Photos by Paul Braren

EV Club Members Support First Responders

As more EVs are on the roads, and according to CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, 9% of CT new car sales were plug-in vehicles in 2022, first responders have to be prepared for them and have incorporated them into their training regimen.

That is why several fire departments have reached out to the EV Club to ask if we could EV owners to bring vehicles to their training sessions. Fairfield is the third time we have done this, and owners brought vehicles to 8 training sessions at the Fairfield Regional Fire School to support the training. The trainees benefit from being hands on with an EV where the trainer can show them where the cables are, where they should be clipped, how to make sure a car is off (since there is no telltale engine hum), and other measures necessary to deal with a motor vehicle incident with an EV.

EVs Are Safe

Much safer than a gasoline vehicle. That was what our contact, Assistant Chief Schuyler Sherwood, said, unprompted. But they have high-powered cables and high voltage batteries and one has to be prepared for this.

This is the third training that the EV Club has participated in. The first responders are a highly engaged audience and these sessions are a lot of fun. The first time we did this, we just dropped the cars off. These last two occasions, owners hung out with the class during the training and were able to interact.

We are happy to help the first responders and are glad they understand that EVs are the future.

Help Us Help You Promote Your EV Showcase Event and Get EV Owners to Exhibit

As consumer interest in electric vehicles has increased, so too, has the number of EV showcases being held around the state. Sometimes they are standalone EV events and other times EVs are part of a larger green fair event or larger automotive event. Sometimes they are official Drive Electric Week events, but others are produced independently by community organizations.

We receive a number of requests to help recruit EV owners to exhibit their vehicles and publicize these events.

The EV showcase season, beginning with Drive Electric Earth Day, commences next month. If you would like us to list your event on our event calendar, include it in email blasts, and ask for EV owner participation, please give us the following information:

• Event name
• Event organizer/sponsor
• Brief event description
• Date, start/end time
• Is it just a showcase or part of a green fair or other event
• Location including postal address
• Are you looking for EV owners to exhibit their vehicles?
• Email and phone contact info to be publicly displayed
• Website url
• Graphic/Photo (JPG, JPEG, PNG). Newer iPhones default to HEIC, which WordPress does not accept. Please convert them before sending to us. 2MB maximum size, but smaller is preferred. If you send us a photo with recognizable individuals, please make sure they are ok with our posting it. A photo from a prior year event works, or the photo can be generic as long as it works. Let us know if you need help. 16:9 aspect ratio preferred. The visual is important in making the listing pop.
• Is there a charge for the general public to attend?
• We only accept events where EV owners who exhibit are not charged to do so.
• If you require a hold harmless form, we can link to it if it is online.
• Other items you think we should know about

We understand if you don’t have all of these items. The more you can provide, the better the listing.

We have already begun to receive notifications. Please give us 6-8 weeks notice if you can.

EV Owners Wanted for Fairfield First Responder Training

The EV club has worked with the fire departments in Westport and Wilton in the past. The photo at the top is from Wilton. They have an EV component to first responder training, where the instructor goes over where the cables and battery are for some vehicles and reviews what to do in the event of a serious accident.

The Town of Fairfield is scheduling first responder training on March 17, 20, 21, and 22. They are looking for vehicles to be there from 11-12 and 1-2 on each of these days, so 8 sessions in all. We are looking for EV owner volunteers for as many or few sessions as you can do. Even if all you can do is 1 session, it is greatly appreciated.

Any EV, whether BEV or PHEV, is welcome.

These sessions happen to be a lot of fun. While the trainer has an agenda, the attendees have a lot of general EV questions. They are an engaged and intellectually curious audience. You needn’t worry about being an expert. Just speak to your experience and what you know.

If you can help out, please go to EVClubCT.com/contact and leave a message. We will coordinate with the Fairfield Fire Department.

An Opportunity to Walk Through the Incentive Details

This blog has written a number of posts about the new EV incentive since the legislation was enacted in August of 2022. We are now in the implementation phase with IRS rule-making in progress. While we have a detailed description on our Incentives page, the law is complicated enough that we decided to devote a meeting to walking through the details and answer questions.

This is a Zoom meeting, scheduled for Thursday, March 2nd, at 7 PM. We are planning for one hour, but if there are a lot of questions, we can hang out a bit longer. Anyone is welcome to attend. Registration is free at this link.

Restructured Residential Managed Charging Incentives

For the first year of the program, there was one incentive program. This was a so-called demand-response (DR) program, where the EDCs would declare demand events during peak load periods on hot days. These occurred during 3-9 PM on weekdays from June through September. They don’t happen all the time, just when demand is very high due to heavy air-conditioning use.

The new plan revises this DR incentive and adds a second level of incentive known as Advanced Managed Charging, or Advanced Tier.

Before getting into the details, let’s zoom out a bit.

As noted, current peak demand periods occur during hot summer afternoons. In a fully decarbonized, meaning electrified world, demand patterns will significantly change. If heat pumps become the primary means of climate control, they will be working hardest on the coldest nights where gas and oil do the heavy lifting now. The summertime demand will be reduced since heat pumps are more efficient than AC compressors. So the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) wants to inculcate in consumers the habit of thinking about peak and off-peak utilization as a year round thing, while still responding to the near-term load-shedding needs that occur over the summer.

The Authority directs the EDCs to implement an annual passive managed charging program for the residential Baseline Tier, with the on-peak period of 3:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. weekdays

participants shall be eligible for a maximum monthly incentive of $10, so long as the customer charges the EV at least 80% of the time during off-peak hours for the given month

EDCs will stagger start times to prevent “timer peak.”

These new programs are anticipated to be effective as of April 1, 2023.

Baseline Tier

The Baseline Tier is structured in 2 parts with separate payouts.

The first is a Passive Managed Charging tier where participants charge 80% or more of the time during the off-peak period and would be entitled to a $10/mo award. Peak times are 3 PM – 9 PM weekdays for this monthly incentive.

Additionally, the Demand Response Events remain during June to September where participants are encouraged to not opt-out of optional DR Events. There can be up to 15 such events, occurring between the hours of 3 PM – 9 PM per month. Participating (i.e. not opting) out in all events in a given month would entitle a Participant to and additional $20/mo for the four DR months.

In total, customers could earn $120 ($10/mo for 12 months) and $80 ($20/mo for 4 DR months) for a total of $200 in Baseline Tier. The total amount of the incentive remains unchanged; only the structure is different.

Advanced Tier

This tier is referred to as Active Managed Charging, where participants work with their utility to set a daily charging schedule that avoids on-peak charging. Customer inputs the State of Charge (SOC) that they need and a Time Charge is Needed (TCIN) and the utility does the rest. Participant can set these as default, for example, “every day, I need 100% charge at 7am” and the utility does the rest. They can also adjust these inputs as needed. Participant is responsible for not overriding the schedule where that act of overriding causes them to charge on-peak. Participants are able to opt out in such a way twice in a given month and still retain their incentive – any more and they forfeit the incentive in that month. There must be a minimum of two at-home charging sessions during the month. The incentive is $25 per month or $300 per year.

Peak time is the same 3 PM – 9 PM as in the Baseline Tier.

Of the comments noted in the docket, the most interesting was from DEEP, which “opined that rather than limiting charging under this tier to solely off-peak hours, the Advanced Tier should instead allow charging during all hours and provide dynamic managed charging to real-time grid conditions.” That would be an optimal approach as, for example, it would take into account weather and distributed energy resource contributions, rather than the current flat approach of set time periods. Ultimately, that is the way we need to go.

Note: Purchase, installation, telematics enrollment incentives are unchanged. In the original docket there was an enrollment option involving a device that would be placed on a dumb charger. There is no sign that one has been approved. There was no mention of anything about it in the participation data.

Additional Funds

Eversource and United Illuminating, the electricity distribution companies or EDCs, have reported high rates of participation for the DCFC (level 3) part of the program, as well as for the installation of level 2 chargers at Multiple Unit Dwellings (MUD). The MUD incentives apply to buildings with more than 5 units and are governed by the rules for commercial incentives. The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has authorized making more funds available in the near term (by accelerating funds designated for other years). Eversource and UI have compiled waitlists for applications received subsequent to funds depletion which will now be able to be included.

Leasing Program for Level 2 Chargers at MUDs

MUD = Multiple Unit Dwelling.

For these dwellings, defined as having 5 or more units, PURA has directed the EDCs to implement a leasing program for EVSE (chargers) as of February 2023. It is felt that some buildings may find it challenging to foot the upfront cost for multiple chargers/ports, even with the incentives and that leasing could ease overcome that. Furthermore, it allows the homeowner associations or building owners to gain experience with charging and tenant interaction.

The leases will be offered for 5 years, followed by an option to renew for another 5 years (at a lower price to reflect depreciation). At the conclusion of the second lease period, the dwelling will have the option of buying the chargers or allowing the EDC to repossess them.

During the lease period, the EDCs are obligated to engage a third party to maintain the equipment.

These are the prices listed in the December docket for the first 5-year term and are not final. Note that they are reflective of the distance between the EVSE and electric service.

Managed Charging for MUDs

How to charge for the power and offer incentives for load-shedding are complicated in an MUD setting, given that incentives are not always aligned between landlords and tenants, and there could be competition between tenants for less expensive charging slots. The EDCs have been directed to propose a voluntary opt-in managed charging program for MUDs for review by May 1 and implementation by July 1, 2023.

Sanity Finally Reigns

The body-style of an EV determines the MSRP cap for incentive eligibility. Sedans have an MSRP cap of $55,000 and SUVs, pickups, and vans can be eligible up to $80,000. MSRP is defined by the manufacturer suggested base price plus factory-installed options. Dealer installed options, software, taxes, and destination fees are not included.

The first round of classifications issued by the IRS fell in the “What were you thinking” category. For example, the Tesla Model Y 5-seat was classified as a sedan while the 7-seat version, which uses the exact same body, was an SUV.

These classifications have been revisited and it is looking much better. All Model Ys are now SUVs. The same is true for the Ford Mustang Mach-E, which had been classified as a sedan. All versions of the Volkswagen ID.4 are now SUVs.

The old classifications were based on the EPA CAFE standards. The revisions result from moving to the consumer-facing EPA Fuel Economy Labeling standard.

This is the IRS page with all of the vehicles for which a determination has been made.

Best of all, these changes are retroactive to January 1! And because of the delay in battery rule making, all of these vehicles receive the full $7500.

Post by Barry Kresch

CHEAPR as a Proxy for EV-Friendly Dealers

It is not unusual for a consumer to reach out to us, usually after a bad sales experience, and ask if we can recommend a dealership. We have some recommendations from members who have had good experiences, but nothing that covers every vehicle make and every dealership across the state. This is our attempt to at least partially address this.

We are using CHEAPR rebates sorted by dealership within vehicle make as a rough proxy for dealer EV-friendliness. There are some limitations. Not all makes have CHEAPR-eligible vehicles. They may be too expensive (e.g. Jaguar) or they’re just not in the game (e.g. Honda). EV prices have gone up in this inflationary time and the CHEAPR MSRP cap was $42,000 for the first 6 months of the year, rising to $50,000 as of July.  There have been continued difficulties with vehicle availability, but at least we are comparing like to like.

Some dealerships are charging a “market adjustment,” meaning the vehicles are being sold for above the MSRP. That does not get reflected in CHEAPR. The MSRP cap is based on the manufacturer’s base MSRP for the trim level without options. That may, however, have deterred some consumers from doing business with them.

There continues to be wide variation among dealership performance, as in past years. If you know of a dealership but do not see it in the charts, that means there were no rebates associated with it in 2022. Sometimes there seems to be a conflict in that a particular dealership name includes a different make than some of the rebates credited to it. That is because the way the dealership name is represented in the data does not indicate that it sells other makes. I cross-checked all the instances of this and the data are correct.

Mitsubishi, which had only one rebate is omitted. Subaru, also with a low count, is included. Chevy and Toyota drove the biggest numbers. Tesla is omitted for obvious reasons.

Rebates by dealership in alphabetical order by make and ranked by the number of rebates within make. All data from the Center for Sustainable Energy.

Based on new data released by the Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and the Department of Transportation, the number of electric vehicles on the road has increased to 30,181 up from the 25,444 published in July and 21,377 one year ago. The year over year increase is 41%.

This information comes from what has been published by DEEP and is not the granular data that we request in order to produce the Interactive EV Dashboard. No ETA on that at this point.

Tesla’s Model 3 remains the most widely registered vehicle with the Model Y at number 2. Some newer EVs, such as the Wrangler and Mustang Mach-E now make the list.

Fairfield County remains the EV nexus. This is the percent distribution (not population adjusted).

The definition of EV includes both battery electric vehicles (BEV) and Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) vehicles, as both are included in the state’s EV goals. The market continues its trend toward BEVs. As can be seen in the chart below, BEVs now have 62% share, up 3 points from one year ago. If that increase seems small, it isn’t. Given that it is based on total registrations, it takes a pretty big shift to move the needle that much. (Case in point – the Chevy Volt, a PHEV that was discontinued in March of 2019 is still the 7th most widely registered vehicle.) For whatever reason, fuel cell vehicles and battery electric motorcycles are not included in the dataset. They don’t account for many vehicles, but they have always been part of the data we have received in response to our FOIA requests.

Recent trends have improved, and no doubt, lingering supply chain issues have been a restraining factor, but we are still a long way from where the state has determined we need to be. This chart looks at the trend historically, where we are today, and then a straight line model to the 2025 and 2030 goals of 150,000 and 500,000 respectively.

EV Manufacturers/Dealers Offering Consumer EV Leases, Incentives Included

This is a follow up to a post from January 5, when we first published about a surprising turn of events with respect to eligibility for the electric vehicle (EV) incentives that are part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

As we have written here and other places, while the Inflation Reduction Act, IRA, has a lot to recommend it, the design of the consumer EV incentive is overly complicated and confusing with numerous restrictions on which cars and individuals qualify.

In a counter-intuitive twist, the complex became simple, at least for leasing customers. While there are all sorts of restrictions around whether a vehicle or a purchaser qualifies for the tax credit, the IRS issued guidance on 12/29/22 that a consumer lease should be considered a commercial transaction. The commercial EV incentive has none of the restrictions that apply to a consumer purchase. Whatever the vehicle cost, wherever it is made, no matter the body style, it qualifies for the $7500 maximum incentive. (If you want to know the details of those consumer restrictions, see our incentives page.)

The IRS logic here is that the dealer or manufacturer sells the vehicle to the finance company which holds the title. This is a commercial transaction. The fact that the finance company then executes a lease with a consumer is beside the point. As such, it falls under the rules for commercial incentives, which are governed by a separate provision in the law that does not impose the consumer restrictions.

We are now seeing examples of this in the marketplace. The photo at the top of the post is of an ad for a Lucid EV. A recent entrant as an EV-only startup, Lucid makes ultra high-end EVs that, judging by the reviews, are pretty great. Car and Driver described its “unbeatable range and great performance.” However, the Lucid far exceeds the price caps imposed on the EV incentives in the IRA. But with a lease, voila, no MSRP cap. I received similar information from a CT dealership company that sells Hyundai and Genesis vehicles, that they have received new lease pricing that reflects the incentive. Both of those vehicles are manufactured in South Korea and thus run afoul of the North American final assembly rules if purchased.

Delay in Battery Rules

For buyers there is another loophole, for want of a better word, that gives the consumer a break, albeit temporarily. The IRS has not finished writing the regulations for the battery mineral sourcing/refining and manufacturing requirements. As a result, the incentive defaults to the old battery rules until the IRS issues these new regulations. They have said this will happen in March. In the meantime, we are now in a period where incentives are likely to be higher for most, if not all, EVs than they will be in a few months. Buy now, but be sure to take physical possession of the vehicle before the battery rules take effect or risk losing the incentive.

Manchin Agonistes

It has been widely reported that Senator Joe Manchin  is not happy about either of these two developments. As reported in The Verge, he has introduced legislation to delay the implementation of the incentives until the IRS finishes its rule making, and to claw back incentives that may have been granted under the IRS interim rules.

Manchin is also not pleased about the IRS interpretation of leasing as a commercial transaction and may try and correct that legislatively as well.

I doubt Manchin’s legislative proposal(s) will become law. The House is too preoccupied getting its house in order. And what appetite will the Senate have to revisit this hard-fought reconciliation-passed bill? Nobody else in either chamber seems to be all that concerned about either of these developments, at least not on the record.

I think Manchin genuinely wants to bring manufacturing back America. I’m not so sure he cares about people buying EVs. The threat of a retroactive restriction and claw back only punctuates this. Part of the cleverness of the IRA is that it strikes a balance of both supply side and demand side incentives. But when it comes to EVs, the design of the consumer EV incentive is so perversely self-defeating, that with respect to Senator Manchin, this feels like karma.

Update: As reported in Reuters, Manchin tried to get his bill passed on January 26th by unanimous consent, but it was blocked by Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. She is quoted saying, “It is not unreasonable what Treasury is doing … they have been given an incredibly complicated task to try to figure out how this consumer credit will work.” Separately, she also noted the inherent unfairness of this bill to consumers in that it “would literally take away credits from people who are buying cars today … Fundamentally, (Manchin) is not a fan of EVs.”

The usual disclosure: This information is accurate to the best of our knowledge. Always check with an accountant when it comes to tax matters.

EV Club Meeting - SPAN Smart Panel Deck