In order for Maryland to meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gasses, a lot more people will need to buy electric cars.
And not just more affluent residents who own their own homes.
Electric cars are becoming more affordable. But Marylanders who live in apartment buildings and townhouses still may not be able to buy them because they can’t charge their car at home.
Del. Jen Terrasa, a Howard County Democrat, is proposing legislation that would require new and substantially renovated townhouse and apartment buildings to have charging spaces.
Terrasa said getting chargers available to all kinds of homes is essential to having the electric car market to take off.
“According to the U.S. Department of Energy, around 80% of vehicle charging occurs at home and accessibility of home charging is currently a major barrier to residents who may want to buy electric vehicles but can’t because they can’t charge up at home,” Terrasa recently told the House Environment and Transportation Committee.
Aaron Matty lives in Westminster and commutes to his job in Towson in his Tesla Model 3. That commute from Carroll County is roughly 30 miles. Matty has a charger at home but forgot to plug it in the night before. So he pulled into a charging station at a Wawa on Joppa Road in Baltimore County.
Day in and day out, Matty said he relies on the home electric car charger.
“I personally feel that if you don’t have one you would run into problems,” Matty said. “I feel like you definitely have to have a charger at home. In fact, when I first bought it, the guy kind of had me convinced that I didn’t need one and I very quickly realized that I did.”
He says finding public charging stations can be an inconvenience. Then you have to hang around while the car is charging up.
Read more (and listen) at WYPR.
