Oregon Department of Energy Publishes New Report Highlighting the State’s Zero Emission Vehicle Landscape
The cost of zero emission vehicle ownership, new EV models and platforms, data on electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and the positive effect transportation electrification can have on Oregon’s harmful greenhouse gas emissions are just a few of the topics covered in the Oregon Department of Energy’s inaugural Biennial Zero Emission Vehicle Report.
The report is the product of legislation passed in 2019 aimed at tracking progress on Oregon’s ZEV adoption targets, including reaching 250,000 registered ZEVs on Oregon roads by 2025 and having at least 90 percent of new vehicles sold in the state be ZEVs by 2035, among others. “Oregon has made incredible progress on zero emission vehicle adoption over the last decade,” said ODOE Director (and electric vehicle owner) Janine Benner. “In 2011, Oregon had about 300 electric vehicles on our roads – today, we have more than 38,000. We have work to do to reach our ambitious targets, and we hope the information and recommendations in this report can help us get there.”
While the state isn’t yet on track to meeting its ZEV targets, more than two dozen models of electric passenger vehicles are now available for purchase, and an electric pickup truck model is expected next year. Electric transit and school buses are operating in several parts of Oregon, and electric micromobility options, like e-bikes and e-scooters, are often used in the state’s urban areas to help people more easily make short trips in their neighborhoods.
One of the questions posed by the legislature is how the cost of electric vehicles compares to their gasoline-powered counterparts. The report finds that thanks to incentive programs like the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s Clean Vehicle Rebate and Charge Ahead Rebate programs, and a federal EV tax credit, some electric models can cost less than their gasoline-powered counterparts. Even when an EV model purchase price is higher, in many cases the total costs across the lifetime of the vehicle are less thanks to lower operating costs. Electric fuel can be as little as 25 percent of the cost of fueling with gasoline, depending on how much the owner pays for electricity. Maintenance costs are also lower because, with fewer moving parts and less need for lubricants, EVs do not require the same level of upkeep and maintenance.
ODOE’s report dives into more trends and data, including the positive effect making the switch to electric transportation options can have on Oregon’s climate change goals. The report also outlines several recommendations to support reliable and accessible charging infrastructure, to improve data collection and analysis to better understand Oregon’s ZEV landscape and to inform policy options to increase Oregonians’ access to ZEVs, to further assess barriers to equitable access to ZEVs, and to identify and implement best practices for measuring equitable access to electric vehicle charging, among others.
The complete Biennial Zero Emission Vehicle Report is available on ODOE’s website.