Commission examines what is needed to increase popularity of electric vehicles
Electric vehicles ride quietly, will run without gasoline and can be “filled-up” at a charging station at home. So why do they make up well below 1 percent of the 250 million vehicles on the road in the U.S.?
The higher up-front cost of an EV along with “range anxiety” about how far a vehicle can travel on a charge are among the top reasons why consumers reject electric vehicles. But those barriers are starting to fall as prices decrease, more models are produced and more public charging stations are installed.
The status of electric vehicle use in the Sunshine State this month got the attention of the Florida Public Service Commission, which held a roundtable Tuesday about electric vehicles and the state’s battery charging infrastructure.
Florida is the nation’s third-most populated state. With its automotive-heavy culture and lack of pipelines to deliver gasoline to urban markets, Florida would seem a natural for electric vehicle use.
But that’s far from the case here.
Britta Gross, General Motor’s director of advanced vehicle commercialization process, told state regulators that “early adopters” — consumers who want to own an electric car at any cost — have been the main purchasers.
“We still have not hit the mainstream. We are desperately trying to get the vehicles at that point into the market,” Gross said.
GM believes now that it has electric vehicles with longer ranges, such as the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV that can travel 238 miles on one charge, it has largely solved the basic, daily use of EVs.
“The bottom line fact is that most Americans, 78 percent of Americans still commute to and from work less than 40 miles a day,” Gross said.
While GM could deliver a vehicle with a 600-mile range, it probably won’t because its focus is on making more affordable electric vehicles, Gross said.
“We want to have a price point where everyone can afford it,” Gross said, “If you are mainstream, you are still waiting to see if the economics make sense.”
The Chevy Bolt’s sticker price is $37,495, according to GM’s website, but with the federal income tax credit, it’s $29,995.
U.S. electric vehicle sales have increased every month for the last 24 months, Gross said, and sales growth so far this year is 31 percent over last year.
Kellen Schefter, sustainable technology manager at Edison Electric Institute, an industry trade group whose membership includes Florida Power & Light, said electric vehicle sales in the U.S. are forecast to increase from about 160,000 a year in 2016 to 1.2 million annually by 2025.
EEI predicts that 7 million zero-emissions vehicles will be on U.S. roads by 2025— up from 567,000 at the end of 2016.
While 80 percent of charging is done at home a nd work, more public charging stations are needed in Florida, which has 879 public charging stations with 1,986 outlets, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Particularly along the Interstate 10 corridor, there’s a shortage.
There are 50,000 to 70,000 cha r ge ports at workplaces and in public locations across the nation, and more than 2 million will be needed by 2025, the EEI report states.
One funding source for charging stations is expected to be Florida’s $166 million share of the federal government’s $16 billion settlement with Volkswagen. Approximately 15 percent is to be designated for charging stations. The settlement resolved claims that the company sold vehicles that violated emissions standards.
In Florida, there are no statewide incentives to help defray the purchase price, although drivers are eligible to drive in high-occupancy lanes even if they are alone. However, a federal tax credit of $2,500 to $7,500 is available for cars made in 2010 or later.
Tesla, known for i ts upscale electric vehicles, Model X at $80,700 and Model S at $74,500, is now offering an alternative for the masses, Model 3. Priced at $35,000 before incentives, the Model 3 sedan has versions with ranges of 220 and 310 miles. Consumers have ordered more than 455,000 of Model 3, said Patrick Bean, Tesla’s associate manager, energy policy & business development.
Tesla’s West Palm Beach showroom is at 4651 Dyer Blvd.
Tesla is developing a network of fast chargers designed to get customers back on the road quickly, but the chargers are only compatible with Tesla vehicles. It has 20 stations in Florida, clustered in urban areas along interstates, where vehicle owners can obtain 70 miles of range in 30 minutes.
“We identify the site, then work with utilities. Typically, the cost is on us,” Bean said.
Tesla’s goal is to have 10,000 superchargers globally by the end of the year. It also has a network of destination chargers at hotels, restaurants and shopping centers, with a goal of 15,000 by the end of the year.
FPL’s director of in-home technologies, Brian Hanrahan, said that the utility serves half the state, but about 64 percent of the state’s EVs are in its territory.
Hanrahan said that FPL expects a lot of growth in plug-in vehicles in its territory through 2030. It doesn’t have any concerns about EVs affecting grid reliability, as most charging is done outside FPL’s peak demand hours.
“We don’t know of a single EV-related outage in our territory. Nobody has come home with their Tesla and blown a transformer. It is the life of the transformer that can be compromised,” Hanrahan said.
Orlando Utilities vice president Linda Ferrone said that the utility installed 150 public charging ports after receiving a DOE grant in 2010, but it was surprisingly difficult to give them away.
Even though the chargers were free, the location owners were still giving up a parking space and had safety and liability concerns.
“We cashed in a lot of chips with our biggest customers — the City of Orlando, hospitals, the airport, retail and hotels,” Ferrone said.
PSC Chairman Julie Brown said, “As electric vehicle popularity and demand continues to grow, we want to make sure Florida can adapt to the evolving technology and associated infrastructure requirements. The good news we heard today is that EVs can reduce Florida’s fossil fuel consumption, and they will play an important role in our state’s overall transportation plans.
“We’ll continue to study EV charging stations, the required infrastructure needs, and the role of Florida’s utilities in this rapidly expanding industry,” Brown added.