The SuperBowl has come and gone, leaving some of us bitter in defeat, nostalgic for old times, and somehow looking forward to the future of the auto industry.
The SuperBowl is such a popular television event, not for the game but rather for the commercials, where the corporate elite competes for advertising gold. No real commercial stuck out as a game-changer like the Toyota Darth Vader baby, or E-Trade baby (wow, why do we love babies so much?), but what stood out to me was the many electric vehicle commercials from 6 different companies: BMW, GM, Hyundai, Kia, Polestar (new kid on the block), and Chevrolet (which belongs to GM, but had its own special commercial so we’ll count it).
It doesn’t seem too random that on February 15th, Parkland College and Ameren held an online presentation titled “EV-101: A Brief Introduction to Electric Vehicles.” For one hour, Ameren introduced listeners to their plan to work with and incentivize new owners of electric vehicles.
EV was the hot word of the hour. We learned of the different types of electric vehicles: Hybrids, Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV), and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV), and which ones we thought were the coolest! Find out more about these different vehicles and their examples on this website. We learned about the incentives that the government gives you just for owning an EV, like a federal tax credit of $7500. We also learned about the money you save just on gas and car repairs. If you have a BEV, the difference you save from charging at home equates to $1 per gallon. When it comes to maintenance, there are federal regulations intact that require the electric vehicle’s battery pack to be covered for at least 8 years or 100,000 miles. Due to fewer moving parts, electric vehicles do not require as much maintenance. It seems like the perfect dream car for anyone.
All this information is nice– but why was Parkland College partnering with Ameren to host a talk about electric vehicles? It is part of Ameren’s new program to get Illinois and Missouri ready for the influx of new electric vehicle drivers. They plan to educate residents and businesses on what they need to do to be EV-friendly on Ameren grids. They want to be the trendsetters in making sure their community’s electric needs are met. They will provide you with contractors that can build charging ports in your business or residential home. They also provide incentives on when to charge, that way everyone can have fully charged vehicles all the time. Because 80% of electric vehicle charging happens at home, as part of their EV rate program, if you charge between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am you will be charged at a lower rate, the opposite hours will be almost double.
(Photos by Nate Carsten)
Does Parkland even have a charging station? The answer is yes, something I didn’t know until after this meeting. It is located in Parking lot T by the Applied Technology Center, across the street from parking lot M. Also, we have at least two different electric vehicle owners working at Parkland who provided us with their pleasant experiences in their electric journey; going from a minivan that filled up with $50 every four days, to a BEV they can charge at their work. The future is now.
Is the future for everyone? When looking at the prices of new electric vehicles, the most affordable one was the Nissan Leaf, a BEV with a starting price of $27,999. Even after a federal tax credit bringing the price down to a little above $20,000, that is still a lot of money. We also know that charging happens mostly at home, but what if you live in community housing like an apartment. There are no charging ports or outlets that allow you to charge safely at home. If more people drive electric, then will gas prices rise for those who cannot afford electric vehicles? What is the sustainability of these vehicles? If we have to buy a new one every 8 years, is it better than a 20-year-old “gas-guzzler?”
Unfortunately, these are questions that can only be answered in time. Right now, we are trying to solve the issue of relieving our dependency on fossil fuels, and the direction seems positive. What is important is that we continue to question and stay persistent in our goal of sustainability. With educated partnerships like this one between Ameren and Parkland College, I think we are on the right road for redemption.
