Buzz Smith
Texas EV Alliance
April 29, 2025
Still Moving Forward
Finding the way
Let’s start off by acknowledging that this year has been… different, politically speaking. As an organization that advocates for policy at the state level, how we react to this environment will determine if our mission continues to progress or loses momentum.
Step one is to realize that, in some circles, Texas EV Alliance could be perceived as just an environmental advocacy group.
We are so much more.
We are energy advocates. We know how quickly demand for energy is increasing in Texas and know that it’s going to take everything in our energy portfolio to keep up. Texas will continue to lead in renewable energy. Its low cost is certain to restructure demand and continue to be critical for affordably deploying more energy generation. Storing that energy until it in needed is a key capability to “even out” the ebbs and flows of renewable energy sources. We will continue to speak the language of the legislators focused on this issue and share with them the capabilities electric vehicles have that will help this specific issue. The Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation have participated in Texas EV events, because we both look beyond political labels to the underlying mission and work with those pulling in the same direction.
We are economic advocates. We see the parallels between the development of the Internet economy and the electrification of transportation. As advanced as EVs are now, Think of the industry as the Internet, circa 1995, when Amazon started selling books. Who could have guessed that we’d watch television via video streamed over the Internet? Visit a doctor? Buy a car or a home? Attend a business meeting or conference without travel? Battery prices continue to tumble while capability continues to increase. Texas now has over 370,000 registered electric vehicles. There will be many more charging stations, bidirectional chargers to support the electric grid, autonomous charging lots and autonomous transports for those who cannot charge at home and other industries we cannot imagine today, that will come into being, due to the electrification of transport. With so many EVs on the road, we’ll need battery reuse facilities to repurpose EV batteries when they’re no longer appropriate for transportation but can still be used for stationary energy storage. Finally, we’ll need recycling facilities to maximize the use of the raw materials and continue the downward trend in battery prices. That means factories and jobs for Texas workers and prosperity and leadership for our great state.
We are resilience advocates. Our roadways, our electric grid, our refueling infrastructure must be strengthened and accommodate the future that is becoming reality before our eyes. Our fuels range from gasoline/diesel to natural gas, electricity, ethanol, hydrogen, biodiesel and renewable diesel and propane. There are more fuels under development. The way we gather taxes to maintain our roadways has got to become fuel-agnostic just to be simple to administer and fair to drivers. If we can use some of the energy in our electric vehicles to support grid stability, the owners of these batteries should be fairly compensated. Those EVs will probably be parked at places of employment, when the grid is near maximum demand, so workplace charging will be as much about grid resiliency as it is about keeping EV batteries
charged.
We are trade advocates. The electrification of transportation will have a revolutionary impact on manufacturing. American auto manufacturers know this is a do-or-die moment for their industry. We are down, but not out. We desperately need to get the partisanship out of the electric vehicle discussion and realize that this change is coming. This not due to a mandate, but to the fact that for the vast majority of American drivers, EVs are just a better choice in performance, cost of ownership, simplicity and in having the ability to refuel at home. American auto workers need a level playing field and a stable business environment for them to plan. Our competitors are incentivizing EVs in their countries and we should continue to do so here. They are building out charging infrastructure and we should continue to do so here. These are strategic investments to support an industry that has played a considerable role in national defense in the past.
Here’s how this looks in action.
House Bill 3511 is on the Supplemental House Calendar today for its second reading. HB3511 establishes the right of an EV owner to connect their EV to the electric grid. It will bring about safety regulations for doing so and evaluate a program for EV drivers to sell energy in their cars’ batteries to the grid and be fairly compensated for doing so. Texas EV Alliance held several EV Policy Group Meetings to present information about vehicle-to-grid/home/load (V2X) bidirectional charging, virtual power plants, battery repurposing/recycling and microgrids. We also took a deep dive into the economic cases made by municipalities in justifying EV adoption. These meetings are attended by industry members as well as elected officials or their staff and serve to educate all attendees on the latest developments in those fields. This is one way we help decision makers remove the politics and evaluate the costs and benefits of a plan as a better way to move forward. By becoming a virtual meeting place for everyone involved in the energy and transportation transition where they can share openly and learn from others, we reduce the polarization and improve the quality of decisions made, regarding the industry. You probably received an email from Texas EV with the subject, “Texas EV Alliance Legislative Update.” The email has links to bills we are following and working on.
Check it out.
As always, if you see a subject becoming important to our industry, mention it to us. We learn from you just as you learn from us.