Is Arizona prepared for electric cars?

Life is a lot different (and, I’d argue, better) when you drive an electric vehicle.

I’ve stopped obsessing about the price of gas. I have no idea how much a gallon costs or which stations near me are cheapest.

I don’t do nearly as much car maintenance. The engine doesn’t require it.

And I get to drive solo in the HOV lane, thanks to my energy-efficient license plate — something that has saved me untold time and stress since we went electric in 2013.

Less than 1 percent of cars registered in Arizona are electric or plug-in hybrids, so my (totally awesome) experience remains an anomaly. But that probably won’t be the case for long.

There is wide agreement that the auto industry is about to undergo a sea change. NPR recently reported that while there were just nine electric, plugin hybrid or fuel-cell vehicle models available in 2012, there are 98 on sale today. And that is projected to nearly triple by 2025, to 261 models. Arizona may even build some of those cars at a planned Lucid Motors plant in Casa Grande.

But if that’s the case – that EVs are about to become the rule instead of the exception – that has implications. For all of us.

Some studies suggest clear benefits to driving electric cars: Less air pollution, savings for car owners (because powering a vehicle with electricity is still cheaper than gas) and even potential savings for electric ratepayers.

But change won’t come without things for Arizona to think through.

As much as it pains me to type this, I suspect the state will quickly rethink its energy-efficient plate program. Why should 10,000 early adopters continue to reap HOV-lane benefits when everyone else has the technology?

I also expect car dealerships to make a lot more stink about growing ownership, because many have built a business out of ongoing gas-engine maintenance. Sell a ton of vehicles that don’t require regular oil changes, and that could spell trouble for their bottom line (not to mention cities’ bottom lines, considering how many rely on thriving auto malls to generate coveted sales taxes).

Road maintenance probably will suffer more, too. We’re already falling behind because we largely rely on a gas tax to fund repairs — and it is no longer producing enough revenue to keep pace with needs.

State Rep. Noel Campbell has proposed a road-usage fee for electric vehicles as part of his proposal to raise the gas tax (since, you know, EV owners don’t use much gas). But vehicle user fees have not exactly gone over well, and passage of any sort of gas-tax hike this session is a long shot.

Clearly, we have a lot more thinking to do here.

Then there’s the question of charging stations, which may be the largest barrier to EV ownership. While battery range is improving, it still takes too long to charge — and the options for doing so on the go are limited.

The Arizona Corporation Commission wants the utilities it regulates to develop more public charging stations and offer special electric rates for offpeak electric vehicle charging. (In a separate but related move, Tucson Electric Power also is piloting incentives for homeowners to install their own charging systems).

The commission’s new policy also would allow utilities to recover some of what they invest by rolling it into their rates — a move that elicited dozens of emails from constituents who basically said, “I don’t want to pay for something I don’t have.”

A recent poll conducted on behalf of Arizona PIRG, a consumer watchdog group, found a majority of residents support more electric vehicles on the road (and paying for the infrastructure to charge them quickly). But the poll also revealed a not-insignificant percentage who were strongly opposed to anything related to EVs.

That suggests the jury’s still out – at least, among some – on the electric-vehicle switch and what taxpayers’ role is in making it happen.

But if the revolution is coming, we need to start talking about its implications now.

Let the debate begin.