With more electric vehicles motoring on Hawaii roadways, public EV charging infrastructure is not keeping pace.

That’s due, in part, to a toothless law requiring parking lots with 100 stalls or more to have at least one EV charging station. So, it’s frustrating to see a proposal to add some bite fail to make progress this legislative session.

House Bill 793 aims to reserve more space for EV charging by requiring public accommodation areas with 100-plus parking stalls to provide one EV stall per 100 stalls. The ratio would bump up to four per 100 stalls by 2023. The bill also tasks the state Department of Transportation with handling enforcement and assessing penalties.

Since the law was created in 2009, many parking lot owners have found it easy to ignore because no agency is assigned to hold the properties accountable, and there’s no penalty for foot-dragging on EV-charger installation.

The bill’s opponents, such as Retail Merchants of Hawaii, argue that EV stalls can eat up valuable parking areas, especially in smaller-sized shopping center lots, and provide no guarantee that a motorist, who may need a few hours to fully charge a vehicle, will doing any shopping. “These stalls for EV come at a cost to businesses,” said the nonprofit trade organization’s president, Tina Yamaki, in written testimony.

That cost could be in the form of fees for installation and maintenance, and a higher electricity bill. However, over the years, some subsidies have been in place for establishing EV-charging infrastructure and there’s nothing in the law that specifies free charge-ups.

As of January there were 5,202 electric vehicles on the road in Hawaii, marking a 27.7 percent year-over-year increase. And there are 229 public electric stations, with a total of 519 charging outlets statewide, according the U.S. Department of Energy. Some of the charging outlets are free for motorists, and some require some sort of payment tied to electricity costs.

Perhaps parking lot owners concerned with EV-related expenses should consider putting in place a fee based on time spent in the reserved parking stall. That would prod the motorist who might be tempted to leave the vehicle parked for a large chunk of the day to fill up and move along, thereby making the charger available to more motorists.

One of the bill’s supporters, Blue Planet Foundation, has underscored the need for a stronger law by conducting a survey. Its preliminary results found that of 195 hotels, downtown parking lots, hospitals, universities, airports and shopping centers required to provide EV-charging stalls, 60 have complied with the law. The nonprofit said its survey counted about half of the number of parking lots on Oahu with 100 or more spaces.

Hawaii ranks second nationwide, behind California, in its tally of EVs registered as a percentage of vehicles. As of January, electric vehicles represented 0.5 percent of all registered vehicles in the islands. Last year, EV registrations increased by 28 percent while gasoline vehicle registration barely blipped, with 0.1 percent increase.

With an ever-wider range of EV models rolling into the market, including some with greater driving ranges and lower prices, Hawaii’s fleet will continue to grow. And that meshes with state’s much-touted ambition of eliminating dependence on fossil fuels.

Ulupono Initiative, which pairs a private investing fund with social investments aimed at achieving sustainability goals, said in testimony that because about 28 percent of the state’s primary energy usage is linked to ground transportation relying almost exclusively on imported fossil fuels, “Electrifying ground transportation is presently the most efficient and impactful way to move transportation toward more renewable energy.”

Clearly then, the law, which now is an essentially voluntary effort, must be amended by state lawmakers as a means to effecting its intent. A law with adequately sharp teeth would help establish a more functional EV charging infrastructure, which would reduce driving-range anxiety and make electric vehicle ownership more appealing.