SEMPO gathering survey data for upcoming electric vehicle readiness plan

General Motors, the world's No. 2 automaker, has announced it wants an "all-electric future," according to reporting by Entrepreneur magazine.

Southeast Metropolitan Planning Organization (SEMPO), this region's transportation policymaking group, says it wants to be ready when gasoline-powered cars eventually go the way of the dinosaur.

SEMPO has been gathering information from area "stakeholders" as it prepares a consultant-aided first draft of an electric vehicle (EV) readiness plan by June.

The final draft, SEMPO executive director Alex McElroy said, should be ready by August, with plan approval anticipated in September.

"So far, we have received 26 total surveys (and) one area where we would like to see more engagement is the survey opportunity posted on the SEMPO website," McElroy said.

Twenty-one of the received surveys are from the general public and five are from community organizations, SEMPO announced Monday.

The public may access the survey at www.southeastmpo.org/electric-vehicle-readiness-plan.

To date, according to the latest information available, there are three public EV charging station areas in Cape Girardeau — in the parking areas of Cape Girardeau City Hall at 44 N. Lorimier St., Century Casino Cape Girardeau at 777 Main St. and Schnucks at 19 S. Kingshighway.

Urgency

GM has announced its intention to end production and sales of vehicles using internal combustion engines -- including hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrids — by 2035 as part of the carmaker's plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040.

Carbon neutrality may be defined as net zero carbon emissions.

"GM has unveiled plans to completely eliminate tailpipe emissions from new 'light-duty' (everyday) vehicles. If you're shopping for a car made by GM in 2035, it'll be an EV," CNBC reported.

General Motors announced it intends to offer 30 new EVs by 2025 with hopes all Cadillac models will be electric by 2030, according to Entrepreneur magazine, with the publication adding GM's goal is predicated on a move to 100% renewable energy worldwide, and in the U.S. by 2030, and through occasional use of carbon offsets in cases where the carmaker cannot reduce its carbon dioxide output.

In the meantime, McElroy and SEMPO continue to amass data in order to hit the target of an early EV readiness draft in three months.

"Our interviews with local and regional stakeholders have been quite fruitful and have gone a long way to informing our plan," McElroy said.