Power companies, Tesla join forces on electric cars

WASHINGTON — Some of the nation’s largest power utilities have joined with tech giants Tesla and Uber to push the United States to sell only electric vehicles by 2030.

Companies including utilities PG&E of California, the New York utility Con Edison, Alabama utility Southern Co. and Dallas merchant power company Vistra said

Tuesday they were forming the Zero Emission Transportation Association, to lobby the U.S. government to speed the transition to electric vehicles.

Themove stands to bring together the political power of two of America’s largest industries working to bring an end to the internal combustion engine and radically shrink the market share of gasoline and other petroleum products produced

along the Gulf Coast.

“ZETA’s formation recognizes a pivotal moment for national leadership and reflects the will of the growing clean transportation sector,” Joe Britton, executive director of the association, said in a statement. “The next decade will be critical in implementing federal policies that accelerate the transition to zero emissions vehicles.”

No major automakers were named as members of the group, but in joining with the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla and ridesharing service Uber, the power companies have partnered with two of the biggest names in the electric-vehicle sector.

For power companies, the shift to EVs represents an industry changing opportunity to take over a transportation market that has been dominated by gasoline and other petroleum products for more than a century. The new transportation association is calling not just for cars, but also new delivery vehicles and long-haul trucks to be all electric by 2030.

The announcement comes as President-elect Joe Biden is moving to transition the United States from fossil fuels, with the goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050. He has called for 100 percent of vehicles sales to be electric but has not set a target date or provided other details.

The new association is calling for increased financial incentives for EV buyers, as well as tougher

vehicle emissions standards and government investment in building charging stations nationwide. The association also wants the U.S. government to find ways to encourage the development of electric-vehicle manufacturing here in the United States.

“Ifwe encourage its growth, the United States can decisively win the global race to develop a new, clean-transportation economy and employ hundreds of thousands of Americans right here at home,” Britton said.

Also joining the 28-company association are the North Carolinabased Duke Energy, German industrial giant Siemens and driving technology firm WAVE.