North Carolina lags in development of electric vehicles despite strong policy initiatives

North Carolina lags in development of electric vehicles, despite strong policy initiatives

Charlotte Biz Journal
Oct 15, 2020, 7:20am EDT Updated: Oct 15, 2020, 3:00pm EDT

North Carolina has many of the right policies in place, but it has a ways to go to catch the Southeast leaders in developing electric vehicles and the infrastructure to support them.

North Carolina is a Southeast leader in electric vehicle policy initiatives but a laggard on most other measures of vehicle electrification, according to a new report published by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

The report, Transportation Electrification in the Southeast, was prepared for SACE by Washington-based technology policy consulting group Atlas Public Policy. It ranks six Southeastern states — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee — on six economic metrics and on their policy efforts.

The economic metrics are the following: employment in making electric vehicles, manufacturing investment, electric vehicle sales, the number of EV charging stations, utility investment and government funding.

South Carolina has fewer policy efforts than North Carolina as well as lower electric vehicle sales and smaller numbers of public charging stations — even accounting for population differences. But the report notes it has more employment and investment in electric vehicle manufacturing. South Carolina has an estimated 345 workers specifically involved in electric vehicle manufacturing — not counting those indirectly involved in the state's large auto manufacturing segment — and $620 million in direct manufacturing investment. North Carolina has goose eggs in both categories.

South Carolina regulators last week approved a three-year $10.4 million investment by Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) in vehicle charging infrastructure in the state. That happened too late to make it into the report, but it makes South Carolina just the third Southeastern state with any investment from utilities in expanding electric vehicle infrastructure.

And yet, the report says, North Carolina appears to have a significant interest in promoting electric vehicle adoption and improving the infrastructure available.

"North Carolina … continues to display transportation electrification policy leadership in the Southeast," says report author Conner Smith. "North Carolina policymakers have taken more policy initiative compared to Georgia (which ranks well on other metrics) in recent years and has higher government funding for EVs compared to other states in the Southeast region besides Florida. North Carolina caught national attention for signing onto a Memorandum of Understanding supporting rapid truck electrification in July 2020." It was the only Southern state to do so.

The state's significant policies, Smith says, include Gov. Roy Cooper's 2018 Executive Order No. 80, which outlines the state's climate policy. The order calls for registering at least 80,000 zero-emission vehicles in the state by 2025. That would be up from 20,000 electric vehicles registered here now.

That total for electric vehicle registration puts the state at about 2 per 1,000 people, which is 27th in the nation. That's better than the per-thousand totals for Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama. But it's well below Georgia, which ranks 12th in the nation with almost four electric vehicles per 1,000 people, and Florida, which is 18th with about 3.2 EVs per 1,000 people.

North Carolina scores well enough in the Southeast on government funding for electric vehicles. Its $21.8 million available to date is just edged out by Florida's $23.3 million.

But North Carolina ranks low in fast-charging stations for electric vehicles. It's 37th in the nation and fourth in the Southeast. And to date, it is one of three Southeastern states with no utility investment in electric vehicle infrastructure.

That could change soon, however. Smith points out that Duke has a proposal before N.C. regulators that would make $76 million available for electric vehicle initiatives — which would be triple the current Southeast leader's investment. That includes grants for schools and transit buses. And, Smith notes, "the program could bring 240 new DC fast charging and 4,040 Level 2 (standard) charging stations to North Carolina, more than tripling the current level of infrastructure."

That proposal has languished in front of regulators since April 2019. But Duke spokesman Randy Wheeless says the commission has informed Duke that it now has all the information it needs to make its decision on the request.

"In fairness to the commission, they have had rate cases, avoided cost (hearings) and Covid to deal with, so maybe folks should be a little patient," he says.

He also notes that the $10.4 million program in South Carolina was proposed about two years before it was acted on.

"We look forward to a ruling soon," he says.

Wheeless also pointed out that last month Duke committed to converting all of its light vehicles and 50% of its medium and heavy-duty vehicles to electric, hybrid or other zero-carbon alternatives in the next 10 years.

Georgia on top

Overall, Georgia ranked best in the Southeast. It was first in the region for direct employment in electric vehicle manufacturing at 2,600 workers and first in electric vehicle manufacturing investment at $2.61 billion.

It leads the region in electric vehicles per 1,000 people and is tops for the number of charging stations, though it ranks 25th in the nation. Georgia currently leads the region for utility investment in EV infrastructure with $24 million.

It lags the region only in government funding, which, at $7.7 million, is fifth among the six states. Only Alabama, at $6.5 million, has less government funding available.