Huge, but not surprising number: rapid electrification of US vehicle fleet could save drivers $2.7 trillion in fuel and maintenance costs by 2050. Clean energy = cheap energy. theguardian.com/us-news/2021/a…
Not surprising because a more efficient drive train uses less energy, so drivers spend less. And fewer moving parts = less maintenance expense. Huge because $2.7 trillion is a lot of money.
To be sure, falling battery and vehicle costs is great but insufficient. We need a lot more charging infrastructure to realize this opportunity, especially to ensure that folks who don't have private garages still have access to charging infrastructure.
The White House #AmericanJobsPlan includes funding for 500,000 charging stations which is huge, but not enough - key will also be regulatory rule changes to attract private capital to further grow that charging infrastructure
Most notably, we need to ensure that the historic (often, state-level) laws that only allow regulated utilities to profit from retail-level sales don't preclude the ability of existing gas station, garage owners, etc. to use their existing assets.
But don't lose sight of that $2.7 trillion in savings. Spending money to save money is an investment. "How will we pay for this?" is the wrong question. "How much will we earn on our investment?" is the right one. Now let's go grab that opportunity. /fin
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