Federal government needs 30,000 new electric vehicles per year to meet emission goals: report

Meeting federal emissions goals may require federal agencies to acquire about 30,000 emissions-free vehicles per year and about 25 times the current number of charging ports, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The Biden administration in December issued an executive order mandating all new federal vehicle acquisitions be emissions-free by 2035, with the requirement applying to all light-duty vehicle acquisitions by 2027. The order covers about 380,000 vehicles, including about 260,000 light-duty vehicles, according to the report.

A GAO analysis found that agencies replace about 8 percent of their fleets annually, 73 percent of which are light-duty vehicles. Acquisition of zero-emission vehicles is likely to be relatively simple for federal agencies, according to the office.

The analysis also reported that the General Services Administration (GSA) estimates electric options for all categories of light vehicles within five years. The report also found that typical agency vehicle mileage is well-suited for a transition to electric.

Charging infrastructure, however, will likely be a more complicated prospect, according to the report. Access to such infrastructure is typically in limited supply at federal facilities, and the GSA estimates indicate the government will likely require as many as 100,000 charging ports to meet its needs. Federally owned and operated charging ports currently stand at about 4,000 across fewer than 500 cities, according to the GAO report.

The locations and jurisdictions of the ports are also a potential logistical problem, according to the report.

Washington, D.C., contains the single zip code with the most federal vehicles, but only has 110 charging ports in 35 locations, compared to California, which has more than a quarter of all federally owned charging infrastructure. Nearly half of federally owned charging infrastructure is owned by either the Department of the Navy or the Department of Education.

The necessary charging infrastructure build-out will require major financial investments, according to the report, which notes that the costs per charging station can range from $1,000 to $100,000.

“GSA officials said that rural locations and other facilities that are unable to cost-effectively install charging infrastructure or to access public charging may want to acquire plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to fulfill requirement,” the report adds.

The federal government has faced potential obstacles to its electric vehicle goals before. Earlier this year, congressional Democrats and the Environmental Protection Agency raised objections to a new vehicle order from U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that was only 10 percent electric. USPS maintained that increasing the proportion of electric vehicles was always an option, and announced moves to expand the percentage later this year.