One and a half million electric cars on the roads of the U.S. West and Midwest by 2030: this is the vision of regional power utility Xcel Energy, and part of its aim to be emissions-free by 2050. Those EVs are certainly enjoying a lot of attention on both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe, some companies are even giving them away for free to encourage people to go electric. Xcel Energy is not going this far, however. It will simply encourage people to switch to an EV. An electrifying vision “Through new electric vehicle customer programs and charging infrastructure, we will expand our clean energy leadership to transportation, developing innovative partnerships with our communities, customers and others,” the company says in a brochure. “The vision means that 20% of all vehicles in the areas we serve would be replaced with electric vehicles by 2030.” The approach is smart: […]