By Huck Fairman
The first of two articles on electric vehicles.
Change, as we know, was the key word in the election in many parts of the country, and yet the changes the country needs to deal with global warming have not been prominent in conservative or Republican platforms.
Perhaps partly as a result, a number of social and scientific observers have predicted that the necessary corrective steps to curtail CO2 emissions, and the warming they produce, will come from new technology and private initiative. In New Jersey we have seen both public and private responses to this most important of issues. Recently, however, The New York Times quoted the International Energy Agency as warning that the Paris Climate Accord provisions may be too weak to prevent temperature rises above it target 2 degrees Celsius.
Undeterred, Sustainable Princeton and the Princeton Public Library again presented a fact-filled discussion focused on one aspect of this global challenge: reducing CO2 emissions by turning to EVs – electric vehicles. Four knowledgeable and compelling speakers presented various ways to address this issue in an evening titled, “EVs: How to Choose, Charge, and Change a Habit.”
Sustainable Princeton’s Christine Symington introduced the speakers and made time for a following question-and-answer period. The evening was sponsored by NRG Energy Inc.
The first speaker was Mark Warner, vice president of Gabel Associates, a New Jersey energy, environmental, and public utility consulting firm. He brought 30 years of wide-ranging experience in diverse technologies, market analysis, planning, and policy. Formerly a director of energy with Sustainable Jersey, he has worked with government to expand renewable energy policies, and continues today, lately focusing on electric vehicle marketing development. An excellent public speaker, he held the audience with his clear, engaging delivery and detailed slides.
He began by predicting that EVs will be huge over the coming decades. Currently, he explained, transportation accounts for half of our greenhouse gas emissions. Importantly therefore, he pointed out that EVs are 70 percent cleaner than natural gas, in drawing their energy from the grid, or an owner’s solar panels. In addition, they are cheaper to operate, costing half what a gas-powered car does, and requiring much less maintenance.
He predicted that a growing number of EVs will be coming to market as their benefits and supporting infrastructure become more widely recognized and established. He suggested that as customers recharge their cars at night, that increased usage of the grid may enable utilities to reduce overall rates.
Illustrating and amplifying his talk, Mr. Warner offered 10 slides including: energy pie charts; a list of reasons to adopt EVs; the wider benefits of EVs;
photos of coming models from GM and Tesla; (The 2017 Car of The Year, the Chevy Bolt, gets over 200 miles per full charge and will be available in December/January;) re-fueling EVs, mostly at home; public recharging sites,
including Princeton’s Spring Street Garage and the Princeton Shopping Center (charge while you shop or work.) Other slides listed developments necessary to expand EV appeal. And toward this goal, Mr. Warner has brought together a coalition of companies intent on expanding EV adoption – CHARGE EVC.Org.
Still another slide detailed the earlier transition from horses to cars, now being repeated, from gas to electric. In 1910 cars were owned by 10 percent of households; in 1930 by 60 percent of households. A similar expansion may occur over the next two decades.
He closed by stressing that EVs are practical cars, easy to use and recharge, as well as economical. He predicted that they are on the cusp of wide, national adoption, as drivers come to recognize that they can save money and help save our environment.
The next speaker, Scott Fisher of West Windsor, is also highly experienced in the field of EV charging, having worked for NRG Energy for 10 years on aspects of EV technology and solar energy, as well as on a carbon capture project. Before that, he worked for five years at PSE&G. Currently he is the director of market development at EVgo, the largest EV fast-charging network with 800 charging stations in over 50 metro markets. His focus is on putting together financing partnerships with governments, utilities, and automakers to expand EVgo’s footprint nationally. He is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute.
Assuming that most of the audience was up to date on climate change itself, Scott wanted to address the question whether EVs can contribute significantly to emissions reduction. His answer was yes … because EVs, in an overall assessment (including operating, manufacturing, and power sources,) contribute about 20 percent less emissions than do average gas-driven cars travelling at 30 mph.
But still the question remains: are these cars a viable, practical alternative? So far, the public has not flocked to buy them; nationally, plug-ins account for only 1 percent of a vehicle sales total this year reaching 15 million.
The question that needs to be answered is: How will this number grow? Scott maintained that two changes are necessary: 1. Their practicality must improve, meaning primarily range and price. 2. The EVs be seen as “cool” or attractive. (Many would argue that the Chevy Volt and the Teslas are both.)
But Scott here added some good news: the sales numbers are climbing. In fact, with new models coming on line, with practical improvements, and with additional manufacturers starting to produce them, 2017 could be a break-through year. (At the same time, recent sales of SUVs and light trucks have reached record levels.) Nonetheless, analysts predict that by 2024, EVs will be cheaper than gas-powered cars.
In our area, the available plug-ins are: the Nissan Leaf, the BMW i3, the Chevy Volt (and soon the Bolt,) and the Tesla S. (One sees a number of each of these EVs in and around Princeton, but far fewer outside.) Ford makes several hybrid and plug-in models, but locally it is not easy to find the latter. Other manufacturers produce a number of hybrids, prominently the Prius, all of which are significant improvements over exclusively gas- powered cars. Contact Climate Central for more information or visit its website. In California, there are still more models available which meet that state’s requirements.
Scott then described the charging options for EVs – currently there are two. Level Two can operate at home or at work and provides 20 miles of range from one hour of charging. Thus charging overnight powers EVs for most daily driving, which typically does not require a full charge.
Level 3, available to public charging stations, in high-usage locations, provides 75 miles of range with 30 minutes of charging. (Tesla offers its own system and charging potential.)
Given all of these developments, and more coming, Scott foresees that the market and family financial forces will propel EVs into an increasingly important position in transportation.
Huck Fairman, a Princeton author, writes SOLUTIONS about environmental issues.
