WACO, Texas (KWTX) – If you’ve been driving in Central Texas recently, you may have noticed an increasing number of electric vehicles on the road.
Those are just a portion of the more than 230,000 electric vehicles the United States Department of Energy says are registered in the state of Texas.
“EV ownership in the county has actually been growing at a pretty good clip. There are over 1,100 registered EVs in the county now,” said Eric Coffman, the Sustainability Programs Manager for the City of Waco.
Gearing up for the rising number of EVs hitting the road in Central Texas is no small task, and the City of Waco says they’ve already started to lay the foundation for an EV friendly area.
Coffman says they’ve started applying for Federal grants in hopes of installing more charging stations.
“Right now, we’re really below the requirement for what we really need for over 1,100 EVs in the area,” said Coffman.
“Some of these grants are competitive, some of them are formula. So we know that we will be getting several fast-chagrin stations in the area over the next couple of years.”
According to the Department of Energy there are a total of 21 charging stations on I -35 between Salado and Waco, 13 of which are in the Waco area.
While that number is expected to grow, the change will not come overnight.
“You’re not going to see as many EV charging stations as you do gas stations, but there’s definitely a demand,” said Coffman.
Some of the cars using those chargers belong to the City of Waco’s fleet.
Waco currently has 17 ev’s that are used by city employees, eight of which were added in the last year.
As they slowly expand their e-v presence, Trey Buzbee, who is in charge of the city’s fleet, says that going green can help more than just the environment.
“The cost of living and the cost of doing business in our area is less, because of our good air quality,” said Buzbee, Waco’s Director of Fleet Services.
“That’s one of the reasons we’re looking at Ev’s, is to maintain and improve that air quality”
Soon, Waco’s first electric police patrol car will be put into use.
Buzbee says they’re being careful with the roll out of these cruisers due to their price, but the early yields on operation cost of the vehicles is promising.
“Operational costs over the lifespan of a vehicle is anywhere from 2,500 dollars to 10,000 dollars less than a traditional fuel powered vehicle,” said Buzbee.
Despite the effort to integrate these cars into everyday use, they aren’t a “one size fits all” solution.
Especially when the job calls for vehicles that can withstand a heavy workload.
“If we get into larger trucks, medium duty trucks, there are some e-v’s out there, but they don’t really fit our use case because of the power needs and towing needs and things like that,” said Buzbee.
Another concern about the use of EVs is what Lane Desper, an automotive instructor at Texas State Technical College, calls “range anxiety”.
“If you’re like me, when I go fill up my car with gasoline I’m filled and gone in less than 5 minutes,” said Desper.
“If you have an electric car, you may be sitting there for an hour. Most people don’t charge them all the way, they’ll charge them just far enough to get where they’re supposed to be going.”
The preparations for the ever changing world of automobiles do not stop at city hall.
At TSTC, they’ve integrated classes on how to safely and effectively work on EVs into their automotive technology courses.
Desper is tasked with the responsibility of teaching the next generation of auto techs how to operate on the next generation of cars.
He says the high voltage batteries in EVs come with a set of risks that is different from what they see in gas-powered vehicles.
“Anything over half an amp is potentially dangerous to your body. Some of these cars have several hundred amps available,” said Desper.
That’s why he says safety is always at the top of their mind.
“The biggest thing with us is safety,” said Desper.
“We want to make sure they understand glove safety, PPE for their eyes, and one of the things, they have to empty their pockets of anything metal that could conduct electricity. “
While it doesn’t come without risk, the combination of safety protocols put in place by both the manufacturers and the technicians makes fixing these vehicles safer than meets the eye.
“If you look at this from the outside, it looks like it’s pretty scary,” said Desper.
“But buy and large you really have to make a huge mistake to get electrocuted doing this.”
The integration of electric vehicles brings change, and some say with change comes opportunity.
” I don’t see it as a problem. I see it as an opportunity to do better,” said Buzbee.
The growth is felt outside of Waco as well, Killeen is home to 12 charging stations, Temple has five, and Belton has three stations .
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