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Puerto Rico EV Market Yet to Charge Up; Grid Adequacy, Driving Range in Question

As with efforts to wean Puerto Rico’s electric grid off from dependence on fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas and substitute it with cleaner and sustainable renewable energy sources like solar, the push to get the island’s residents to give up their internal combustion engine (ICE) automobiles in favor of electric vehicles faces steep challenges in the form of high upfront prices and a lack of an adequate electrical infrastructure to charge these vehicles.

All-electric vehicles (EVs) run on electricity only and are propelled by one or more electric motors powered by rechargeable the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), EVs convert more than 77 percent of the electrical energy from the grid to power at the wheels. The agency’s website states that, in contrast, conventional gasoline vehicles convert about 12 percent to 30 percent of the energy stored in gasoline to power at the wheels. According to a study released last year by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) an EV emits, on average, about half as much carbon dioxide as a gas-burning vehicle.

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