Some great electric vehicle (EV) news has come out of Jacksonville, Florida. According to U.S. Department of Energy –
- In Florida, federal statistics show that a gallon of gas costs an average of $2.83 but to charge an average EV costs around $1.08.
- Employment in EV manufacturing grew by 6% despite the pandemic.
In Florida, the annual emissions of carbon dioxide per vehicle is over 11,000 pounds, but for an electric that number goes down to less than 5,000 pounds annually.
According to the 2021 Clean Jobs Report, which looked at the previous year (2020), EV manufacturing jobs defied the overall energy sector job loss patterns and grew by nearly 3%. This was due to automakers shifting to cleaner and more efficient electric cars, trucks, and buses.
Employment in the field of clean energy vehicles and hybrid grew over 6% and over 12,000 new jobs were added in 2020, which was the largest increase of any clean energy category.
The report also noted that policies could create massive boosts to jobs and the economy. Two such policies mentioned were President Joe Biden’s climate strategy and the American Jobs Plan.
A breakdown of the type of clean energy jobs added is as follows:
- Wind energy added around 2,000 jobs.
- Clean storage companies added around 1,400 jobs.
- EV and clean vehicle manufacturing added around 12,200 jobs.
- 6,200 were added in hybrid EV manufacturing.
- 6,000 were added in fully electric vehicle manufacturing.
The report noted that the growth in these areas was mostly due to the positive policy changes in many states that were focusing on expanding clean energy and clean vehicles. Something similar is being attempted by Modi Government in India too.
Reference- News4Jax, Plugless Power, 2021 Clean Jobs Report, Clean Technica