Debunking the Myth: Electric Vehicles Are a Liability in Florida Hurricanes

I’ve been driving an electric vehicle (EV) for over a decade, and one of the most consistent questions I get asked by non-EV drivers is whether I can take my EV on a road trip. The answer is, heck yeah!

The city of Orlando has a sustainability goal of achieving net zero carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2050. As the city’s municipal utility, Orlando Utilities Commission, known as OUC, the Reliable One, announced its intention to meet that goal, as well as interim targets of 50% reduction by 2030 and 75% by 2040.

Broward County Schools is one of just a handful of Florida school districts that have started the transition to electric school buses. Florida Transportation Systems (FTS) and FPL, the electric utility serving the county, were integral partners in the school district’s decision to make the shift. At this time, the Broward Schools has taken delivery of 20 of the 60 electric school buses on order.

The Winter Park Natural Resources & Sustainability Department is responsible for the overall operation and management of sustainable initiatives. They recently updated the Sustainability Action Plan (SAP) that was adopted by the city commission in January 2023.

Altamonte Springs has set an example for other municipalities by striving to work beyond the typical constraints of local government. This includes establishing their own electric utility to provide a diverse array of renewable energy sources for their government facilities while still being served by an investor owned utility.

Year-end market data for the Southeast shows continued growth and national leadership in EV manufacturing investments and jobs. We also see growth in sales, charging station deployment, and public funding, despite our region lagging national averages.

Tesla, GM and Nissan advocate for extending the federal EV tax credit

EV Drive Coalition

National Lab Demos High-Power Wireless EV Charging: Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have demonstrated a 120-kilowatt wireless charging system for vehicles—providing six times the power of previous ORNL technology and a big step toward charging times that rival the speed and convenience of a gas station fill-up.

Koben Systems’ New Scalable Battery Storage Solution for Multi-Unit and Workplace EV Charging

Researchers at North Carolina State University have built an electric vehicle fast charger that is at least 10 times smaller than existing systems and wastes 60 percent less power during the charging process, without sacrificing the charging time.

Duke Energy plans to install up to 530 public charging stations within its Florida service area, and has also launched a three-year study to research the impact of residential EV charging on the electric grid.

Worldwide, about 100,000 electric buses are sold annually, 95% of them in China. In the US, Navigant predicts electric buses will account for only 15% of the market by 2025. Even in China, where national policies strongly favor electric transportation, battery operated buses account for only 70% of the total bus market.

Inside EV’s has released multiple figures illustrating the current trends in the plug in electric vehicle market, including the latest sales from the month of August, and the results are great! The electric car movement is still in full throttle, as the market continues to grow and sales increase.

Q2 2018 returned the strongest sales on record for electric vehicles (EV) with 65,585 units sold in the U.S. Nearly 20,000 EVs were sold since last year, an increase of approximately 41 percent year-over-year (y/y)

New federal data show that homeowners are more than three times more likely than renters to own an EV. And since 43 million U.S. households – 37 percent of all households – rent their homes, it is worth thinking hard about why this gap exists. The reason for this stems from the question: Should EV infrastructure be a responsibility of the tenant or landlord?

With EV’s becoming more popular, many agencies and drivers have begun to focus on the safety of these vehicles. There is no doubt that EVs have many benefits, but are they as safe as internal combustion cars (ICE)? And is it possible that they are even safer?

The consent decree settlements between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Volkswagen (VW) have made Florida eligible to receive over $166 million in funding through the Environment Mitigation Trust Agreement (EMT).

The infrastructure element that provides the crucial link between an Electric Vehicle (EV) with a depleted battery and the electrical source that will recharge those batteries is the Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment or EVSE.