While the majority of cars in America and the world are gas-powered, there's a slowly growing trend of cars that primarily rely on electricity to power the vehicles. Elon Musk's Tesla line of cars continues to have steadily increasing sales.
However, a notable problem for the electric car industry is the lack of car charging stations. Very few cities have the ability to build charging stations because of laws restricting the sale of electricity. Because all electricity comes from for-profit companies, companies aren't allowed to re-purpose the electricity and sell it for a profit. This gives businesses little incentive to build charging stations, and those who do have to use unorthodox methods in order to account for the electrical costs of the station, such as increasing the cost of parking or of products in general.
Idaho just implemented a potential policy that could make things easier. A group of Idahoan politicians voted to print a bill that would open up some opportunities for electric car users. If it passes, the House State Affairs committee unanimously voted on a bill that would allow the Idaho Public Utilities Commission to begin enacting rules that would allow private companies to sell electricity via charging stations.
This is particularly relevant, considering that there are very few charging stations in Idaho outside of an 80-mile range of Mountain Valley. It's unclear how many charging stations will be created. Hopefully, it will make it easier for electric car users to travel through the state without requiring meticulous mapping of routes in order to account for charging stations.
