WICHITA AREA METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION
Electric Vehicles
Thank you for your participation in the Electric Vehicle Plan Survey!
The results have been analyzed and the report is available below for review.
WAMPO’s Electric Vehicle Plan is being developed to support the growing market of electric vehicles (EV) in the region by enabling municipalities and others to address immediate needs and long-term planning objectives so the WAMPO region will become an electric vehicle (EV) destination, corridor, and gateway.
​
The Electric Vehicle Plan will outline the first steps the region can take to support and encourage electric vehicle adoption. It will deliver a comprehensive course of action to provide EV charging infrastructure and remove barriers to further EV adoption in the WAMPO region efficiently and effectively. This plan will serve as a starting point for private and public entities to grow familiarity with the opportunities and challenges with EV vehicles, charging infrastructure, and adoption.
​
The Electric Vehicle Plan will support the Metropolitan Transportation Plan 2050 and the Charge Up Kansas NEVI Plan, by advancing the use of EVs to improve air quality and fostering economic development. WAMPO has an opportunity to adapt to emerging technologies by closing EV charging infrastructure gaps and removing barriers to EV adoption.
Survey Results
Electric Vehicle Network Plan
Please provide any comments regarding to the plan, thank you!
We need to get the ball rolling and get us some fast charging options, lets put gasoline companies out of business already! Imagine picking up your kids from school and all the cars are turned on and all waiting on the kids to get out of school. All that fog and emissions you cant see but inhale constantly in that area... imagine everything running on a battery, no more emissions, cleaner air, longer lives etc.. I
Plan should have some solid choice or choices of what corporate(s) should be hired to provide charging stations and if creating new lots of stations how much should each lot cost overall expenses. Im sure this plan is still being developed using all the comments. I would like to have a responds of who will be providing the electricity to EVS.
I believe that currently if sales are down and rental companies are selling them off it is due to the shorter range of most of the vehicles, the problems with some of the batteries, the higher cost of the vehicles, and the lack of available charging stations. It takes some time for the technology to develop to where batteries are more dependable (and safe), the ranges are expanded and prices come down. Once this happens, if charging stations are as available as gas stations, usage will grow. What is the taxpayers problem is reducing greenhouse emissions to reduce and hopefully stop climate change. We are already suffering the effects and if it's not stopped, generations to came will suffer the consequences. I do agree that the emphasis should be for L3 charging locations, with a few L2 stations spread out in different areas for home or long term charging. I don't believe that there is any doubt that EV's will help lower greenhouse emissions. Thanks to WAMPO for putting a plan together.
EV sales are down, rental companies are selling them off. So the smart thing to do would be to use taxpayer money to pay for something that is in decline? People should be free to choose what to drive. If there isn't enough charging for electric vehicles maybe it's cause there isn't demand for it to make it profitable. That is not the taxpayer's problem therefore the taxpayer's money should not be wasted on a pet project that only benefits a small percentage of drivers. Tax payer is federal, state and local. EV drivers already are subsidized enough by the middle class, manly in tax credits and using the roads for free. Cleaner air? Look at how the electricity is generated and the emissions from tire wear. I know none of these comments will matter, for or against when you have an agenda...
I don’t understand what WAMPO is actually trying to do. Does the group have money to spend, and is it trying to figure out how to spend it?
As someone who has owned a non-Tesla EV three years in Wichita, and who has both commuted daily with it as well as made many road trips of greater than 200 miles, I can tell you exactly how public charging expansion needs to be implemented. If that’s what you want.
The first thing I would say is that expanding Level 2 charging at places like gas stations and grocery stores is dumb. L2 adds very little charge over short periods like a run to the store. Far better to expand L2 where people live and work - not shop.
Of course we also need more Level 3 DCFC.
Thank you for putting together this plan. I hope WAMPO takes an active role in expanding the charging network in the WAMPO area!