April 4, 2022 |
Officials from WYDOT will hold a public meeting Rawlins on Friday to discuss how the state’s strategy for developing “alternative fuel corridors” to support Washington’s push for electric vehicles.
Interstate 80 has been identified by Washington as one of many such corridors across the country.
As Bigfoot reported several weeks ago, Wyoming’s share of $1 billion dollars in spending on National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, or NEVI, is $23,9 million over five years. The first tranche of $3.9 million could be available as early as this year.
The first phase of implementing the NEVI program in Wyoming is partnering with private companies to develop rapid-charging stations every 50 miles across the interstate. No state money would be used, only federal and private dollars.
WYDOT director Luke Reiner told Bigfoot 99 what people can expect to learn at Friday’s meeting.
Or perhaps they don’t make sense. Only two percent of the vehicles driving American highways today are electric. WYDOT acknowledges that fewer than 500 electric vehicles are registered in Wyoming.
Still, the Biden administration is “pedal to the metal” in the push for more electric vehicles. The politics are unmistakable. The “carrot” of saving the planet has not convinced drivers to abandon their traditional internal combustion engine cars. So the “stick” has been high gas prices, which reached a record $4.33 per gallon in March. Prices could pass $5 by summer. Biden administration officials have not been bashful about using the stick of high gas prices to promote electric vehicles.
The White House likes the high gas prices. If American consumers are skeptical, they have good reasons. The urgent push for electric vehicles is similar to the White House’s sudden embrace of radical transgender politics. Only six years ago, Joe Biden appeared on national television with Jay Leno bragging about his 1965 Corvette Stingray.
That was then. Now Joe Biden’s anti-domestic oil production policies are pricing gasoline out of reach. At the same time, the administration is dumping taxpayer money into electric vehicles. Buried in the infrastructure bill Biden signed into law in November is $1 billion in funding to build infrastructure for electric vehicles across the country. Cash-strapped state agencies like WYDOT are caught in the squeeze. Reiner admits he does not drive an electric vehicle, but also says they represent a future that might be inevitable. The WYDOT director says it is in the interest of the state, not to promote electric vehicles, but to ensure the safety of people who choose to drive one across Wyoming.
Part two of Bigfoot’s story on WYDOT’s strategy to use the federal money to develop the infrastructure across Wyoming to support electric vehicles will air Tuesday. It will cover what the charging stations will consist of and how they’ll be powered and who will develop them. These topics also will be discussed in depth at Friday’s meeting. The two-hour presentation will include questions and answers. It will be held at the Rawlins Recreation Center Friday from 11 to 1.
Related: WYDOT announces strategy for National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure funding
