Charge! An agenda for electric cars

FINDLAY — Construction of an $870,444 electric vehicle charging station at Pilot Travel Center, on Ohio 613 near Interstate 75, is part of a federal program to make electric cars more marketable. When completed, possibly by July, it will become the 10th publicly accessible station in the Findlay area, said Breanna Badanes, managing director of communications and policy for DriveOhio, under the Ohio Department of Transportation. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program (NEVI) is contributing $671,075 toward construction of the Pilot charging station. The remaining $199,369 will be paid by Pilot. The federal plan is to develop an interconnected network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. Highways a priority Having stations near interstate highways is the first priority. That will enable EV drivers to quickly recharge on long trips, Badanes said. "The first round of chargers that we are putting in with this program are all located along interstates," she said. "Our next round will be some more interstates and also some major state and U.S. routes." Sales of electric vehicles in the United States spiked from 2020 through 2022, the data platform Statista reported. Sales growth has since then eased but is still rising. That trend is forecast to continue for at least several years, Statista reported. But the electric vehicle market faces challenges. That's why the rapid sales growth rate has eased a bit, said Peter Hartley, past president of the International Association of Energy Economics and professor of economics at Rice University. 'Secondary vehicle' "A lot of the earlier (buyers) are going to be people for whom these vehicles are most suited," he said. "But once you've kind of sold to that group, it's harder to sell to the next group for whom these are less convenient." The evidence is "pretty strong" that for those who drive an EV, it is a "secondary vehicle," he said. "In other words, most households that have an electric vehicle have an internal combustion engine vehicle as well. An EV is not their primary vehicle," Hartley said. EVs are currently best suited for urban commutes. "They don't have the same range as an internal combustion engine vehicle, or even a hybrid, which has liquid fuel, an internal combustion engine, but it generates electricity within the vehicle to recharge the battery," he said. Thus, hybrids also have a longer range than EVs. An EV's restricted range is less of an issue for those merely driving back and forth to work in the city, he said. The range disparity versus a gasoline-powered vehicle depends on the vehicles being compared. Time to charge "And then the charging time, that depends as well on the type of charger. You have the so-called fast chargers and then you have the slow chargers," he said. In any event, it takes longer to charge than to fill the tank on a liquid fuel vehicle, he said. EV owners, of course, can charge their vehicle at home overnight. Fast charging stations, like the one to be built at Pilot Travel Center, will charge a vehicle in 20 to 40 minutes, Badanes said. Some others in Findlay are that fast; others can take several hours to charge the vehicle, she said. Cross subsidy Installation of charging stations and the infrastructure supporting them involves some difficult tax and expense concerns for everyone – including those who don't drive an EV. "It takes a lot of power to recharge these vehicles and a lot of rural areas don't have the power infrastructure to get the large amounts of power to these areas to have recharging stations," Hartley said. "It is going to be very expensive to put in that infrastructure and there's a real question as to who is going to pay for that." "A lot of economists are saying a lot of utility customers will be asked to pay for that as essentially a cross subsidy to the EV owners," he said. "So until that's done, that's another problem with using those vehicles for long-distance travel between cities." The more EVs that will be on the road, the more charging stations that will be needed. "If you get a substantial number of these vehicles then you need a lot more power," Hartley said. "There's a big upgrade to the power transmission required and that's not cheap. And the question is, who pays for that? If it's the utilities, then the utilities go to the public utilities commission and they get to rate payers and then it is like everyone is paying to cross subsidize these vehicles in that way as well." On a related note, EVs so far have avoided much of the tax associated with gas-powered vehicles. Resale value "A lot of the way we pay for roads and policing, a lot of costs connected with having the transport system, are partly covered or substantially covered by taxes on liquid fuel, which EVs avoid," Hartley said. "Over time, probably you are going to have to change the tax treatment, which will also make it harder for these vehicles to compete." He cited an additional complication. "The capacity of the (EV's) battery deteriorates over time," Hartley said. "We haven't had many yet where people are trying to sell them second hand, but the cost of the battery pack is a pretty big percentage of the cost of the vehicle. People are talking about it's going to cost you $20,000 or something to replace the battery pack. So that's going to have a severe impact on the resale value of these vehicles if you're going to have to replace the battery pack." * Locations of publicly accessible EV charging stations in Findlay LaRiche Chevrolet, 215 E. Main Cross St., (has two charging stations).Denny's – Tesla Supercharger (for Tesla only), 1051 Interstate Court806 N. Main St.Drury Inn & Suites, 820 W. Trenton Ave.Warner Nissan, 1070 Bright RoadAAA Findlay Automobile Club, 1550 Tiffin Ave.1909 Tiffin Ave.Reineke Ford Lincoln, 12000 County Road 99