As electric vehicle sales rise, where are more charging stations needed?

Since taking over this column in late May your humble columnist has largely focused on the present and recent history of regional transportation issues.

However, in the wake of a recent transportation conference in Tucson, during which planners, entrepreneurs and dreamers got together to talk about what’s next in getting people from point A to B and beyond, the column will look at a few rising transportation technologies and what they mean for the region.

First off, plug-in electric vehicles.

Though there are significant carbon emissions that result from vehicle and electricity production, EVs on the whole are far less polluting than standard cars. Even in Arizona, where coal accounts for more electricity than the rest of the country on average, electric vehicles annually emit well under half the carbon dioxide of their gas-powered counterparts, according to federal data.

During the first annual Transportation and Technology Summit last month, organized by the Pima Association of Governments, the Road Runner listened to a productive debate about where investment is most needed in recharging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

In one corner was Bruce Brimacombe, CEO of GOe3, which builds rapid charging stations, especially along major intercity corridors. In the other was Bob Graham, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s EV Everywhere program, which works to promote exactly what the name says.

In Brimacombe’s view, one of the key hurdles to more widespread adoption of electric vehicles is so-called “range anxiety,” the fear of owners or would-be owners that their electric vehicle could power down in a forgotten corner of the state, miles away from the nearest charging station.

“If you have a single family home, you wake up with a full tank of gas,” he said at the conference, referencing the fact that the vast majority of EV charging happens at homes overnight.

“We have slow charging in place all over the place,” he told the Road Runner later. “Plenty of slow charging. Interconnectivity on corridors we do not have.”

Graham didn’t necessarily disagree, but he did suggest that a bigger problem than the lack of corridor-based charging is that the current network is more than adequate to support wider EV adoption, but many simply don’t know that.

“It’s extremely important not to suggest that there’s a barrier to electric vehicle penetration based upon infrastructure,” he said. “Most of the problem with infrastructure is people aren’t telling people about the infrastructure we’ve already built.”

So, what does that current system look like, how well does it work and where do we go from here? The Road Runner talked to transportation officials and EV drivers to find out.

Colleen Crowninshield, who manages Tucson Clean Cities at PAG, said there are about 125 Level 2 stations in the area, which add between 10 and 20 miles of range per hour of charging. Those complement the home and workplace systems where the vast majority of EV charging takes place, and were largely built between with federal recession recovery dollars and private money, according to Crowninshield and previous coverage.

“I feel that we have ample Level 2 (charging stations) now,” she said.

But like Brimacombe, Crowninshield says high-speed Level 3 chargers along intercity corridors are in short supply, which federal data backs up.

There are just a handful of high-speed chargers between Tucson and Phoenix, including one near Picacho Peak owned by Brimacombe. Depending on the vehicle, such chargers can charge a car in 15 to 45 minutes for much less than a tank of gas. As EV technology improves those times could be comparable to the time it takes for a standard gasoline fill-up within two years, Brimacombe said.

Both said federal loan and grant programs could go a long ways toward getting more corridor stations installed.

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Crowninshield said another promising area for EV development is workplace-based charging, and she pointed to the experience of Raytheon, the county’s largest private employer, as an example of the benefits.

Raytheon’s Nicole Sweeney told the Road Runner the company has installed 18 EV charging spaces since 2013, when she was aware of just a handful of employees driving to work in electric cars. Now more than 50 employees are daily EV commuters, several of whom told Sweeney that having a place to power up at work played a role in their decision to purchase EVs. Additionally, the cost of the equipment was minimal.

“It’s been a really successful program for us,” she said.

Consumers appear to be responding to improving infrastructure, falling vehicle prices, more reliable technology and of course significant fuel savings. Before the end of October, national new EV sales had already exceeded 2015’s figures.

Locally, the number of county-registered EVs jumped over 7 percent to 2,649 between April and November, according to data provided by the Arizona Department of Transportation. Statewide, EV market share of new vehicle purchases has nearly tripled to .79 percent since early 2013, according to recent Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers data.

One of those recent adopters is David Gebert, president of the Tucson Electric Vehicle Association and owner of a Nissan Leaf since March 2015. His EV is his primary vehicle, and for around-the-town trips it works just fine. He also said he rarely has to use the Level 2 charging stations around town.

Longer trips for Gebert, on the other hand, are a “carefully scripted thing.” He said his car gets around 84 miles per charge, which means two charges and well over an hour waiting at stations to get to Phoenix. Even so, he said he’s got the EV system pretty well figured out.

“The anxiety is gone for me,” he said. “The perceived anxiety of someone who’s thinking about going electric is huge.”

However, with several EV models that get over 200 miles per charge at prices near $30,000 slated to come on the market over the next year, the anxiety that remains is likely to wane.

“The whole thing is perception versus reality at this point,” he said.

What do you think? A poll about whether you’d purchase an electric vehicle is included in the online version of this story.

DOWN THE ROAD

A number of city paving projects were set to start over the weekend or Monday:

• On Irvington Road between Interstate 19 and South Sixth Avenue, crews will be raising manhole covers and water valves so they are flush with the roadway, work that should be done by Thursday. Travel lane closures will be in place to allow the concrete to cure around the covers.
• On North Rosemont Boulevard between East Speedway and Winsett Street, crews will start removing asphalt Monday and begin repaving Thursday, Nov. 17. Drivers will be directed to paved portions as work proceeds. That work will take place between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• Final paving on North Tucson Boulevard between East Fort Lowell and Grant roads will start Monday, Nov. 7, and finish Wednesday. Utility covers will start the next day and last through Nov. 16. All work will be conducted between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

There will also be some crack seal and fog seal work:

• East Golf Links Road from South Swan Road to South Mann Avenue, Monday, Nov. 7, through Saturday, Nov. 12 – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Mission Road from West Ajo Way to Grande Avenue, Monday, Nov. 7, through Thursday, Nov. 10, – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• East Speedway from North Camino Seco to North Houghton Road; North Harrison Road from East Calle Eunice to East Speedway; and Houghton Road/Speedway intersection, Monday, Nov. 7, through Nov. 18 – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.