Back in October I wrote a blog, Momentum is Building, about the hundreds of new electric cars that will hit the market in the next few years. Then, in the last blog I talked about how the market for electric cars in the US is exploding, up 80% from 2017. The result? Lots of electric cars coming to market in 2019.
Now, we have a preview of cars that will arrive in 2019. I read almost a dozen articles that previewed the 2019 electric car market. Here is my summary, thanks in large part to Green Car Reports.
2019 Electric Car Preview
2019 Hyundai Kona Electric When: Any day Range: 258 miles Price: $37,495 What’s cool: Finalist in Green Car Reports’ Best Car to Buy competition for 2019.
2019 Kia Niro EV When: Expected in February Range: 239 miles Price: $38,000 What’s cool: Completes the line-up of ecofriendly Niro models by joining the hybrid and PHEV models.
2019 Nissan Leaf Plus When: Spring 2019 Range: 226 miles Price: ~$30,000 What’s cool: Improved acceleration and faster charging means this isn’t your typical Leaf
2019 Audi e-tron quattro When: Second quarter 2019 Range: 248 miles Price: $75,795 What’s cool: Another electric SUV!
2020 Porsche Taycan When: Late 2019 Range: 300 miles Price: $90,000 What’s cool: Can receive 240 miles of charge in only 10 minutes
Additionally, the 2019 Volkswagen ID will arrive in late 2019, but it’s only slated to appear in Europe.
Ford will also have a 2020 electric SUV, which is rumored to have a 300-mile range. More details could be announced in 2019, though the vehicle is not likely to be available for purchase before 2020.
Folks who have been waiting for an electric SUV or another option for an electric car should be extremely excited by these new options! The Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3 now have real competition from several vehicles with comparable range and prices, like the Kona, Niro, and Leaf Plus.
My concern is the lack of lower priced options. However, if the Leaf Plus does end up coming in near $30,000, then prices are moving in the right direction. Still, that’s a fairly expensive car. Electric vehicles need to be accessible to the average car buyer in order to reach market penetration. We aren’t quite there yet, but I’m hopeful we will be soon.
As first and second-generation electric car drivers swap their ride for one of these new options, it will put more used electric vehicles into the market. These cars will have a lower upfront price, making them more accessible for the average car buyer. More on this topic in a future blog post.
Until then, head to your local dealer and test drive some electric vehicles. Let me know how it goes!
2018 was a year of tremendous growth in the electric vehicle market. We saw new electric cars released (and one of our favorites get cancelled), two manufacturers hit the 200,000-vehicle tax credit cap, and across the county we hit record sales numbers. A few highlights include:
It’s safe to say the electric vehicle market is officially on the rise. We ended the year with 361,307 electric cars sold across the country, making up 6% of all passenger car sales!
2 Manufacturers Hit Tax Credit Cap
Tesla and GM have both sold over 200,000 electric vehicles. A great start down the adoption curve for electric cars, but also a signal that customers won’t receive their full tax credit on these cars any more.
After a manufacturer has sold 200,000 electric vehicles, the consumer tax incentive is reduced for that manufacturer’s vehicles. The full tax credit, $7500, remains for the rest of the quarter in which they hit the cap, plus the next quarter. After that, the tax credit is halved for 6 months, then halved again for the next 6 months, before expiring entirely.
Tesla hit the 200,000-vehicle cap in July, 2018 so their tax credit went from the full $7,500 to $3750 on January 1. From July 1 to the end of the year it’s halved again, to $1,875. Tesla buyers won’t see any tax credit in 2020.
GM hit the 200,000 mark in December, 2019 due to their all-electric Chevy Bolt and popular, although discontinued, plug-in hybrid, the Chevy Volt. GM vehicles can receive the full credit until March 31st. From April 1 to September 30 buyers will get the halved credit of $3750, and then $1875 until March 31st 2020.
Tesla made for a record-setting December
In December, 49,900 electric vehicles were sold – 10% of passenger car sales that month! 50% of those sales were thanks to the Tesla Model 3. Tesla pushed hard for customers to order their car before the end of the year because of the tax credit deadline. They went so far as to keep stores open until midnight on New Year’s Eve to get as many customers into inventoried vehicles as possible.
What it means for 2019
2019 is an excellent year to go electric, especially if you have your eye on a Tesla or GM model and want to capitalize on the tax credits. Manufacturers have been pushing to extend the tax credits, though with limited success. Their reason being that it’s unfair to penalize the manufacturers that are first to market by reducing the consumer incentive to purchase their vehicles. And I agree – why punish the innovators? I’m expecting to see more activity around the subject in 2019.
There are also a number of new electric vehicles coming to market. Hopefully we’ll see more SUV and truck options hit the streets in the next few months. From Kia and Hyundai, to BMW and newcomers like Rivian and Faraday Future, it’s shaping up to be an exciting year for electric car debuts.
In the next blog, I’ll do roundup of new models that will be available in 2019.
Over the past three months, RENEW Wisconsin has been participating in an exciting and audacious challenge to develop ways to bolster the middle class of Dane County.UW-Madison was selected as one of four universities nationally to participate in a competition sponsored and funded by the Schmidt Futures Foundation, led by Google’s former CEO Eric Schmidt. UW’s program is called “Dream Up Wisconsin.”
The challenge is to increase the net income of 10,000 Dane County Families by 10%.
Our Plan:to “Power Up” Dane County families and communities with clean energy!We were one of 46 original applicants, and we were fortunate to be one of 11 applicants to receive $10,000 to more fully flesh out our proposal.
Our vision for Power Up Dane County is to create buzz about clean energy and provide community members the tools to adopt clean energy to reduce their monthly bills, create new jobs, and build a healthier community. We want everyone to have access to clean energy, from efficient homes to solar panels on their roof, and electric vehicles in their garage.
However, many middle class families don’t know that these technologies are available to them. Power Up is our idea to change that.
The program would start by empowering households to take control of their electricity bills using “Neighborhood Champions.”These champions will be excited members of the community who will help households install efficiency kits and the home energy sensor, Sense. Sense measures electricity consumption in real-time, and gives users a visual indication of their energy use through an app. By learning which devices in their home use the most electricity, residents can unplug energy hogs and save money.
After they have more efficient homes and a better understanding of their energy use, we want to connect participants with solar installers, home weatherization technicians, car dealerships that specialize in electric vehicles, and additional rebates for their clean energy investments.
Power Up will make it desirable, easy, and financially feasible for participants to adopt clean energy, like solar panels and electric cars.These clean energy technologies will reduce air pollution and save families thousands of dollars per year on their energy bills.
Power Up is competing against 11 other proposals for the top 3 spots. Should we be selected for the next round of competition, we will pitch our proposal to Schmidt Futures in Arizona in late January.
We believe in a future that is “Powered Up” with clean energy technology. That future includes millions of dollars of in energy bill and healthcare savings, new clean energy jobs, and a healthy and prosperous middle class. The momentum around clean energy is building by the day. With Wisconsin utilities, counties, and municipalities committing to 100% renewable energy, we know the future of Wisconsin will be one with extensive clean energy adoption. Power Up is one vision for how to get there.
Last weekend, I drove Bergstrom Chevrolet’s all-electric Bolt from Madison to Detroit, and back. Over 1000 miles, through 4 states, in sun and snow, the Bolt and I spent a lot of time together. Hopefully you saw some of the updates on Twitter!
The Bolt has a range of 230 miles in perfect conditions. That means if it’s not cold and you’re driving carefully in the city you can get over 200 miles on one full battery charge. Unfortunately, it was in the 30s and I was mostly driving interstate highways, so 200 miles on one charge was not an option. I planned my stops assuming I could get about 150 miles per charge.
Madison to Detroit
I set off at 7:30 on Thursday morning, charged up to 80% from a pit stop at an EVgo fast charger in Monona. After about 2 hours and 120 miles, I stopped at the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, just outside Chicago to charge at another EVgo fast charger.
After 45 minutes of checking emails and walking around the mall, I got a text from EVgo saying my charge was complete. I set off to my next stop: the Lincoln Oasis in South Holland, Illinois, which was about 50 miles away. The Bolt’s battery wasn’t drained yet but there aren’t many fast chargers on the west side of Michigan, so I wanted to have as much charge as possible before leaving Illinois. This turned out to be a good choice. Inside the Oasis, I ate lunch and worked, and packed up 45 minutes later when I got the text that my car was charged up.
My next stop was in Kalamazoo, Michigan (where I was born!) to charge at a fast charger at a car dealership. Unfortunately, this fast charger was out of order, and it was the only one within 50 miles. Turns out the charger is brand new – it was just installed at the dealership for the launch of the Jaguar I-Pace all-electric car. There was a part recall that meant it was not working yet. Bummer. But, the dealership was very gracious, they let me use their level 2 charger for free and even invited me inside for a cup coffee and to use their lobby’s Wi-Fi. I hung out there for about 2 hours which added 40 miles to the battery.
At this point, I had 200 miles under my belt and had charged at 3 fast chargers and 1 level 2 charger. At 4:30pm, I left the dealership with 70 miles on the battery and a better understanding of the realities of taking an all-electric car on long road trips.
Next stop, Grand Rapids, which is about 50 miles north of Kalamazoo. My plan was to pick up my sister, who lives in the area, and quickly plug into a fast charger before heading out to Detroit. The only fast charger in Grand Rapids is also at a dealership, and also affected by the part recall. So, with 20 miles left on the battery, my sister and I resolved to get dinner and spend the night at her apartment with the Bolt plugged into a level 2 charger overnight. No harm, no foul! I was disappointed I couldn’t do the drive in one day, but knew it would be an easy 150 miles from Grand Rapids to Detroit in the morning.
On Friday morning, we woke up to the first snowfall of the year! Together, my sister and I drove from Grand Rapids to Detroit, and stopped to charge up in front of a beautiful, snow-laden fall tree.
And Back
I made almost the exact same stops on the way back. Creature of habit, no? It was an easy drive and actually much quicker because I didn’t stop to charge at the level 2 in Kalamazoo. I took a shorter way from Grand Rapids to Chicago, which avoided Kalamazoo entirely. Live and learn.
Conclusions after 1000 miles in a Chevy Bolt
So, 1000 miles later, my conclusions?
It’s totally doable to take an electric car on a road trip. This was a far cry from the fastest I’ve driven from Madison to Detroit and back but it was enjoyable. The Bolt is fun to drive and I had an excuse to stop along the way which meant I could walk around a get a real meal instead of being confined to a car for 7 hours straight.
With that said, for now, I suggest renting a car or using a plug-in hybrid if you’re short on time. Get an electric car to use around town and rent a car for longer trips. You’ll still save money in the long run, too.
EVgo chargers rock. They all have human names, like “Paul” and “Stewart,” which I stopped at, which is fun. More importantly, they are easy to use and charged the Bolt within 45 minutes. Also, EVgo provided us a $60 credit so all of my charging was free! I didn’t use that to inform my charging decisions though, EVgo just had the most convenient locations. Thanks, EVgo.
As always, there’s more work to be done! The network of DC fast chargers in the Midwest is growing, but it’s not where it needs to be for convenient long road trips. We need to work with other Midwest states to create a better network of charging stations in convenient locations so we don’t have to think twice about using an electric car for a road trip. Luckily, Volkswagen funding is available to do just that.
I really dislike driving my gasoline car now. After driving the Bolt for almost a week, my car screams “inefficient.” It bugs me that when I slow down the energy is lost instead of regenerating the battery, and the delay between pressing the gas and actually moving forward seems more obvious now.
What are you driving to your Thanksgiving celebrations? If it’s electric, take my virtual high-five, and a challenge to get at least one family member to drive your car around the block to see how great it is. For the rest of us driving gasoline cars, here’s to future years where we’ll be the ones showing off our electric ride. Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Halloween! Let’s talk about something that isn’t spooky: driving electric! With momentum building, from hundreds of new models hitting the market soon and the Volkswagen Settlement providing an opportunity for public infrastructure, there’s no reason to get a fright over driving electric.
I’ve heard interested people point to a few reasons why they might be a little spooked by the transition to driving electric. So let’s demystify some of these potential scares.
Potential Scare #1: I can run out of juice!
Not to throw her under the *hopefully electric* bus, but I got a text on Sunday from a friend who said she ran out of gas on the highway. Running out of juice, whether electricity or gasoline, might be an issue with any type of car. Just like you plan your gas station stops in a gasoline car, you plan your charging station stops in an electric car. The real difference is that your garage is your primary fueling place. And, unlike gasoline cars, you can leave the car on as you refuel, which means you can leave the heat on too! No more waiting out in the cold as you pump gas. For me, the real scare is pumping gas on a cold, dark night by myself. Plugging in my car after I pull into my garage, on the other hand, is not a spooky task!
Potential Scare #2: Batteries are flammable!
So is gasoline! And you have to pump gasoline into your car, physically exposing yourself to its smells and dangers. The battery packs in vehicles don’t require regular human interference and are isolated into small packages, meaning that even if one of them malfunctions, it’s not likely that an entire battery pack will catch on fire. Not to mention that many gasoline car fires start as a result of a mechanical failure, which is less likely to happen with the very few moving parts in an electric car.
All cars are dangerous – that’s not new. But, did you know that electric cars can actually be safer than gasoline cars? Electric cars are less likely to roll over because they tend to have a lower center of gravity, mostly due to the heavy batteries being placed along the bottom of the car. The all-electric Chevy Bolt, which you’ll hear more about in next week’s post, was given the highest possible crash test rating and was named a 2017 Top Safety Pick. The safety of electric cars shouldn’t be a cause for concern.
Potential Scare #3: I’m just not as comfortable with electric cars!
I totally get that. Electric cars are somewhat new and do require a bit of behavior change from the driver. But, you can trust that electric cars are an extremely reliable, convenient, and fun swap for your gasoline vehicle. I don’t feel the need to understand exactly how my gasoline car works. I trust that when I turn the key, the car starts and I can go on my merry way. I know how to change a tire and add washer fluid to my car… anything else requires a trip to a mechanic. The good news is that an electric car doesn’t need much besides that! No oil changes, and again, fewer moving parts means less can go wrong.
What I really need, and I’m willing to venture many of you feel the same way, is a car so reliable that I never have to think about how it works. We all want a reliable and convenient car. To which I enthusiastically say, you should definitely consider switching to drive electric!
Driving electric isn’t so spooky after all
Driving electric doesn’t have to be scary. To prove it, next week I am going to drive Bergstrom Chevrolet’s Chevy Bolt over 800 miles from Madison to Detroit and back. If you want to follow along in real time, I’ll be taking over RENEW’s Twitter account next week, where I’ll share my experience taking an electric road trip through the Midwest!
In my last blog I talked about how many new electric car models are coming to market in the next few years. This is great news but also shines a light on the public charging infrastructure needed to support all these news makes and models. Here’s where the “Volkswagen Settlement” comes in.
In 2016, a federal court approved a settlement with Volkswagen (VW) requiring the car company to spend upwards of $15 billion to reduce environmental air pollutants from transportation in the U.S.
VW admitted to producing 11 million diesel vehicles between 2009 and 2016 that purposely cheated emissions tests designed to limit chemicals called “nitrous oxides,” or NOx. NOx causes respiratory diseases like asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis. As a result of VW’s cheating, their diesel vehicles emitted NOx at up to 40 times the federally accepted level.
The “VW settlement” is designed to decrease NOx emissions from the transportation sector to counteract the damage done while these vehicles were in operation.
Settlement Details
The settlement is broken up into 3 main parts:
1. VW will provide up to $10 billion to owners and lessees of VW and Audi 2.0-liter diesel cars with the NOx cheating software. Nearly 500,000 cars were affected, the largest false advertising case in US history! The deadline for owners to submit a claim has passed.
2. VW also had to put $2.9 billion into an environmental mitigation trust fund to be shared by states and tribes. States are set to receive funds based on the number of cheating vehicles in operation in the state. States are to develop their own programs for spending the money. Up to 15% of the funding can be used to support light-duty zero emission vehicle infrastructure, like public charging stations for electric cars.
3. To further reduce air emissions, VW also has to spend $2.8 billion on clean air infrastructure. $800,000 of this funding will be spent in California. To administer this fund VW created Electrify America, which is installing charging stations across the country and running a nationwide campaign promoting electric vehicles. Check out their first commercial
More information on the settlement companies, violations, and enforcement can be found here.
Now, I am all for clean transit but I am disappointed that Wisconsin didn’t allocate funding for electric vehicle infrastructure. Per the settlement, Wisconsin is allowed to spend $10 million on infrastructure, such as charging stations, to help drivers of light-duty cars and trucks. Of all 46 states that have submitted a plan, Wisconsin is one of 4 that didn’t choose to allocate funding to this zero-emission vehicle infrastructure.
RENEW’s Proposal for Wisconsin
I am excited to see Electrify America charging stations popping up across the country. That campaign in nationwide, though.
And we know that ensuring people can drive their electric vehicles and recharge them like they refuel their cars today is going to be critical to getting more uptake here in Wisconsin. Therefore, we want to see VW funding spent on electric vehicle infrastructure right here in Wisconsin.
It is possible to change our state plan for VW settlement funding. More than one-third of the funding, over million, has yet to be allocated. And, if there is funding left over from the round, it can be re-allocated.
RENEW believes that any future VW settlement plan should include funding fast recharging stations so people can drive electric cars all over Wisconsin and know they can get anywhere they need to go.
$10 million can go a long way to support a state-wide network of charging stations! Such a network would allow Wisconsin’s electric car drivers to go anywhere in the state with confidence – in fact, we estimate that the funding could cover most of the cost to install three recharging stations each in 111 locations all over the state. That’s enough to have one every 25 miles, giving drivers options when they are on the road.
It’s my hope that we can use “Dieselgate” to do the most good in Wisconsin. If the goal is to reduce air pollution, I don’t know if it gets any better than renewable energy powered electric transportation! Next week we’ll talk more about charging: how, where, and why driving electric is convenient, safe, and fun.
