Driving Forward: Electric Cars
As state and nation-wide forces combine to tackle greenhouse gas emissions, electric vehicles are set to take center stage in the automotive industry in the coming decades. In Q3 of 2022, for example, US consumers purchased over 200,000 electric vehicles (EVs), the best quarter in EV history (according to Electrek, a company dedicated to sustainable energy and EV transportation). Just a few years ago in 2018, 328,1118 vehicles were purchased in the entirety of the year within the US, which marked a 75% year-over-year increase from years prior. Despite, or perhaps because of the rising cost of living, consumers are electing to purchase EVs as their mode of travel. This coupled with extraordinary gas prices, which rose north of $6 per gallon in some states earlier this year, many consumers are choosing an alternative to combustion engine-based travel.
In states like New York for example, government agencies like the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) are leading the charge to get more sustainable energy on the grid – providing incentives and tax credits for those with solar panels on their roofs and EVs in their driveways. The “Charge NY” initiative offers electric car buyers the “Drive Clean Rebate” of up to $2,000 for new EV purchases or leases. Federally, the Inflation Reduction Act’s “Clean Vehicle Credit” provides a credit of up to $7,500 for purchasing a qualifying EV. With nearly $10,000 in possible credits, and traditionally cheaper car brands like Hyundai, Kia and Ford set to make big investments in the electric vehicle space in the next few years, it seems like high gas costs, supply chain disruptions, global politics, the fight against climate change and government-sponsored efforts via policy makers have contributed to the perfect EV-storm going forward. In fact, states like Massachuesetts and California have even announced a ban on all gasoline powered engines after 2035, while how that will manifest in practice is unclear, it nonetheless demonstrates the intentions of the state and nation in the years ahead.
Currently, for consumers, there are a few key issues that EV manufacturers and charging providers need to address. One being the range a car can travel in a single drive. For families that travel regularly, they may be hesitant about purchasing an EV, especially if they are of the mind that regular charging stations won’t be available on their trips. Plus, many see maintenance as a potential issue as these cars are often in need of more specific, technological based repairs, rather than traditional automotive troubleshooting. However, companies like NAPA Auto Parts are addressing these concerns. NAPA is teaming up with energy companies to install EV charging stations and landing deals with EV manufacturers to obtain tools for easy repair, allowing customers to pull into the shop for some work just as they have done in the past. In Saratoga County, a NAPA Auto Parts store on 352 Rowland St. in Ballston Spa is one of the first in the area to break into the EV repair space, one of the few places upstate that current owners could get work done on their electric vehicle. Plus, with the installation of their new charging stations, EV drivers passing by can “fill up” like one would at a gas station, only it will take a bit longer. The charging stations were installed by a Latham-based energy company, Integra Energy, a company devoted to providing electric vehicle services to the commercial and industrial sector. Unlike a gas station, the users of this electricity will be able to pay for their charge seamlessly, and through their phones via an application that tracks one’s usage and later bills the user.
As smaller communities like Saratoga and Ballston Spa support their electric vehicle drivers with more charging infrastructure like the one’s recently installed at NAPA, a mass adoption of this technology is fraught with challenges that critics often cite. In 2021, about 4,116 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) (or about 4.12 trillion kWh) of electricity were generated at utility-scale electricity generation facilities in the United States. About 61% of this electricity generation was from fossil fuels—coal, natural gas, petroleum, and other gasses, that is, according to the US Energy Administration. In other words, the electricity used to charge one’s battery is oftentimes produced with the same sources that purchasing an EV was meant to minimize (ie coal, fossil fuels etc.). Plus, while supply chain issues have heavily affected the price of gasoline, these same issues have overlapped on the mining supply side as well. The reality is, batteries require a lot of metals and minerals, and the vast majority of this mining is outsourced from the United States. According to mining and energy specialist Mark Mills, a thousand-pound electric car battery requires the moving of 500,000 pounds of earth during the course of mining. Of course, that’s before the metals themselves are processed, put into batteries, and installed. In other words, the raw materials for making the car have to be mined, and the process of mining is “dirty” and creates greenhouse gas emissions, the raw materials then have to be refined before they can be used, which, again, emits more greenhouse gas. Then, more greenhouse gas is emitted in the manufacturing process. Of course this isn’t to say that a similar process doesn’t take place in combustion-engine production, but it nonetheless muddies the waters as to what choice is the better option for conscientious consumers.
Importantly, China controls 80% of the global lithium battery supply chains, and because lithium is pivotal in battery production for EVs this may actually further the US’ dependence on Chinese goods if policy remains stagnant. The COVID-19 pandemic stressed, for many Americans, the need for self sufficiency and energy security as goods that were imported were oftentimes delayed or simply unavailable – so, will the EV craze actually further American consumers’ dependence on the industry taking place on foreign shores?
Ensuring the infrastructure to support EVs in the post-gasoline era will be no easy task. It means building an EV charging infrastructure and modernizing the current electric grid. For policy makers, this means a transition to a “Smart Grid.” Currently, though, if every American drove an EV, the grid could not support it. For instance, as a hypothetical, let’s say an entire cities’ workforce drove EVs. After work, they all came home and charged their EVs – well the current infrastructure couldn’t support that demand. Henry Lee, the director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Program at Harvard provides an answer to what this hypothetical scenario may look like in an interview with the Harvard Gazette. “ I don’t think the electricity supply will be a big problem, but distribution will be. Utilities are going to have to install smart transformers in a lot of neighborhoods. If 60 percent of the cars in a neighborhood are electric and they all come home at 7 o’clock and hook up, the transformers can’t handle the surge in demand. You need a smart transformer that will be able to synchronize supply and demand and charge three of the [groups of] cars between 7 and 10 p.m., then three more between 10 and 1 a.m., three more between 1 and 4 a.m., and the last batch between 4 and 7 a.m.” It may seem bizarre but these are the questions that need to be answered going forward. For a better future in the electric transportation space, battery technology and its sources need to be cleaned up and the grid will have to be expanded in an equitable way. While the promise from officials and EV producers often paint EVs in a climate-friendly light, the reality is the automotive industry has a long way to go to get to the much-sought-after goal of decarbonization of travel.
