Suffering from EV ‘range anxiety’? A new bill could bring some relief

KCLU | By Caroline Feraday

Published October 6, 2025 at 6:00 AM PDT

If the idea of driving an electric vehicle gives you some so-called ‘range-anxiety’, a new bill which was signed into law this week, could bring some relief. — If the idea of driving an electric vehicle gives you some so-called ‘range anxiety’, a new state bill that was signed into law this week could bring some relief.

The law was signed into law this month.

A new California law aims to enhance the reliability and availability of electric vehicle chargers.

"Quite often these chargers aren't working and you don't see online that they're not working," said Democratic Assembly Member Jacqui Irwin of Thousand Oaks, who authored the bill. AB1423 was signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom this month.

Irwin said a barrier to installing chargers has been a requirement for them to have a credit card reader — and that requirement has been removed.

"It adds a significant portion to the cost of an EV charger," explained Irwin.

"When a driver has an experience where they're having range anxiety, it really is a leap of faith to purchase an electric vehicle the next time. Without these significant improvements that streamline the driver experience, we're going to be jeopardizing our clean transportation future."