From the West coast to the East coast- electric vehicle charging stations are charging more than passenger cars! The first electric fire truck will be unveiled at the Los Angeles Fire Department in 2021. This will be North America’s first fire department to have a cutting-edge fire engine. “The electric fire engine is an innovative tool that will help reduce noise and harmful diesel emissions while providing a flexible tool for firefighting and rescue operations from a technologically advanced platform.”
Twelve major cities around the world have taken a landmark step to increase the use of zero- emission public transportation. The mayors of these cities have signed the C40 Fossil-Fuel-Free Streets Declaration, which pledges that they will only add fully electric buses to their cities’ public transportation from 2025 and beyond.
So, what does this mean and what should you be doing to prepare? Let’s take a look at a few points to consider.
- Electric vehicles fall into 3 main categories:
- Battery electric vehicles- powered by electricity stored in a battery pack.
- Plug-in hybrids combine a gasoline or diesel engine with an electric motor and large rechargeable battery.
- Fuel cell vehicles split electrons from hydrogen molecules to produce electricity to run the motor.
- Electric vehicles are saving the climate and our lives!
- The largest source of climate pollution in the U.S. is transportation. Not only are these pollutants bad for our climate they are bad for our health. Air pollutants from gasoline and diesel powered vehicles cause asthma, bronchitis, cancer and premature death. Long-term health impacts last a lifetime causing lung damage, and heart disease.
- As the COVID-19 pandemic — a respiratory disease — continues to spread, a study by Harvard University found “a striking association between long-term exposure to harmful fine particulate matter and COVID-19 mortality in the United States,” explains Rashmi Joglekar, a staff scientist at Earthjustice’s Toxic Exposure & Health Program. One of the primary causes of fine particulate matter pollution (PM2.5) is combustion from gasoline and diesel car engines.
- Electric Vehicles have a smaller carbon footprint than gasoline powered cars.
- Through their lifetime, electric cars are better for the climate.
- Electric Vehicles can conveniently charge up at home, at work, the grocery store. As more people choose to purchase electric vehicles one can expect more public charging locations in shopping centers, parking garages, and workplaces.
- Planning now to build infrastructure for charging electric vehicles is an important first step.
- Reliable transit buses will be the key to the electric vehicle revolution. By 2040, every bus you ride in California will be quiet and clean electric buses.
- Electric trucks delivering goods from warehouses to homes can make a big, clean difference.
- Other ways to make a difference:
- Urge your city to invest in electric buses, trucks, and charging infrastructure.
- When you are in the market to buy a car- buy electric.
- Spread your knowledge about electric vehicles.
At BAN Electric we are at the forefront of this new technology. We are fully prepared to assist in the implementation of electric vehicle charging stations from residential to commercial to local government applications.
