Transitioning to an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure: Some Considerations for Policymakers

1. Transitioning to an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure:Some Considerations for Policymakers Rona Cohen CSG/ERC Energy & Environment Committee Meeting August 16, 2020 Portland, Maine

2. Overview • Federal Commitment • Manufacture Commitments • State/Local Efforts • Looking Forward – Broader Public-Policy Benefits of EVs • Policy Suggestions from Recent CSG/ERC Meetings

3. Strong Federal Commitment to Creating an EV Infrastructure • Recovery Act sending more than $5 billion to electrify transportation sector: • $2.4 bln to develop EV battery manufacturing plants; $1.4 bln to Nissan for EV manufacturing plant in TN; $528.7 mln to Fisker for plant in DE; $465 mln to Tesla to revive GM plant in CA ($50 mln from Toyota) • In MI, 17 new battery plants in operation, under construction or breaking ground • Transportation Electrification program developing 20,000 charging stations • 8 demonstration projects to test 13,000 EVs under real weather conditions • Goals: 30 U.S. EV battery manufacturing plants by 2012; 1 million plug-in HEVs by 2015; significant job creation, lower dependence on foreign oil • U.S. Senate: PEVA Act would provide additional $3.6 bln to create “deployment communities” and subsidize purchase of plug-in EVs and charging infrastructure • Passed Senate Energy Committee in July 19-4 with bipartisan support • U.S. Senate STORAGE ACT (s.3617) would offer $1.5 bln in tax credits to storage projects connected to the power grid

4. Manufacturer Commitments • More than 15 major car manufacturers plan to roll out EVs within the next three years, including these by late 2010: • Tesla Roadster: Available today. Range: 244 miles • Nissan Leaf: Late 2010. Range: 100 miles • Ford Transit Connect (commercial van): Late 2010. Range: 80 miles • Chevy Volt: Late 2010 (contains a battery pack capable of driving 40 miles, and a gas-powered onboard generator that creates electricity to power the engine after the battery has been depleted; provides an additional 300 mile range)

5. Public and Private Efforts to Promote EV Infrastructure: Some Examples • Many urban areas working to aggressively promote EV charging infrastructure include San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Houston , Indianapolis and Orlando • SF revised building codes requiring that new homes and office buildings be wired for electric chargers • States promoting EV infrastructure include: • CA: Last week announced $108 mln investment in EV battery R&D, worker training, charging stations • CT: Gov. Rell formed EV Infrastructure Council. Final report due Sept. 1 • HI: Aims to have statewide charging infrastructure in place by 2012 • MA: MOU with Nissan • MD: Charging stations along I-95 • MI: $1 bln in tax credits for companies building advanced storage for EVs • RI: Project Get Ready • WA: Installing charging stations along I-5, from OR to Canada • Six utilities in the Northeast (serving CT, MA, NH, NY & RI) formed the Regional Electric Vehicle Initiative in June 2009

6. Broader Public Policy Benefits: Potential to Help States Achieve Clean-Energy Goals • Energy storage is the “Holy Grail” of the electricity sector. • Through properly managed nighttime charging, EVs could utilize electricity from wind turbines, where available, which tends to be more robust at night. • Creation of a secondary market for EV batteries could provide needed stationary storage for wind farms and PV arrays. • Battery storage is already being tested in conjunction with wind projects. • See “Wind Drives Growing Use of Batteries,” NY Times, July 27, 2010

7. Broader Public Policy Benefits: Grid Services • Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G): Communication and transfer of electricity between EV and grid, enabled by use of certain technologies • Research shows: • Two-way communication devices can enable batteries to store power and sell it back to the grid in response to signals from grid operators. • In pilots, provision of frequency regulation (balancing generation and load) currently valued at $30-$40 per MWh, just for making the resource available. • Near-term possibilities for fleets: USPS interested in converting to electric vehicles and partnering in a V2G pilot with ISOs/RTOs • Large benefits seen even with one-way power flows to grid-integrated vehicles (GIV): ISO can control time of charging and power level, and shut off power in times of emergency.

8. Efforts in Other Countries • Denmark: Edison V2G project will store excess wind energy when plentiful and feed back to grid during low-production periods • Portugal aims to establish nationwide network of EV charging stations by end of 2011 • Spain: Goal of having 250,000 EVs on the road by 2014 (85% in fleets) • Israel expected to launch EV charging infrastructure in 2011 • Japan: Auto companies, utility working to standardize fast-charging stations • Ontario, Canada: As of July 1, rebates of $5,000 - $8,500 to first 10,000 individuals/businesses who purchase or lease a plug-in EV

9. Policy Suggestions to Consider • In recent conversations with stakeholders and academics, CSG/ERC received these recommendations, among others: • Special electricity pricing needed for EV charging, including discounted off-peak pricing • Pilots in San Diego, CA; HI • Consider ways to replace lost revenue from gas taxes. Example: VMT fee? • Need to incentivize V2G pilots for public and commercial fleets • States should codify net metering for V2G capabilities • Example: Delaware net-metering law • Eventually, important to create secondary battery market for reuse in stationary storage applications • Bottom line: Policymakers should be planning now to facilitate adoption of EV technologies that could prove game-changing for the power system going forward.