into electric vehicle and battery factories In red states like South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Georgia.
Sure, some Republicans still are Dead range against electric powered cars. But in the face of Wal-Mart, Ford, and billions in green investments, it’s hard to imagine they can stop the growing momentum behind electric vehicles.
This article originally appeared in grist in https://grist.org/transportation/walmart-chargers-electric-vehicles-mainstream/. Grist is an independent, non-profit media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and just futures. Learn more through grist.org