Current Actions

• Help us pass SB454!

  Help us pass California SB454 - the EV Open Access Act.  SB454 has a simple purpose, to allow consumers with plug-in cars to use electricity as a transportation fuel in a similar or better way than those who are still driving gasoline cars are able to access gas stations today.   

  Can you imagine pulling into a gas station and not knowing whether or not it will take your credit card and not knowing how much the gas is going to cost? Well today, tens of thousands of California drivers of electric vehicles often face these exact challenges.  Now, the young industry that provides public EV charging has made tremendous progress in the last several years with help from $115 million in Federal grants and over $20 million in funding from the state of California via AB118 funds from the California Energy Commission and local air districts.  SB454 will help give consumers more confidence which will in turn ensure that the market grows and prospers. 

  Please use the form below to contact your State Senator and let them know you want SB454 to pass, making sure plug-in drivers can access all of the public stations and knowing how much they will pay when they do.  

  If you have a personal story, either positive or negative about how you have used California's public charging infrastructure, please include it in your request to your Senator. 

  If you are close enough to Sacramento, you can make an even bigger difference. Come participate in the legislative process and tell your story about public charging. you will only have one minute to speak, but letting the State Senators know that you care about access and transparency in public EV charging will have a major impact. the hearing is at 9:00 am on Tuesday, April 30th at the Senate Capitol in Room 3191. You can also listen to the hearing live here.

  Here's a copy of SB454 if you want to read more. 

  Thank you for your support and for taking the time to act! 

  Jay Friedland
  Legislative Director
  Plug In America

• Please Encourage your Representative to approve SB5849 in Washington State

  Thanks to your help, SB5489 passed the Washington Senate this week. Now it is in the House, and we need your help to ensure that it passes there too.

  Have you ever pulled in to a public EVSE in need of a charge...and found a gas vehicle blocking the charging spot?

  Plug In America, partnering with Seattle EV Association, needs your help to ensure SB 5849 is approved in the full Washington House likely this week. 

  This bill requires signage and pavement markings for charging spots, and creates a $124 fine for cars blocking electric vehicle charging stations. Please send a note (below) to your Representative encouraging him/her to pass it. It can be in your own words, but you could note that it encourages plug-in vehicle adoption by:

  1. Helping to safeguard unobstructed and timely access to charging stations by operators of plug-in electric vehicles,
  2. Protecting private property owners’ as well as taxpayers’ significant financial investments to provide Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) for the public’s use,
  3. Educating the general public about the fact that parking in a charging space is an act as inconsiderate as parking in front of a gasoline pump or in a handicap space, and
  4. Discouraging non plug-in vehicles from using the charging space for other than its intended purpose through the imposition of a financial penalty in an amount similar to those assessed for handicap space rule infractions.

  Approving this bill will strikingly reduce the worst part of owning a plug-in: being blocked from charging stations. This will encourage plug-in adoption, which will in turn have a huge effect on our state economy and environment.

  Please send an email (below) to you representative urging them to approve SB5849.

  Thank you,

  Jay Friedland
  Legislative Director
  Plug In America

• Please Encourage your Senator to approve SB5849

  Have you ever pulled in to a public EVSE in need of a charge...and found a gas vehicle blocking the charging spot?

  Plug In America, partnering with Seattle EV Association, needs your help to ensure SB 5849 is approved in the full Senate (likely this week.) 

  This bill requires signage and pavement markings for charging spots, and creates a $250 fine for cars blocking electric vehicle charging stations. Please send a note (below) to your Senator encouraging him/her to pass it. It should be in your own words, but you could note that it encourages plug-in vehicle adoption by:

  1. Helping to safeguard unobstructed and timely access to charging stations by operators of plug-in electric vehicles,
  2. Protecting private property owners’ as well as taxpayers’ significant financial investments to provide Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) for the public’s use,
  3. Educating the general public about the fact that parking in a charging space is an act as inconsiderate as parking in front of a gasoline pump or in a handicap space, and
  4. Discouraging non plug-in vehicles from using the charging space for other than its intended purpose through the imposition of a financial penalty in an amount similar to those assessed for handicap space rule infractions.

  Approving this bill will strikingly reduce the worst part of owning a plug-in: being blocked from charging stations. This will encourage plug-in adoption, which will in turn have a huge effect on our state economy and environment.

  Please send an email (below) to you representative urging them to approve SB5849.

  Thank you,

  Jay Friedland
  Legislative Director
  Plug In America

• Oppose the Annual License Tax on EVs

  We oppose the Annual License Tax on electrically powered vehicles currently proposed in Virginia General Assembly Bill HB2313 and need help to prevent it from becoming law. So, we’re asking supporters of cleaner air, lower fuel costs and increased American energy independence to contact their representative in the Virginia legislature and Governor Bob McDonnell to oppose the fee.

  The logic behind this tax – that the fee is needed to offset losses in gasoline tax revenues – holds no merit.  The number of electric vehicles on the road at this time is not significant enough to produce anything more than a negligible impact on Virginia’s state budget. EV owners are willing to pay their fair share, but with a more balanced policy that doesn't penalize plug-ins. This penalty is nothing but a blatant attack on innovation and clean transportation.

  But the bigger threat is the stigma that Virginia is going to create around EVs – that there are more special taxes and fees associated with these cars. The market for EVs is not strong enough yet for these types of add-ons.
  
  The time to speak out about this is now – we need your voice heard in order to defeat this. Please show your opposition to HB2313, please contact your representative in the Virginia legislature and Governor Bob McDonnell to veto the Electric Vehicle Fee in HB2313. Enter your zip code below to find your representatives.

  
  Thank you for your support!

  Jay Friedland
  Legislative Director
  Plug In America