AUDIO: CN2Go: Arizona among the first in the nation to build a major electric vehicle infrastructure

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THIS IS YOUR CRONKITE NEWS 2GO BRIEFING. I’M EMILY MAI.

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HOST INTRO:

ARIZONA IS ONE OF THE FIRST STATES IN THE NATION TO RECEIVE THE STAMP OF APPROVAL ON A MAJOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE EXPANSION PLAN.

THE STATE’S DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION IS SET TO RECEIVE 76.5 MILLION DOLLARS TO DEPLOY THIS PLAN OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. CRONKITE NEWS’ AUTRIYA MANESHNI HAS MORE ON WHAT THIS PLAN HAS TO OFFER FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE EV OWNERS.
Autriya Maneshni [feature]
JIM STACK IS ONE OF THE MOST PASSIONATE ELECTRIC VEHICLE OWNERS I’VE EVER MET.

“When I moved to Arizona, about 22 years ago, I immediately said, wow, that’s terrific. I want to put solar on the house, and the house went solar. And then I want to get an electric vehicle.”
HE’S DRIVEN QUITE A FEW EV-S IN HIS LIFETIME

“Started out with…I used to have a Fierro electric vehicle. I had a Chevy S10 pickup, which is a very common electric vehicle and they used to make some and I want to use one of those that didn’t work, had a fault in it, had to pull almost all the wiring out. So I finally got it clear. And my wife and I drove that to work for quite a few years.”
STACK IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHOENIX ELECTRIC AUTO ASSOCIATION. I MET HIM AT AN ADOT OPEN HOUSE. IN THIS MEETING, THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WAS PRESENTING ITS STATE-WIDE EV CHARGING STATION DEVELOPMENT PLAN TO THE PUBLIC.
DOUG NICK, IS A SPOKESPERSON WITH ADOT.

“The consensus of the meetings is that people are very interested in having more electrical vehicle chargers throughout the state. Most of the comments have been generally supportive of this program.”
THE ADOT PLAN WILL PLACE CHARGING STATIONS ALONG ALL FIVE OF THE FEDERAL INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS THROUGHOUT THE STATE. THESE HIGHWAYS ARE KNOWN AS THE ALTERNATIVE FUEL CORRIDOR AND ACCOUNT FOR MORE THAN 20-PERCENT OF ALL VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED IN ARIZONA.
THE FUNDING FOR THIS PLAN COMES FROM THE BI-PARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT THAT CONGRESS PASSED LAST YEAR. WHEN THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION FIRST APPROVED THE PLAN…ADOT HAD IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO 11 MILLION DOLLARS WITH ANOTHER 16 MILLION THAT CAME IN OCTOBER.
THAT SOUNDS LIKE A LOT OF MONEY…BUT THE INFRASTRUCTURE BILL RECENTLY MADE ABOUT 5 BILLION DOLLARS AVAILABLE FOR PLANS LIKE THIS NATIONWIDE. ARIZONA IS GETTING A LITTLE OVER 76 MILLION DOLLARS TO IMPLEMENT ITS PLAN.

“And that money, again, is dedicated to Arizona, we did not have to compete for it. So since the money was there, we went ahead and started almost immediately devising this draft plan, we were among the first states to submit it back in August.”
YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING, WHY NOW? WHY SHOULD ADOT DO THIS?
DIANE BROWN…THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR THE ARIZONA PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP EDUCATION FUND EXPLAINS.

“More and more we’re hearing in seeing Arizonans consider electric vehicles, either to switch out the car they have now or to look at an electric vehicle for their next purchase. Electric vehicles are becoming more popular, as Arizonans recognize the financial benefits to their pocketbooks. And see they’re more readily available in their communities.”
MORE THAN 58-THOUSAND EVS WERE REGISTERED IN THE STATE THIS YEAR COMPARED TO NEARLY 41-THOUSAND IN 2021. THIS SHOWS THAT PEOPLE ARE SLOWLY WARMING UP TO OWNING AN EV.
ALTERNATIVE FUEL AND HYBRID CARS SAW AN INCREASE IN REGISTRATION TOO. WITH NEARLY 40-THOUSAND MORE REGISTRATIONS THIS YEAR COMPARED TO LAST.
KEVIN POTEMPA, THE GENERAL MANAGER AND OWNER OF ARIZONA HYBRID CARS, IS EXPERIENCING THIS INCREASE FIRST-HAND.

“I think, because of the gas prices, it has made people more aware of the cost of gas, it made people think more and get educated more about hybrid and electric cars. I would say 50% of the people that buy cars from us have never owned a hybrid or an electric car before. So a lot of times our first conversation with people is to educate them about the different models and how they, how they differ from each other. And what to expect with a hybrid car and an electric car compared to a gas car.”
LACK OF EDUCATION ABOUT AN EV IS SOMETIMES WHAT DRIVES SOMEONE AWAY FROM INVESTING IN ONE. STACK SAYS MANY PEOPLE HAVE RANGE ANXIETY OR ARE WORRIED THEIR ELECTRICITY BILL MIGHT INCREASE DRAMATICALLY.
RYAN CORNELL, WHO IS A PROFESSOR AND A SENIOR GLOBAL FUTURES SCIENTIST AT ASU, BELIEVES SOME OF THESE CONCERNS CAN BE SCRATCHED OFF IF PEOPLE MADE THEMSELVES MORE FAMILIAR WITH EVS.

“ But in many cases, they’ve never talked to someone that has an EV, they’ve never sat in one and you know, once they get a chance to kind of sit down and talk it over, they realize, Oh, I do have an outlet in my garage. And I don’t even need to have anything special, I can just plug into the same one that I plugged my drill into, or whatever in the garage and it will charge enough each night where I can get to work or Oh, my workplace actually has a charger, I didn’t actually even realize that that they have where my wife works, they have actual outlets in the parking lot, there’s a few places you can just plug into. And they may not realize that. They may not realize that there’s fast chargers that you can go and road trips with.”
WITH THIS NEW EXPANSION PLAN, ROAD TRIPS WILL BECOME EVEN MORE DOABLE IN AN EV.
“what we have found with this draft plan is that we’ve had no trouble finding potential infrastructure to meet the criteria that is 50 Miles no more than 50 miles apart, and a mile within a mile of the interstate. There are two minor exceptions, one on Interstate eight, Between Gila Bend and Casa Grande and one on i-40 between Seligman and Kingman. But those are very minor deviations, maybe 60 miles as opposed to 50 miles. So really, considering the vast and rural nature of much of our state, that’s actually quite good that we were able to hit the mark so closely.”

AND IF PEOPLE AREN’T QUIET READY TO MAKE THE SWITCH FROM GAS TO ELECTRIC, POTEMPA SAYS HYBRIDS COULD BE A GREAT PLACE TO START.

“ And I think a big misconception is that hybrids are more expensive. That a hybrid car is going to have more maintenance than a regular car. And it’s actually the complete opposite. Hybrids tend to be right at the same price or maybe a little bit cheaper. In terms of maintenance, there’s no additional maintenance on a hybrid car.”
AS FOR ADOT…IT’S NEXT STEPS ARE TO UPGRADE CURRENT STATIONS AND BUILD NEW ONES STEADILY CLOSING THE GAPS IN THE CHARGING NETWORKS.. MOST OF THE FUTURE STATIONS WILL BE PLACED WITHIN EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURES OF SHOPPING CENTERS, TRUCK STOPS, RESTAURANTS AND OTHER LOCATIONS.
AUTRIYA MANESHNI, CRONKITE NEWS.

HOST INTRO:

THE UNITED STATES MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM FACED OFF AGAINST EE-RAHN (IRAN) THIS TUESDAY IN A MUST WIN GAME TO MAKE IT TO THE KNOCKOUT STAGES OF THE WORLD CUP.

CRONKITE REPORTER DAMON FAIRALL HAS MORE.

Damon Fairall [wrap]

IT WAS A 38TH MINUTE GOAL FROM STAR PLAYER CHRISTIAN PULISIC THAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE IN THE MATCH, WHICH ENDED WITH A FINAL SCORE OF ONE TO ZERO IN FAVOR OF THE AMERICANS.

U.S. CAPTAIN TYLER ADAMS BELIEVES THE BIG GAMES HIS TEAM HAS PLAYED IN RECENT YEARS PREPARED THEM FOR THE WIN OR GO HOME ENVIRONMENT.

“It was obviously a high stress moment, high pressure moment. But we’ve built this up over the past three and three-and-a-half years of learning how to cope in these moments. Staying calm, cool, collected, but also keeping our intensity at a high level.”

THE GAME REPRESENTED THE THIRD AND FINAL GAME OF THE GROUP STAGES FOR THE UNITED STATES. WITH THE WIN, THE U.S. FINISHED IN SECOND PLACE IN ITS GROUP BEHIND ENGLAND.

NOW THE STATES WILL PREPARE FOR A KNOCKOUT STAGE GAME AGAINST THE NETHERLANDS.

WHILE MAKING THE KNOCKOUT STAGES IS CONSIDERED A SUCCESSFUL TOURNAMENT FOR A U.S. TEAM THAT JUST FIELDED THE YOUNGEST STARTING LINEUP AT THE WORLD CUP, ADAMS BELIEVES THEY HAVE EVEN MORE TO PROVE.

“So for us, we can definitely enjoy this moment and be very proud of ourselves, but we didn’t come here just to make it out of the group. That was our first objective. That’s accomplished. Now we head into the knockout stages where we’re obviously confident in our team and the way we’re playing so anything can happen.”

POLITICS HAVE PLAYED A LARGE PART IN THE WORLD CUP THIS YEAR. EVEN AFTER DEFEAT, MANY IRANIANS REPORTEDLY CHEERED IN THE STREETS. THOSE PROTESTING IN IRAN BELIEVE THE IRANIAN NATIONAL TEAM REPRESENTS AN OPPRESSIVE REGIME RATHER THAN THE PEOPLE OF IRAN.

FOR THE U.S., THE NETHERLANDS GAME WILL TAKE PLACE ON SATURDAY AT EIGHT A.M. ARIZONA TIME TO DECIDE A PLACE IN THE QUARTERFINALS. THE NETHERLANDS WILL BR E CONSIDERED FAVORITES TO ADVANCE.

FOR CRONKITE NEWS, I’M DAMON FAIRALL.

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WE HAD HELP TODAY FROM AUTRIYA MANESHNI AND DAMON FAIRALL.

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YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STORIES YOU HEARD IN TODAY’S NEWS UPDATE, BY GOING TO CRONKITENEWS-DOT-AZPBS-DOT-ORG.

THAT’S ALL FOR YOUR CRONKITE NEWS 2 GO. I’M EMILY MAI

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