Official: Electric vehicles feasible in rural areas
“Already in Southern California, you can buy hydrogen vehicles and that’s something that may have a larger role as well, particularly for heavy-duty vehicles.”
— Matthew Marshall, executive director of the energy authority
Ca lifor nia’s automo - tive industry is moving increasingly toward vehicles powered by renewable energy and making driving them feasible in Humboldt County isn’t “substantively different” than making it happen in the rest of the state, says the executive director of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority.
Late last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that selling gas-powered cars and trucks would no longer be allowed in California starting in 2035. Because of improvements in electric vehicle technology, Matthew Marshall, executive director of the energy authority, said driving electric vehicles in rural areas is becoming no different than more urban parts of the state, though very rural areas, such as eastern Humboldt County, may be slower to adopt those changes.
“If you look at the trajectory of electric vehicles,” Marshall said, “the notion of range anxiety and not being able to get far enough on a charge is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.”
Seth Cheak, of Harper Motors, said locally there
was a fair amount of interest in purchasing electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles.
“I think people are now looking at it as a much more viable option with ranges extending,” Cheak said.
Both public and private entities have begun installing charging stations across the county from
Trinidad to Rio Dell, with more coming soon. The Arcata City Council, for instance, will be voting on whether to approve the installation of four electric vehicle charging stations at the Arcata Community Center at its Wednesday night meeting.
Rapid charging stations, which are more like gas
stations that allow for a quicker charge, are increasingly being built across the county, Marshall said. Businesses, such as hotels, are installing charging stations for traveling customers that have electric vehicles.
The electric vehicle infrastructure is currently adequate to meet the area’s charging needs, and it’s continuing to grow as more people buy electric vehicles, he said.
“But the vast majority of electric vehicle charging happens at people’s homes,” Marshall said.
For people commuting short distances, such as from Mckinleyville to Eureka, a 40-mile range might be all they need, Marshall said. For people in more rural parts of the county that need to go further distances, a hybrid vehicle may be a better option, he said.
“And if we’re looking 15 years into the future, there’s going to be other opportunities,” Marshall said. “Already in Southern California, you can buy hydrogen vehicles and that’s something that may have a larger role as well, particularly for heavy- duty vehicles.”
As battery technology advances, the performance of electric-powered equipment is outperforming gas-powered equipment, so Marshall said it’s not going to take much persuasion to convince people to make the shift to electric vehicles, which are less expensive.
A greenhouse gas emissions assessment done on Humboldt County showed more than half of the county’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation sector, so electric vehicles would help bring those numbers down, too, he said.
That being said, Marshall said gas-powered vehicles will still be on the streets in 15 years.
“There’ll still be gas vehicles being sold and there’s certainly vehicles on the road that are 10, 15 years old today,” Marshall said, “so it’s not like gas is going to be disappearing.”