Electric vehicles banned in California

The problem that is happening in Great Britain, as well as in the rest of Europe, has also crossed the pond and is emerging on American shores. Specifically in California, a few days after the announcement of the phase-out of gas-powered cars, the government is calling for the recharging of electric vehicles to be prevented during a grid emergency.

In the early afternoon, just as Californians begin to head home for the day, the California Independent System Operator issued a Level 1 power emergency alert shortly after exhausting all of its available power supplies. Despite previous warnings to reduce consumption, Californians, in all their virtue, decided to charge their electric vehicles anyway, exceeding demand, the grid’s capacity.

Faced with this situation, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to release the emergency power supply and stated “It’s pretty clear that Mother Nature has overtaken us”.

According to power grid workers, the emergency was caused by the extreme weather the world is experiencing due to climate change. This is magnified in California, which is experiencing extreme heat and extreme drought. As the day progressed, the temperature exceeded more than expected values, and this has led to the issuance of a specific warning about the possibility of power outages that could cause blackouts.

This is not an isolated case, as Gary Cunningham, director of market research for risk management firm Tradition Energy, California Independent System Operator (CAISO) warned people in May that “unless voluntary curtailments occur, the grid could become unstable during certain periods of high demand.” These heat episodes pose the biggest test for the grid, which has already been affected since the summer of 2020, when rolling blackouts disrupted part of the state.

To avoid potential failures, grid officials warn “The three main conservation actions are to set thermostats at 78 degrees or higher, avoid using large appliances and charging electric vehicles, and turn off unnecessary lights.” These actions will relieve pressure on the system and avoid more drastic measures, such as rolling blackouts.

The fact that CAISO has to ask customers not to charge their electric vehicles during the current heat wave implies that the grid is fragile, ensuring that an increase in household electric vehicle charging could bring down part of the state’s grid. If weather or grid conditions worsen, grid operators warn that “the ISO may issue a series of emergency notifications to access additional resources and prepare market participants and the public for potential power shortages.”

Reality shows that grid operators are concerned. The increasing use of air conditioners, in the evening when people plug in their electric vehicles for charging, is increasing power demand, while supply constraints suggest the state will have years of a chaotic grid, similar to that of a third-world country.

By contrast, former Assemblyman Chuck DeVore criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plea to residents to avoid charging their electric vehicles in the face of the threat of power outages and devastating heat waves. DeVore told “Fox & Friends First” that people “underestimate” the amount of electricity needed to power electric vehicles, adding that the move to ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035 is “a glimpse into America’s future” after he was able to visit the “Utopia” that was for Texas.

He justifies these claims by commenting that, “California only has 600,000 electric vehicles on the road today out of about 20 million or so in operation. If they ban internal combustion engines, there will be about 2 million new electric vehicles a year. That’s about 14% of the total, 14% of the California grid, will be dedicated to electric vehicles when people come home from work. And if all those cars are charged at the same time, that’s about one-seventh of what the grid needs to run in those evening hours when things are really tight. I think we’re getting a glimpse of the future if we go all electric, and people constantly underestimate the enormous amount of electricity it takes to make that happen.”

So much for the green energy transition?

From these grid issues, opinions arise that question good energy planning on the part of the government, raising questions such as:

How exactly is this state, bent on eliminating fossil fuel generation and replacing it with unreliable solar and wind power going to sustain all new electric vehicles after lawmakers last week passed a new measure to eliminate all gas vehicles by 2035?

Their answer is clear, nuclear power. Nuclear power is the only answer to decarbonizing an electric grid with sustainable power generation. Asia gets it!

That’s because the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted on a groundbreaking measure to approve a ban on the sale of new internal combustion engine vehicles to combat climate change.

The plan is being heralded as a major acceleration toward the adoption of electric vehicles to address what many lawmakers believe the world is rapidly descending into climate disaster due to rising carbon emissions. Specifically Lauren Sanchez, senior climate advisor to the governor, in a conference call stated “It’s ambitious, it’s groundbreaking, it’s what we must do if we want to leave this planet better for future generations.”

For proper implementation, the new regulations are expected to require all new vehicles sold in the state by 2035 to be 100% electric. This will be achieved by gradually increasing the limitations. Currently, sales hover around 12%, by 2026, the standard will require at least 35% of new passenger cars to produce zero emissions, and 68% by 2030.

With these new measures, California is getting back on board the green utopia boat, ahead of the rest of the United States. According to Margo Oge, an electric vehicle expert who headed the Environmental Protection Agency’s transportation emissions program under Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, “California will now be the only government in the world to mandate zero-emission vehicles. It’s unique.”

Full EV deployment by 2035 poses some challenges. Among them, China controls all the rare earth metals to make batteries, plus global supply chains are realigning in a multipolar world as U.S. companies leave China and move their operations to friendlier countries.

Because of this, Michelle Krebs, an analyst at Autotrader, told Axios that CARB’s new rule does not seem “realistic” given that “there are some hurdles” and stating that “Whether the requirements are realistic or achievable is directly related to external factors such as inflation, freight and fuel infrastructure, supply chains, labour, the availability, and price of critical minerals and the current shortage of semiconductors”.

In turn, John Bozzella, CEO of Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents major automakers on policy issues also stated “these are complex, interrelated and global issues beyond the control of CARB or the auto industry.”

Another issue raised is cost, The Epoch Times confirms, “only the upper strata of society” can afford new electric vehicles. Supported by The Verge which clarifies, “One of the main obstacles to mass adoption of electric vehicles is cost. Electric vehicles are too expensive, with the average price hitting an all-time high earlier this summer of $66,000. This is disappointing, because the auto industry has always promised that prices would come down as battery manufacturing became more efficient.”

He concludes his explanation with, “Even more disappointing is the rate at which EV prices are rising compared to their gasoline equivalents. According to a recent analysis of the car-buying database iSeeCars, electric car prices saw a year-on-year increase of 54.3%, while gasoline cars were up only 10.1%.”

So what does this mean for the lower stratum of society that can’t afford expensive new EVs? Well, as Epoch’s John Seiler opines, “The lowest tier of car owners will be those who can’t afford new EVs, they will be forced to buy much older EVs at high prices, with mechanical problems that will further strain family budgets.”

So, does California want everyone to drive electric vehicles?

The state has launched several programs to help residents, but they are already running out of funds. Will these be enough? The answer is clear, NO. Two of the state-funded assistance programs for low-income buyers have closed after running out of money.

The average price of an EV in the U.S. hit $66,000 this summer, and lower incomes have a hard time competing for a car in a hostile market with high profit margins and low inventory. Strong demand for EVs has been exacerbated by gasoline prices, which again averaged $6.43 a gallon in California last week.

As California undertakes the ambitious transition to EVs, low-income Californians risk being left out of the transition, despite having the most to gain from it. Electric vehicles are less expensive to fuel and maintain, are more reliable, and do not contribute to air pollution, which disproportionately affects disadvantaged communities, but as financial assistance programs face challenges and market pressures intensify, those who need them most risk being left behind.

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the lowest quintile of households in terms of income spent 26.9% of their income on transportation in 2021, nearly double the national average of 13.9% thus determining that, “Low-income households spend a much higher percentage of their income on transportation.”

This economic burden is being exacerbated by the sharp rise in gasoline prices. According to Irvin Rivero, beneficial electrification associate at Acterra, a Bay Area nonprofit organization that helps income-qualified buyers apply for incentive programs, “Inflation is crazy, and they don’t have enough money to be paying for gas,” further included, “If they’re low-income, they usually tend to commute pretty far to work, so they’re going to be filling up a lot more.”

Because lower earners also tend to drive cars that are older and more prone to breaking down. Even Veronica Valencia, program director of Valley Clean Air Now (Valley Can), a nonprofit organization that administers the Clean Cars 4 All (CC4A) vehicle replacement program, explains, “People have told us that because they don’t have a reliable car, they’ve been cited at work for being late or fired. By requiring fewer repairs and eliminating the need to spend money on gas, oil changes, and engine repairs, EVs can be a valuable tool for promoting upward mobility for low-income households”.

But EVs remain largely unaffordable for lower incomes, even if they are pre-owned. The average price of a used EV topped $40,000 this summer, according to Recurrent, a tech startup in the used car sector. Financial assistance in the form of upfront grants can be a crucial way to close the affordability gap.

To address this problem, California has spent more than $400 million on various incentive programs to help lower-income drivers purchase zero-emission vehicles. There is the CC4A program, which offers up to $9,500 for a down payment on an electric vehicle if the applicant turns in a pre-2005 model year vehicle. CVRP offers a $4,500 rebate on new electric vehicles to income-eligible applicants. Before closing in 2021 due to funding problems, the Clean Vehicle Assistance Program (CVAP) offered $5,000 down payment assistance for a new or used zero-emission vehicle.

As Linda Hutchins-Knowles, Acterra’s director of electric mobility and advocacy, says, “Sometimes you can get a used EV for free if you qualify and stack the grants.” To that end, organizations like Acterra and Valley Can conduct grassroots campaigns to raise awareness of the programs in disadvantaged communities and offer language and computer assistance to help people apply.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is charged with managing the state’s electric vehicle incentive programs, and explaining that they were working to reform the incentive programs and address the problems that caused some of them to close prematurely. Some advocates said the rapid depletion of CVAP and DCAP funds was largely because so many people whose incomes were close to the maximum threshold took advantage and applied, so there were no funds left for those most in need.

Lisa Macumber, CARB’s air resources supervisor, explained that when the CVAP program reopens in the spring of 2023, it would use a needs-based model that puts lower-income applicants at the front of the queue. Two of the programs would also be consolidated, so applicants would have to fill out fewer applications. The neediest applicants would be assigned a case manager to help them apply, and grant amounts would be increased to make the neediest eligible for up to $15,000 in initial assistance.

Meanwhile, interest in EVs among needy buyers continues to grow. Valley Can said it had a waiting list of about 1,500 completed applications for the vehicle replacement program, with another 1,500 applications in process.

References:

California Votes To Ban New Gas Vehicles By 2035 In Push For EV-Utopia

Just Days After Phasing Out New Gas Cars, California Says «Avoid Charging EVs» Amid Grid Emergency

Gavin Newsom blasted for asking Californians to avoid charging electric vehicles during heat wave

California wants everyone to drive EVs. How will low-income people afford them?