EV Roadmap 4: Reflections on a Gathering of EV Advocates

President Obama issued a bold challenge to the nation in his 2011 State of the Union address. After emphasizing the nation’s dangerous dependence on foreign oil and the ruinous impact of climate change, Obama called for the deployment of 1 million electric vehicles by 2015. Our president understands that, by utilizing locally-produced electricity (particularly if this is renewable power) and producing no direct emissions, electric vehicles can drastically transform our transportation system.

With a struggling economy and low consumer confidence, getting one million electric vehicles on the road in four years is a highly ambitious goal. Oregon’s goal, however, is even more ambitious in comparison. We intend to add 30,000 electric vehicles to our transportation mix; this is 60% higher than our pro rata share of the nation-wide goal (which is 12,000).

On November 2-3, EV Roadmap 4, organized by Drive Oregon brought together electric vehicle stakeholders to learn about our state’s progress toward this aggressive goal and discuss the future steps that need to be taken, with a particular focus on consumer engagement. Utility Analyst Gordon Feighner and I attended, representing CUB’s dual roles consumer advocate and educator on energy issues.

So how is Oregon doing in its march to 30,000 electric vehicles? With just under 1,000 electric vehicles registered with the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles (including electric bikes and conversions), there is a lot of work to be done—but that didn’t discourage attendees at the Roadmap. Speaking at the event, Charlie Allcock, Business Development Director at PGE, declared 2012 a “year of action” that could jumpstart electric vehicle adoption. He noted the importance of making consumers aware of the new technology through an “eyes and seats” strategy. Putting electric vehicles on the road for consumers to see and on the dealership lots for consumers to drive, he argued, is key for stronger deployment. Allcock also highlighted the crucial importance of convincing fleet managers to add electric vehicles to their stock and suggested upgrading fleets was perhaps the only way to meet Oregon’s lofty deployment goal.

Reaching out to the consumer was a prominent theme throughout the two day conference. The importance of consumer outreach and education was clearly illustrated during a real-time focus group of eight Portland-area residents. Their discussion, guided by a trained moderator, highlighted the lack of understanding around electric vehicle technology and products among the average citizen. When asked to guess the price of an electrical vehicle, one woman estimated the cost to be $75,000, which is considerably higher than the sticker price of a Chevy Volt ($40,000) and the Nissan Leaf ($35,000). Several believed the maintenance costs to be very high even though most experts believe costs will be lower than automobiles now in the long run. Overall, participants tended to be open to the idea of electric cars, but stated they needed to more information about them before they would be willing to purchase one.

In a follow-up presentation, Nate Pinsley, from the social media marketing firm Purpose.com, offered advice on educating and engaging these consumers. He argued the push for electric vehicles must become a social movement, not merely an advertising or information campaign. Broadcasting a message to citizens is useful but, Pinsely argued, supporting interpersonal communication between people—mobilizing their energy and ideas—is more powerful and persuasive. One great example of this concept is the online forum created and managed by Leaf owners called MyNissanLeaf.com. Here, Leaf owners share their stories about using their Leaf-good and sometimes bad-and, in the process, also educate interested Leaf buyers.

Although consumer outreach projects are still developing, there are many projects in our state and across the country that are focusing on installing an electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Theoretically, a large network of charging options will reduce consumers’ “range anxiety”—the worry that an electric vehicle will run out of charge and the driver will be stranded—and purchase an electric vehicle. At the EV Roadmap conference, several presenters discussed the progress of these charging infrastructure projects.

Jim Franfort, from the Idaho National Lab, summarized the data gathered thus far by the EV Project, a multi-state, $100 million electric vehicle deployment project managed by ECOtality. Leafs and Volts enrolled in the program have so far traveled a total of 5 million miles and the analysis of their usage patterns yields important findings. On average, these cars are connected to charging stations for eight hours a day, typically overnight, but are only drawing a current into their batteries for two hours. This confirms predictions that most charging would occur at home. Additionally, the vehicles are being used to travel about 30 miles per day, which is well within the range of all electric vehicles currently on the market. This is evidence that can be used to counter “range anxiety.” The most interesting data point, from an energy perspective, is that our nation’s electrical grid will be able to handle an additional one million electrical cars plugging in, if the majority of drivers follow the typical usage pattern observed in the EV Project.

Closer to home, representatives from PGE, PSU, and the City of Portland discussed the planning process and lessons learned thus far from the Electric Avenue project on PSU’s downtown campus. Opened in September, Electric Avenue is an “urban showroom” of electric vehicle charging technology, featuring seven charging units from different manufacturers. Although some minor problems have surfaced in its first month of operation related to the site’s characteristics, Electric Avenue is a fantastic example of how municipalities, academic institutions, and the private industry can work together to support electric vehicle adoption.

Walking out of the conference on the last day, I overheard a participant observe how incredibly far the electric vehicle movement had come since the previous EV Roadmap, held in January. It will be interesting to see how the movement develops in the next months and what kinds of conversations happen at the next EV Roadmap. Will the infrastructure issue be replaced by discussions over what legal arrangements are necessary for charging station companies to operate in the public right-of-way? Will battery technology improve dramatically and more focus be given to vehicle-to-grid applications? We’ll all have to wait and see—and, in the meantime, keep checking back here for updates on what CUB is doing related to EV deployment in Oregon!

SPECIAL INVITATION: If you’re interested in learning more about electric vehicles, the benefits they can provide to our state, and what CUB is doing in relation to this topic, read on! SA Anders, Business Director of CUB, will be presenting TONIGHT on electric vehicles at the monthly meeting of the Association of Energy Service Professionals NW. It’s free and open to all.

Event Details:
November 16th, 5:30 PM
Ringler’s Pub (1332 West Burnside, Portland)
AESP NW event page

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