PREFERRED PARKING FOR ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLES (sign seen at Florida Rest Stop).

Roadtripping and rest stops kind of go together.  At a rest stop in Florida, there was a sign for Preferred Parking For Alternative Fuel Vehicle in front of the building.

I looked around and didn’t see any charging stations, even checked out the bollards in front of the parking spots to see if we hooked them up with juice like overseas.

It was just a parking space, but I wondered if rest stops had charging?  I found the perfect article by Jonathan Miltimore, the Managing Editor of FEE.org.  

Here’s a quick overview of the article titled: “Why Are There No EV Charging Stations at Interstate Rest Stops? Blame the Feds: Joe Biden’s $5 billion funding plan for electric vehicles failed to allow rest stops to offer charging stations, an Atlanta news station discovered.”

• A Georgia resident who drives an EV, is frustrated by the lack of charging stations along interstate highways.
• The reason for this is that a federal law passed in 1956 prohibits commercial activity at rest stops, which includes selling electricity.
• President Biden’s $5 billion plan to fund EV charging stations did not include an exemption for rest stops, so they are still off-limits.
• The author argues that this is a problem because it means that EV drivers have to rely on a patchwork of private charging stations, which are often not located in convenient places.
• He also argues that the government’s top-down approach to EV charging is inefficient and will not be as effective as a market-based approach.
• The author believes that the government should repeal the 1956 law and allow for commercial activity at rest stops, so that EV drivers can have more convenient and reliable charging options.

Here are some additional points that the article makes:

• The current system of EV charging is inefficient and fragmented.
• Government bureaucrats lack the knowledge and incentives to create a functional EV market.
• Market forces are more efficient at determining the location and type of EV charging stations.

So, they can put up signs for EVs but that’s all you get.

Go electric ✌️

https://fee.org/articles/why-are-there-no-ev-charging-stations-at-interstate-rest-stops-blame-the-feds/