TOEFL Practice Test
Reading Test
Reading Passage
Economic Implications of Electric Vehicle Adoption
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently introduced a new standard for carbon-dioxide emissions, which hinges on the widespread voluntary adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) by consumers. The agency is optimistic that EVs will soon become affordable, reliable, and convenient to charge. Critics, however, argue that this standard forcibly mandates the use of EVs, as it can only be achieved if EVs constitute a significant majority of new vehicle sales by 2032.
Currently, EVs remain a niche product, primarily utilized by affluent urban consumers with access to garages. In the previous year, EVs accounted for less than 8% of new automobile sales and significantly impacted automakers' profits due to the high costs in establishing new manufacturing facilities for these vehicles. While EV enthusiasts anticipate increased market penetration as technology advances and potentially low-cost Chinese EVs enter the market, the speed of this transition and the potential impact on American car manufacturers remain uncertain.
A critical challenge in the EPA's strategy is the extensive and costly expansion of local electrical grids required to support widespread EV adoption. This includes a substantial increase in the production of electrical transformers due to decades of insufficient spending on infrastructure and the rapid deterioration of this equipment due to high acidity in rainwater. Furthermore, the reasons for the construction of additional power plants and transmission lines are that national power usage is predicted to rise by 300% over the next 10 years and that 60% of current production equipment is near the end of its 40-year operational lifecycle. The upgrade must encompass the local grid distribution systems of approximately 3,000 electric utilities nationwide, involving the replacement of millions of distribution transformers and utility poles to accommodate higher power levels and more frequent use.
On an individual level, millions of homes and apartment complexes will require electrical upgrades to support at-home EV chargers. This will entail significant financial investments from consumers and taxpayers, either through taxes or increased utility rates. Electricians will need to install new circuits, and many older homes will require new power panels to handle the increased demand. Moreover, on-road fueling infrastructure will need to be developed to cater to consumers without garages. Replicating the nation's approximately 195,000 retail gasoline stations will necessitate far more than the 4,000 charging facilities proposed by the Federal Highway Administration. Each charging station will have a power demand comparable to that of an entire town, necessitating further upgrades to higher-voltage grid systems and the installation of thousands of new, large transmission-level transformers.
While EV proponents believe that these challenges can be addressed with sufficient funding, they may underestimate the scale of the task. A study by the Energy Department estimated that supporting EVs constituting 10% of all on-road vehicles would require $50 billion to $125 billion in infrastructure upgrades. Achieving the EPA's goal will likely necessitate over $1 trillion in grid upgrades by 2035.The availability of transformers poses a significant bottleneck. Delivery times for the largest utility transformers can already span several years, and costs have risen by 70% since 2018. Replacing tens of millions of distribution transformers will require vast quantities of copper, much of which must be imported, and will exceed the production capabilities of American manufacturers. The U.S. relies heavily on imports for large substation transformers, particularly from Asia, raising national security concerns.
Additionally, the specialized electrical steel required for transformers and electric motors is in short supply, with only one major producer, Cleveland Cliffs. New Energy Department regulations aimed at improving transformer efficiency will necessitate the use of even more specialized and costly amorphous steel. Compounding these issues is a shrinking labor force capable of building and installing this specialized hardware. The EPA's architects appear to believe that market forces will address these challenges, a theory that remains unproven. Behavioral changes, such as rationing access to EV charging or reducing the number of cars, may offer some relief. However, the EPA's implicit EV mandate represents a significant gamble on the future of green technology.
Summary Question
Question 10
Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor details from the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
The passage discusses the economic implications and challenges of adopting electric vehicles (EVs) as proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
- Electric vehicle implementation necessitates that there be a massive increase in the number of charging facilities, which entails upgrading voltage grid systems.
- EVs currently account for less than 8% of new automobile sales and are primarily used by affluent urban consumers.
- The expansion of local electrical grids and the production of electrical transformers are critical challenges for supporting widespread EV adoption.
- The EPA's strategy includes reducing the number of gasoline stations and increasing the number of charging facilities.
- The availability of specialized electrical steel and a shrinking labor force are significant obstacles to the production of necessary infrastructure for EVs.
- The scarceness of producers of particular steel for electrical purposes, as well as diminishing blue collar personnel, is a major challenge to EPA’s plan for electrical vehicle adoption.