Utah Seeking To Add Charging Stations To Its Highways

Salt Lake City has a problem — smog. Much like Los Angeles, it is situated in an area surrounded by hills and mountains that limit air circulation. As a result, photo-reactive pollutants build up over the city. Add sunshine and you get smog. The local utility company, Rocky Mountain Power, has applied for a $4 million federal grant to expand the use of electric vehicles in the area. The money would be used to provide more fast charging stations for electric vehicles along 1500 miles of highways in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. It would also provide incentives to convert business cars to electric vehicles.

“We do a lot of driving. So, we feel it’s important to drive electric vehicles so we don’t contribute to the inversion,” said Bryan Anderson, regional business manager with RMP. The utility has teamed up with government and community partners to research and develop the plan to expand EV charging stations and improve air quality.

“Having those fast charging stations which can charge a car in 10-20 minutes is going to be really important when it comes to eliminating that range anxiety,” said Dr. Laura Nelson, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Energy Development. “Electric vehicle infrastructure is the next rational step, I think, in the evolution of our transportation corridor. We have 5 wonderful national parks and we would hope to be able to reach all of our 5 national parks,” said Nelson. “People fly into Salt Lake City to drive to those parks and, currently, today, they’re going to pick up a gasoline vehicle.”

“By having more electric charging stations on freeways and at homes and businesses, people will know that they will be able to charge their car and go as far as they need to go,” said Paul Murphy, with Rocky Mountain Power. “Our goal is, within 10 years, we’ll have 50,000 electric vehicles cruising down our highways.”

Murphy said about half of Utah’s air pollution is caused by motor vehicles. “Especially here in Utah where pollution gets trapped in the valley, electric vehicles are going to make a huge difference. I think it’s going to be a lot more affordable and a lot easier to use electric vehicles here in Utah.” The level 2 and level 3 charging stations would cost anywhere from a few cents to a few dollars for a charge.

The additional stations will allow drivers of electric vehicles to travel on interstates throughout Utah without fear of running out of electricity. A recent study by the International Council on Clean Transportation says that more charging stations encourages more people to choose an electric car.

Isn’t it interesting that a state that says it wants to promote the use of electric cars is playing hardball with Tesla Motors and opposing its request to sell its cars direct to consumers in Utah? Politicians. Can’t live with ’em. Can’t live without them.

Tesla Fights On In Utah And Connecticut

Just as the Kook Brothers are fighting a losing battle against electric cars and renewable energy, the car dealers in several states continue to oppose allowing Tesla to sell its cars direct to consumers. Last year, Tesla spent $3,000,000 building a stunning new showroom in Salt Lake City, Utah, only to be told two weeks before it opened by the state’s Attorney General that Utah law prohibits auto makers from owning dealerships. Under the AG’s ruling, people could go to the Tesla store to look at cars and get repairs, but were prohibited from taking test drives, discussing prices, or buying a car while there.

The Utah legislature took up the matter, but ended up passing a bill that allows people to buy a car at a Tesla store but forces Tesla to ship each car purchased into Utah from out of state. The company cannot maintain an inventory of cars within the state. Tesla is challenging the law in a legal action that is now before the Utah Supreme Court.

“If Utah is really about free markets, if it’s really about innovation, if it’s really about new business models that provide the consumers with choice, why would you restrict that?”asks Jim Chen, the company’s vice president for regulatory affairs. Governor Gary Herbert wants Tesla to be able to sell in Utah, even mentioning the company in his State of the State speech. He is  hoping lawmakers can work something out before the session ends, spokesman Jon Cox told ABC News.

Tesla says that it can’t sell its cars through traditional third party dealerships because they have to convince customers electric cars are better than a car with a traditional internal combustion engine. Tesla maintains that constitutes a conflict of interest for conventional dealers, whose major source of income comes from selling ordinary cars.

Support for regular dealers is eroding. This week. Cadillac boss Johan De Nysschen proposed a new system for smaller dealers that sounds a lot like the Tesla plan. Customers would view new cars on virtual reality devices, then order them online. Cadillac would fill the orders from cars available at regional distribution centers.

Tesla is also renewing its effort to get the state of Connecticut to change its law prohibiting direct sales. A bill approving the change passed the Connecticut House of Representatives last year but died in the Senate after Connecticut’s dealer association mounted a furious opposition.

“We believe we would fail if we were to sell through third parties, because third parties aren’t fundamentally as interested in selling electric cars as we are,” Diarmuid O’Connell, Tesla’s vice president of corporate development, told Connecticut Magazine. “Connecticut residents have to drive to New York or Massachusetts, and that’s an inconvenience,” says O’Connell. “They can also buy them online or over the phone, but this is a high-touch purchase. People want to be able to go in and literally kick the tires and drive the car.”

The bottom line is, franchise dealer laws are so over. In a couple years, people won’t even remember what all the fuss was about. Once Tesla kicks down the door, other manufacturers, including the Big Three in Detroit, will probably be only too glad to come thundering through.

Utah Legislature Trying To Make it Easier For Natural-gas Conversions

Phill, A CNG Home Filling Station

A House committee approved a bill Friday meant to put thousands of safe and clean-burning natural-gas cars on Utah's roads.

HB70 would bypass a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fuel-conversion-kit certification process that compressed natural gas (CNG) car enthusiasts say is too burdensome and costly.

Instead, the state Division of Air Quality would certify technicians to ensure conversion kits are installed safely and to check them every three years or 36,000 miles to see that they continue to burn correctly.

Currently, many converted CNG vehicles technically are illegal because the installers didn't use EPA-approved kits. But approved kits are expensive and unavailable for most vehicle models.

The proposed process goes around the EPA by using certified technicians, a step the EPA doesn't oppose, said HB70sponsor Rep. Jack Draxler, R-North Logan.

Enabling more legal conversions is important, Draxler argued, to reduce consumption of imported oil and improve Utah's air quality with cleaner CNG vehicles.

"This winter we've had red-air days going into red-air weeks and ... almost red-air months," Draxler said. "We will never get enough vehicles on the road running on compressed natural gas if we wait for the EPA."

EPA-approved kits generally cost $14,000 because of federal testing requirements. The state bill would make most conversions about $8,000 cheaper, Draxler said. For that reason, vehicles converted under his bill would not be eligible for the current CNG vehicle tax credit of up to $1,500.

The House Business and Labor Committee gave the bill a favorable recommendation Friday.