With just 266 registered all-electric vehicles, North Dakota is the lowest of all states, according to the state’s Department of Transportation. According to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, fewer all-electric and plug-in hybrids have been approved here than any other state in the past 10 years, and last year electric cars made up a smaller share of total vehicle sales in North Dakota than any but one other State, according to an analysis by Loren McDonald of EVAdoption’s electric vehicle data center.
That may not come as a surprise: It can also get bitterly cold for the country’s second largest oil producer – an obstacle to the range of electric cars – and its sparsely distributed cities represent an immediate challenge for EV drivers, whose travel is limited by the distance between critical charging stations .
However, an increase in the number of charging stations over the past year could have marked a turning point for the accessibility of electric vehicles in North Dakota. The state has already seen a boom in its electric car count over the same period: The Department of Transportation reports that 100 new electric vehicles have been registered in North Dakota since last May, an increase of more than 60%.
Some other parts of the country have adopted the transition to electric vehicles as a climate priority. Last fall, California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom announced the goal of banning the sale of traditional gas vehicles within 15 years. Large corporations have made similarly aggressive promises. This year, Ford Motors, known for its gas-guzzling pickup trucks, announced a $ 22 billion investment in electric vehicles by 2025, and Amazon has already started rolling out 100,000 electric vans to be achieved by the end of the decade .
But while Democrat-controlled states like California have tried to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles, in some cases with dramatic political pushes and financial incentives, some Republicans in North Dakota see the other side of the coin: the widespread adoption of electric cars could come with one Dent go hand in hand with state tax revenues.
“We have to deal with the growing electric vehicle fleet,” said Dickinson Republican Rep. Vicky Steiner, who earlier this term supported a bill that aimed to increase the state’s annual EV fee from $ 120 to $ 200. “North Dakota is not an island, and we are influenced by what happens on the west and east coasts, even if we don’t like it.”
While gasoline vehicle drivers in North Dakota pay a 23 cents per gallon tax at the pump every time they refuel, the small percentage of EV drivers in the state can charge their vehicles tax-free. To ensure that all drivers contribute to the state’s road maintenance fund, North Dakota introduced a flat annual fee for electric vehicles in 2019.
Steiner pointed out that the long-term solution could be a complete overhaul of state vehicle taxation, the complete abolition of the gasoline tax, in order to find ways to calculate all vehicles based on the kilometers traveled. Either way, she said, the state will have to resolve the EV tax issue soon as course corrections may be more difficult in the future.
“I will not allow electric cars to diminish our gas driver public,” said Steiner. “I want justice.”
However, some proponents of the electric vehicle adoption have generally spoken out against state charges for battery-powered vehicles, arguing that North Dakota should treat electric vehicles no differently than traditional cars if it wants to keep up with other states in the region.
The recent surge in electric charging stations in North Dakota is largely due to a federal deal with Volkswagen that sent transportation to the states. More than a million dollars from the Volkswagen agreement went into installing new charging stations around North Dakota.
Robert Moffitt, alternative fuel advocacy coordinator for North Dakota Clean Cities, noted that a year ago an electric car couldn’t drive on I-94 in a day trip from Fargo to the Montana border. There wasn’t a single fast electric charging station anywhere in the state, which means it took all the available electrical outlets hours to get a car from empty to full. Thanks to the establishment of Volkswagen, the country will soon have 16 of the more efficient fast chargers.
Still, not all electric vehicle owners in North Dakota see the results of the VW agreement as a major advancement in electric vehicle accessibility in the state. Brian Kopp, an electric vehicle proponent in Dickinson who has been driving a Tesla since 2014, noted that even the fast chargers are still significantly slower than the proprietary chargers only available to Tesla owners.
Today, according to the Department of Transportation, nearly three-quarters of North Dakota electric cars registered are Tesla, and Kopp said he wasn’t sure other manufacturers in the state will see significant growth until they can match Tesla’s charge times.
EVAdoption’s McDonald noted that a separate barrier to electrification in North Dakota could soon fall. Neither manufacturer has ever produced a commercially available electric pickup truck, a major catch for truck-dominated North Dakota, but McDonald argued that models debuting next year could mean “fundamental change” for workers’ states.
Some other proponents said North Dakota could be driving the adoption of electric vehicles by taking a more active role in the market and infrastructure in the future.
Fargo Democratic Senator Merrill Piepkorn said he wanted North Dakota to join some other states in offering discounts to new electric vehicle owners as well as an investment of state dollars in more charging infrastructure. Steve Salwei, director of transportation programs at the state Department of Transportation, said the department was considering government incentives for new charging points, although it has no plans to pursue them.
“We’ll never look like California numerically, but we may still look better than Montana or Wyoming if we try,” said Moffitt, who called for North Dakota to cut its annual electric car fee and part of its state vehicle fleet. And although Moffitt said his organization took no position on government incentives, he found that the tactic has stimulated the market in other parts of the country.
“It really is, if you build it, they will come,” he said.
Readers can reach forum reporter Adam Willis, a member of the Report for America Corps, at awillis@forumcomm.com.
