Photo above is a Rivian R1S from the EV Club EV Showcase Event at the Hotel Marcel in New Haven

Rivian Fends Off Dealership Lawsuit

The electric vehicle manufacturer, Rivian, which currently produces the fully electric R1T pickup truck and R1S sport utility vehicle, is finally able to move forward with its proposed Connecticut service center. The Town of Shelton originally granted Rivian an approval to build a service and delivery center at 2 Mountain View Drive in October 2022. T D Properties, owner of 329 Bridgeport Avenue, Shelton, along with Mario D’Addario Buick, Inc., a dealership that does business from that premises, sued Shelton to stop the service center.

The Usual Dealership Obstruction Playbook

We’ve seen this movie before. When a company that employs a direct sales model seeks to open a service center, the dealerships do all they can, including going to court, to obstruct it. Direct sales is not legal in CT and the dealers further attempt to make it as inconvenient to service the vehicles as it is to buy them. In so doing, the dealers seek to restrict competition and consumer choice.

In the case of East Hartford, the dealers successfully bullied the city into rescinding an already granted permit for Tesla to build a service center. The dealers showed up in force for a hearing regarding a proposed Tesla service center in South Windsor, and the town did not grant the permit. (Tesla is now building a large sales and service center just over the state line in MA, and is building a sales and delivery center on tribal land in Uncasville.)

Shelton and Rivian fought the lawsuit and won every ruling. The case has been extensively litigated with numerous motions filed, along with an appeal. The court gave a final ruling denying the plaintiff’s appeal on October 18th. This is the case detail page of the court docket.

Under Construction

Rivian has moved quickly to break ground. Originally, it had hoped to open its doors in the summer of this year. Starting around now, an optimistic time frame would be the second quarter of 2024. When we have more definitive information, we will provide an update.

We look forward to welcoming Rivian to Connecticut!

IRA Incentive Update – Transfer Provision Goes Into Effect in January

A Tax Credit Becomes a Point of Sale Rebate

The transfer provision of the federal IRA EV incentive is scheduled to go into effect in January. This provision meaningfully improves upon a tax credit:

• The incentive becomes a point of purchase rebate.
• It can be used by people even if they don’t have the tax liability to be able to use a tax credit.

The IRS published a draft of its rulemaking on October 6 and plans to issue final rules shortly. Much of the rulemaking has to do with implementation details. This is a summary:

• The IRS will be launching a new website called IRS Energy Credits Online and dealers must register with this site to participate. Consumers can only obtain the incentive from a registered dealer.
• Participating dealers will use the site to verify a vehicle’s incentive eligibility, register the sale, and indicate whether (or not) the buyer elected the transfer option.
• For buyers choosing to transfer the credit to the seller, the dealer must reduce the invoice amount by the full amount of the available incentive.
• Dealers must provide written documentation to the customer regarding the vehicle’s incentive eligibility.
• Once the sale is registered, the IRS will issue payment to the dealer within 72 hours. (When the transfer was initially announced, dealers were concerned about the potential to incur significant carrying charges.)
• Dealers get repaid whether or not they have tax liability to absorb a tax credit.
• Consumers must attest in writing that they are eligible for the incentive. This mainly applies to the income caps. A buyer must fall within the caps for either the year they make the purchase or the prior year. If that turns out not to be the case, the consumer must repay the incentive to the IRS.
• Incentive payments do not count as income for either the dealer or the consumer.

This is a link to the IRS press release.

New Webinars Announced for Program Updates

The incentive program from the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) that is administered through the state’s two largest utilities, Eversource and United Illuminating gets evaluated every year. Since the program has started, there have been some modifications introduced at the beginning of each year.

Eversource and UI have announced webinars to explain the changes for 2024. The webinar for residential is on Wednesday, Oct. 25th, and for commercial, it is Monday, Oct. 30th. Registration links below.

• EV charging programs for single family homes
  • Wednesday, October 25^th from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
  • Register here

• EV charging programs for business, communities and large multifamily residences
  • Monday, October 30^th from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
  • Register today

The residential program offers an incentive of up to $500 toward the purchase of a 240 volt charging station and up to $500 toward offsetting the installation cost involved in bringing a 240 volt line from the panel to the garage. There is also a managed charging component, which pays consumers for allowing the utility to throttle charging during peak demand periods. If one takes the incentive for the hardware, participation in the managed charging is mandatory. It is most likely that any upcoming changes will have to do with the managed charging component of the program. It is possible there will be some new approved equipment.

Advocacy Alert: Reach Out To The Legislators on the ACC II Legislative Review Committee

Contact information is provided at the end of this post.

What follows is a not so brief background that could easily be a lot longer. There is also be an upcoming webinar, produced by the Interreligious Eco-Justice Network. Scheduling and registration link here:

Clean Cars, Clean Trucks, and the Fight for Clean Air

Monday, October 30 – 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

REGISTER HERE – https://cleancarscleantrucksandthefightforcleanair.eventbrite.com

ACC II Is Follow-on to California Emission Standards

When the federal Clean Air Act was passed in 1970, it recognized that California had already established its own regimen of emissions standards. California, particularly the Los Angeles area, had already been grappling with smog for a long time. And so California was given a waiver to continue to establish its own standards, which were more stringent than the federal standards. That is the overly-simplistic history of why there are two standards.

Many states, including Connecticut, have followed the California standard for tailpipe emissions, which became the de facto standard for manufacturers. It was easier for them to live with the more stringent standards than to have different vehicles for sale in different sets of states.

The acronyms that you hear around this are ACC (Advanced Clean Car) regulations and CARB (California Air Resources Board), the state agency that sets the California standards. The first set of ACC regulations addressed light-duty vehicles for model years 2015 – 2025. This follow-on set of regulations, known as Advanced Clean Cars Two or ACC II, begins with 2026, although the CT version would start a year later due to the current timing of enactment. The CT version is the CA version. The choice is binary: use the weaker federal standards or the more stringent CA option.

Why Do We Need This?

It’s obvious, right? Just look at the chart at the top (data from NASA, published by Axios). But, aside from global warming, there are local concerns.

• Air quality in CT is terrible. The state receives failing grades from the American Lung Association and fails to meet federal air-quality standards.
• The transportation sector accounts for about 38% of greenhouse gas emissions but also a significant amount of Nitrogen Oxides, a component of smog, and particulate matter. These contribute to cardio-pulmonary disease, cancer, low birth weight and birth defects.
• ACC II applies to all vehicles, in other words, trucks as well as cars. The pollution profile varies for different classes of vehicles, but it’s all bad.
• This is an important environmental justice measure. Pollution and its public health consequences fall disproportionately on disadvantaged communities.
• The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, DEEP, analyzed the impact of ACC II on CT and modeled enormous reductions in greenhouse gasses and pollutants as described in the table below.

Health Benefits

According to the American Lung Association, CT can expect the following health-related benefits from cleaner air.

• $11.5 billion in monetized health benefits
• 1,060 premature deaths avoided
• 22,900 asthma attacks avoided
• 120,000 lost work days avoided

Wide Support

It may not come as a surprise that the EV Club supports this, along with other Connecticut EV Coalition members including Save the Sound, Acadia Center, and the Sierra Club, along with numerous other environmental organizations.

Charles Rothenberger, climate and energy attorney at Save the Sound and manager of the Connecticut EV Coalition, spoke at our September 9 Northeast Electric Vehicle Symposium (NEEVS) on this timely topic. “Two decades ago, Connecticut became a leader on cleaner transportation by adopting the Clean Cars I standards. Now it’s time to take the next step in achieving the kind of emissions reductions that the best available science tells us are essential for the health of people and the planet. Taken together, the regulations introduced today will provide long overdue updates to our vehicle standards, placing Connecticut on the path to transforming and modernizing the transportation sector and providing substantial environmental and health benefits for the citizens of Connecticut.”

The most controversial part of the regulations is the requirement that manufacturers no longer produce ICE vehicles as of 2035 (light-duty). Everything has to be a plug-in vehicle, though up to 20% of the plug-ins can be PHEV.

The automotive industry is lining up behind these regs. A number of manufacturers have already announced they are transitioning their fleets to electric roughly in this time frame. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade association for the legacy manufacturers, has endorsed it, as has the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association.

The dealers seem to be taking a more neutral position. Their job is to sell what the manufacturers produce. However, the National Automobile Dealers Association states on its website: “Electric and hybrid vehicles are here, and America’s vast franchised dealer network is eager, excited, and essential to the successful deployment to the mass retail market. Dealers are all-in on EVs and are investing billions of dollars in their stores and staff to improve the purchasing experience and reduce barriers to electric-vehicle ownership.”

These regulations are needed to make a meaningful dent in our toxic, climate-warming emissions. The goals in the Paris Agreement of 2015 feel increasingly out of reach absent decisive action.

Its overarching goal is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” To limit global warming to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by 2030.

ACC II provides a lengthy time horizon during which there is a gradual transition to zero-emission vehicles. Importantly, they provide a degree of certainty regarding marketplace conditions to the manufacturers, as well as manufacturer incentives for the building of affordably priced EVs.

ACC II Nearing the Finish Line, But a Potential Hurdle Remains

The CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) received legislative authorization on a bipartisan basis to develop the rule making and conduct the required analysis. That part is finished. There has been a public comment period with a response from DEEP. The Office of the Attorney General has signed off on the regulations. The final step before going to the Governor is for the Legislative Regulation Review Committee to sign off on it. The committee is composed of 14 legislators with equal representation from both parties. The committee’s assignment is to review the regulations for adherence to legislative intent (which they clearly do). Now, some members of the committee are signaling that they may try to block the regulations and the Republican caucus is taking steps to make a public case. Here’s but one example.

If you clicked through to that article, you can see the FUDsters are out in force. And even though this originates with the Repubs, don’t make the mistake of thinking the Dems are immune to the pressure. We will be publishing additional content to address some of the questions being raised about the grid, the cost of EVs, and the economic impact. There’s a lot to shovel. The regulations require a minimum of a tie vote to be enacted.

Please Take Action to Let Regulation Review Committee Members Know Why ACC II Is Positive for Connecticut

We ask your help to support the passage of these regulations. Contact as many of the committee members as you can using their information is below, asking them to support ACCII. You are welcome to use the bullet points above as a guide to your messaging.

2024 Model Year For New Electric Midsized SUV

The vehicle is at Key Chevrolet in Middletown and they are the ones who told us it is the first electric Chevy Blazer to come to the state. As of this writing, the vehicle is available for sale. Test drives are offered, as well.

The Blazer is built using GM’s new Ultium battery platform. It sports an 85 kWh battery pack, EPA rated for 279 miles of range and a 98 MPGe. The sticker notes a fuel cost savings of $5750 over 5 years when compared to the average vehicle MPG of 28 (which is the standard comparison that the regulators require) when driven 15,000 miles per year. The costs of gasoline and electricity obviously affect this. In CT, we are on the higher side of both of these.

This vehicle has a base MSRP of $58,820 and is equipped with the RS Convenience and Driver Confidence Package, a $2620 option that includes adaptive cruise control, HD surround vision, and a number of other comfort and safety features. Add in the destination fee of $1395 and the total is $60,215. GM has a standard 8 year/100,000 mile battery warranty. The dealer advises they are not marking it up over sticker.

The Blazer is equipped with 2 screens, one in front of the steering wheel for the driver information and one in the center. The 2-screen setup is a nice feature.

The onboard charger is 11.5 KW, which is the same as most Tesla models. AC charging is steadily getting faster across the industry. When plugged into a 240 volt charger capable of at least 48 amps, you should get around 45 miles per hour of charging. For DC fast charging, Chevrolet claims it can handle current of up to 190 kWh, good for 78 miles in 10 minutes.

Buyers get free home charging installation from Qmerit (terms apply).

This vehicle is currently eligible for the full $7500 federal purchase incentive. It is not eligible for a CT CHEAPR rebate.

If any of our members get one of these, please reach out to us!

July 2023 Dashboard With Full Interactivity

Link to the dashboard.

We have published a new dashboard of all EVs registered in CT, updated for the data released as of July 1, 2023. The dashboard has slicers and full interactivity on each page. There are currently 18 pages. More may be added subsequently, Scroll down for pagination and page titles. From the landing page, it is necessary to either click the map image or the “view interactive content” button to spawn the dash.

Included in the dashboard are EVs by make, model, city, county, per capita, % of all vehicles and some trending. Trends only go back to January 2022. As always, we have to live within the limitations imposed by the files available to us. There are just too many differences between this file and the older ones to easily integrate them.

This file contained a total of 35,883 registered EVs, which is a bit lower than the 36,269 noted on the DEEP EV page. Some of the difference can be explained by the dashboard file containing only BEVs and PHEVs, whereas the DEEP data include 61 electric motorcycles and 3 fuel cell vehicles. The other 322 are MIA. Also, there were ~500 records with blank geo fields, so the sum of the cities is less than the total.

Net Registrations

Keep in mind, the data are net registrations. Net registrations include:

• Existing vehicles
• New vehicles
• Newly registered used vehicles
• People who own EVs moving into the state

Minus:

• People getting rid of their vehicle
• EV owners leaving the state

This data point is up 42% from one year ago, which is not bad, but at minimum needs to be consistently maintained if the state is to reach its EV objectives.

There are also some pages with newly registered vehicles, that is vehicles registered in the first half of this year. This enables the ability to see emerging trends such as the increasing BEV market share and which brands are gaining traction.

Interactivity

Clicking on a chart element on a page will cross filter with any other charts on the same page. This doesn’t happen too often as the charts get too small when presented in this format. Most pages have slicers (check boxes). Checking a box will filter the data. To check multiple boxes, depress the command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (PC).

Please reach out to the EV Club if you would like help using the data.

2023 CT Energy Expo in Hartford

This event, the 2023 Energy Expo, will take place on October 19-21, 2023 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.  The Expo, which is free to the public, is structured to be like a home and garden show, car show, boat show, etc. and will be three days of exhibitors presenting renewable energy, energy efficiency, home improvements, and electric vehicles/alternative fuel vehicles.

EV Owners Wanted

Those organizing the expo have invited members of the EV Club of CT (well, any EV owners) to exhibit their cars in the outdoor expo lot. Club members exhibiting their vehicles do not pay an exhibitor fee.  You can exhibit for any or all of the 3 days of the event.

You have to commit for a full day for each day you exhibit. You would need to commit to get the car to the Connecticut Convention Center by 10 AM on October 19, or 8 AM on October 20 or 21, and if you need to leave, you will have to do so after 6 PM each day.  If you want to exhibit for two or all three days, you can leave the car overnight – you are not required to move it, but if you need to, it just has to be after 6 PM.  You can stay onsite to talk about your vehicle during the day, or you can leave it and come back to get it at the end of the day. You are welcome to spend time in the Expo.

As far as other vehicles, as part of the indoor expo there will be 2 new BMWs, 2 new Mercedes, 1 new Mini, 1 new Moke, and 1 new golf cart (along with our friends from Inductive Autoworks displaying a conversion vehicle).  And outside (where you would be exhibiting), there will be an interactive mobile unit displaying energy efficiency solutions, an electric city bus (from DOT), 2 electric boats, electric scooters, and an electric freight (semi) truck.

Participation

The Expo is being produced by the CT Power & Energy Society (CPES). If you would like to participate, please contact CPES president, Alex Judd, directly at ajudd@daypitney.com or 202-494-2299.

Post by Barry Kresch

Beware the Disappearing Incentives

There are 35 EVs (BEV and PHEV) listed as incentive-eligible by the Federal Department of Energy as of October 1, 2023. It is really fewer than that as the website breaks out the different trim levels. For example, there are 8 variations of the Volkswagen ID.4. The DoE website is here. It includes the ability to filter vehicles.

Tesla is publishing incentive alerts on its website, seen in the photo above, warning that some of its vehicles may lose full or partial incentive eligibility. Tesla is more public about it, but it is not alone in bumping up against the moving target of escalating in-sourcing requirements, the looming Foreign Entities of Concern rule, and ongoing IRS rule-making. From what we are hearing, most EV manufacturers could be affected, mostly because it is difficult to quit China as quickly as the legislation requires.

Battery Requirement Changes

These are the changes in the battery requirements that begin in January.

• Critical Mineral Sourcing/Refining increases from 40% to 50%. This minimum percentage must come from either a domestic supplier or free trade partner.
• Battery Assembly – the percentage of battery components that must be assembled in North America increases from 50% – 60%.

Foreign Entities of Concern

The rule that the manufacturers have voiced the most consternation about is the Foreign Entities of Concern (FEoC). This phases in beginning in 2024, followed by part two in 2025. The FEoC mirrors the battery regulations in that half of it applies to critical minerals and the other half to battery assembly. It is the latter half that starts in 2024 with the mineral portion following one year later.

Beginning in 2024, eligible vehicles cannot contain any battery components manufactured in a country so designated. The way to think about it is if you reference the 60% battery assembly requirement noted above, a manufacturer can source 40% of battery components from outside of North America in 2024. However, the FEoC rule specifies that none of that 40% can come from a FE0C. This is obviously about China, but other countries will fall into this designation.

We expect a number of vehicles to lose all or 50% incentive eligibility in 2024. Over time that will likely change, but the next two years are sure to be the most challenging as requirements tighten and new plants have not yet come online.

Ongoing IRS Rule-Making

A large rule-making task was quite literally dumped on the IRS in August of 2022. The wide-ranging IRA legislation, which encompasses much more than EVs, was passed in rather skeletal form, with the implementing agency, The Department of the Treasury, responsible for developing the specific rules. Sometimes this rule-making has run counter to the spirit of the legislation according to some of the legislators who voted for it. For example, the “leasing loophole,” which allows consumers to obtain incentives on vehicles that would otherwise not meet the requirements if purchased, came about because the IRS interpreted a lease as a commercial transaction. The vehicle is sold by the dealer or manufacturer to a captive finance company. This was defined as commercial. The fact that the finance company subsequently executes a lease with a consumer is beside the point from the perspective of the incentive. Commercial transactions fall under a different set of rules that do not include the restrictions that apply to consumer purchases.

Due to the short lead time, the ink has barely been dry on the rules at the time they are due to be implemented. Sometimes the IRS blows through the deadline. The first-year set of battery rules was postponed from January 1 to April 18th of this year for that reason.

The FEoC remains a moving target in this regard. The IRS has advised that the final list will be available before the end of the year, so potentially as little as 24 hours before it is due to go into effect. Maybe there will be an FEoC postponement, similar to what happened with the batteries.

How to Define FEoC

One of the big areas of contention involves not so much designating what countries fall under this rule, but how it is defined. For example, what if a Chinese company opens a plant in North America? What if it is a joint venture with a domestic manufacturer? What if a domestic company builds a factory but licenses technology from a Chinese company? The latter is the most minimalistic footprint and an example is the battery plant that Ford has begun building in Marshall, Michigan. The plant will be producing Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries. Ford will own the factory. The workers will be Ford employees. The LFP battery chemistry IP is being licensed from CATL, the big Chinese battery company.

Last week, Ford announced it is pausing construction on this plant. Of course, the company is in the midst of contentious negotiations with the UAW, which is trying to include battery plants owned by the companies in which it has representation at parity wages. But Ford has also commented publicly that it is waiting for IRS determination regarding whether the IRA manufacturing and consumer tax credits are applicable to this plant. It has threatened to greatly downsize the plant if that is not the case.

VIN

While we hope that dealerships are able to offer consumers accurate information regarding whether an EV is incentive eligible, and in our experience Tesla has been pretty on top of incentives, the definitive way to know is to input a Vehicle Identification Number on this federal page. Of course, it would be better to know about eligibility further upstream, but that is what the government has provided.

Lobbying

There are lots of reports of furious lobbying behind the scenes, which occasionally spills into public view, such as the Ford battery plant. But there is more than that. Manufacturers would like to change the determination of vehicle eligibility from the “placed in service date” to the date of manufacture. They obviously have more control over the latter, and it buys them a bit of a grace period since it is earlier.

It has also been reported that manufacturers would like to get Vietnam designated as a free-trade partner for the purposes of battery critical minerals.

The Transfer Provision – Another Big Deal

Tax credits are not the most consumer-friendly form of incentive. You have to wait for it. And not everyone has enough tax liability to be able to use it. The transfer provision is the legislation’s way of turning the tax credit into a rebate. The buyer transfers the credit to the seller. The seller takes the credit and gets reimbursed by Treasury. Also, non-taxable entities can use the transfer provision.

My biggest concern is that the process won’t work smoothly when it is initially introduced. The IRS has been working on the process. It is yet another aspect of rule-making that will likely come down to the wire. Will the dealers and manufacturers be on top of it and not afraid to use it?

Fisker Deliveries Commence

Fisker is the latest automaker using the direct sales model to begin deliveries. And like with Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid, they aren’t allowed to open stores in CT. They also seem to be in the middle of working through their processes.

On its website, Fisker lists only 1 store location in the USA, Los Angeles, with planned future planned locations in New York, Arizona, Maryland, and Tennessee. There are a limited number of Tesla stores in New York but there are still franchise law related restrictions there, so it is not a given that this could happen quickly.

No word on whether they are contemplating the tribal land route.

We have been in touch with Fisker. They are making arrangements to deliver vehicles from nearby states, but we don’t have a lot of specifics at this time. They offer the option to pick up your Fisker Ocean at your nearest Fisker Center Plus or Delivery Center. A Google Maps search did not reveal any nearby locations. Alternatively, concierge delivery is an option for an extra cost.

Fisker states that they will work closely with their customers to ensure a smooth experience in delivering and registering a vehicle. They have a Vehicle Admin team to help with these details. Temporary plates can be obtained if needed. New owners pay CT sales tax.

There have been no announcements to this point regarding a CT service center. They are offering mobile service.

The Fiskers are attractive looking vehicles and the pricing of the Ocean begins at $37,499.

For readers of this blog who are taking deliveries of a Fisker vehicle in the near term, we ask that you reach out to us to let us know what the process was and how well it worked.

Fiskers are assembled in Austria and as such are not eligible for the Inflation Reduction Act EV incentive.

The photo at the top is from the Fisker press kit and, yes, that is a solar roof (SolarSky is the branded term), that can obtain an estimated 1500 miles of charge over the course of a year.

Currently, Fisker is not offering a lease, though they have a brand for it: the Fisker Flexee Lease. Details will be made available in the coming months.

This is a developing story and we hope to have more details and delivery experience reports over the next several months.

Photo at top taken under one of the solar canopies at the Hotel Marcel with the building in the background, from left to right: Daphne Dixon – Live Green CT, Paul Wessel – Greater New Haven Clean Cities, and Analiese Mione, Barry Kresch, Bruce Becker, and Paul Braren from the EV Club who organized the symposium.

“Sold-out” Conference

Well, it was free, but there was more interest than we were able to accommodate and we had to close registration. Early feedback has been extremely positive, such as this message:

“I attended the NEEVS yesterday and had a fantastic time. What a great lineup of speakers/presentations and lots of fun at the car show as well! I’m looking forward to future symposiums in the coming years. …. Again, I had a great time at the symposium (and the lunch was incredible).”

We would like to thank our sponsors: Live Green CT, Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition, EVConnect, Maxwell Vehicles, and ChargePoint, without whom we would have been munching on stale pretzels.

Of course, we also thank our attendees for joining us and being an engaged and interactive audience.

The Hotel Marcel provided excellent, eco-friendly hospitality. For anyone who may be nervous about switching from a gas to an induction cooktop, the quality of the food attested to how good induction cooking can be. Even the chafing dishes were induction.

We’ve had some comments about how a small committee was able to put together a jam-packed agenda in a short period of time. If anything, the challenge is less about finding content than winnowing it down to fit within our time parameters. As it was, our 3-hour speaker agenda took 4 hours with too little time for Q&A.

We want to give a shout-out to Rich Jordan, president of the CT Tesla Owners Club, for his help with the car show, to the Westport Police Department and their Model Y patrol car, and to Tesla for bringing vehicles for test drives.

Converted EV Van

Hotel Marcel architect and developer, Bruce Becker, talked about how Maxwell Vehicles converted an ICE van to electric, using a salvaged Model 3 battery and drive train. This van gets a lot of use shuttling guests to downtown New Haven, Yale, Union Station, Tweed Airport, and other destinations.

Out of Spec Dave

YouTube and X (Twitter) personality, Out of Spec Dave from Greenwich, CT, talked about his adventures as a road warrior, having driven lots of different EVs and experienced the many faces of public charging. Not all of them are happy faces. Part of the charging experience is knowing before you get to a charger whether the charger is in service and how fast it is charging. There is a gap in the eco-system here. He has launched the “Rate Your Charge” newsletter. Take a video or photo of your charge, describe your experience, and tag @outofspecdave on Twitter. These are being compiled in a weekly report posted to Twitter. For those not on Twitter, use this Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd9nE1JOulqidJNacpL230TdswfnnaWBTjdGIaky3ffkHF6EA/viewform?pli=1

PACE

Mark Scully from People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE) spoke about their program to help municipalities decarbonize and save money in the process. This slide illustrates the cost savings projected in a transition to renewables.

United Illuminating

We get many questions regarding whether widespread EV adoption will crash the grid. While the grid does need to be modernized (and the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority has a grid modernization docket), Rick Rosa from Avangrid/UI discussed using EVs to optimize the grid. This slide is an example of optimization vs curtailment. EVs will be beneficial to the grid for the foreseeable future and, as such, there are incentives for EV owners to participate. See our incentives page for a more detailed description of the program with links to sign up for the residential or commercial incentives. This program is also offered by Eversource and it can offset the costs of buying and installing a 240 volt charger, as well as pay an ongoing incentive to participate in their managed charging programs.

Zoning for EV Readiness

Daphne Dixon of Live Green CT, who has done a lot of work with municipalities, gave a presentation that illustrated the complexity of zoning for EVs but also highlighted the significant benefits as noted in the example below.

All Electric, Zero Emission Home

Paul Braren provided a detailed description of his journey to create an all-electric home (solar roof seen in the photo, powerwall/VPP, 2 EVs, insulation for home and windows, heat pumps, smart panel, electric garden tools) and capture the available incentives. It has been a complicated road. This links to his full presentation.

IRA Transfer Provision

In his update on incentives, EV Club President, Barry Kresch, discussed the implementation of the transfer provision in 2024, and how it changes a tax credit into a point of sale rebate.

Advanced Clean Cars II

CT is a participant in the California Air Resources Board emissions requirements. It is now in the process of implementing the second phase of these regulations, commencing in 2027 through 2035. The rules require manufacturers to sell increasing amounts of zero emission light-duty vehicles, reaching 100% in 2035.  There is a separate set of regulations that would significantly lower emissions for medium and heavy-duty vehicles during this same period. Charles Rothenberger, Climate Attorney for Save the Sound, explained these regulations. The legislature has authorized CT DEEP to proceed with the required multi-step process. The slide below shows where we are and the remaining steps.

There is some concern that when the rules go back to the legislature, in which a bi-partisan review committee is supposed to examine them for legal sufficiency, that there may be an effort by opponents to short-circuit the approvals process. More on that to come.

We hope you see you next time!!!