EV charging equity, infrastructure, battery recycling key topics at Forth Roadmap mobility conference

PORTLAND — Panelists at the Forth Roadmap conference here urged their audience of about 1,000 cross-industry attendees from 42 states last week to work together to build the road ahead to greater electric vehicle adoption.

At the root of their message was a sobering reality — as EV innovations and promotions accelerate, the road supporting them remains unfinished.

The mood was optimistic but realistic — impatient, even — as panelists analyzed topics such as equity in transportation, battery technology and the EV charging infrastructure.

Here are four takeaways:

Conference speakers acknowledged that widespread EV adoption cannot happen without community input, accessible infrastructure and affordable vehicles.

Often, transportation infrastructure investments have had dire impacts for communities of color, with innovations such as highways displacing Black Americans. Some companies are now looking into how EV charging infrastructure availability relates to socioeconomic status in various neighborhoods.

The impact of the EV supply chain on marginalized communities was also touched on. Lithium, copper and nickel — at the forefront in the transition to EVs — can be found in abundance in marginalized areas, but mining can be devastating to the environment, and some mining projects would impact Native American fishing grounds and religious sites.

So while mining is critical in the transition to EVs, it must be done right. With automakers buying stakes in mining companies and bankrolling processing plants and the federal government trying to prompt more domestic mining, panelists including Gavriella Keyles, senior research and policy analyst at Earth Justice, said that responsible practices are central to meeting human rights and climate goals.

"We call it urban mining," said Tyler Helps, director of EV battery solutions business development at Cox Automotive Mobility. "Put those metals back into new batteries."

Panelists pointed out that a soon-to-be fertile ground for EV battery materials are batteries themselves. Harry Kumar, director of government relations at Li-Cycle, predicted an upcoming "battery tsunami."

A solution to the country's battery supply woes could come in about a decade — recycling could reduce the need for virgin materials, while less mining could mean less pollution. But at this point, the battery recycling infrastructure is not yet up to the task.

The lack of adequate charging infrastructure in the U.S. — and its multiple impacts — is bound to come up at any EV conference, but the drumbeat of obstacles was hard to miss at Forth.

Sessions on improving the EV charging experience, investments in charging, reducing charging costs and the role of utilities in building up the charging infrastructure alternately soothed and energized attendees strengthening the backbone of the transition to EV charging.

The Biden administration is banking on a nearly tenfold increase in the number of charging sites by 2030, but the nation has a long way to go. According to J.D. Power, about one in five charging attempts in the U.S. failed last year.

Steffani Cuff, Forth programs director, said that workplace charging in particular is plagued by "high upfront costs, limited parking space, lack of expertise, equity concerns and uncertainty around future demand."

Panelists said agencies should issue guidance and allow plenty of time for installing chargers in tricky locations, such as multifamily housing sites.

After a decade in Portland, the mobility conference moves to Detroit next year from Sept. 24-26. Forth Roadmap's footprint on the West Coast has served as a nod to the EV industry's cultural and business ties to Silicon Valley.

Now, as legacy automakers ramp up their EV investments and innovations, Forth's move to Detroit might also represent a shift in the EV industry toward the mainstream.