{"id":290,"date":"2025-01-27T19:51:49","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T19:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cleantechnica.com\/?p=226723"},"modified":"2025-01-27T19:51:49","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T19:51:49","slug":"chicago-charging-deserts-highlight-the-racial-divide-of-evs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo4.dedicatedhost247.com\/green\/green-news\/chicago-charging-deserts-highlight-the-racial-divide-of-evs\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Charging Deserts Highlight The Racial Divide Of EVs"},"content":{"rendered":"
Cars<\/a> \"\"<\/small><\/p>\n
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Published on<\/strong> December 14th, 2020 | by Jo Borr\u00e1s<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n

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December 14th, 2020<\/span> by Jo Borr\u00e1s<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

There are 77 different neighborhoods or \u201ccommunity areas\u201d in the city of Chicago, with millions of people \u2014 and cars! \u2014 making their way to and through these areas every day. 77 communities, yet as of 2018, nearly 70% of all publicly available electric vehicle charging stations were located in just three, predominantly white, affluent neighborhoods. Of the 74 communities and neighborhoods splitting the remaining 30%, meanwhile, 47 predominantly BIPOC communities (Black, Indigenous, or People of Color) had no public EV charging available at all.\u00a0 What gives?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is still a cost differential [between] electric vehicles and gas vehicles. And unfortunately, the market presumption is to mostly go to wealthier majority-white neighborhoods and communities,\u201d said Susan Mudd, a senior policy advocate at the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago.<\/p>\n

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Map of Chicago\u2019s EV Charging Deserts, from Energy News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

There has been a persistent belief in Chicago\u2019s BIPOC communities that owning an EV is more expensive than owning a conventional car<\/a>. At least part of that comes from the fact that electrification, even in 2020, hasn\u2019t yet reached, or reached out to, most of these communities in any meaningful way, and that\u2019s a problem that affects all of us.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as resources such as grocery stores, bike lanes, banks, cultural institutions and public transit are often less prevalent in Black and Brown neighborhoods,\u201d writes sociologist and legal scholar, Audrey Henderson<\/a>, \u201c(EV) advocates say that \u2018charging deserts\u2019 represent a significant impediment to making the transition to clean energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Mudd seems to agree with that sentiment, offering that, \u201cwe need to address both the charging and the vehicles in terms of more equity.\u201d<\/p>\n

If electric vehicle adoption is going to \u201cgo mainstream\u201d and genuinely become ubiquitous, it has to be accessible to lower income communities, and in this writer\u2019s opinion, that\u2019s going to be difficult without a significant municipal investment that doesn\u2019t get caught up in \u201cchicken and egg\u201d scenarios. Still, there is an opportunity here in lower-income neighborhoods to make huge inroads towards widespread EV adoption, according to Billy Davis, the general manager at Jitney EV<\/a>, based in Chicago\u2019s Bronzeville neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndustry attention, societal attention, the public\u2019s attention is all focused on [climate change] because the planet is on fire,\u201d he told Energy News.<\/em> \u201cNow is the opportunity, when it is most visible, to encourage people to act because we can see that climate change is happening \u2026 there have to be community [charging] stations, not just in private parking lots that you have to pay to get into, but on city streets that are accessible,\u201d says Davis.<\/p>\n

Matt Teske, the founder of Chargeway<\/a> and co-host of the Electrify Expo podcast<\/a>, echoes a similar sentiment about public perception. \u201cConsumers fundamentally understand cars, they really do,\u201d he told Bloomberg<\/em> in a July, 2020 interview<\/a>. \u201cSo, it\u2019s not like we\u2019re trying to get people to understand electric cars, we\u2019re really trying to get them to understand electricity as fuel. That\u2019s the psychological hangup with trusting an electric car. If you jump in one and make assumptions, like you do with gasoline, you\u2019re going to get into trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chargeway Schema for Simplifying EV Charging<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

So, what\u2019s the way forward? Just like there was in those 3 rich white communities getting 70% of the EV charging network, there is going to have to be some investment into other communities as well. \u201cThe work that we are doing is really to address this, to help folks understand that there are electric vehicles at every price point,\u201d explains Terry Travis, co-founder and CEO of EVHybridNoire<\/a>, an Atlanta-based organization devoted to promoting electric vehicle ownership among African Americans. \u201cThere are used electric vehicles for sale starting at $5,000,\u201d he says. \u201cSo, the single mom, single dad, or grandfather, uncle\u2013 the community can benefit from any transportation that requires less maintenance, requires lower operational fuel costs \u2026 we do a lot of work around ensuring that communities are included in the conversation before infrastructure is deployed, so the community can see the asset and understand that it\u2019s a community asset.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt [works] more subliminally. You see more acceptance; you see more mental reinforcement,\u201d says Jitney EV\u2019s Billy Davis. \u201cHaving that subtle reinforcement before you\u2019ve even purchased it, when you see more EVs on the road and you see more charging stations on city streets and on highways, then you have that reassurance that you\u2019re not going to run out of [charge], like you would run out of gas between stations.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do you guys think? Is increased access to public vehicle charging the best way to encourage EV adoption in lower income and\/or BIPOC communities\u2013 in Chicago or anywhere else! Or, is there a more proven model for widespread EV adoption that would work out better? Scroll on down to the comments and let us know what you think about the topics discussed here, and share your views with the rest of the class.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong>:\u00a0 Bloomberg Quint<\/a>, Energy News Network<\/a>, Chargeway<\/a>.\u00a0
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Tags:<\/strong> Chicago<\/a>, Climate change<\/a>, community investment<\/a>, electrify expo<\/a>, EV adoption<\/a>, people of color<\/a>, podcast<\/a><\/p>\n


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About the Author<\/h4>\n
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Jo Borr\u00e1s<\/a> I’ve been involved in motorsports and tuning since 1997, and have been a part of the Important Media Network since 2008. You can find me here, working on my Volvo fansite, riding a motorcycle around Chicago, or chasing my kids around Oak Park.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n



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