Going Electric: A Closer Look At EV Infrastructure

1A

NPR

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4.4 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We're talking all about electric vehicles.

The month of May was made for racing. From the Kentucky Derby to the Indy 500. And now, there's a new sound getting louder.

Prime Video is offering a look into the fast lane of Formula E racing with the recently-released show Formula E: Driver. The series follows the lives, and the close calls of four Formula E drivers, including Andretti Racing's 2023 Formula E World Champion, Jake Dennis.

And later, new polling from Gallup suggests fewer Americans are interested in EVs now than two years ago. In 2023, 59% of those polled were open to buying an EV. That's now dropped to 51%.

Still, EV sales continue to rise. And that's despite the Trump administration's tariffs and potential repeal of EV tax credits. The administration also halted a program aiming to build a network of EV chargers. But some states are suing to restore the funding.

We discuss the future of EVs in America.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	When Malcolm Gladwell presented NPR's ThruLine podcast with a Peabody Award, he praised it for its historical and moral clarity.
0:10.0	On ThruLine, we take you back in time to the origins of what's in the news, like presidential power, aging, and evangelicalism.
0:18.0	Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR.
0:31.1	You're listening to the 1A podcast. I'm Todd Zwillick. Let's talk about the month of May.
0:55.0	May is for moms. May is for Memorial Day. But you know what else May is for? May is for racing. The Indy 500, Formula One's Monaco Grand Prix and the Coca-Cola 600 on the NASCAR circuit,
0:59.0	if you're into racing, May is your month.
1:04.2	We've talked about Formula One here on 1A, which sounds like this.
1:15.5	But today, we're bringing you a different formula, and it sounds a little different. That is the sound of a formula E engine. Now, E is an ethanol. It's electric. Now, that sound might grind your gears, but a lot
1:22.8	like Formula One, Formula E is growing. And just like Formula One, it's looking to America to help boost its popularity.
1:31.6	Prime Video is offering a look into the fast lane of Formula E racing.
1:35.7	Every racing driver is just a horrendously competitive person who hates to lose.
1:41.2	Inside the mind of a racing driver, what's it like?
1:43.8	You don't want to know.
1:45.0	That's a clip from the trailer for the recently released show, Driver.
1:48.6	The show follows the lives and the close calls of four Formula E drivers.
1:53.5	Litter on in the hour, we'll leave the racetrack and head to the highway to check on the state of the electric car industry here in the United States.
2:01.0	But first, our conversation with the 2023 Formula E world champion.
2:06.7	We wanted to learn what it takes to earn respect for electric on the track
2:10.0	and from racing fans more used to internal combustion.
2:13.6	But Jake Dennis comes across the line and he becomes the ABB FIA Formula Re world
2:20.7	champion of season nine here in London.
2:24.1	So I'm Jake Dennis.
	...

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