Oregon Has Electric Aspirations

Oregon Gov Kate Brown at EV Roadmap 10 in 2017

Oregon Governor Kate Brown has set a goal to have 50,000 plug-in cars on the state’s roads by the end of 2020.

On the Thursday morning of the Portland International Auto Show, Charlie Allcock from Portland General Electric spoke to an informal gathering of EV policymakers and advocates. Charlie had done some math and said by his reckoning, Oregon needs to register around 35 plug-in electric vehicles per day to reach that goal.

Charlie Allcock behind the wheel of PGE's electric service van

“There’s no question we’re making progress,” Allcock said. “But there is so far to go, and we need to be moving faster.”

For comparison, in 2017 Oregon added an average of 10.6 plug-ins per day. That was a modest increase over 2016's rate of 9.4 per day.

So how do you more than triple the number of EVs sold in the sale? 

EV sales have been slowly increasing, but there are changes that EV advocates hope will boost the rate of EV adoption to hit the state's goal: 

• Two state EV-rebate programs: As of the start of 2018, Oregon has a $2500 EV incentive for vehicles that qualify. Additionally, there is a second $2500 incentive for low-income households that can be combined with the first incentive for a total of $5000 off the price of an EV. Combine this with the $7500 federal incentive and the fuel saves and EVs become affordable to many more people.
• Electricfy America plans to install charging infrastructure within the state - Portland was named as one of the 11 metropolitan areas for priority investment
• $10 Million from the state's Volkswagen dieselgate settlement fund will be used for EV infrastructure "with a focus on connecting rural communities, low-income communities, and Oregonians living in multi-family homes"
• Portland General Electric has plans to install EV infrastructure around the state 
• EV sales have increased each year as more options come to market. Among the new cars coming to market is the Tesla Model 3. This car has a large back order list that will be significantly fulfilled over the next few years with many of these coming to Oregon