In the USA, Missouri Republicans want to ban local mandates on electric car charging stations, saying that requiring business owners to install electric vehicle chargers is an infringement on their freedoms.
Missouri Republicans have drafted legislation saying that if Missouri cities and counties have a mandate on businesses to install electric vehicle chargers, those cities and counties would have to pay for said chargers themselves rather than the business and property owners as required by national legislation.
“We can’t charge what it costs per hour to pay for these. It is very expensive,” said David Overfelt, who testified in favour of the bill on behalf of the Missouri Retailers Association, the Missouri Grocers Association and the Missouri Tire Industry Association.
Jack Meinzenbach, who was testifying for the Missouri chapter of the Sierra Club, said that the proposed bill would prevent local governments from encouraging enough chargers as more affordable electric vehicle models hit the market. This is likely to hinder the uptake of electric vehicles, which is no doubt at least one of the motivations behind the legislation.
However, although to many this may seem a clear block of new interests by traditional fossil fuelled interests, which it probably also is, such as the provocative declared war on electric cars in Wyoming, there is also a point that legislators often ignore when building infrastructure, as has recently been the case in Germany: Over the last 30 years, low-density areas, such as outer suburbs and rural areas, have become increasingly economically disadvantaged, most especially in regards to infrastructure as a result of economic policies popular over this time period.
When both energy and fuel prices rise inexorably, those who have to drive more are disproportionately disadvantaged and left with fewer transport alternatives. At the same time, providing infrastructure in these areas pose poorer business cases for private enterprise on account of the low population density.
Keyword: Missouri says “hold my beer…”