Electric Cars, Legislation, and Policy

In a previous article I touched on why change is inevitable with hybrid cars and electric cars. However, there are several places to look for signs of change.

Many of us take a more day to day view, only reacting to what has been placed in front of us at any given moment. We'll believe it when we see them on the road and in the car dealerships, or on TV with advertisements.

Is there anything else we could look at that tells us, in a very real way, introduction of electric cars, hybrid cars, and zero emission vehicles has been building to critical mass? That battery technology has advanced to practical levels for many people?

Sure there is. Look to the passing of bills, government programs, and distribution of grant money that's been occurring over the past two decades. Those initiatives support both the needs of the industry (e.g. research and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales of a new technology), as well as incentives for consumers to promote success. Some also address the massive issue of infrastructure and how people get their electric car recharged at home and on the road.

The issues of global warming, acid rain, and pollution are all real concerns for the environment, and drive the adoption of legislation to promote cleaner means for transportation.

Let's look at some of the legislation, policies, and programs implemented in the past two decades.

The EV Project -

Merril Douglas, writing for Government Technology, reports President Barack Obama has called on the country to put 1 million electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015, but that number is highly unlikely unless people are confident in finding places to recharge their vehicles.

She also reports the US Department of Energy announced a $99.8 million dollar grant to The EV Project in August, 2009, a two year study across five states that will place thousands of drivers in zero emission, all electric cars.

The study will see deployment of 4,700 chargers at the homes and businesses of participating drivers, in addition to 6,510 chargers in commercial and public locations. Nissan North America is donating 4,700 Leaf electric cars for the study, distributed to consumers, fleet owners, local government, and other participants.

Locations participating in the study will be:

Phoenix and Tucson (Arizona); San Diego (California); Portland, Eugene, Salem and Corvallis (Oregon); Seattle (Washington); and Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga (Tennessee).

Ford and the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) Program -

This is a joint effort between Ford and the University of Detroit Mercy to retrain traditional automotive engineers to service electric cars and hybrid cars. Ford believes the era of the electric car is here, and electrification of vehicles is underway in the industry. Ford plans to release four electric vehicles by 2012: The Transit Connect in 2010, the Focus electric passenger car in 2011, a "next-generation" hybrid car in 2012, and a "plug-in" Hybrid in 2012.

This to me is huge. It speaks beyond an advertisement or a new car model dropped into a showroom. What this tells us is a major auto manufacturer is taking premeditated steps to prepare itself for a major change, and to ensure people still have jobs in the process.

And if we look at the dates involved, it's not that far out.

Ford & UDM Program

The Federal Clean Air Act

The Federal Clean Air Act was passed in 1970 with one amendment occurring in 1990. Contained within it is a mandate for a California Pilot Test Program requiring auto manufacturers to produce, sell, and distribute 150,000 "clean-air" vehicles between 1996 and 1998, and 300,000 clean-air vehicles by 1999 and beyond.

In 1990 the ZEV program (zero emission vehicle) was enacted in California to promote zero emission vehicles. It has gone through modification several times since then adding additional categories such as LEV (low emission vehicle), ULEV (ultra low emission vehicle), and others.

The Bay Area Transit (BART) program

San Francisco's Bay Area Transit (BART) joined forces with the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. $1.41 million dollars in private funds was raised for a two year demonstration of electric cars and electric car stations to prove the viability of the electric car for short trips. In August of 1997 there were 69 people participating in that demonstration of BART maintained "station cars".

Massachusetts allows electric vehicles on some roads

New legislation was passed on January 16, 2009 in Massachusetts allowing limited use of "low and medium speed" electric cars on certain roads. In this particular case the reference is to three-wheeled vehicles that travel no more than 40 miles per hour, to be classed as motorcycles by the department of motor vehicles.

Delaware and V2G Metering for consumers

On September 22, 2009, Delaware Governor Jack A. Markell signed into law a bill mandating "vehicle-to-grid" (V2G) electric car owners be net-metered. Specifically, customers must be paid for the electricity returned to the power grid at the same rate they are billed when charging their electric car battery. The idea here is that a V2G vehicle is capable of absorbing excess energy when demand is low, able to return some of that to the grid.

The Freedom Act of 2009, bill S271

The Freedom Act of 2009 - S271, introduced to Congress a revision of the 1986 Internal Revenue Code for tax credits. The bill would broaden the scope of tax credit benefits to both manufacturers of electric cars and consumers purchasing electric cars.

Department of Energy Grants to Manufacturers

$2.4 Billion dollars in grant money seems to have sparked some controversy. In an August 7, 2009 article, Hybrid Cars reports that General Motors will receive more than $240 million, Ford nearly $100 million, Chrysler $70 million, and Johnson Controls (a US auto battery maker) will receive $299.2 million for production of lithium ion battery packs. The controversy stems from criticism of the Department of Energy's methods of selecting recipients. There are claims of bias, that award of grants seemed to bypass smaller companies with promising technologies, or excluded regions and companies by virtue of political favoritism.

The full article can be found here: Hybrid Cars - Grants

For "the little guy" like you and I what's important here? Getting into convoluted, many layered political and socio-economic theorizing? Not in my opinion. That's something common to any change large enough to have a major impact on society, constant throughout the process. I'll take that as it comes.

The bigger picture is that change is coming, and we can see it coming by virtue of passing legislation, grant awards for the development of core technologies, and test-bed programs using real drivers in live settings.

Apart from the key issue of infrastructure and recharge times, the battery has always been the electric car's Achilles Heel. However, battery technology has come a long way in twenty years, as evidenced by the recent introduction of hybrid cars and electric cars by major auto manufacturers.

That's R & D by manufacturers and Grant money at work for us with smaller, better, and more powerful batteries now available.

All I can think of is the Energizer Bunny, in all his pink glory, overcoming his greatest challenge!

Energizer Bunny vs. Darth Vader

I knew there was a reason to keep that box of 325 rechargeable "D" batteries around!

Sources:

About.com: Telegraph Inventors

Merrill Douglas, Government Technology, March 15, 2010

Forbes Black, EV World, AC Propulsion - The Quiet Revolutionaries (Oct 27, 2009)

GM-Volt Q & A

Chuck Squatriglia, Autopia, Will California Kill the Electric Car - Again?

HybridCars.com - Biased Grants

The California Environmental Protection Agency - Air Resources Board:

US CODE Title 42

California Air Resources Board Wiki:

www.zapworld.com, MA Approves Electric Cars: Article

EV World, Delaware Headline