The Empire State has established lofty zero-emissions goals for the year 2030 that require large numbers of electric vehicles (EVs) to rove the state at that time rather than traditional gas-powered cars. The latest figures, however, show that there will not be nearly enough electric power available to charge them.
In New York City specifically, the goal is to force all Uber, Lyft, and other ridesharing companies to produce zero emissions by the year 2030. In "green" speak, this means that all ride-sharing vehicles in the Big Apple will need to be electric in just seven years.
Right now, only about 2,200 of the city's 78,000 cars currently authorized by the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) as app-based rideshares – this means Uber and Lyft rather than traditional taxi services – are EVs. The rest are normal cars that, gasp, use gasoline instead of a charging station to refuel.
By the end of 2026, TLC expects the number of EVs in the app-based ridesharing fleet to reach 25 percent of the overall fleet, which leaves just four after that to convert the remaining 75 percent – a likely impossible feat.
Should there be anything close to that amount of app-based ridesharing vehicles on the streets of New York City at that time, there will almost certainly not be enough charging stations, let alone electricity to power them, available to keep things running smoothly.
"[T]he existing charging network in New York City is not adequate even in the most optimistic scenario," researchers from two separate government agencies warned in an April 2022 study.
"[A]lthough charging is demanded in areas nearby high trip demand, fast charging ports are also demanded in areas near driver residences as a supplement for home charging in scenarios with limited overnight charging access."
(Related: Be sure to check out our earlier report explaining why EVs are a scam.)
Only 187 EV "fast chargers" currently exist in NYC
If the electric-for-hire fleet in New York City reaches the 21,000 EV benchmark that the TLC hopes to achieve by the year 2027, then the city will need many more than the mere 1,000 direct-current "fast chargers" that currently exist throughout the city.
These "fast chargers," we are told, can top up an EV's battery in just 20 minutes, as opposed to an hour. Such "fast chargers" would make EVs more comparable to gas-powered cars, which, coupled with a meandering visit inside the gas station convenience store, could take around 20 minutes to fill up – if one dawdles, anyway.
At the current time, there are a measly 187 direct-current "fast chargers" in New York City. They are distributed among 38 charging stations citywide, most of them in Brooklyn, which has 68 of them at six locations, and in Queens, which has 65 of them at 16 locations.
Manhattan has just 27 fast-charging ports at 11 stations, while Staten Island has 15 fast-charging ports distributed across four stations. In the Bronx, there is just one fast-charging station, a Tesla Supercharger facility located at the Bay Plaza Mall, which has a dozen overall EV charging ports.
It is important to note that in order to successfully fast-charge one's EV, the owner must have the right plug. Standard plugs still take a whole lot longer to recharge a vehicle, typically overnight, which is not necessarily viable for drivers who take passengers here and there all throughout the day for work.
Another thing to consider is the infrastructure layout in New York City. Many properties exist in multi-family locations where owners park on the street, meaning there is no garage charger available like there would be at a single-family home out in the suburbs.
The latest news about the zero emissions goals for 2030 can be found at GreenTyranny.news.
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