US Lawmakers Sponsor New Bill To Put EV Chargers Across The Country

KEY POINTS

Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Andy Levin propose EV Freedom Act
The bill proposes a wide network of EV chargers for people
The bill mentions a five-year timeline to complete the process

It can be a daunting task to spot charging stations on the highway if you own an electric vehicle. At the moment, apart from Tesla’s network of charging points, there are stations set up by ChargePoint and Electrify America. However, the network of electric vehicle chargers is relatively small.

Two Congress members have proposed new legislation that would see the U.S. government work towards spreading the electric charging network in the next five years.

The representatives Andy Levin from Michigan and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York call this the EV Freedom Act. This bill has the backing of numerous environmental organizations and the United Auto Workers Union, Cnet reported.

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said that this is the bill that they should be supporting. However, she added that there will be a group that will say that they are against cars and trying to get rid of them. But, the representative feels that this bill is for the advancement of the existing fleets.

“A lot of naysayers will say, 'They are trying to get rid of cars.' Well, we're not trying to get rid of cars. We're trying to actually advance and improve our fleets... We have to go electric,” she said.

The representatives mentioned President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s pathbreaking idea of setting up a system of highways that brought the country together. Now, six decades later, they believe it is time to revamp the idea and modernize the way people travel in the 21^st century.

“Cars, above all else, have historically represented America's problem with dirty oil. Establishing a nationwide network of electric-vehicle charging stations helps us reduce emissions, creates good-paying jobs, and will help transition the U.S. economy to a cleaner future,” Ocasio-Cortez stated.

The prime idea of the EV Freedom Act is to build a strong, countrywide web of high-speed electric vehicle chargers within a span of five years. Moreover, the representatives would like to ensure that people working on this network will have decent-paying jobs and put forward the “Buy American” conditions.