New law mandates more electric car charging stations
One of Florida’s newest laws lays the groundwork for building a vast network of electric vehicle charging stations along highways, part of a broader effort to improve the appeal of such environmentally cleaner cars and trucks.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis last week signed the Essential State Infrastructure bill, supported by Republicans and Democrats in Tallahassee.
It represents a nod by the DeSantis administration to the threat of climate change from vehicles’ carbon dioxide emissions, after Florida’s previous Republican governor, Rick Scott, generally avoided acknowledging causes of climate change.
Florida has unique reasons to act to deter environmental threats from warming temperatures and foster better convenience for electric cars: The state is surrounded by rising seawater and is nearly 450 miles long from Key West to Georgia’s border — far longer than the range of the best battery-operated vehicles on the market.
The new law requires state officials to send the governor and lawmakers a new plan by July 1 next year to build more charging stations along state highways, with a status report due by Dec. 1.