Here’s the real story

Today’s headlines that start-up battery maker A123 would file for bankruptcy was quickly followed by news that major automotive and efficiency equipment supplier Johnson Controls would buy A123′s automotive business, complementing JCI’s existing investments in advanced battery facilities in Michigan and Ohio.  More on the details here.

As Alex Molinaroli, president, Johnson Controls Power Solutions said this morning:

“Our interest in A123 Systems is consistent with our long-term growth strategies and overall commitment to the development of the advanced battery industry.”

Update since this blog was published:  Johnson Control’s bid for A123 in October touched off a bidding contest with Wanxiang, the large Chinese auto parts manufacturer, Japan’s NEC, and others.  In January, 2013 Wanxiang was ultimately successful, winning approval to buy A123 for about $260M.  Wanxiang voiced a similar optimism around the future of the battery industry, and reiterated a commitment to the company’s US operations.

In other words, while pundits jumped in to score political points, clean energy investments just kept on trucking.

The new Ford C-Max plug-in hybrid EV gets a 100mpge rating from EPA and is built in Michigan. Photo: Ford Motor Co.

• DOE clean energy investments across some 15,000 projects in all 50 states are overwhelmingly successful
• In 2010 3.1 million Americans were employed in “green goods and services” as calculated by the Bureau of Labor statistics…. and that doesn’t even include most of the rapidly innovating auto industry
• Since mid 2009, the auto industry has added over 230,000 jobs as it retools to build and sell the next generation of far more fuel efficient vehicles
• Ohio has added nearly 10,000 auto and parts  manufacturing  jobs since July 2009. Indiana has added 20,000 and Michigan 33,000 in the same time period.
• Toledo Ohio alone has at least $1Billion in recent investment in clean energy and advanced vehicle technologies  including a$140M investment made by Johnson Controls in their start-stop advanced battery plant in Toledo that retains 400 jobs and adds 50 more.

The electric vehicle industry is real and growing.  Yes, like any new industry the EV industry has its growing pains and its winners and losers. But real cars require real batteries and a host of other technology shared with hybrid and advanced conventional vehicles that is creating a boom in automotive innovation and jobs .

• EV sales are growing rapidly – consumers are adopting EVs faster than they did the hybrid Prius when it was initally released.
• Volt sales are up 300% from last year, and the Volt is currently outselling half of all car models on the market.
• EVs are not just the Volt, the Leaf, and the Tesla, but include vehicles from Ford, BMW and others.  In fact, more than a dozen different electric vehicles will be offered next year.

Many of these vehicles, their components and batteries are being built across the US in states from California to Michigan to Tennessee, and are a part of hundreds of companies’ businesses plans.

They are also part of a clean energy transformation of the auto sector that shows that America has what it takes to combat climate change and spur an economic recovery at the same time.

Jason Miller, Special Assistant to the President on Manufacturing Policy, Tim Warman, NWF VP of Climate and Energy, center, and Al Ebron of the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium at the June 27th event.

Panels on economic recovery and innovation brought together manufacturers, educators, and leaders in labor and local economic development and a robust audience of auto sector experts. The event was opened by Administration leaders, and NWF joined White House staff and NRDC as moderators.

Panelists—and not always those you’d expect—communicated the thrill of the technological renaissance underway and the reward of rebuilding jobs and businesses in hard-hit communities. They conveyed a deep commitment to protecting the environment and prosperity for the next generation, and a shared sense that smart fuel-economy standards, investments and partnerships with government and each other mean continued progress.

The full video of Advanced Vehicles: Driving Growth is online (Part 1, Part 2), and look for additional NWF staff thoughts on the event and on the landmark 54.5mpg fuel economy standards due to be finalized this summer here on Wildlife Promise.

To see what’s happening in many more communities who are part of creating the next generation of clean cars and trucks, check out DrivingGrowth.org (NWF is a partner in this new site whose similar name is coincidental).

What is happening in the auto sector today? What does innovation mean to you? What does the future of the auto sector hold? How do we sustain progress? and what does it mean to our future?

Clean cars and trucks are bringing back jobs

Fuel saving EcoBoost engines being manufactured at Ford’s Cleveland Engine plant (credit: © Ford Motor Company)

Panel speakers talked about bringing this turnaround to life in communities like Toledo, Ohio or Greensburg, Indiana, where Honda is building its new Acura ILX hybrid. “It may seem counterintuitive,” said Vince De Zorzi of Nexteer Automotive which builds fuel saving electric power steering systems, “but during our transformation, we’ve brought back work from Mexico, Brazil and India into Saginaw, Michigan.”

“It wasn’t too many years ago that Toledo in any economic development statistic would have been listed as leading the race to the bottom, now the Brookings Institution will tell you… that we’re helping to lead the recovery…. What we’re seeing right now is … $900M of capital investment in … three facilities alone – one by JCI, one by Chrysler, and one by General Motors with its powertrain plant. These facilities are not only helping to retain about 3800 jobs, and create 1500 new jobs, the products they are producing help further the goals of environmental sustainability and fuel economy.” “We’re also seeing a diversification of our economy. Toledo, building on its tradition as a glass manufacturer, has been one of the leading centers in North America for the solar industry. And just four months ago a European company, Isofoton, came to Napoleon, Ohio where they’re making a $30M investment to build solar panels, and as they ramp up they’ll add 300 jobs.”   – Ford Weber, President and CEO, Lucas County Improvement Corporation (LCIC)/Northwest Ohio Regional Economic Development Association

Michael Psaros of KPS Capital Partners, spoke about investments made by private equity, in collaboration with labor, to rebuild businesses making natural gas-powered buses and forgings for high efficiency engines that help meet new fuel economy standards: “the technology is here. America is a leader….These initiatives are to be applauded and we’re investing tens of millions of dollars behind them.”

“We started many years ago as a driveline and hydraulic steering company… As the market and demand for more fuel efficient vehicles moves forward, we’re finding that electric power steering is coming into the market far more rapidly than we thought… Like [others] we also went through some very, very difficult times. We had to transform our business model and we wouldn’t have done it without the partnership with the union, without the sacrifices, vision, and courage… they had.   As a result, we’re currently investing over $100 million in…our oldest plant, built in 1953, and converting it into a state of the art electric power steering facility, which over the next few years will supply the majority of full sized pick-up trucks in North America.”  —Vince De Zorzi, Senior Vice President Global Manufacturing Operations, Driveline Business Unit, Chief Quality Officer, Nexteer Automotive

Innovation is rebuilding America’s technological leadership

“I was privileged to attend the opening day of the …Detroit auto show this year. What I saw there was breathtaking,” Those comments from CEQ Deputy Director Gary Guzy in the opening panel were echoed by NWF’s Tim Warman, opening the second panel, who reflected that not only does automotive innovation hold one of the keys to addressing the climate challenge, but that “we’re living at a time when you can buy the best cars ever made.”

“The internal combustion engine has been around for 100 plus years, and when you look at the leaps and bounds we’ve made in technology in that time, the internal combustion engine just [hadn’t] kept pace with that. [But] the news now is that it has and it will. I spoke about the EcoBoost engine earlier, we’ll also have a 4-cylinder version of that coming out, and – I’m not at liberty say what – but there’s something after that coming – that…fuel economy-wise and environmentally will be absolutely astounding…and it will be built right in Cleveland.” —Mike Gammella, President of UAW Local 1250, Ford Cleveland Engine plant

Speakers conveyed the excitement and pace of innovation, and provided a glimpse of their particular approaches to transforming “traditional” internal combustion engine technology, and capturing leadership in the next generation of hybrid, electric and other technologies.

“We don’t clearly know what kind of power plant will be powering our vehicles out beyond 2025—will it be advanced internal combustion engines powered by gasoline on ethanol or natural gas, or advanced diesel engines, or will it be electric drive vehicles powered by batteries, or hydrogen fueled electric drive vehicles?… So frankly it’s a very exciting time to be an automotive engineer… The race is on for us to meet the challenges of air quality, climate change and energy security…The future of the auto industry will be determined by retail customers who buy these cars.. so we have to make sure that every product we develop will be better than the one it replaces.”  —Ryan Harty, Manager of Environmental Business Development, Honda

 

“Large companies and governments have a responsibility to adopt a portfolio theory in which they explore many different aspects of how to solve the problem… For a small company like ours that lives and dies by its first and second product, we are very committed to lithium ion batteries and we have to make sure that particular economic and wallet argument works best. We received a 4 million grant from ARPA-E in December 2009, and we developed a world record battery [with an energy density] of 400 Wh/kg. This is a moonshot in the electrochemistry business. …We made automotive grade cells and gave it to the naval surface warface center in Crane, Indiana, and they tested our claims. …. What does this mean for the automotive industry? Well I think good news is on the horizon. A 150-200 mile [per charge, electric] car for $30,000 or less is not too far away ….. We were founded to make a mass market electric vehicle [possible].   —Atul Kapadia, CEO of Envia Systems Inc

“Ive worked in the automotive industry for 33 years, all in the advanced battery area, and clearly this is the most exciting time… ”At our UAW battery plant in Toledo (and we appreciate our partnership with the state of Ohio) we are investing over $100M in establishing a new line for what is called AGM technology. It’s a battery that’s critical to the stop-start technology you’re hearing about. Basically when the vehicle is at at a stop light, the engine shuts off [if its not needed]… the bottom line is that technology allows you to achieve a 5-12% fuel economy enhancement. Now that AGM technology facilitates the advanced electrical capability in the vehicle, but its also a lighter weight battery than the conventional battery it replaces… and the process we use to make this battery uses less energy and emits less CO2.”   —Michael Andrew, Director of Government Affairs and External Communications at Johnson Controls, Inc. 

Partnerships, standards, investments key

The value of long-term performance-based fuel economy standards in providing a predictable climate for investment, and in building  the next generation of competitive technology and jobs was a recurrent theme in the day’s discussions. But participants stressed that government, industry and the public must continue to work together to make advanced energy and transportation a priority if America is to lead in the global economy.

PepsiCo, like Johnson Controls is one of the many companies deploying advanced technology vehicles in their corporate fleets as part of DOE’s National Clean Fleets Partnership. (Credit: Zoe Lipman)

Kapadia concurred, citing the the strong investment by China and South Korea in R&D.  He told the story of the U.S. government investment in the Human Genome Project that had generated hundreds of billions in economic activity. “I don’t think that this money we spend on claiming technology leadership is a waste… As a country we just have to make a decision about whether energy is important or not… if we can see the same kind of results on the energy side … I am convinced we won’t be only identifying problems on [the next] panel, we’ll be taking about how many different kinds of electric cars, how many soldiers and… oil dollars have we saved …and… how much have we saved the environment over the next 10-20 years.”

Gammella was frank on the benefits of the auto recovery loans: ”Understand, I work for Ford Motor Company, Ford was fine, we didn’t need a loan, however, if … those auto parts makers [had] gone down with General Motors and Chrysler, we wouldn’t be here having this discussion today, we’d be talking about the auto disaster instead of the auto revitalization.”

Speakers also flagged a variety of consumer incentives including the Cash for Clunkers program as means of helping households more rapidly purchase fuel efficient vehicles – while others stressed that growing family supporting jobs in the manufacturing sector is critical to ensuring a market for the new technologies we manufacture.

Delivering hope, prosperity and healthy world for our children

Innovation isn’t just happening in technology –people and communities are critical. Companies and the union stressed new partnerships between workers and management that are unlocking innovation on the shop floor, while educators talked about new training being implemented to suit a changing industry.

“We need to create a situation where our students are flexible enough to work in this [rapidly innovating] industry… We need to start to do not just short term skills training for specific areas, but for whole careers….

We have to cross over a watershed … Innovation is [not just] something people in universities do… innovation is often day to day activities on a factory floor. The challenge is not just to respond to the employment growth today, but create a structure for the future.” —Dr. Jim Jacobs, President of Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan

Panelists had an animated debate about ensuring rewarding and family-suppporting jobs, skills and the inspiration to young people – to enable them to build fulfilling careers in the new high tech manufacturing sector. Andrew, from Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls, and Al Ebron, Executive Director of the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC)  West Virginia University in Morgantown, described their respective partnerships at the high school level, while others spoke personally about the importance of communicating the changes in the manufacturing sector and reviving enthusiasm in making things.

States and cities are playing a role in education and outreach as well.  Jules Toraya, Program Manager at the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE), Clean Cities-Atlanta, City of Atlanta, talked about what is happening in in the Southeast to help deploy electric vehicle and alternative fuel technologies, and his own epiphany while in Iraq on the importance of energy independence and clean energy jobs for veterans. And he gave a shout out to young entrepreneurs, citing a new electric skateboard manufacturer: “For the younger generation, we have to demonstrate and make our own value—and we are doing that.”

Gammella took a more sober view, but ended on a similar note: “There are a whole lot of people out there that don’t have much hope… We have kids graduating from college who can’t find a job …we’ve got to give these young people hope…WE have to bring it back … we have to manufacture here we have to be the high tech technology leader here. That’s what America’s all about.”

Credit: NWF

“Our goal should be to have mobility while preserving the natural world; I think we can meet that goal,” said NRDC Senior Vehicles Analyst Luke Tonachel.   Harty, of Honda, spoke about Honda engineers’ commitment to “blue skies for our children”, while Gamella, underscoring the importance of fuel efficient vehicles, said: “Bottom line is this, we all breathe the same air, we all live in the same world, we have to protect the environment first and foremost, and one the biggest ways to do that is we have to get off our dependency on foreign oil. And we can do that …in this country.”

UAW Vice President, Cindy Estrada summed it up in speaking about her two children, and the potential to build prosperity, good jobs, and healthy environment at once: “I think we’re going to get there… its not an option not get there, I want [my two kids] to be in that kind of world.”

 

(Credit:  wh.gov for Photos of Weber, Dezorzi, Andrew, Jacobs, Estrada as well as Photos of Gamella, Kapadia, Harty, Warman et al.)

credit:Zoe Lipman

That battery is the ancestor—or cousin—of the much larger batteries now powering electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. So it shouldn’t be too surprising that we’re not far from the day when homeowners will regularly heave an even bigger sigh of relief, and thank their car for keeping the freezer running when the power goes down.

Even better, putting new vehicle technology together with plug and play solar panels and “smart grid” energy management—almost all available today—could provide even greater benefits and security to homeowners and the grid.

Energy Infrastructure Vulnerable to More Extreme Weather

Climate change is bringing more weather and climate extremes, including the intense storms that create challenges for the power companies. Last year NWF published More Extreme Weather and the U.S. Energy Infrastructure a report on the vulnerability of the nation’s energy infrastructure to just these sorts of climate impacts. That report flags the need to take action to anticipate stronger storms, as well as more intense heat and drought, which present challenges for generating electricity in conventional thermoelectric power plants that require water for cooling.

Indeed, this week’s huge outage revived the debate locally over burying power lines underground, and underscored the need for a national discussion around how to make urgently needed large scale upgrades our infrastructure in light of climate change, to prevent individual and business losses, and to support a modern economy.

A frustrated Maryland state Senator was quoted in a recent article: “Every time this happens, they say they’re shocked—shocked that it rained or snowed or it was hot—which isn’t an acceptable excuse given that we all know about climate change.”

But today, we are also in the midst of a clean energy and transportation technology renaissance that means that a key part of enhancing climate resilience and the security of our energy system can come from actions we take in our own homes.

Sneak Peak at Power “Outages” of the Future

Today, if you generate power with solar panels on your roof, that power is rarely stored; it flows to immediate home use or back onto the grid. In the case of an outage, that homemade power must also be shut down to prevent electricity from flowing back into the grid and injuring repair workers.

But an electric vehicle (or even a second-hand electric vehicle battery, used just for that purpose) does store the power you generate from solar panels on your roof—and it can be enabled (especially on an occasional basis) to provide that power back to your home. Meanwhile, “smart grid” improvements in energy management systems can enable utilities to control the power on their systems in much more detail, and provide smart appliances and devices for individuals to use to connect and manage the energy and technology in their homes.

These technologies are mainly being used separately today. But in new combinations they can provide households and car owners with new benefits on a daily basis, as well as the ability to easily provide their own backup power in an emergency.

Increasing numbers of households or businesses making, storing and/or using their own power could make our energy systems more resilient at the neighborhood level and system wide, and help reduce costs and hardships as we face the likelihood of more extreme weather and power events. And as they make use of renewable power, electric fuel, and efficiency technology even easier and more widespread they also reduce the pollution that causes climate change and extreme weather to begin with.

Energy-resilient Households Closer Than You Might Think

credit: © Ford Motor Company

Making this all work does mean upgrading our infrastructure, but it also means big opportunities for households, businesses, and technology entrepreneurs, to start putting the pieces together.

How to Participate:

• Watch the White House webcast live on Wednesday, June 27, from 2:30-5:30 p.m. ET.
• Join the Twitter discussion at #DrivetheFuture

The speakers we’ll hear on Wednesday – from Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Georgia, Wisconsin, California and elsewhere – show that America has what it takes to lead in the clean energy and transportation technologies of the future: innovative people and companies, advanced skills and technology – and smart policies that work for us all.

Their stories show that America’s heritage of innovation and industry CAN go forward together with stewardship of our natural resource and wildlife heritage – it has to, if we’re to deliver a better American future for ourselves and our children.

NWF CEO Larry Schweiger (left) and NWF Great Lakes Regional Executive Director, Andy Buchsbaum, at the North American International Auto Show following the Detroit fuel economy hearings in January. Schweiger testified: “Over the past two years, the hardworking people here in Detroit, and in Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina, and across the country have proven – dramatically – that they have what it takes for America to lead in a prosperous clean energy future.”  (credit: Jennifer Janssen)

Driving Innovation, Jobs and the Future for Wildlife

Today, we’re facing tough financial times and unprecedented global threats to wildlife and environment. These challenges demand we move forward even faster to invent, build and adopt the next generation of clean auto technology in America – and grow the environmental, economic and consumer benefits that come with it.

The numbers are clear. Smart fuel economy standards together with investments to invent and build the most advanced auto technology in America, deliver:

• Unprecedented cuts in the pollution that causes climate change and deep oil and consumer savings: Check out NWF CEO Larry Schweiger’s testimony at the Detroit hearings for the details on pollution cuts and savings at the pump from fuel economy standards that will double our fuel economy by 2025.
• Great new cars and trucks: from the more efficient and more powerful pickup trucks that are bringing sportsmen vehicles that work in the outdoors and for it – to new technologies like electric vehicles that bring transportation and household energy innovation together.
• Hundreds of thousands of jobs and career paths for the next generation in cutting edge industries across the country: Check out Supplying Ingenuity – a snapshot of 300+companies in 43 states building technology that improves fuel economy.

How do we extend these benefits to people and environment?  What can we learn from our successes in the auto sector to rebuild more of our economy while protecting wildlife and natural resources for our children? 

What’s your answer? Join the Twitter conversation at #DriveTheFuture >>

With the Fourth of July weekend coming up, we recall that George Washington didn’t turn back at the banks of the Delaware. In communities all across the country, Americans are proving we have what it takes to lead in the coming clean energy and transportation revolution. This is no time to turn back – it’s time to keep driving forward.

The punch line is:  More oil just doesn’t help Americans with pain at the pump, but new fuel economy standards and vehicle innovation does.  How big is the difference?  It’s not even close.

Lets take a back of the envelope look at what popular “solutions” actually do about what Americans spend on gasoline– today, in a few years, and decades from now. 

What do these charts tell us?

1.  What seem like very big oil projects (which often carry big risks) cut just a few cents on the gallon in 2030 – and have virtually no effect today.  Supply and demand does work, but it works on a global scale and we’re small players in the huge global oil market. 

Like a small farmer thinking about whether to plant another 100 acres of corn, we’re price takers in the oil market, not price setters (and like that farmer, oil companies are sure hoping the price stays up, not hoping it goes down) 

2. By far the biggest and quickest way to change what we pay for fuel is to improve what we drive.  Thanks to new fuel economy standards and the innovation that is coming with them, families and businesses are taking back control at the pump.  Even if it will be five or ten years before you buy your next new (or new used ) car or truck, vehicle fuel efficiency is improving so fast that that new vehicles will bring quicker and deeper cuts in what we pay for fuel than all the drilling projects put together.    In the short term, consumers can also change how much they drive, or choose other ways to travel where good transit exists,  but new vehicle standards bring fuel savings comparatively quickly for all kinds of vehicles, drivers and lifestyles.

3. Filling up with electricity is a big deal.  Compared to petroleum, electricity is cheap, stable and secure.  While oil prices keep rising, the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA)  projects electricity prices dropping in real terms through 2030.  Though we don’t reflect it in the chart, electric vehicle technology costs are also dropping while electric engine efficiency improves.  Sure, the cost of electric vehicles today is higher than a comparable vehicle, but when you’re saving $3 on every gallon or 10 grand on fuel every 5 years, that gives some room to spare – even today.

As a CNN article pointed out this week there really isn’t much a President (or a Presidential candidate) can do about world oil prices, but what these charts show is that Americans’ household budgets and business bottom lines depend on getting their hands on new vehicle innovation.  

Lets challenge our politicians to focus on the real solutions:  Getting savings into Americans’ hands means support for the strong new fuel economy standards and for other measures that  speed R&D and manufacturing  of advanced vehicle technology in America – from pick-up trucks with powerful highly efficient gasoline and diesel engines, to electric and plug-in hybrid electric sedans.

But what about?  More details…

4.  Are those gas price increases in the 2015 graph?  Yes, the Keystone XL pipeline is expected to raise, not lower, gasoline prices in the Midwest.  Today, without a pipeline to coastal refineries, much Canadian tar sands oil is “stuck” in the Midwest and sells at a discount relative to the price for comparable Mexican heavy crude on the world market.  If a pipeline is built from Canada to the Gulf, the oil can reach many markets, and the company expects $2-$4 Billion a year in additional revenues from selling it at the higher world price. Unfortunately, that means consumers in the Midwest would have to pay that price too.

5.  Even once the cost of advanced technology is added in, more fuel efficient cars and trucks still save consumers a ton.  The charts above just show fuel costs.  Adding advanced technology to make cars more efficient does add a little to the cost of the car – but not nearly as much as consumers get back in savings on fuel. Fuel savings are about three times as big as technology costs,  so consumers still come out way ahead. 

We also left out the direct impact that the new fuel economy standards have on world oil prices. Making our cars more efficient cuts oil demand more than any of the drilling projects shown above increase supply.  As we said on drilling, these impacts are very small, but  increasing vehicle efficiency does a better job of directly impacting on gasoline prices too.

6. Choosing made in America advanced technology over continued more spending on fuel has other benefits as well.  New more fuel efficient vehicles are a key element driving a US automotive and manufacturing recovery that has added 200,000 direct jobs in the last 2 ½  years.  And when American families and businesses save at the pump they spend those savings building jobs at home.  A recent study found that respending of savings from more efficient vehicles would add nearly half a million additional jobs.

Come again? How did we get the gas price equivalent? If you buy a car that’s twice as efficient as the one you have today, you go twice as far on the same gallon of gas.  Every mile you drive, every trip to work, will cost half as much in fuel.  So the effect on your wallet is the same as if you still had the old car and the gas price at the pump was cut in half. A 5% increase in vehicle efficiency is like a 5% cut in gas prices, 20% is like 20%, etc. etc.  Taking the average fuel economy and gas price today as a starting point, we’ve calculated the reduction in how much Americans will spend on gas as a result of different vehicle changes, and stated it as the gas price you would need to get the same savings.

Methodology:  This is a back of the envelope estimate.  Sources are included in hyperlinks throughout, but in general, estimates of oil production impacts on world oil prices come from department of energy analyses (drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, adding or reducing production on the Outer Continental Shelf).   They use different base years and reference cases – but a consistent message recurs of a very small impact on world oil prices – in the realm of just a few cents per gallon that takes many years to arrive.  Impacts on gasoline spending as a result of new vehicle efficiency improvements are calculated from the fuel economy levels required in existing and proposed fuel economy standards as compared to levels today.  The change in efficiency of all vehicles on the road (new and used) requires projecting the gradual adoption of new vehicles into the existing vehicle stock and calculating the resulting average efficiency.  We relied on a stock model developed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) for this projection.  We have made a conservative estimate of future electric vehicle fueling cost using current electric vehicle efficiency and EIA projected average residential electricity prices.  We do not reflect improvements to EV technology, or the fact that many utilities offer lower electricity rates for off-peak EV fueling.

The Ford Focus electric (Photo: Ford)

To highlight EV news in your community — or in your garage — click here.

Here at NWF we’ve recently been part of the Plug-in Electric Vehicle Dialogue Group — a broad group of companies, utilities, NGO’s and government involved in  EVs  and convened by C2ES. At a a recent event the group released a joint action plan to help ensure consumers can smoothly fuel cars with electricity. The event is a great jumping off place to get a look at the latest news about EVs…

Why are so many people and industries excited about EV’s? Try this podcast! Nick Nigro of C2ES chats with me and Watson Collins of Northeast Utilities.  We’re talking about the PEV event, but also discussing why the technology is exciting today (cheaper electric rates, $1/gallon fill ups, JARVIS), so tune in.

Check out the event on the web, or on storify to see what participants had to say. Or check out the Action Plan itself if you’re interested in the details.

What’s happening now on EVs?

Is my state, city or town engaged?  Click here to see many that are.

What about…? Click on the links below to see what the many PEV Dialogue Group members are doing on EVs – and remember,  we’re just a slice of the many consumers, cities, auto companies, electric utilities, NGO’s and local governments involved in this transportation transformation.

Electricity isn't just for cars. US companies are building and using electric trucks and delivery vehicles as well. (Photo: NTEA)

*The role of these group members must be limited to technical contribution because of their organizational function
Who are we missing?  Let people know what’s happening with EV’s in your community – or your garage – by commenting in the box below.  Give us your city/town and a short description what’s going on on EVs.

New efficient vehicle technology lets drivers take back control at the pump. Photo: shutterstock.com

It’s good news for wildlife to see a familiar vehicle that’s 5 times as energy efficient as the average car  today (today’s average is 22 MPG), and since it doesn’t use any gasoline at all, it’s drilling, tar sands and pipeline-free.

But with rumors of gas prices hitting $5/gallon this summer (never mind rumors, I just saw $4.99/gallon for premium in my neighborhood!), there’s another reason all electric vehicles and mostly electric plug-in hybrids are a big deal. Filling up your car with electricity costs about a dollar a gallon. 

Yes $1/gallon. This year, Ford, Chevy, Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, and several other automakers will offer consumers electric or mostly electric plug-in hybrid cars.

Plug-in hybrids like the 2013 Ford Fusion Energi (above) and the Chevy Volt use electricity for most trips, but use gasoline for back up to go very long distances. Photo: flickr Happy Via.

But the current car and truck renaissance isn’t just electric.  I’ve blogged before on how strong new fuel economy standards mean savings right now (like for those trading in their old F150 pickup truck for the new more efficient 2011 or 2012 model) and are bringing increasing relief from pain at the pump for drivers of all kinds of cars.

Every year new cars will be more efficient than the year before until, in 2025, a new car or truck will use half as much fuel as a new car or truck today. That’s like a cut from 4 bucks to 2 bucks a gallon in what it costs to take that spring break road trip. Taking all our cars—new and used together—Americans will be spending almost 40% less for gas in 2030 than they would without the new standards and innovation that comes with them.

In a  global market for oil, new drilling and pipelines can’t bring relief to Americans hard hit by high gas prices. But innovative new cars and trucks can. Its time to take control at the pump!

Western Fence Lizard (via Flickr's Alan Vernon)

As anyone who’s seen a lizard sunning itself on a rock can tell you, cold-blooded creatures put a high priority on soaking up renewable energy. Now Washington may be awakening to the idea of convenient recharging.

The Detroit Free Press reports the U.S. Senate is working on a bill that would let electric vehicle charging stations be installed at Congressional sites. It’s a bipartisan concern – Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) drives a Nissan Leaf and Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) drives a Chevy Volt. Users would have to pay for the charging stations and the electricity. Sponsors hope to get the measure passed by the end of the year.

Within the article is a great story about how much Sen. Levin (D-MI) loves his Chevy Volt:

The car glided silently into traffic near the U.S. Capitol, and Levin was visibly excited to roam the streets in the electric-gas hybrid.

“I love the idea of American industry being in the lead,” Levin said. “When I drive this car, it gives me pride in what we can do.”

As he steered along busy streets, Levin was looking for an opportunity to give it the gas, er, electricity. It happened when the traffic thinned on a wide stretch of Constitution Avenue.

“This has a terrific pickup,” Levin grinned. “Watch this.”

The Volt shot forward, pushing passengers against the seat backs.

“Pretty good, huh?”

But Washington’s real fuel efficiency landmarks will come later this year. The Obama administration is expected to announce first-of-their-kind rules for heavy trucks next month. Then in September, new rules are due for cars and light trucks like pickups & SUVs.

The National Wildlife Federation is pushing for the strong fuel efficiency standards. For example, achieving a national average of 60 miles per gallon would save drivers up to $7,400 at the pump over the life cycle of a vehicle. At the same time, we’d cut America’s global warming pollution by 465 million metric tons per year or nearly 7% of total US global warming pollution from all sources.

That would be great news for America’s wildlife, including lizards – already, lizard populations have disappeared in 15 locations where global warming was thought to be the culprit. And can you imagine how clean the air in America’s cities would be if our cars & trucks were on that kind of an oil diet?

Will the Obama administration deliver? The Detroit News reports officials are talking about strong fuel efficiency standards, but there’s a long way to go between now & September.

Take Action

Please take a moment to ask the Obama administration to support a strong fuel efficiency standard of 60 miles per gallon by 2025.

photo credit: Fang Guo via flickr.com

Last week, the global price of oil rose above $105 per barrel and the national average price of gasoline hit $3.55 per gallon– the highest ever for this time of year.  However, if you could plug your car into an electrical outlet tonight instead of stopping at a gas station, you would be paying the equivalent of about 75 cents per gallon to drive it instead of the fluctuating $3, $4 or more at the pump.

Consumers are already taking action to drive cars without gasoline. The U.S. waitlists are growing for the all-electric Nissan Leaf (with more than 20,000 orders) and the plug-in electric hybrid Chevrolet Volt (with more than 50,000 signed up in support).

Rapidly growing global demand for oil means ongoing, high and volatile gas prices. Electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and other new efficient cars and trucks provide real choices for us to cut the money we spend on fuel. Replacing gas-powered cars with electric cars over time will also improve our environment. Even accounting for the electricity, EVs are amongst the cleanest cars on the road—with the potential to become true zero emission vehicles.

Read the PDF below to learn more about the myths and facts of electric vehicles.

High school student Brandon Ford was invited by the first lady because he is a member of the West Philly Hybrid X Team which competed late last year in the Progressive Automotive X Prize, a $10 Million competition for developing the best 100 mile per gallon-equivalent car.  The high school team represents the next generation of automotive engineering in the US.

We caught up with the team at the X Prize competition late last year and heard their message loud and clear that they believe in and are working towards a future of made-in-America advanced vehicles.  President Obama couldn’t agree more.  He has said time and again the he wants to see EVs and advanced batteries “made right here in America, by American businesses and American workers.”

Click here to listen to an NPR interview with another member of the West Philly Hybrid X Team who proudly watched his teammate on TV sitting with Michelle Obama.