密歇根新闻广播 解决电动车充电难问题

 

Purchasing an electric vehicle is one way to help reduce your carbon footprint. But given that charging stations are few and far between in Michigan, driving any significant distance in the state can be a challenge.

Democratic State Senator Mallory McMorrow represents Michigan's 13th District. She's introduced a package of bills that she hopes will address that problem, and in turn, encourage more Michiganders to purchase electric vehicles.

McMorrow, who drives an electric vehicle herself, says that it can be difficult to locate the public charging stations that she relies on to power her daily commute¹ to Lansing. That firsthand struggle was in part what prompted her to introduce legislation to improve electric vehicle infrastructure² in Michigan.

There are user-generated apps where you can find chargers, but often these are mismarked. They're not in the places that they say they are, or they're broken, or there's a regular gas car parked in the spot and you can't charge, McMorrow said.

McMorrow's proposed four-bill package which is co-sponsored by two Republicans and two Democrats³, would aim to make Michigan the first fully-networked state in the country. The bills would:

1. Create an Electric Vehicle Council that would work with stakeholders, researchers, and utility companies to evaluate statewide infrastructure and identify ideal locations for public charging stations.

2. Allow state parks to lease space for public charging stations. Revenue from those chargers would then go back into the state parks system.

3. Allow state park and ride lots to lease space for public charging stations.

4. It can take between 30 minutes to several hours to charge an electric vehicle, so this bill would incentivize small businesses and multi-family dwellings⁴ to install electric vehicle chargers. McMorrow says doing so would also help drive customers to those businesses.

The package's first three bills, McMorrow says, are revenue neutral and would cost nothing to taxpayers⁵. She says lawmakers are working with the state treasury⁶ department on the fourth bill to make sure it would actually spur economic development without costing the state too much money.

Although electric vehicles still make up a small percentage of the total cars on the road in Michigan, McMorrow says that the cost of these vehicles is decreasing as the technology associated with them rapidly improves. But without a strong statewide network of charging stations, she says even those who can afford to purchase electric vehicles will be unlikely to do so.

There are companies all over who are developing this technology, and my fear is that we're so comfortable in our core competency, we can make pickup⁷ trucks and SUVs better than anybody else in the world, but if we don't adapt and evolve to where the rest of the industry is going, we're going to get left behind, McMorrow said.

This post was written by Stateside production assistant Isabella Isaacs-Thomas.

1 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

2 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 dwellings   

n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The development will consist of 66 dwellings and a number of offices. 新建楼区将由66栋住房和一些办公用房组成。
• The hovels which passed for dwellings are being pulled down. 过去用作住室的陋屋正在被拆除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

6 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

7 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。