but electric vehicles are not expected to face the same financial impact as internal combustion engine vehicles. according to one new york consulting firm, ev markets in europe and china are doing surprisingly well, with ev sales in europe up 25% just within the first business quarter of 2020. 

although american ev figures are not as reassuring, experts believe that if the u.s. begins implementing similar measures as found throughout europe and asia, american ev markets are expected to rebound and increase over the next several years. but this requires u.s. policy to stimulate both ev supply and demand.

why european and chinese ev markets are doing fine 

according to colin mckerracher, the head author of bloombergnef’s 2020 ev outlook, ev markets in europe have largely have stabilized because of pre-pandemic ev policies and the development of more efficient and inexpensive technology. 

“while the internal combustion engine vehicle market is on a downward trajectory, despite covid, evs are on an upward trajectory,” mckerracher said. 

he added the most prominent mechanisms that have cushioned the ev markets are shifting national and sub-national policies that now focus on influencing the supply of evs. in addition to already existing tax incentives for new ev owners, european countries have pushed for strict fuel economy standards. 

“the policies are really saying ‘we don’t care how you do it, but you really need to bring down your emissions,’” mckerracher said. “the most compelling ways for a lot of automakers to do that is by selling a lot of plug-in vehicles.”

unsurprisingly, european automakers have generally expressed economic optimism. volvo ceo hakan samuelsson said at a conference earlier this year that he predicts the pandemic will accelerate future demand for evs, echoing volvo’s commitment to sell an all-electric and hybrid fleet by 2025. and unlike american automakers, volvo’s stock price was higher than it was at pre-pandemic levels.

likewise, as battery technology improves, evs have become more affordable in europe and china, making them fierce competitors with traditional vehicles. chinese automakers have introduced updated lithium iron phosphate batteries, which are cheaper to produce because they do not require metals like cobalt or nickel, according to one analyst from roskill, a london-based global metal trade consulting firm.  

supply localization efforts also have helped avoid tariffs and trade costs that accumulate on ev price tags. according to mckerracher, there is no significant difference between battery production costs among geographic locations, which also means that the overall carbon footprint made as a result of ev production has actually improved.

but more importantly, localization efforts have also helped drive the economies of europe and china. according to marine gorner, an energy and transport analyst at the international energy agency, localizing battery production and the deployment of ev infrastructure has a higher employment multiplier for every dollar invested compared to conventional vehicle manufacturing. 

“i think this particular point will be a key piece of information for governments to have in mind when they think of this shift,” gorner said. “this shift comes with more economic growth prospects.” 

what the u.s. is doing wrong

the same narrative cannot be told in the u.s., largely because the pandemic continues hammering the americas while europe and asia already have flattened the curve. 

even so, a lack of ev implementation and recovery efforts have reduced national ev sales by 33%. according to genevieve cullen, the president of the electric drive transportation association, this figure may only increase if federal and state governments leave automakers uncertain about what standards their fleet must meet. 

“what global governments do and what the u.s. does as part of their pandemic responses, i think it’ll have a major impact on what that means going forward,” she said.

besides tesla, which has a higher stock price than one year ago, american automakers are more concerned about cash flow and have cut back on ev research and development. when demand for automobiles returns to pre-pandemic levels, many american consumers will not find as many competitive evs in the market. 

recent federal guidelines also have stunted the development of america’s ev market. in march, the trump administration revised fuel economy standard goals by reducing 2026’s goal of 54 mpg to 40 mpg, further disincentivizing automakers to develop ev technology. 

cullen said that the electric drive transportation association has modeled a multi-prong recommendation plan that would reinforce manufacturing, strengthen retail incentives, and construct more ev charging infrastructure to help boost the ev market in the united states, but local governments largely have ignored these suggestions. 

“with these things together, we could essentially grow the entire ev ecosystem,” she said. “providing both that market signal for manufacturers and that accessibility for consumers is key, but we’re not seeing that in the u.s.”

not all that bad

although not as many americans are switching over to evs as fast as in europe and china, the future of the american ev industry remains optimistic. 

if predicted ev adoption rates are not drastically altered by federal litigation, american ev sales are expected to rise and continue rising starting in 2021, according to the bloombergnef outlook.  

moreover, mckerracher said replacing an ev in the united states has more of an ecological impact because current internal combustion vehicles in the american market have lower fuel economy standards than those in europe and china. bloombergnef forecasts that u.s. carbon dioxide emission levels are expected to decrease by more than 25% in the next two decades. 

however, the approach to these figures may decelerate if the federal government continues pushing automakers away from ev production. 

“if trump wins the 2020 election, the u.s. will almost certainly fall behind in ev purchases,” mckerracher said. “if democrats win, that gap will close.”

others also believe that federal and state governments must increase ev demand by enacting innovative policies that entice consumers to purchase new evs. sean mitchell, the president of denver’s tesla owner club, said state governments should enact policies like a carbon tax that make fossil-fueled vehicles less economically viable for the average american.

“i think in a free market it’s important to let products and industries survive on their own,” mitchell said, “but, when you’re talking about a market that is directly related to pollution and emissions, there’s got to be another factor that’s considered there.”

mitchell added that state governments should remove policies that complicate ev sales. for example, texas prohibits customers from purchasing vehicles directly from the manufacturers. removing this policy would increase ev demand because customers would not be forced to shop online for such a large product, mitchell said.

“making it easy for people to purchase electric vehicles is key,” he said. 

but experts also point out that like buying in bulk, the price of ev batteries are expected to decrease as more americans trade in their cars for evs, according to marine gorner of the iea. 

“what’s really important is to get more vehicles on the road so that production and sale volumes are higher,” she said. “this is how we will get an ev’s cost parity — it’s up-front cost — comparable to a conventional vehicle.” 

driving an electric vehicle plays a critical role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, but the impact of this reduction gets diminished if the electricity comes from fossil fuels. the sources of electricity used to power your car must be green too and several choices are available to make that happen.

it all comes down to this: how can you ensure that you are maximizing the amount of electricity that comes from renewable sources used to charge your vehicle?

the two highest contributors of u.s. greenhouse gas emissions in 2016 were transportation and electricity production, according to the u.s. environmental protection agency. in illinois, 40% of the state’s electricity is produced by coal and natural gas—only 7% is produced by wind and solar, reports the u.s. department of energy. fortunately, some power companies offer green energy options for your power. and there are steps you can take to maximize the percentage of renewable sources for your electricity. how you do that depends first on where you live.

“if we’re talking just in a single area, or we’re talking about across the u.s., there’s a difference. that’s because the u.s. is broken up into these different interconnections,” said jordan schnell, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of earth and planetary sciences at northwestern university. “basically, depending on where you are, that’s your regional mix of electricity. the chicago area is different from the rest of illinois. if you live in central illinois, you go into a different mix than you do if you live in the chicagoland area. these are called interconnections.”

schnell uses mathematical models to study air quality issues and said that the most obvious way to ensure utilizing renewable electricity for a car is to live in a region that already produces a large amount of its electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar. illinois’ neighbor iowa is the heaviest producer of wind energy, and wind turbines dot the landscape along i-55 in illinois.

“the pacific northwest has a lot of hydroelectric and california is really ramping up its solar,” schnell said. “[in] west virginia, they get over 90% of their electricity from coal. unless you put a solar farm on your house, you’re not going to be getting clean energy.”

since moving may not be an option for most people, consider bringing the options home. the most significant opportunity is to contact your electricity provider. schnell said that the company should be able to provide a breakdown of the times when they incorporate the most renewable energy. most often this occurs during the day—a time often associated with when people use the most electricity or the peak load. electric companies typically charge more for electricity during this peak load period, but this is the best time to recharge your electric vehicle to maximize renewable sources.

“that’s when the electricity demand is higher,” schnell said. “so, all these generating sources are online, potentially. at nighttime, the demand is quite a bit lower, so that is picked up by the base load electricity supply which is predominately fossil fuels in most locations. so, the timing is the big thing. generally, it’s better to not charge during the evening. it’s better to charge during the day because there’s cleaner sources during the day.”

in illinois, your electricity provider is most likely commonwealth edison company (comed), which is a subsidiary of exelon corporation. comed provides electricity to 70% of illinois residents, including 4 million in the northern part of the state. in the 12 months ending in september 2018, 60% of the electricity provided to comed’s customers came from coal and natural gas, according to their environmental disclosure report—4% came from wind, hydro, and solar. nuclear power plants produce the rest. comed did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the sources of electricity provided to illinois residents.

direct energy, a subsidiary of u.k.-based centrica, provides power to roughly 67,000 illinois residents. amanda parrish, public relations manager, did not say exactly how much of the company’s electricity mix is made from renewable sources but reiterated that you are more likely to have access to these sources during the day.

“solar is clearly only producing during the day,” she said via email. “wind can blow at all hours, but in certain places we get the most at night. biomass can be used anytime.” although biomass is identified as a renewable source of energy, it does release some carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when it is burned to produce fuel.

the illinois power agency act, created in 2007, requires all large investor-owned electric utilities to produce 25% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. for the energy year 2019—which ends in may—these companies are required to source 14.5% of their electricity from renewables, and the percentage required increases incrementally up to 2025.

the best method to ensure that your electric vehicle is charged by renewable energy is to take production out of the hands of energy companies and produce the energy yourself.

“some people can get solar power installed at their home,” said marc geller, vice president and co-founder of plug in america, via email. the advocacy group provides consumer information such as installing photovoltaics on homes to power vehicles. “in that case their car could be effectively 100% solar powered.”

producing solar energy at home guarantees that your electricity is made by renewable sources and storing it in a home battery system means you can charge your vehicle via renewable energy at any time. the installation costs and amount of energy produced can vary based on location and installation company, but installing solar panels at home puts the control in the hands of the consumer.

“you could make your own electricity and store it in this battery,” schnell said. “even though you don’t have your car at home during the day where the sun is actually generating the electricity, you can sell it back to the grid or you can store it in your battery. then you can charge it at night from all the solar you generated throughout the day. it depends on where you live and how much you drive—northern illinois is not great for solar—but it can do a significant amount.”

illinois shines offers renewable energy credits (rec) to owners of approved solar panels, and these credits can be sold to utilities to help offset the cost of solar panel installation. comed offers several rebates and tax incentives to install solar panels at home. additionally, solar cooperatives are growing in popularity, allowing a group of individuals to share the cost of solar panel installation and to distribute solar energy among its members, effectively bypassing electricity companies.

regardless of how you power your electrical car, it offers a positive benefit. the electricity is getting more renewable overall and represents the clean future of the transportation system. according to the union of concerned scientists’ ev emissions tool, electric vehicles in randomly selected illinois zip codes release approximately 46% less of carbon dioxide equivalent (co2e) compared to gasoline vehicles.

“electricity in most of the u.s. is already cleaner than gasoline,” geller said. “and it’s getting more renewable every year everywhere.”

george washington university students ellen wang and jacob samuels talk to erik belmont from the district department of transportation about dc’s new electric bus fleet and to electric vehicle experts about the future of transportation in america. they learn about the benefits, drawbacks, and challenges of electric bus programs. even though there are a lot of hurdles to overcome, through making this video they discover that electric vehicles are indeed the ride of the future. 

here are five takeaways from the salon:

1. owning an electric vehicle (ev) has never been more affordable

from the cost of batteries to the sticker price of the car, the economics of buying and operating an electric vehicle has never been as enticing as it is in 2018.

in 2010, the price per kilowatt hour was about $1,000 for ev batteries, but that number has dropped by almost 80% to around $200 per kwh today, cullen said. when translated to the price of gasoline, she said electricity is equivalent to about $1.10 per gallon — a number not seen anywhere across the country for years.

at the same time, the sticker prices of electric vehicles have been dipping with recently released models from chevy, tesla, and other car companies being marked in the $30,000-$40,000 range, or the equivalent of a non-electric vehicle of the same size once you take into account subsidies.

2. politics can’t change the long-term trend

while governmental incentives, such as the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles, can be altered or scrapped (as it has been proposed), cullen characterizes this as a “setback” rather than a threat to the viability of an electrified future.

adoption and planning for the technology by individual states, other nations and private companies have become so widespread that evs are becoming cost-competitive with their fossil-fueled counterparts by other means. however, cullen said it could displace the united states from its century-long position on the front lines of innovation in the transportation sector.

3. new infrastructure plans in the works could mean further accessibility to evs

among bipartisan agreement that u.s. infrastructure needs a renovation comes an opportunity to acknowledge electric vehicles’ growing presence today and in the nation’s future.

“i think there’s really an opportunity to educate folks about what transportation infrastructure looks like now,” cullen said. “it’s not just concrete. in fact, it’s charging stations, it’s how you accommodate ride-sharing and new means of mobility and automated trucks.”

4. ev batteries have gained an after-life

once an ev needs a replacement battery, its old battery still contains 80% of its charging capacity, cullen said. but does this just create another waste stream from the discarded batteries that power evs?

using planet forward digital media editor dylan trupiano’s video on the subject as a stimulus for the conversation, sesno and cullen discussed how ev batteries can be “strapped together” after they’ve been displaced from the vehicle for energy storage in municipalities and individual homes, essentially being “used to clean the grid,” cullen said. once the batteries have been used past their usefulness, they can be recycled.

5. the market for used hybrids and evs is growing stronger

rob stewart, manager of smart grid and technology at d.c.-area utility company pepco and the chairman of the edta board, said the “incentives that come out for these new vehicles make people who drive (electric) vehicles want to have a newer vehicle. that provides a whole new layer of used electric vehicles that are out there — at a much lower cost…” you might not be able to afford a brand new electric vehicle, but now you’ll be able to take advantage of cars that “still have plenty of life on them,” stewart said. “and at that point they are driving a vehicle that’s very low cost to drive and maintain.”

cullen said that used car value books used to estimate hybrid cars’ resale values really low — with the anticipation that the batteries would expire and be costly to replace. but the batteries actually performed twice as long than expected, which has helped with the hybrid resale market. bottom line: if you’re in the market for a hybrid or electric vehicle, make sure you check the used lot, too.

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if climate activists and local governments can’t work with washington on climate change, they plan to work around it. more than 300 u.s. cities including chicago, new york, and los angeles have vowed to uphold the paris agreement – bypassing the trump administration’s intention to withdraw. and now dozens of cities worldwide made or renewed commitments moving toward zero carbon emissions by 2030 at a global climate summit in san francisco in mid-september.

against the backdrop of deadly hurricane florence and accelerating climate change, hundreds of leaders in government and business are taking solutions into their own hands. they came to the global climate action summit, which featured a series of events in the bay area to mobilize efforts that could put the planet on a path toward lower (or zero) carbon emissions to avoid the worst effects of global warming. a wide range of players — from indigenous groups focused on preserving forests, to billionaire investors committed to financing a transition away from carbon fuels — committed to more than 500 action steps during the summit.

thousands of delegates, speakers, and reporters convened in calls to action by some of the most prominent figures in the environmental movement – former new york city mayor michael bloomberg, former vice president and “inconvenient truth” author al gore, naturalist and animal rights activist jane goodall, and actor-turned-environmentalist harrison ford, currently vice chair of conservation international’s board of directors.

“cities are where it’s happening,” al gore said during a kick-off event hosted by the c40 cities climate leadership group. “cities are where the solutions are being found. for reasons i don’t fully understand, but some of you may, cities are far more responsive and creative in finding policy solutions.”

“you wouldn’t know it from reading the headlines that we are making progress,” said bloomberg, a co-chair and one of the main organizers of the summit. “the headlines focus on the political fights in washington. but the real action is happening in cities, states, and the private sector. and the good news is those groups are positioning the united states to uphold our end of the paris agreement no matter what happens in washington.”

bloomberg and california governor jerry brown, among others, spoke of the urgency of the climate crisis at the main summit plenary events on thursday and friday. the summit focused on ways to aid and inform the parallel climate negotiations of the unfccc (united nations framework convention on climate change). the calls to action focused on five key areas that cities and regions could undertake to bypass inaction by parent governments: healthy energy systems, inclusive economic growth, sustainable communities, land and ocean stewardship, and transformative climate investments.

“since the white house announced its intention to withdraw from the paris agreement, more than 3,000 u.s. cities, states, businesses, and other groups have declared their commitment to the paris agreement,” wrote brown and bloomberg in a los angeles times op-ed during the summit. “together, these groups form the third-largest economy in the world, and they represent more than half the total u.s. population. they have been ramping up actions to cut carbon pollution and move toward the goals in the paris agreement, just as the rest of the world is doing.”

summit leaders view inaction at the top acute in the united states, where president donald trump’s administration has vowed to back out of the paris agreement while threatening to undermine the clean air act and roll back president barack obama’s clean power agenda.

bloomberg set the tone by stressing that solving climate change was an economic opportunity. “california is a great example of how fighting climate change and growing the economy grow hand in hand,” bloomberg said. “that’s something we also saw in nyc. we created a record number of jobs while at the same time reducing our carbon footprint by 19 percent.”

some of the major new commitments announced during the summit include:

• 12 major cities—including tokyo, seoul, and oslo—joined an existing network (now of 26 municipalities) pledging commitment to the c40 cities’ “fossil fuel free streets declaration.” this means using zero-carbon buses by 2025 and “ensuring a major area of the city is zero emission by 2030.”
• 72 cities committed to adopting a climate action plan by 2020 and become emissions neutral by 2050.
• a coalition of companies launched of the “climate-resilient value chains leaders platform,” including coca-cola and mars that will assess climate risk in their supply chains.
• some 277 cities and counties committed to upholding the paris agreement as part of the summit’s “we are still in” initiative, among them cities that originally backed the accord when trump announced plans to withdraw in june 2017.

the business-friendly attitude of the summit proved problematic at points. on thursday morning, entrance to the plenary sessions in the moscone center was blocked by protestors critical of california governor jerry brown, who they believe has not done enough to move away from the state’s substantial oil and gas portfolio. california in particular has suffered in recent years from the effects of climate change, experiencing a mix of intense drought and historic wildfires that have ravaged parts of the state.

nevertheless, the choice of locating the summit in san francisco was strategic, as both the city and the state of california itself have become leaders in supporting renewable infrastructure and industry. “my plan is an integrated plan built up over time,” brown said. “and we welcome any suggestions but i believe california has the most far reaching plan to deal with emissions as well as oil and production.” brown also reminded attendees that if california was a country, it would have the third largest economy behind china and the u.s.

later this year, the u.n. climate conference will be held in katowice, poland. earlier this year, a report published in the proceedings of the national academy of sciences warned that we are very close—less than one degree of global warming away—to producing a series of positive feedback loops that will generate what was ominously described as a “hothouse earth” scenario.

“we are all rich or poor,” actor harrison ford said in a speech during the opening plenary. “powerful or powerless. we will all suffer the effects of climate change, and we are facing what is quickly becoming the greatest moral crisis of our time.”

to make this happen, acc prepared the foundation by collecting one dollar from each college student for each credit hour, this green fund set austin community college on our way in 2009 to implementing sustainability initiatives.

being that acc is a commuter college with no on-campus housing and campuses scattered throughout central texas, transportation was identified as a good place to start, also 2010 greenhouse gas inventory showed that the commuting is responsible for 41% of the college’s ghg emissions.

since 2009, the college has rolled out a series of interlocking tdm (transportation demand management) strategies, there is no single solution to this challenge.

acc’s first initiative was to reduce single occupant vehicle miles. encouraging carpooling was a no-brainer, but increasing mass transit ridership was important.

so, the green pass was born! electric car charging stations are fast becoming a hit with staff, students and the public, as are incentives for driving fuel-efficient cars.

since the green pass program started, there’s already been a shift in how people commute to the campuses, with a greater percentage using alternatives to single occupant vehicles. bus ridership is up, and indications show a positive impact on overall greenhouse gas emission.

our students are helping acc go green one dollar at a time.

year-after-year, the ford f-150 pickup truck tops the sales charts. the f150’s ubiquity (and utility!), combined with its fuel-thirsty nature makes ford’s popular pickup the most logical choice for aftermarket plug-in hybrid development. over the years, i’ve shot segments on three different efforts to electrify the f-150, with the latest being this piece from the 2011 sema show last month in las vegas.

xtreme power takes a completely different approach that uses lead-acid batteries, rather than lithium-ion batteries. xtreme power’s system uses a highly-innovative fully-submersible switched reluctance motor and is designed to be installed in two hours or under. the company claims a 60% improvement in city gas mileage, with an added 350 foot pounds of torque.

to demonstrate the rugged nature of their kit, xtreme power displayed a jeep wrangler with their plug-in hybrid kit installed, along with the f-150.

regen has encapsulated this style of control methodology so that electrical loads can now operate as a group, automatically smoothing out demand without sacrificing comfort, all by listening to each other and making independent, autonomous decisions without the need for a complex, static, command & control system (http://www.regenenergy.com/resources/envirogrid%20methodology.pdf).

this methodology is also ideally suited for managing the demand of a fleet of electric vehicles, whether charging at one location or across a utility’s entire service territory (http://markkerbel.blogspot.com/2011/02/regen-energy-expands-demand-management.html)