Biden's electric vehicle plan includes expanding charging stations. Is it enough?
![Electric vehicles charging station on a background of trucks.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.usatoday.com/gcdn/media/2021/10/14/USATODAY/usatsports/MotleyFool-TMOT-7d6b443b-7bd8d9bd.jpg?width=980&height=483&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden's proposal to build thousands of electric vehicle charging stations could revolutionize the nation’s highway grid if Congress passes a bipartisan infrastructure bill that would spend $7.5 billion on the initiative.
As automakers expand their lineup of electric cars, the new public charging stations would represent a historically large down payment on Biden's plan to aggressively reduce greenhouse gas levels by 2030. Transportation makes up 29% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, more than any other sector.
But an important question remains: Will a massive expansion of stations be enough to convince drivers to trade in their gas-powered vehicles for electric ones?
Advocates applaud the money for charging stations as a good start even though Biden's original request of $15 billion was cut in half by Congress. But they warn that convincing drivers to trade in their gas-powered cars for non-emitting vehicles won't happen on a large scale unless they feel comfortable they won't be stranded because they run out of power.