Electric vehicle readiness plan approval delayed

A 75-page electric vehicle readiness plan has been delivered to local transportation officials by a consultant firm but it likely will not be approved, as originally scheduled, next week.

The report, prepared for Cape Girardeau-based Southeast Metropolitan Planning Organization (SEMPO) by Olsson consultants of Overland Park, Kansas, has a few missing pieces.

"During our planning committee meeting earlier this month, it appears not all comments we forwarded to Olsson were incorporated in the final draft so the panel recommended tabling approval," said Alex McElroy, SEMPO executive director.

Approval of the plan now is likely in October, he said.

Included in the document is a projection on the additional stress electric vehicles will put on state highways and thoroughfares.

A woman charges an electric vehicle in this undated photo. Kansas-based Olsson's final iteration of its readiness plan for the Cape Girardeau region is in and local transportation officials will review its contents next week. Approval is expected in October.Submitted

"Motor fuel consumption is going to decrease, as more EVs use the roadways, and wear and tear is going to increase," according to the text of the report, which urged officials to investigate "sustainable revenue sources" for infrastructure once more of the buying public embraces EVs.

McElroy points out EVs are simply heavier than standard carburetion cars and trucks because of the heft of the batteries necessary to power them.

"Batteries are heavy. Generally, electric cars weigh considerably more than otherwise similar gasoline-powered vehicles. The GMC Hummer EV, Edition I, for example, has lots of batteries for additional driving range and power and it weighs over 9,000 pounds. That's roughly three times the weight of a Honda Civic," reported cnn.com.

The report also suggested removal of "legal and institutional" barriers for the future installation of charging stations.

"There are development codes in municipalities that likely will need to be altered to allow these additional stations to be built," said McElroy, who said there are currently 30 total charging stations in SEMPO's region,

As of June 2021, there were more than 6,700 registered EVs in the State of Missouri per the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's data posted on the U.S. Department of Energy website.

EV registration data specific to the SEMPO region are currently not available.

Use of report

McElroy said once the readiness plan is given final OK, he anticipates the document will act as a resource for various stakeholders to act on making the region more EV-prepared but he is hopeful the document will not sit on a shelf.

"(SEMPO) will partner with agencies with this resource and we can certainly plan to have an advocate role in grant applications made by governmental bodies and private companies," he said.