The Future of Electric Vehicles

Though electric vehicles (EVs) are widely considered the future of road transportation, transitioning America’s entire vehicle fleet away from gas vehicles is a massive national undertaking. Recognizing the need to increase EV ownership quickly enough to meet national climate goals and enhance America’s energy independence, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act included new federal funding and tax incentives to boost EV ownership and help build EV charging infrastructure nationally. However, passing legislation is only a first step.

BPC’s Infrastructure Project is focused on helping policymakers understand the challenges and opportunities inherent in implementing new programs as well as what additional policies may be further required to facilitate the rapid and equitable uptake of EVs. Moreover, the federal Highway Trust Fund, which supports the construction and maintenance of our nation’s highways and transit systems, relies on a gas tax that has not changed since 1993. Congress must ultimately consider how to harmonize support for EV ownership with a system of dedicated highway spending dependent on a user-paid gas tax.