California is by far the leading state for adoption of plug-in electric cars, with one-third or more of all sales sited in the Golden State.
But how's everyone else doing?
A study of six Southwestern states released yesterday gives a look at how friendly a state's legislation and infrastructure is for the adoption of electric cars so far.
The report, issued by the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP), assessed a variety of measures that help plug-in electric car buyers make the most of traveling on grid power.
Entitled "Policies to Promote Electric Vehicles in the Southwest: A State Government Report Card," it considers vehicle and fuel taxation, financial and other incentives to buy and travel in electric cars, and how aggressively states move to eliminate legislative barriers to using the cars.
One issue, for instance, is the ability of condominium boards and other cooperative-housing bodies to ban installation of electric-car charging stations or put unreasonable demands on their users.
Colorado recently passed a bill (SB 126) that prevents landlords and homeowners associations from placing "unreasonable obstacles" on charging-station installation.
But it also makes those dwellings eligible for funds from the state’s electric vehicle infrastructure fund to help with the costs of those installations, which can be more complex than those for curbside stations.
That fund now has a dedicated revenue stream, from the state's new $50-per-year free for all plug-in cars.
That bill, along with five others, led SWEEP to judge Colorado the best of the six southwestern states at preparing for electric cars. It received a grade of A-minus.
The worst was Wyoming (F), which had no policies whatsoever addressing electric cars.
The other four in between were Arizona and Utah, which each were graded at B-minus, Nevada (C), and New Mexico (C-minus).
None of the six Southwestern states came close to California's grade of A-plus, however.
[hat tip: Tim W. Jackson]
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