Electric vehicles grow in popularity

A small but growing number of Iowans are turning to electricity instead of gasoline to power their vehicles.

The Iowa Department of Transportation reports there are around 1,200 battery-electric vehicles, and another 2,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles registered in the state. That was a 170% increase since 2016. Plug-in hybrids use a small amount of gas since they can rely on their battery for 10-40 miles, while battery-electric vehicles use no gasoline at all.

Electric vehicles are starting to catch on in southeast Iowa, too, including in and around Fairfield.

The Iowa DOT reports there are 29 fully-electric vehicles registered in Jefferson County, many more than neighboring Washington County (eight) and Henry County (seven). Those three counties have about the same number of plug-in hybrids, with Washington County leading at 13, followed by Jefferson and Henry with 10 apiece.

Fairfield has at least three charging stations for electric vehicles, and maybe another on the way. The City of Fairfield has applied for a DOT grant to install a charging station near the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center.

The DOT forecasts that in 20 years, the percentage of vehicles on the road powered entirely by electricity will be between 10-33%. Though this sounds like good news for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it does pose a problem for the state's roads and bridges. 39% of road and bridge funding comes from the gas tax, which plug-in hybrids pay little of and fully electric vehicles don't pay at all since they use no gasoline. As a result, the Iowa Legislature has imposed special fees on plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles to ensure they pay their fair share of road maintenance.

The new fees begin this year, and will go up for each of the next two years. Battery electric vehicles will pay a fee of $65 a year in 2020, then $97.50 in 2021 and $130 in 2022. Fees for plug-in hybrids will be half that, and fees for electric or hybrid motorcycles will be less than one-tenth that cost. Without those fees, the DOT was expecting to lose tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars by 2040 due to the adoption of electric vehicles and the resulting loss of gas tax revenue.

Though gasoline-powered cars have held a dominant position in the market for over a century, it might be surprising to learn that electric vehicles have been around for just as long. According to PBS, the first crude electric carriage powered by non-rechargeable batteries was invented in the 1830s by Robert Anderson of Scotland. In 1900, 28 percent of the roughly 4,200 cars produced in the United States ran on electricity.

However, the electric car ceased to be a viable commercial product in the 1920s as gasoline became more readily available, and because consumers wanted vehicles that could travel greater distances. Since then, electric cars continued to be produced, but in limited quantities. Major car companies such as General Motors experimented with electric vehicles in the late 20th century, but discontinued those trials in the early 2000s.

One of the biggest hurdles electric cars have faced is the lack of charging stations, which makes long-distance trips difficult if not impossible. That problem is gradually being solved. In July, Mid-American Energy announced it would invest $3.75 million to build 15 fast-charging stations for electric vehicles across Iowa, including cities in southeast Iowa such as Iowa City, Oskaloosa and Davenport.

Fairfield resident Dale Stephens said many people have raised concerns about charging the car, such as how long it takes and where to do it. He said charging his fully electric Tesla Model 3 is a breeze, and he finds it even more convenient than maintaining gas cars.

'Most of the time we charge by plugging in to an outlet in the garage, no need to ever go to gas stations or keep an eye on when to fill up,” Stephens wrote in his review of the car.

Stephens said the charger is programmed to turn on at midnight during off-peak hours when electricity is least expensive. It costs about $5 in electricity to charge the car to last 315 miles, which he said is like paying 50 cents a gallon for gas.

Tesla has more than 10,000 supercharging stations around the world, including 6,500 in North America, and three in Iowa: Iowa City, Des Moines and Waterloo. Stephens said he relies on them only rarely, like when he's going on a trip of 150 miles or more.

'Charging takes about 20 minutes to add 180-200 miles, usually enough to get back on the road,” Stephens said. 'To charge, drive up and plug in, the charger knows you and bills your credit card automatically.”

Stephens said he understands that making electric vehicle owners pay special fees for road usage seems fair on its face, but he sees it as a 'political move to make oil companies happy by increasing challenges to electric vehicle adoption.”

'The bigger issue is that state and federal governments should be supporting electric vehicle usage, because it is better for the environment, and will make the U.S. much more competitive for the future,” he said. 'And the biggest issue is to stop subsidizing fossil fuels so heavily. A level playing field is great, but it cuts both ways.”

Fairfield resident David Sinton said he felt the same way. On the one hand, he agrees that electric vehicle drivers should pay for using the roads, but he'd also like to see Iowa embrace cleaner forms of transportation.

'Tesla has to jump through a lot of hoops to get your car to Iowa - which makes it harder to buy one,” he said. 'I would like to see that change. It would be nice to have government support the transition instead of fighting it.”

Sinton said that environmental concerns were the biggest factor in his decision to get a Tesla Model 3, followed by the comfort the car offered and because he wanted to make a statement to clients of his firm, Big Tree. Sinton said he had high expectations for the vehicle because of its price tag, and still they were exceeded the first time he drove it. He let a friend test drive the car, and his friend liked it so much he ordered one later that day.

'Once you drive it, you feel like gasoline engines are going to be obsolete very quickly,” he said. 'It's not just faster and quieter. It is a different paradigm of transportation.”

Sinton said the cost of charging the car is even less for him since it comes from solar panels on his house.

'Aside from upfront costs, it's virtually free to drive,” he said. 'Even a road trip to Chicago and back, using the more expensive superchargers, came out to less than $20 in electricity.”

Rick Bordwell registered the first Tesla in Washington County when he brought it back from California in 2018. He said he got it because his daughter and son-in-law had an electric car, and he got used to the idea of owning one over the years. When it was time to replace his car, Bordwell was able to get a federal tax credit of $7,500 for an electric car, though the tax credit is slowly being phased out as car manufacturers produce more electric vehicles.

On top of that, Bordwell got $500 from Alliant Energy toward his home charging station. The home charger plugs into a 220-volt outlet and charges about 30 miles of driving per hour.

Bordwell likes the fact that his electric vehicle has few moving parts, and the moving parts it does have work efficiently. For instance, when Bordwell lets up on the accelerator, it turns his motor into a generator, and the energy from braking goes toward charging the battery. In a traditional vehicle, energy from braking is lost as heat.

'The car is much less complex mechanically,” Bordwell said. 'We don't need to put oil in it, or antifreeze or water for the radiator.”

Fairfield resident Mark Stimson has an electric car, too, but his is a very different style. He refers to his 2009 Kandi Coco as a 'glorified golf cart,” because it is compact and meant for trips around town, not the freeway. Its top speed is 28 miles per hour, and it can only go 40 miles before needing to be recharged.

Nevertheless, Stimson said it's the perfect car for his needs. He and his wife, Sandy, have a van, a pickup and a hybrid car for out-of-town trips. They bought the Coco last spring when they realized that the bulk of their driving miles were in town, where they didn't need a big, powerful vehicle. They found this electric car that had been imported from China a decade earlier. It cost $10,000, and they could get a $9,000 tax credit for it in Oklahoma. The deal was too good to pass up.

Stimson plans to install three solar panels on his roof, and then he'll be able to, as he says, 'drive my car on sunshine.”

Like the other electric car owners The Union spoke with, Stimson said he's been very pleased at the car's low maintenance. The only thing he has to do is pour water in the batteries a few times a year.

'We spend about $6-7 a month on electricity for it, and we are paying about $100-$150 a month on our other vehicles,” Stimson said.

Stimson is a professor in the Global Solutions Department at Maharishi International University in Fairfield. The campus has an electric vehicle charging station outside its Sustainable Living Building. Stimson said it's a satisfying feeling to know he's helping the planet when he steps into his car.

'We get a lot of smiles from people when we drive it around,” he said.