The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
CONN. RANKED 13TH IN REPORT ON ELECTRIC VEHICLE FRIENDLY STATES
A report released Wednesday ranks Connecticut 13th in the country in encouraging consumers to buy electric vehicles.
The report from the American Council for an EnergyEfficient Economy found that, “Connecticut has taken a number of important steps to encourage and enable residents to use electric vehicles,” said Bryan Howard, state policy director for the organization. Howard is also the report’s lead author.
“But (the state) should rapidly step up its efforts, which could in turn reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, decrease air pollution, and cut fueling and maintenance costs for individuals and businesses,” Howard said.
The report found the state earned 38.5 out of 100 possible points for measures Connecticut officials have taken toward encouraging wider usage and sales of electric vehicles. Areas where the state earned points for include:
Adoption of California’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Program, which requires manufacturers of passenger vehicles to offer a certain number of zero-emission vehicles.
The Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate or CHEAPR program, which provides a graduated incentive toward purchases of eligible passenger electric vehicles.
Howard said one areas Connecticut needs to improve upon is creating purchase incentives for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Connecticut’s CHEAPR program has been existence since June 2015 and has resulted in the state’s consumers getting 6,447 rebates
“But (the state) should rapidly step up its efforts, which could in turn reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, decrease air pollution, and cut fueling and maintenance costs for individuals and businesses.” Bryan Howard, state policy director for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
worth $11.66 million. The state breaks down the electric vehicle category into two types: Plug-in hybrids that operate on both electricity and gasoline, and those powered exclusively by electricity.
The Tesla Model 3 is the most popular vehicle purchased by consumers using the program, according to the state data. There have been 1,637 Tesla Model 3’s purchased using the program, nearly 59 percent more than the next most popular car, the Toyota Prius Prime.
Two New England states were among the top 10 in the report. Massachusetts finished fifth and Vermont was seventh.
The release of the report comes less than a week after the world’s fourth largest automaker, General Motors, announced that by 2035 it
will end production of its cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles with diesel- and gasoline-powered engines and move exclusively to electric vehicles.
A 2019 survey by the West Monroe consulting firm found that 59 percent of respondents would likely purchase an electric vehicle for their next car. And a majority of those who said they would make an electric vehicle their next automotive purchase said they would buy one by the end of this year.
But the higher initial purchase cost and lack of access to vehicle charging remain barriers for many households and commercial fleet owners, according to the ACEEE report.
The cheapest electric vehicle available to U.S. consumers is the 2020 Mini Cooper SE with a starting price of $30,750, according to the automotive information site Edmunds.com. Among electric hybrids, the least expensive 2020 model is the Honda Insight with a starting price of $22,930.