Photo by David Dreyfuss/Post by Barry Kresch

Update:

These chargers have been ordered removed. The site has been approved for chargers but not the signage.

How Did That Happen?

Volta is a company that installs charging stations at their own expense at highly trafficked locations which are free to users. These chargers are at the site of the former Barnes and Noble on Post Road East in Westport, now being renovated as an Amazon supermarket due to open later this year.

Volta chargers have large screens that display digital advertising. Its business model is that the advertising covers the cost of installation and power, plus earns a profit. The business benefits from having this amenity (and Amazon has made sustainability a corporate focus). Volta chargers typically have J1772 connectors.

While we always welcome EV charging stations, the odd thing about this is that a proposed Volta installation just down the road at Stop and Shop was nixed by Westport Planning and Zoning, the reason being that the video display was non-conforming signage. Do they think these will remain invisible?

Volta chargers can be found at the new upscale mall, The Sono Collection, in Norwalk. Malls and supermarkets are ideal locations from Volta’s perspective with people constantly coming and going, the better to bulk up the number of advertising exposures. The chargers are placed in a prominent location, not ancillary parking. Volta has a master agreement with Stop and Shop to install chargers at a number of their locations, including 2 locations in Norwalk.

Just don’t try and sneak in for a charge after hours. They typically turn off the units when the business is not open. Operating hours can generally be found on the PlugShare app. These chargers are not yet listed because they are not yet live.

Volunteers Needed For Sierra Club Rev Up EV Shopper Study, Round 3

The Sierra Club is fielding a third round of its Rev Up EV Shopper Study and is asking for help from the EV Club. Help is defined as visiting dealerships with a set of questions to ask and items to observe to assess if a dealership is making a serious effort to sell electric vehicles. The last study, like the new one, was national, and was done in 2019. At that point, there were serious deficiencies with respect to dealership commitment to EV sales. The prior study can be found here. These were some of the key findings:

A lot has changed in the macro EV environment since 2019 and we look forward to seeing the new findings. As we did last time, we will ask the Sierra Club to join us at a meeting to discuss the study results.

This link will take you to the Sierra Club page about the study. If you volunteer, they will follow up with you directly. Feel free to let the club know about your experience with the survey. We got some interesting additional texture last time from participating members – more like a focus group to complement the quantitative survey results.

It is not necessary to be a member of the Sierra Club or EV Club to participate. There are questions about the Tesla shopping experience in the study which serve as a useful point of comparison. We appreciate the participation of Tesla owners as well.

One final note. This club supports changing the franchise laws to allow direct sales by EV-exclusive manufacturers. Even though we and other like-minded individuals and organizations have not yet carried the day, these studies, and findings like that pictured above, have been an important data point in our arguments that excluding these companies from doing business in CT serves to slow EV adoption.

Net-Zero Hotel Marcel Gets Electric Shuttle Bus

Ensconced under the solar canopy in the photo, in front of level 2 J-1772 chargers, is an electric shuttle van from Maxwell. The shuttle seats 14, including the driver. This is a battery electric van, i.e. 100% electric. Maxwell has been manufacturing these at its Southern California facility since 2019. It sports a 74 kWh battery, a range of 150 miles, and can take a DC fast charge using a CCS connector.

It is owned by the recently opened net-zero Hotel Marcel, and is ready to provide guests with an emission-free and quiet ride to downtown New Haven, the Yale campus, Tweed Airport, or the nearby Amtrak station. The hotel can use it to transport wedding parties, and it has the range to reach Westchester and Bradley Airports.

Electric vans are projected to be a high-growth segment. Amazon has ordered 100,000 delivery vans from Rivian. FedEx is testing 150 electric delivery vans in Los Angeles, purchased from BrightDrop (General Motors.) There are reportedly around a half-million of this category of passenger van, now ripe for moving to electric.

The existing, quaint rules need updating. As part of the registration process, the vehicle had to pass an emissions test.

We are not aware of any other electric shuttle vans in the state. If you know of any, please tell us in the comments.

25,444 Registered EVs

The new number is the result of 5,441 EVs added to the rolls from January through June (and turnover of 1,379 EVs). This represents virtually the same pace relative to the 5,407 registered in the second half of 2021 and an improvement over the 4,335 year over year comparison.

Registrations are up 19% for the first half of this year and 48% from one year ago.

These numbers come from the DMV website which publishes top line data. The breakdown of battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, make, model, and municipality are not yet available to us. We have a Freedom of Information Act Request on file and expect to receive the information before the end of the month.

This number puts us at 6.06 registered EVs per 1000 residents. As a point of comparison, Maryland just announced that they passed the 50,000 mark, which puts them at 8.13 per 1000 residents.

For our purposes, the definition of EV includes battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, fuel cell vehicles, and battery electric motorcycles. This is what the state tracks. We’ll have the breakdown when we receive the new files.

The state has set goals for itself via the Multi-State Zero Emission Action Plan of 150,000 by 2025 and 500,000 by 2030. A 48% increase in a year isn’t bad, but that percentage pace will at minimum need to sustain itself off of an increasing base, meaning the absolute number increase will have to grow substantially.

Observant EV Owners Noticed Frequent Pings

Several people posting on Facebook and writing to the EV Club who have registered for the charging incentives via telematics noticed that their vehicles were being status-checked every 30 minutes. That is excessive from both a power consumption (it uses a modicum of power or battery drain) and data privacy perspective. And it had been doing this 24/7 since the program started. This only applies to Eversource customers as UI uses a different external vendor.

Eversource advised the EV Club that they are diminishing the frequency to once per hour, which still sounds like a lot, but is an improvement, and after the demand/response period ends after September, they will stop it altogether. They are testing alternatives and will roll out a new solution for 2023. There will also be a new managed charging program, likely with a two-tier option for enrollment. We will update those details as we get closer to the new year.

Thank you to those who called this out and supplied data.

$50K MSRP Cap Effective July 1

The first of the changes to the incentive program has been implemented as of July 1, namely an increase in the $42,000 MSRP cap to $50,000. This is still below the average cost of an EV, but at least it helps keep up with inflation to some degree and enables additional models to be eligible, a mix of BEVs and PHEVs, including the BMW 3 Series PHEV, BMW i3, Polestar 2, and Ford Mustang Mach-E. Not all trim levels may fall within the price cap. A reminder, the price cap applies to the base price of the trim level, excluding taxes, title, destination charges, and options. It also excludes any dealer markup. The DEEP website is not 100% up to date with respect to eligible vehicles. If you are in the process of buying an EV that you think should be eligible but you’re being told by a dealer that it isn’t, it could be a matter of the database not being updated. Contact cheapr@energycenter.org. If that doesn’t work, you can reach out to the club.

May Rebate Data

The low level of rebates continues and it will be 2 months at least before we see the impact of the higher MSRP cap, longer for the other program changes. There were 63 rebates – 39 PHEV, 24 BEV – also the typical recent pattern with the Toyota PHEVs getting the most action. Otherwise, there was a modest pop with the Kia EV6, which going forward will have more eligible trim levels under the new price cap. There were no income-limited rebates.

Home Charging Incentives Come With Unexpected Cost

When Eversource and United Illuminating began offering incentives to offset the cost of buying and installing a level 2 home charging unit, the incentives also include up to $200/annually for participation in the managed charging program. (Participation in the managed charging program is mandatory if one takes the incentives for charging hardware/installation.) The only current version of managed charging that is operational at this time is the demand/response program, where during designated high-demand times occurring from June through September, the utility can throttle the rate of charge which would roughly lower the speed of the charge to the equivalent of a level one trickle-charge for the duration of the event.

Of course, at the point at which this program was inaugurated, there were already over 21,000 EV owners and some number (we don’t know how many) of installed home chargers. The majority of these EVs (based on number of registrations) are eligible to participate in the demand/response program without having an approved charger by using telematics. This way, the utility controls the rate of charge directly with the vehicle.

Through the work of Roger Kappler and Will Cross of the Tesla Owners Club, and Paul Braren of the EV Club, we have learned that the utility “wakes up” the car to check charging status on a frequent basis, as often as every 30 minutes. What is really strange is that this checking is happening all the time (24/7/365) and not just during designated demand/response periods, hence the”vampire” charge. The car is using power even though it is sitting there doing nothing. Like your cable box (or sentry mode if you are a Tesla owner). Roger estimates that the charge is the equivalent of .5-1% per day, which at 20 cents per kWh, works out to about $70 annually. The program pays a one time $100 enrollment incentive for telematics plus the above-noted $200 for demand/response. This passive electric use takes quite a bite out of that. If the vehicle isn’t plugged in, then it contributes to range loss.

Per Roger, Eversource has reported that it will be fixed but that it could take as long as 6 months.

The detailed Facebook post can be found here. (Note: This is a closed FB group.)

This does not apply if you are using an approved smart charger as far as we know. (We’re checking.)

This is not occurring with UI customers (according to UI). If any UI customers notice this, please leave a comment!

Post by Barry Kresch

Top photo courtesy of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department

Police Look to EVs for Fuel Savings and Performance

The public safety world is on a roll when it comes to electrification. Drive Electric Colorado hosted a virtual panel this week about the electrification of police vehicles and got 138 attendees, indicative of the high level of interest.

Along with yours truly, the panelists were Chief Foti Koskinas and Officer Charles Sampson from Westport, Chief Robert Kalamaris of Fairfield, Detective Sergeant Clay Leak of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office in CO, and Chief Jeff Christiansen of Linn Creek, MO (near the Lake of the Ozarks). Sgt. Leak and I were the ones who have been compiling data, while the others spoke of their purchase, customization, and service use experiences. Boulder has acquired a Tesla Model Y. Linn Creek has a Tesla Model 3.

Westport Acquires Third Tesla Patrol Car

Westport, of course, was an early adopter, having purchased a Tesla Model 3 in 2019, followed by a Model Y in 2021 (which is still in the customization process but should be entering service in July), and, drumroll, the town has purchased a second Model Y. This brings the total number of plug-in vehicles in the Police Fleet to to 7. Chief Foti said that the police department has decreased its gasoline consumption by 18% over the past 7 years as a result of incorporating electric vehicles and more fuel-efficient ICE vehicles, such as the Ford Interceptor Hybrid. Emergency Medical Services in Westport are run by the police and they are looking into an electric ambulance.

Westport was the first department to enter into an NDA with Tesla so that they and their vendors could work with Tesla to do some recoding to take advantage of the native tech and wire most of the accessories directly into the large battery. Unlike some other departments, they did not need to add a second 12-volt battery for this purpose. Due to this, Westport had an easier time with the law enforcement customization than the others, but growing pains are part of the game. It was mentioned that Tesla has now created an internal team devoted to law enforcement so perhaps others will be going this route as well.

The Model Y is a pricier option than the Model 3. The advantages cited were the extra room for drivers, cargo, a prisoner cage, and the higher ground clearance. At 6.6 inches, it isn’t that high but a bit more than an inch higher than the 3. Regarding the cargo area, the car was praised for its efficient use of space with the trunk, sub-trunk, and frunk.

Westport has a municipal directive to buy electric whenever suitable vehicles are available. Not an ordinance, but it gets the job done.

There were some complaints about having enough seat room for fully equipped officers, though not that severe. On the other hand, most of the officers were blown away by how much fun the vehicle is to drive.

It was mentioned by the officers on the panel that several members of their respective forces bought an EV for personal use after having had the chance to drive the Tesla at work.

Which EVs Could Be Patrol Cars

While all of the panelists were pleased with the performance of their Teslas, coupled with its high safety rating, robust charging network, and 8 year/100,000 mile battery/powertrain warranty, there were several other options that were in the consideration set.

• Ford Mustang Mach-E – $56K for the 270 mile range AWD model
• Rivian R1S – Range of 260 – 320+ (according to the Rivian website) and starting at $72.5K
• Audi e-tron – 222 mile range, $67K for base AWD model
• Jaguar I-PACE – 234 mile range, $70K for base AWD model
• Ford F150 Lightning – 4 trim levels starting anywhere from $40K – $91K. Range from 230 – 320 miles.

Community Relations

The Teslas have been an astounding success in terms of community relations. Chief Foti expounded on this for the EV Club when he spoke to us a couple of years ago, informing us that he has received hundreds of inquiries from all over the world. Detective Sgt. Leak of Boulder, in his presentation, described their Model Y as a “great success, huge ice-breaker, tons of community engagement.” They put a QR code on the car which takes people to an informational website. It is a little hard to see, but the QR code is visible in the photo on the bottom right. It is at the rear of the vehicle to the right of the license plate.

Concluding thoughts

• Adopting EVs is proving to be a rousing success for police departments around the country.
• The Teslas have been a huge hit. Other vehicles are in the pipeline and it will be interesting to see the comparative reports going forward.
• Going electric, just like with consumers, has a higher acquisition cost but saves money. That is punctuated with gas prices at current levels.
• Hybrids are also a money-saving option, but not to the same degree as electric. And they, like any ICE, will spend more time out of service than an EV.
• There are other police use cases besides patrol vehicles and an array of available vehicles that can be matched as appropriate.
• The community relations aspect has proven to be an unplanned benefit.

More photos of the Boulder MY below. We’ll publish photos of the Westport vehicle and hopefully video as well.

Registration Flow Fixes Made

If you have been thinking of registering your EV or charger for the incentives offered through Eversource and United Illuminating, but have been hesitant due to reports of the not-ready-for-prime-time registration funnel, the corrective website development work has been finished and it should be good to go, whether registering a new charger or going the telematics route.

As reported to us by Eversource and UI (the EDCs, a.k.a. utilities) early in the year, due to the finalization of the program occurring around Thanksgiving of 2021, and its starting point of January 1, 2022, there was insufficient time to properly build out the website. This is further complicated by there being 3 parties involved as the EDCs outsource the management of the program. After they presented to the club in January, a number of members tried to register regardless and encountered all sorts of adventures, including finding themselves on an out of state EDC website.

If you register, you will notice that you will be taken from the EDC domain to an EDC subdomain on the vendor’s domain. Your EDC account number will serve to link you. Pro tip – when you enter the account number, don’t leave spaces. If you do, the registration won’t take and the site isn’t clear regarding what isn’t working.

Have a graphic of your vehicle registration for uploading.

Keep in mind the charger incentives apply only to approved charger units and, similarly, telematics applies to approved vehicles. See this page, which has info for both Eversource and UI.

Feel free to let us know about your experiences. We can forward reports of issues to the EDCs.

This takes you to Eversource Connected Solutions. This is the page for UI residential.

CHEAPR Board Meets Following Passage of Public Act 22-25

Following the passage of SB-4/Public Act 22-25, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the CHEAPR board met on June 16th. The legislation made extensive changes to the state’s purchase incentive program, which we have detailed in earlier posts such as this one. Now comes the time for rule making to fill in the gaps and the implementation logistics. Though the legislation has an effective date of July 1, the fact is this will be a work in progress for the rest of the year. So with that preamble, this what we know to this point as well as our thoughts about changes we would like to see that follow the new legislation

MSRP Cap and Other Changes

• The MSRP cap increase to $50,000 is the easiest to implement and it should happen at some point over the summer. We will update everyone when that is the case. (Update: This is now in place and updated on the CHEAPR website.)
• The enhanced funding from the additional clean air registration fees and proceeds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative proceeds begins next year. However, the program has been so under spent, and there is still an implementation period, it is unlikely to deplete funds before the new funding stream begins. DEEP is currently sitting on over $5MM of funds, well above current needs. New expenditures flowing from program changes will be folded into the program as they are ready between summer and the end of the year. It is our bet that the year will end with a surplus.
• DEEP is preparing an RFI for the new e-bike incentive with projected implementation by the end of the year.
• The income limited (Rebate+) incentives will be transitioning from an after the fact reimbursement to a pre-qualification/voucher program. This is great news. It requires a new process be developed and implemented, which will take at least until Q4, though technically, the eligibility requirements will have been changed before then. In other words, some of the folks becoming newly eligible could access the incentive but would have to float the cash.
• Expanded eligibility to municipalities, businesses, non-profits, and tribal entities are designated as “mid-term” changes and will likely happen in several month’s time.

This graphic from DEEP indicates which new EVs will be rebate-eligible as a result of the change in the MSRP cap. Keep in mind that eligibility is determined by the base price of a particular trim level. Ordering options does not disqualify a vehicle from being eligible. Buying a trim level with an MSRP above the limit would. Almost all vehicles nowadays have multiple trim levels. Although we don’t recommend doing this, if you pay a dealership premium over MSRP, that does not count towards the cap. The graphic is based on registrations from 2021. It will not pick up the newest vehicles which doesn’t mean they are not (or should not be) included! If you encounter a problem in obtaining a rebate for which you should be eligible, please let us know.

Rebate Structure