Your home for EVs in Rural America
Today, we have a cool episode. Brent had never been in my BMW i3. He had not driven an EV other than the Chevy Volt belonging to the co-op. We thought it was high time that he experienced something new.
Join us as we cruise around town on a rainy day and do bad impressions of Jerry Seinfeld.
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Not going to lie- I’ve been a little discouraged about the EV news lately. Sure, new models are coming out every day. New breakthroughs in battery construction seem just over the horizon, but I have found myself inundated with seemingly bad new.
First, I found myself in a conference where a very influential member of a major utility organization proceeded to dismantle the improvements to the industry that EVs represent. Some of it I agreed with, like saying on-peak charging will bankrupt utilities, but he was still promoting the idea that EVs are inherently more “dirty” than fossil fuel vehicles. I’ve read the studies. I believe they are “cleaner” to operate overall, but you have to trace the reports back to their origin (who paid for it) to find hidden biases in the conclusions. But I digress.
Next, I am bombarded by articles where Ford is slowing down production of F150 Lightning pickups, pausing the construction of battery plants, and furloughing workers at their EV facilities despite the fact interest in electric vehicles is growing. General Motors, in like fashion, is throttling back on their production and pushing current sales goals into 2025.
Rationally, though, all of these moves make sense. Ford is claiming a $4.8. billion loss in their EV division because of softening sales, supply issues, and general uncertainty about rapidly changing world dynamics. Ford is also investing billions in new facilities and killing of ICE nameplates to make room for new EV models, proving they are still optimistic about the future of EVs. GM finds itself in the same situation: trying to maximize capital to sustain longevity of the brand. Even Tesla is announcing disappointing Q3 sales– down 20%.
The economy and higher interest rates that have slowed EV sales. Factor in that EVs are still slightly more expensive than their gasoline counterparts and we understand the pause. However, sometimes, it’s good to pause, assess the situation, so that you can push ahead again, even harder, tomorrow.
All in all, the EV industry is doing well and is gaining more acceptance every day. Things are cyclical and this too shall pass. Keep the faith.
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Last week, Kentucky announced the first round of National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure grant recipients. Sixteen projects submitted by six entities are now funded with $10.9 million in tax payer dollars. While I agree this is good for EV promotion and adoption, I was a little dismayed when a map of said projects showed an obvious lack of development east of Interstate 75, allowing eastern Kentucky to remain a public infrastructure wasteland.
Admittedly, I’m a bit of a conspiracy theorist only because so many theories have been proven as fact, so my default attitude is distrust and I am looking for ulterior motives especially when it comes to government activity. (I still have no idea who killed JFK, but I do have my suspicions). When the accompanying map showing the location of the projects was unveiled, I immediately began to question why the most rural parts of the state were being overlooked for infrastructure projects, even though I see more EVs on the road in my area daily. I settled on three possible causes: population density, median household income and political ideology. In this episode, we compare rural America and Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) states in regards to these causes.
By the U.S. Census Bureau defintion, I don’t live in a rural area as there are more than 2,500 people in the region, BUT I do live in “small-town America” (STA). The population of Laurel County, where Brent and I live, is 62,000+ and we claim the original KFC although its in the next town down. There are fewer potential EV owners here than many “towns”, much less cities, in other states.
The mean annual income is less than a base model Tesla Model 3, another reason not to target this area. Financing over 72 months would require the populous to spend 20% of their pre-tax income on a vehicle. It’s a tough task given the fact that EVs are still proving themselves as a viable alternative, part of which is due to the next reason, political ideology.
Rural America is much more conservative than all of the ZEV states and this is demonstrated by any Red State/Blue State map. We’ve said all along, the environmental movement, including the promotion of electric vehicles, is deemed a Liberal idea and is quickly met with opposition “in these parts.” I think this is stupidity on display, but it is still an obstacle to EV adoption in STA.
Rural Americans deserve the benefits that EVs offer, but I have to remind myself that we are still in the infancy of this movement. Improved infrastructure in STA will come with time. Enjoy our discussion and let us know your thoughts.
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Patience is Cumbersome.
That pretty much sums up this entire episode in three words. As we resume our discussion of the road trip recently taken by the Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, the author of the NPR article, Camila Domonoske, makes her arguments for why non-Tesla EVs have a “road trip problem”.
First, she sees planning a road trip as cumbersome. Second, there is a lack of infrastructure, which contributes to the first point. Third, the chargers are not fast enough. And finally, the charging infrastructure is unreliable.
She’s not wrong, but there are several things to consider. We are in the infancy of EV adoption. It seems like we are farther along, but realistically, we are just a toddler attempting the first steps of a marathon long course. JD Powers says that worry about public charging is the number one reason people are hesitant to change to electric. It is a concern, but remember 90% of charging is done at home.
But Ms. Domonoske’s points are valid. We want to go when we want to go and we don’t want anything to slow us down. Look at it this way, walking requires rest breaks, horses need water, cars need to refuel, and EVs will need to charge. As technology advances, this argument will become smaller and smaller, but all forms of travel require us to interrupt our journey at some point. There aren’t enough fast, reliable charging ports available, but that is why there is such a push to build the infrastructure to support a mass fleet of EVs.
The bottom line is this is a process and it requires patience. “Patience is when you’re supposed to be mad, but you choose to understand.” I don’t know who said it, but no truer words have been spoken.
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This episode is just a wrap up of EVolveKY’s EV education event hosted in conjunction with the Laurel County Kiwanis Club. There was a bevy of EVs from A to Z (Nissan Ariya to many other Zero emission vehicles.)
Ben and Brent discuss their impressions and take aways from the event.
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If I told you the Hummer EV was less efficient and produced more greenhouse emissions than a Tesla Model 3, would you be surprised?
If I told you the Hummer EV was less efficient and produced more greenhouse emissions than a gasoline powered Chevy Malibu, would you be surprised?
Today, we look at what probably started out as a cautionary tale that all EVs are not created equally, but that should come as no surprise. There is no equality between internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles either. So how is this even a story?
The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) posted a report showing that the Hummer EV produced more CO2 per mile than a Chevy Malibu when charged on a “dirty grid” with the headline: 9,000-Pound Electric Hummer Shows We Can’t Ignore Efficiency of EVs. Motor1.com took the same report and offered this headline: New Hummer EV Produces More Emissions Than A Gas Powered Sedan. We follow this up six months later with: Biden is touting giant EVs. Are they actually good for the planet?
Same report. Same story. But the headlines paint a different picture. In our opinion, it seems one is pointing out not all EVs are helping climate change. One is just an attention grabber. And one is supporting a narrative… sort of.
Due diligence is required to navigate any content published these days. This assumes that one makes it past the headline and reads the article. Most people just form an opinion based on the headline and the first few paragraphs but one has to ask, “Does it make sense? What are the motives of the creator? How does this fit my world-view?”
Enjoy and let us know what you think.
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Ben wanted to get back to the basics and talk about the 3 levels of charging. Brent suggested that we take an original EV Diaries episode and review it “on-air” to see if anything has changed since 2019.
What do you think?
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Have you ever bought something that didn’t really live up to the hype? I know I have.
There is a YouTube channel called Jetters Garage and our attention was directed to a video entitled “Ford Watched My Viral Lightning Video – Amazing What They Said” which was a follow up to a video entitled “Why I regret buying a Ford Lightning! (EV Electric Truck)“. Jet is not new to EVs, having owned a Tesla Model S for seven years in San Diego, California.
That is a click-bait title if ever I’ve seen one, and I admittedly fall for click-bait often, but I was intrigued and started with the first video. Jet outlines the pros and cons of his new 2023 F-150 Lightning in the video and reveals his experience on a recent road trip. (At the time of this post, the video is 2 months old with 571K views.) His observations are interesting, yet not unexpected, regarding a newly introduced car model. These videos are must-see if you’re considering purchasing an F-150 Lightning.
This brings us to our discussion of his videos and his experience in general. Brent and Ben discuss some of their perceptions of living in southeastern Kentucky (SeKY) versus SoCal. We talk ownership, charging in public, and electric rates, including time of use (TOU) and why it makes sense there and not here.
Does Jet’s experience differ greatly from someone in small-town America? Listen to our opinion and feel free to weigh in with your own.
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As we wrap up (finally) our discussion of the Rappahannock Electric Cooperative’s presentation of the future of EV adoption in northern Virginia, we start looking at how we think EV adoption would look in small-town Kentucky. Rappahannock developed three scenarios where, on the high end, 30% of all cars in their territory were electric by 2030. On the low end, 5% and the middle ground was 10%. Based on several factors, Brent and Ben have differing opinions, but then Ben plays the ever popular “Zack Morris phone” card.
On the TV series Saved By The Bell, Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) used a Motorola DynaTAC, which was the first commercially available mobile phone circa 1984. This “brick” was literally 10-inches long not counting its rubber antenna, weighed 2.5 lbs., and cost $4000. Back then, you would have been crazy to have suggested in 30 years that almost everyone in the world would have a mobile phone in their pocket. The idea was inconceivable.
Are we on the precipice of such a change with EVs? It’s difficult to imagine 3 out of every 10 cars on the road being electric, much less 7 or 8 out of 10. There are forces at work to push 100% adoption, but will we ever get there? Just as the iPhone revolutionized the industry, what will make EVs as common as cell phones?
Also, RECs calculations on the cost to drive an EV support our own (R)EVD conclusions, but we could have told you we were right… we just don’t like to brag.
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Okay, admittedly that title is a little over the top. The point, as we resume our discussion of presentation by Rappahannock Electric Cooperative*, is that everything has a life-span and much of our existing infrastructure is too old or too weak to support the growing demand of energy in America.
The solution is to revitalize and strengthen, harden, if you will, the grid to meet the growing need, but that, of course, takes money and resources. The question becomes, “Who is going to pay for it?” The real answer is you, me and all the other peoples of this land. Whether it’s via government through taxes or via utilities through increased energy rates, I guarantee we are going to pay for it.
That being said, we look at scenarios that Rappahannock put forth and the cost associated with each.
We also find out that Ben, sometimes… but rarely, gets confused and the senility kicks in. The real question is, “what point should we be concerned?”
*Rappahannock Electric Cooperative lies in the northern and eastern part of Virginia serving 170,000+ members. Being a cooperative of that size, REC is influential in the co-op world because of not only their size, but by their proximity to industry organizations like the NRECA and policy makers like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the US Department of Energy. This has allowed them to become a proving ground for many programs, leading the way in innovation and understanding for other cooperatives, and shaping the approach to challenges in the industry. As such, REC releases many reports, studies, and presentations showing their results both independently and jointly with other organizations.
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