NEW YORK (PIX 11) — New Yorkers have a hard enough time finding parking spots, so scurrying for charging stations has deterred them from plunking down serious cash for a Tesla.
City residents are not investing in electric vehicles despite the city's push toward greener emissions as part of a broader climate change agenda. Fewer than 1% of vehicle registrations in the five boroughs are electric --- despite nearly 2 million registered vehicle operators, according to the city comptroller's office and the New York Times.
So far this year, there were 5,358 newly registered all-battery vehicles and 3,161 plug-in hybrid cars in the state, according to figures from the state government. In total, there are more than 98,000 electric vehicles on the road in the state, with about 54,000 of those all-battery cars, the figures show.
Last year, fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles made up 3.4% of all new passenger vehicle sales in New York City, according to the Times report.
Bob Leonard, a New York car enthusiast who wants to help drivers go green, said he would love to have an electric vehicle, but worries about finding a charging station.
“It’s a sad thing,” said Leonard, president and founder of earthgarage.com., which educates consumers about green technology. "But it's a concern for a lot of buyers."
There are 630 charging stations scattered around the city, but officials plan to have 1,000 stations in the five boroughs by 2025. However few of the stations are free, Leonard said.
“It’s a cart and horse problem,” he said.
Ahead of Earth Day Friday, city Comptroller Brad Lander unveiled this week a Climate Change Dashboard to track the city’s progress. New York has reduced emissions by 25% since 2005 with a goal to get the state to 80% fewer greenhouse emissions by 2050. Warmer temperatures and rising sea levels are among the biggest threats to the city's infrastructure, officials said.
"The NYC Climate Dashboard will track our collective efforts to drastically reduce our emissions, convert to 100% clean energy, make a just transition to a green economy, and adapt our infrastructure to protect New Yorkers,” Lander said.
