(Photo by TW Farlow/Getty Images)
This is part one of a five-part series about Virginia’s transition to electric vehicles that examines the government’s role in the process, the private industry’s status, the development of charging infrastructure in the state, EVs’ impact on the electric grid, and how the commonwealth’s workforce may be influenced by the growing industry.
In one sense, car travel can be traced all the way back to 3500 BC in the Middle East when Mesopotamians invented the wheel and axle to transport items.
Flash forward through the advent of the horse and buggy and the Ford Model T, the U.S. and Virginia are undergoing the latest stage in four-wheel travel: the adoption of electric vehicles that run on rechargeable batteries.
“The process is happening, and it’s happening faster everyday,” said Del. Rip Sullivan, D-Fairfax, an electric vehicle owner. “It’s part of the natural evolution of technology. It’s not an infringement on anybody. It is a phased-in process. It’s a transition of the kind we’ve experienced before.”