Eight states in the U.S. have pledged this week to work together to increase the number of zero-emission vehicles on the nation's roads by speeding up the construction of charging stations, according to the Associated Press.
The eight states include: California, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Oregon, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont. These locations represent approximately 23 percent of the auto market in the U.S.
The current goal is to get 3.3 million battery-powered vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and other zero-emission cars on the roads in those eight states by 2025. That would be 15 times the current amount of zero-emissions vehicles expected to be on the road in 2015.
"The idea is to make it easier for customers to operate and use zero-emission vehicles. This in turn will help pave the way for success of the auto industry," said Mary Nichols, chairman of the California Air Resources Board, according to the Associated Press.
Charging stations and other similar facilities are important when trying to win over drivers who are still worried that buying a hybrid or battery-powered car will mean they'll wind up stranded on the road somewhere while trying to find a charging station. More stations wound mean drivers won't have to worry as much.
The agreement was signed on Oct. 24, according to the Associated Press. No specific financial commitment from each state was agreed upon however.
The eight states will now work together to figure out incentives, zoning laws and other ideas that would help promote zero-emission vehicles.
Deb Markowitz, Vermont's natural resources secretary, said her state may try to form partnerships with specific companies to help build charging stations.
Industry data predicts over 200,000 zero-emissions vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015. There are over 250 million registered vehicles in the U.S.
Every automaker is expected to have a zero-emission model by 2015, according to the Associated Press.
There are over 6,700 charging stations open to the public in the eight states previously mentioned.
"The cars are coming, they're here already, but if you don't have a place to charge them, there's not going to be the level of consumer acceptance," said Brian Maas, president of the California New Car Dealers Association.
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