Washington, D.C. The United States government may require more than 100,000 charging stations to ensure broad EV use, a government watchdog testified Tuesday during a congressional hearing.
According to testimony from the Government Accountability Office, government agencies owned around 1,100 charging stations as of March. President Joe Biden signed an executive order in December requiring the US government to phase out gas-powered car purchases by 2035.
The House Oversight and Reform Committee will host a hearing on the United States Postal Service’s intentions to purchase primarily gas-powered next-generation delivery trucks. The United States Postal Service is not covered by Biden’s executive order.
As of 2020, less than 0.3 percent of the government’s 657,000 vehicles, or 1,777, were electric. The government expects to spend $4.2 billion on transportation costs in 2020, including $730 million on fuel.
According to the General Services Administration, federal agencies had ordered an additional 1,854 zero-emission vehicles as of March 10 compared to the previous report.
The GAO stated that the GSA has been able to negotiate reduced purchase pricing for some EV vehicles, noting that “in fiscal year 2021, the GSA obtained a discounted price for the Chevrolet Bolt — over $10,000 less than its market retail price.”