A recently released electric vehicle readiness plan presented to the Colorado Springs City Council Monday states the city will need 30,000 to 66,000 charging stations to meet demand in the coming decades, particularly as more people travel in their electric cars. As of December 2020, the city only had about 100 chargers distributed among 39 charging stations, less than half the number of public charging ports recommended by a U.S. Department of Energy projection tool.
Determining whether the charging stations are keeping up with demand is difficult to judge, since Colorado Springs Utilities is not aware of wait times for public charging services, spokesman Steve Berry said. At the same time, Samantha Bailey, sustainability coordinator for the city, said in an interview she has heard from residents who want to see more chargers.
The plan recommends encouraging charging stations by updating building codes, changing parking and zoning rules, and incentivizing charging stations, among other steps. The steps in the plan would be implemented individually by Colorado Springs City Council or Colorado Springs Utilities.
Encouraging EV infrastructure now while new development is exploding could help save money in the future, Bailey said.
"It is more cost effective to incorporate EV infrastructure into new development rather than putting the concrete down and digging it back up," she said.
The infrastructure is needed in part because the transition to electric vehicles is accelerating, with sales of the cars tripling from fewer than 500 in 2018 to more than 1,500 in 2019, the readiness plan states. State data shows 2,476 electric vehicles are on the road in town.
Across the state over the last six months, electric vehicles represented about 10.5% of new vehicle sales, up from 6.6% during the previous six months, said Dominique Gomez, deputy director at the Colorado Energy Office.
Investor-owned utilities are making big commitments to electric vehicle infrastructure as well.
The Xcel and Black Hills transportation electrification plans include more than $100 million for investment in transportation electrification projects and charging infrastructure, Gomez said. The transportation electrification plans were required by the state.
Colorado Springs Utilities has not decided whether to invest in public charging infrastructure on a large scale, Berry said.
"Due to scale, private sector chargers are likely to be the majority of public charging stations installed in the long-term," he said.
For example, Shell announced in February it expects to operate 500,000 charging stations by 2025.
The rise in popularity of electric vehicles could help Colorado Springs keep its air quality conditions from worsening and triggering new federal regulations that could require emissions testing for vehicles, consequences the city could see in a few years.
In 2021, the city saw 32 air quality health advisories in 2021 for ozone in Colorado Springs, up from 12 advisories issued last year, according to the state's air pollution control division. Ozone is a form of pollution that can make conditions such as asthma worse and hurt the lungs' ability to combat respiratory infection, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
If El Paso County saw a high level of electric vehicle adoption, modeled as close to 850,000 electric vehicles by 2050, that could prevent 5 million metric tons of green house gas emissions annually. The model was provided by ICF Incorporated, a consulting firm based in Denver, which provided the plan.
Councilman Dave Donelson asked for additional viewpoints to supplement the readiness plan, saying he felt the city was only hearing "half of the argument."
"What I would like is a balanced presentation, so we can make wise decisions," he said.
The councilmembers also serve as the board for Colorado Springs Utilities and will make high-level decisions about charging infrastructure.
Deputy Chief of Staff Ryan Trujillo noted the market seems to be driving demand and the plan could help lay the foundation for future decisions.
"How proactive or reactive do we want to be?" he said.
The city has already purchased its first electric vehicle — a Zamboni, he said.
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