A new study from the American Transportation Research Institute that assessed the infrastructure needs for converting the U.S. vehicle fleet to battery electric — with an emphasis on trucking — underscored that the challenges inherent in such a shift will reverberate far and wide.
The study looked at:
- U.S. electricity supply and demand
- electric vehicle production
- truck charging requirements
ATRI identified some key challenges. For one, existing power generation and distribution networks are older, yet demand is set to rise. Plus, sourcing the required tens of millions of tons of raw materials for batteries expected to be needed for U.S. vehicles will deepen involvement with largely overseas supply chains. And situating truck-charging stations will bump into already deep difficulties with finding adequate authorized truck parking spaces.
