PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — JUNO BEACH, Fla. — With gas prices going up every year, more and more people are thinking about going electric when buying a new car.
In fact, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced last week that he wants to expand the number of charging stations along major highways across the state.
Florida Power & Light believes they may have figured out the key to helping more people go green on the roadways.
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Lillian Carrascoza just bought herself a new electric car.
“I just got it a week ago,” she said. “I don’t have to put gas in it ever, I still haven’t gone to the gas station.”
She said got a more affordable Kia model electric and gas hybrid because her job installed charging stations at work, enticing her to go green.
“I live about 10 to 15 miles from here, so really it’s just so so convenient,” she said. “It feels awesome, I mean, you’re helping the environment.”
Her job happens to be at FPL, which is currently expanding their electric vehicle program to install 1,000 more EV charging handles across Florida. Florida is the fourth largest EV state in the country.
“We’ve seen a major expansion in the state of Florida over the last few years,” said Anuj Chokshi, a project director at FPL focusing on EV.
“FPL, the leader in solar, wants to become a leader in electric vehicles,” he said.
And he said the workplace is a good place to start.
They started their own workplace charging program with 15 people enrolled in 2015. It’s now grown to over 250 people.
“It definitely promotes sustainability efforts,” said Chokshi. “Studies have shown that when you have workplace charging, an employee is six times more likely to purchase an electric vehicle.”
FPL will be installing charging stations at other large employers in the state, including eight handles at Jupiter Medical Center this year.
“It will be available for all of their employees and visitors,” said Chokshi.
They’ll also be installing along major highways, shopping malls, parks and other highly populated areas to help reduce emissions and encourage even more people like Carrascoza to make the transition.
“Before I enjoyed coming to work, now I enjoy it even more with an EV,” she said.
FPL said they want to keep this mission moving forward by increasing the availability of charging stations in Florida by nearly 50 percent in the coming years.
To learn more from FPL about electric vehicles, click here.