SALEM — Will 2010 be the year
electric cars hit the road in Oregon? Gov. Ted Kulongoski hopes
so.
He’s spent more than a year touring factories overseas, forging
agreements with electric vehicle makers, prodding his staff to
lobby for federal grants, and persuading the state Legislature
to tweak the tax code — all in pursuit of his vision of Oregon
as a state that shows the way to a future where battery-powered
cars are assembled, parts are made and motorists say goodbye to
carbon-producing gasoline.
“It’s going to be the showcase of where this is all going,” he
said in a recent interview.
If things go as planned, the Oregon showcase goes on display starting
next year.
That’s when the state’s share of a five-state, $100
million federal grant will help businesses expand into manufacturing
electric vehicle components in Coburg, Albany and Lebanon. And
it’s when nearly 1,000 all-electric Nissan Leaf cars and
more than 2,250 electric charging stations are supposed to arrive
in Eugene, Corvallis, Salem and Portland through the same joint
public-private venture, dubbed the EV Project.
Despite the enthusiasm of Kulongoski and others who believe electric
cars will take commuters and travelers to a carbon-free future,
doubts persist whether the vehicles — if they’re actually
in showrooms late next year as promised — will make financial
sense to consumers. The cost of major manufacturers’ models
will be in the $30,000 to $40,000 range — or $15,000 more
than comparable models with internal combustion engines. Tax credits — in
Oregon, totaling $9,000 when state and federal breaks are combined — would
partially offset that markup.
Advocates hope that the prospect of low-cost travel will help sell
the vehicles — which are distinct from gas-electric hybrids
in that they do not use gasoline.
By Ecoworld.com’s calculations, the costs of charging an
electric vehicle amounts to 3.4 cents per mile driven — a
big savings compared to the 10 cents per mile driven cost of gas
for a 30-miles-per-gallon auto. For a 15,000-mile year of driving,
the savings would come to about $1,000.
“All our eggs in one basket”
In addition to the EV Project grant it successfully pursued, Oregon
made a separate bid for federal dollars for its electric vehicle
push, seeking $13.9 million from the Department of Energy to match
the $25.4 million pledged by public and private entities for the
purchase by companies and government agencies of 716 electric vehicles
and a network of 1,250 charging stations along the Interstate 5
and Interstate 84 corridors.
The Oregon proposal stood out among those from other parts of the
country, which sought federal money to buy or convert vehicles
to run on a variety of alternative power sources — not just
electricity but also natural gas, ethanol and propane.
“We were all in on electric vehicles,” said Eugene Water & Electric
Board’s Jeannine Parisi, who was part of the effort. “We put all
our eggs in one basket and it didn’t work out.”
The Department of Energy called the Oregon plan too futuristic,
saying last month in a letter to state officials: “Availability
of vehicles is very problematic to this proposal.” The difficulty
was that many of the electric vehicles Oregon wanted federal money
to help pay for likely would not be available for purchase until
two to three years after the money was awarded. Until then, the
charging stations proposed for workplace parking lots and other
locations would sit idle.
And once those vehicles and charging stations were in use, they
would prove an expensive way to reduce gasoline consumption, the
federal government found. While the electricity to run the vehicles
is cheap, the upfront capital costs, including the vehicles and
the charging stations, are big. The Department of Energy calculated
that over the life of those vehicles and stations, their costs
would amount to $19 spent for every gallon of gasoline not consumed
as a result.
Some question government’s role
The Portland-based Cascade Policy Institute’s Todd Wynn questioned
the deployment of public resources — tax dollars, grants
and incentives and salaries of government employees — to
steer consumers and businesses toward any one of the many alternative
transportation options in that emerging marketplace.
“If the technology is viable and cost effective and is desired by the
people, then there’s no reason for any intervention in advancing that
technology. Electric vehicles are the perfect example,” said Wynn, the
co-author of a report called “A Free Market Perspective on Electric Vehicles,” for
the Cascade Policy Institute, which espouses free-market ideas.
Kulongoski argued that Oregon isn’t picking electric cars
in a game of winners and losers. He noted that in the entire clean-energy
arena, Oregon’s tax incentives, subsidies and mandates encourage
an array of approaches to reducing fossil fuel consumption and
expanding alternative energy sources: biofuels, public transit
and cycling for getting around, and wind, solar, biomass and tidal
energy for powering the electric grid.
But the Democratic governor made no apologies for his all-in approach
to electric cars as part of that strategy. The governor said he
has no doubt about the future of electric vehicles.
“In 20, 30, 40 years, the primary mode of transportation for family vehicles
will be the electric car,” he said.
The Cascade Policy Institute questioned the role of government
and utilities in subsidizing charging stations so that those driving
electric vehicles can keep them powered up while on the road.
Thanks to state and federal tax credits, the cost of installing
a charging station, estimated at $10,000, mostly will be picked
up by taxpayers. The federal credit for such an expense is $5,000
and through Oregon’s Business Energy Tax Credit program,
the state picks up $1,750 — leaving the business’s
cost at $3,250 — or even less, if the purchaser wins other
subsidies.
Charging stations crucial
Under the plan, charging stations — some as simple as a pole-mounted
box with an electric cable to plug into a car — would be
at parking structures, service stations, shopping centers, workplaces,
a family garage or other locations where electric vehicles’ batteries
can be recharged before moving on.
Such a network is considered critical since the storage capacity
of electric car batteries will hover between 50 and 200 miles for
many models coming out in the next few years.
Instead of turning to government for subsidies and tax breaks to
cover the cost of such infrastructure, Wynn argued, existing roadside
businesses, such as fast-food restaurants or service stations,
should offer free recharging for electric cars to woo customers
the way they offer free WiFi Internet connections. Depending on
the type of charging unit, it would require a wait of as little
as a few minutes for a partial charge or as long as six hours to
fully recharge an electric vehicle battery.
The question whether to wait for consumer demand for electric cars
to drive the establishment of a charging network, or for the government,
utilities and others to coordinate the development of such infrastructure
represents “a classic chicken-or-the-egg” case for
those advocating electric cars, said Art James, innovative partnerships
project director for the state Department of Transportation.
Electric vehicle drivers are expected to do 80 percent of their
battery recharging at home, using 220-volt units that allow them
to more quickly get their vehicles powered up than standard 110-volt
outlets would. Technology will allow motorists to automatically
start the charging process at night during off-peak hours when
costs are lowest.
No one knows how many electric vehicles might sell in Oregon over
the next year or two.
Station at LCC planned
But a big emphasis of policy-makers, utility companies
and government planners is on the charging stations
that would serve electric car drivers’ other
20 percent of charging needs: at work and on the go.
One of the first big electric car charging stations in the Eugene
area is being planned for the Lane Community College parking lot,
on the south end of Eugene near Interstate 5. The 36-outlet, solar-powered
station is in the design and development stage, with plans for
its completion next July, said Anna Scott, an energy analyst at
the college. With the help of a $100,000 grant from EWEB, the college
plans to complete the facility by next summer.
It’s unclear where other charging stations would go in Lane
County. Kulongoski transportation adviser Chris Warner said the
governor hopes to flesh out his plans as the charging station network
gets built, even if the hoped-for federal subsidy isn’t available.
The rejected grant proposal included commitments, if the federal
money came through, for such units to be installed by the University
of Oregon, EWEB, Emerald PUD, Springfield Utility Board, SeQuential
Biofuels, the city of Eugene, the state Department of Transportation,
Good Company and the Papé Group.
Kulongoski said he’s convinced that Oregon’s early
commitment to a network of charging stations is a key to its ability
to attract federal dollars and electric vehicle companies to Oregon.
“You have to build the infrastructure before you can get the cars,” Kulongoski
said. “And you can’t do this if there are no charging
stations.”
Eugene, Corvallis, Salem and Portland are the cities in Oregon’s
test market for electric vehicles. It’s part of a five-state
test, underwritten with $99.8 million in federal aid. Oregon stands
to end up with:
940 Nissan Leaf EVs, to be sold to consumers and fleets that agree
to participate.
2,250 charging stations, with 940 being installed in the Leaf owners’ homes
and the rest going to work and public places. About 50 would be “level
3 fast chargers.”
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