NEW JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy wants 100% of new cars sold in the state to be electric by 2035. But the president of a car dealers coalition says the journey there is long, with plenty of bumps in the road.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish," said Jim Appleton, president of New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers. “It’s good to have a goal, but unless you attach to that goal concrete and achievable steps to achieve it, you’re pandering, you’re not planning.”
Appleton says, right now, electric vehicle’s make up just a small fraction of cars on the road.
He added that dealers can figure out how to accommodate the new demand for these vehicles if the demand is there, but getting to 100% demand is a long way off.
“We need to get to 7%. We need to get to 10%. We need to get to 15%.”
He says the main barriers right now are price, the lack of charging stations, as many New Jerseyans live in apartments or multi-unit dwellings and can’t just plug in their vehicle overnight in the driveway, and electric vehicle infrastructure.
Related
“And then delivering the power on-demand to those sites. It’s something that I’m not sure the utilities and the grid is up to yet.”
Appleton says the 500 new car dealers he represents in the state will figure out how to scale up and service those cars, just as they’ve adapted to other new technologies over the years.
Related
“There are a lot of moving parts outside the control of the auto industry where I reside that are going to have to come into play.”
Appleton says New Jersey dealers have collectively spent more than $151 million and will continue making investments to help advance the governor’s electric vehicle goal.