A Republican Florida state senator on Thursday suggested that officials consider limiting the use of electric vehicles during hurricane evacuations until more charging stations are set up along major highways so the EVs don’t run out of battery and block traffic, CBS Miami reports.
“With a couple of guys behind you, you can’t get out of the car and push it to the side of the road. Traffic backs up. And what might look like a two-hour trip, might turn into an eight-hour trip once you’re on the road,” said state Senator Jonathan Martin on Thursday during a Florida Senate Select Committee on Resiliency hearing on charging stations. “My concern is there’s not an infrastructure currently available in the state of Florida for the amount of EVs that might be used to evacuate, on evacuation routes, during a time of emergency,” Martin added, apparently comfortable with leaving electric vehicle drivers in the paths of deadly hurricanes.