Ulupono Initiative recently published their white paper on the e-mobility in Hawaii – THE EXTRA MILE: Why Electric Vehicles Make Sense for Hawai’i’s Economy, Environment, and Communities. The paper covers the latest facts and stats on EV (electric vehicle) adoption, charging infrastructure, environmental and economic impacts, and legislation. We recommend that you take a moment to read the report so that you can be familiar with the progress that we’re making on the electrification of transportation and some of the challenges that we face. Highlights:

• EVs are becoming more attractive to mainstream consumers – improving battery technology and economies of scale, along with completion are resulting in lower-priced cars with long driving ranges. There are many models available now and more are on the way. EV adoption is improving – there are now over 8600 EVs as of February 2019 (26% increase over the February 2018) . This is still a tiny fraction of the passenger vehicles in Hawaii (over 1 million).
• Hawai’i EV owners can save $500 annually on average by switching to electricity from gas for fuel. Electrification of transportation will result in millions of dollars remaining in the state (vs spent on imported oil).
• State highway funding continues to increase despite gas tax revenue being flat. (EV owners contribute to the highway fund with the annual registration and weight tax.)
• EV adoption is increasing the demand for charging stations. The inadequacy of the charging infrastructure will be a barrier to further adoption.
• The availability of chargers influence how likely EV owners will visit a business establishment. Workplace charging stations will be utilized if available.
• Most owners are willing to pay a fee to use a charger.
• Visitors are very interested in renting EVs.
• More must be done to ensure that our transition to electric vehicles continues to escalate. This requires that our legislators and business leaders, and community take action that will allow us to address key barriers to adoption that are under our control, e.g., charging infrastructure access.

Here’s the full report: