Plug-in electric vehicles in Washington (state)

A Nissan Leaf in the Seattle city fleet

As of March 2022, there were about 92,000 electric vehicles registered in the U.S. state of Washington.[1] As of 2021, 7.8% of new vehicle sales in Washington were electric.[2]

In 2021, Washington was ranked by Bumper.com as the best state in the country for electric vehicle ownership.[3]

Government policy

In April 2021, the state legislature passed a bill requiring all new cars sold by 2030 to be electric; however, it was vetoed by Governor Jay Inslee.[4] The legislature passed another bill again in March 2022, which was signed into law by Inslee, which sets an official target of 2030 for the phase-out of gasoline-powered vehicles, but does not explicitly ban their sale after that date.[5][6][7]

In December 2021, Governor Inslee proposed a $7,500 state tax rebate for electric vehicle purchases; however, the rebate failed in the state legislature.[8][9]

By region

Counties in Washington by number of electric vehicles (as of March 2022)[1]
County EVs
Adams 35
Asotin 42
Benton 1,141
Chelan 555
Clallam 648
Clark 5,309
Columbia 8
Cowlitz 477
Douglas 180
Ferry 19
Franklin 295
Garfield 3
Grant 250
Grays Harbor 378
Island 1,100
Jefferson 597
King 47,918
Kitsap 3,297
Kittitas 295
Klickitat 140
Lewis 404
Lincoln 25
Mason 466
Okanogan 119
Pacific 131
Pend Oreille 26
Pierce 6,965
San Juan 623
Skagit 1,086
Skamania 107
Snohomish 9,878
Spokane 2,250
Stevens 105
Thurston 3,450
Wahkiakum 28
Walla Walla 256
Whatcom 2,437
Whitman 138
Yakima 505

Seattle

As of 2021, 11.7% of new vehicle sales in King County were electric.[2]

In June 2021, Pierce County passed an ordinance requiring all new homes built from January 2022 to have dedicated parking spaces for electric vehicle charging.[10]

Spokane

In 2021, the Spokane Police Department purchased its first electric vehicles, with a plan of transitioning the department's fleet to electric by 2030; however, the new vehicles were met with significant pushback from officers, and subsequently withdrawn from the flet.[11][12]

In March 2022, Spokane introduced a surcharge on gasoline and diesel used by city vehicles. The city plants to convert its entire fleet to electric by 2030.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "Electric Vehicle Population Data". data.wa.gov. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Ryan, John (March 18, 2022). "Electric vehicles have surged in Washington state. But gas cars still dominate". KUOW. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  3. ^ Malatesta, Parker (September 1, 2021). "Utah is the second best state to own an electric vehicle". TownLift. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  4. ^ Dow, Jameson (April 15, 2021). "Washington State bans gas cars by 2030 – the earliest in the US". Electrek. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  5. ^ Ramey, Jay (March 18, 2022). "Washington Takes Another Stab at Banning Gas Cars". Autoweek. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  6. ^ Morris, Charles (April 9, 2022). "Washington State Enacts 2030 Target For Fossil Fuel Phaseout". EVANNEX. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  7. ^ Oxley, Dyer (April 6, 2022). "More roads, more EVs. Can Washington do it?: Today So Far". KUOW. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  8. ^ Bernton, Hal (February 14, 2022). "Gov. Inslee's $7,500 electric car rebate remains uncertain in WA Legislature". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  9. ^ Turner, Nicholas (March 11, 2022). "Washington State Legislature Fails to Pass $7,500 EV Rebates". Governing. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  10. ^ LaCivita, Leah (March 17, 2022). "Local Governments Take Innovative Approaches To Prepare For Electric Vehicles". MRSC. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  11. ^ Smay, Ian (February 28, 2022). "Spokane police react negatively to Tesla cruisers". KREM. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  12. ^ Klender, Joey (March 1, 2022). "Tesla Police Cruiser fleet rejected by department despite numerous success stories". Telsarati. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  13. ^ Ricarte, RaeLynn (March 3, 2022). "Spokane adds fuel surcharge on city fleet to aid climate change fight". The Center Square. Retrieved March 25, 2022.