After setbacks to adopting electric vehicle sales targets in Maine and Connecticut, New England clean transportation advocates are regrouping with a focus on charging infrastructure and consumer education. 

Maine’s Board of Environmental Protection voted 4-2 on March 20 against adopting California’s Advanced Clean Cars II rules, which would have required electric or plug-in hybrids to make up 82% of new vehicle sales in the state by model year 2032.

Board members initially signaled support for the proposal, which came from a citizen petition last spring, before their first planned vote was delayed by a severe storm in December. 

Last November, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, pulled a comparable proposal from legislative consideration after it was not expected to have the votes to pass.

Neither state had opted to consider California’s Advanced Clean Trucks standard, which sets similar targets for heavy-duty vehicle sales. 

Maine and Connecticut are among more than a dozen states that have had earlier versions of California’s clean car standards on the books for years. Both states have also prioritized transportation emissions, the region’s biggest contributor to global warming, in their climate plans. 

Some advocates fear progress in this sector will stall in these states until they adopt the updated California rules. They say debate over the standards was clouded by false and misleading claims, often pushed by fossil fuel industry groups, that have ramped up as part of the 2024 presidential campaign. 

“It was really an attempt to confuse and agitate consumers, and unfortunately it was successful,” said Charles Rothenberger, the climate and energy attorney at the Connecticut nonprofit Save the Sound. 

Fear of ‘losing ground’

Even if Connecticut or Maine successfully revisits adopting the California rules next year, it would likely push implementation out to model year 2029 at the earliest, advocates said. 

States that don’t use the new California standards will default to federal rules for reducing vehicle emissions. These rules were just overhauled but have a slower timeline than California’s, designed to accommodate states with lower EV sales rates than in much of New England, Rothenberger said.

“Standards that really cater to the laggards when it comes to EV adoption are really not beneficial to states that are well ahead of that curve,” he said. “I fear that it will lead to us losing ground to states that continue with the California standards,” such as Massachusetts and New York, Rothenberger added. 

This could mean less choice and supply for both new and used electric vehicles as carmakers focus on those other states, he said. 

In the meantime, Connecticut EV advocates are backing a bill in the General Assembly to allow state bonds for charging infrastructure and EV incentives and create an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Coordinating Council to work with utility regulators on system planning, among other provisions. 

Peter LaFond, the Maine program director for the Acadia Center, a regional nonprofit, said the delay in adopting California’s rules provides time for combating misconceptions and for utilizing increasing state and federal funds for charging infrastructure. 

“Every month that goes by, I think there’ll be more and more chargers, and once there are, I think people will see the clear advantages,” LaFond said. “(EVs and plug-in hybrids) lower the carbon footprint and they’re less expensive to operate, and the cold doesn’t present as much of a challenge as the misinformation would have you believe. I think education is going to be a big part of this.” 

A snowball effect in rural areas

Scott Vlaun, the executive director of the Center for an Ecology-Based Economy, a nonprofit in the small western Maine town of Norway, said he sees a snowball effect of EV acceptance in his region.

“It’s happening, it’s just not happening fast enough,” Vlaun said. “This is the future, and if Maine doesn’t get its share, then … we’re going to be kind of stuck — in, especially rural Maine — with people driving beat-up, old, inefficient cars, and it’s not good for anybody.” 

CEBE has led a push for a large public EV charger network in and around Norway, which Vlaun said has helped make EVs and hybrids a more common sight everywhere from Main Street to nearby ski resorts. 

“We do this annual EV expo, and if you get people driving an F-150 Lightning, or a Chevy Bolt, depending on what their needs are, they get it,” he said. “So much of the misinformation — it’s almost comical, because it’s obvious that these people have never gotten behind the wheel of an electric car.” 

Vlaun was speaking from his own EV parked at a public charger outside CEBE’s office, having just driven back from a meeting in Portland, Maine, about an hour away. He said he would have liked to take a train or bus instead of driving, but doesn’t have an easy option for doing so. 

“We don’t see electric cars as a one-to-one replacement for gas cars,” he said. “We see electric vehicles as an interim step and a better solution to individual transportation than gas-powered vehicles — not the answer to the world’s transportation problems by any stretch.” 

Advocates in Connecticut agreed that encouraging cleaner public transit, more walkable cities and less driving overall is as much or more important to reducing transportation emissions as EV adoption. 

Community health impacts

Those emissions are linked to disproportionate asthma rates, low school test scores and other adverse public health ripple effects in Connecticut, said Dr. Mark Mitchell, the co-chair of the Connecticut Equity and Environmental Justice Advisory Council. 

“The people who have the least ability to afford cars and to drive suffer the most from the pollution caused by cars, and so we need to change that — we need to invest in public transportation and making cities walkable and bikeable,” he said. “We’re not going to get rid of cars… but we should make sure that the cars that drive through our communities are as clean as possible, as quickly as possible.” 

Mitchell said he lives in an especially low-income part of Hartford, the state capital — one of the lowest-income cities on the East Coast, with a mostly Black and Latino population. Mitchell said many of his neighbors don’t drive at all and can’t afford new cars, so they don’t yet “see themselves in EVs.” 

“But that’s not the point,” he said. “The point is that they’re very concerned about asthma, they’re very concerned about ADHD, they’re very concerned about school test scores.”

EV adoption across the state is one solution to those problems, he said.  

Jayson Velazquez, the Acadia Center’s Hartford-based climate and energy justice policy associate, used the term “through-emissions” to describe pollution from diesel trucks and other vehicles that traverse low-income neighborhoods and communities of color in Connecticut’s cities en route to nearby highways. 

Unlike those vehicles and their non-local drivers, Velazquez said, “the lasting health effects that come from that pollution don’t just get up and go.” 

Despite concerns about misinformation, advocates acknowledged that they share certain concerns with opponents of the California rules — such as affordability, charging access, the sustainability of minerals mining to build batteries, and strain on the power grid from increasing EV use. 

“There are real issues,” said Mitchell. “We do need to build up the infrastructure, both the charging infrastructure and the electric grid. … But until we set goals, we don’t know how quickly we need to do that. And it’s much easier to put things off if you don’t have a goal.”

Amid progress on electric vehicles, political setbacks frustrate advocates in Maine, Connecticut is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

The following commentary was written by research and modeling manager Rachel Goldstein and modeling analyst Daniel O’Brien of Energy Innovation Policy & Technology LLC. See our commentary guidelines for more information.

California’s new clean-vehicle policy will transform the world’s second largest car market, drive a nationwide electric vehicle (EV) revolution, save consumers money, and clean the air. New Energy Innovation Policy & Technology LLC research shows if the 16 “Section 177” states follow California’s plan to phase out fossil-fueled car sales by 2035, EVs could compose more than 80 percent of all new car sales across the United States in 2050.

This accelerated EV transition could extend this policy’s benefits far beyond California, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs, preventing thousands of pollution-induced deaths, saving drivers hundreds of dollars every year, and cutting the greenhouse gas equivalent of removing an entire year’s worth of today’s car emissions.

Emissions reductions from California’s Advanced Clean Cars II triple if the 177 States adopt the rule

Section 177 of the U.S. Clean Air Act allows California Air Resources Board (CARB) to enact more stringent emissions standards than those set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In August 2022, CARB approved the new Advanced Clean Cars II rule (ACC II) requiring all new cars sold in the state be zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) by 2035. California sells more cars and trucks than any other state, driving major implications for nationwide car sales and transportation emissions.

The Clean Air Act also allows other states to “piggyback” off California’s standards, helping cut emissions from vehicles inside their borders — 16 states have opted to follow earlier cleaner car standards. These Section 177 states and California make up 38 percent of the U.S. auto market, meaning ACC II adoption could transform how Americans drive. While some states automatically adopt new CARB rules, others, like Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, and New York require proactively adoption via legislation, executive order, or regulatory action.

Energy Innovation modeled the impacts of the new ZEV rule using its free, open-source Energy Policy Simulator model. The results showed that if all 17 states adopt ACC II, annual U.S. transportation emissions could fall 53 percent by 2050 versus today’s levels, equivalent to avoiding the emissions of 13 coal plants operating for the next 30 years.

CARB’s decision followed the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which extended and expanded the federal EV tax credit up to $7,500. The IRA eliminated a restriction that only automakers that have sold less than 200,000 EVs can qualify for the credit and created a separate $4,000 tax credit for used EVs.

These incentives will drive consumer demand in the near term, while spurring domestic battery and EV manufacturing. But overcoming long-term adoption challenges requires ZEV standards. Following the tax credit expiration in 2032, annual EV sales could fall to pre-IRA, business-as-usual levels without ACC II adoption.

States should adopt ACC II to deliver savings and cleaner air benefits to residents

Drivers of fuel-burning cars are handcuffed to volatile gas prices. Gas prices fluctuated as much as 25 percent since 2022, largely due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. OPEC and Russia recently announced plans to cut 1.6 million barrels of oil production per day by the end of 2023, aiming to push prices even higher.

EVs are already cheaper to finance and own than gas-powered vehicles the day they are driven off the lot in most states, even if they have a higher sticker price. EVs need less maintenance and charge on the electricity grid, which has greater price stability and lower prices than the oil market. Previous Energy Innovation modeling found EV owners average $6,000 in savings over the vehicle’s lifetime thanks to lower fuel and maintenance costs.

If all 177 States adopt ACC II, U.S. households could save an average of $238 annually, with savings concentrated in states that adopt the standard and offer robust EV incentives. For example, households in in New Jersey, which boasts one of the country’s highest EV tax incentives, could save $682 every year when the state implements ACC II.

ACC II adoption in all 17 states could also create more than 300,000 jobs nationwide through new EV supply chain and domestic manufacturing facilities investments.

National economic changes due to ACC II as compared with an IRA baseline

Shifting away from fuel-burning vehicles will also cut toxic nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter emissions which harm human health. Air quality improvements from ACC II could prevent as many as 160,000 asthma attacks and 5,000 deaths nationwide by 2050.

Improved public health will feed back into the economy. In New York, adopting the ACC II rules could prevent up to 55,000 health-induced lost workdays. These benefits will be particularly prevalent in communities of color, which experience pollution-related health impacts at significantly higher rates than the national average.

State leaders can accelerate the transition to EVs with strong supporting policies

With model ZEV standards ready to adopt, state policymakers can floor it toward an electrified transportation future, delivering considerable benefits for their residents. But complementary policies are critical to ensure rapid EV adoption. Each state can further support EV market growth by developing charging infrastructure, offering state incentives for EVs, and hosting supply chain manufacturing facilities.

EV adoption is still contingent upon the buildout of a widespread, equitable charging network that ensures access to quick charging. Coordination between state and local governments, utilities, and the private sector can help build out charging infrastructure across all neighborhoods and help overcome a major obstacle to EV purchases in rural areas.

State policymakers should pair IRA tax credits with state incentives to make EVs even more price competitive. Means-based rebates and tax credits, like those in California’s Clean Cars 4 All program, should be funded to support EV access for low- and middle-income communities. Policymakers can also support the growth of their EV markets and bring more jobs home by incentivizing EV supply-chain manufacturing to their states. These facilities can bring new jobs and sources of tax revenue to their communities.

Vehicle markets are rapidly moving towards EV adoption, and states with supporting policies will be best positioned to take advantage of the benefits. ACC II will accelerate that transition, driving down carbon emissions and other tailpipe pollution while saving customers money. State lawmakers should move swiftly to adopt the ACC II rules — any delay forgoes jobs, savings, and cleaner air for their residents.

Commentary: California’s Clean Cars rule would deliver jobs, household savings in other states is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

Despite continuing a lawsuit over the state’s clean car standards, the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association recently hired an electric vehicle program director.

The organization believes it is the first dealer association in the country to add a staff member assigned explicitly to electric vehicle issues. Its vice president of public affairs, Amber Backhaus, said the position developed over the past two years as demands by dealers for expertise and information on electric vehicles grew.

Backhaus said the dealer association does not agree with “supply side mandates,” but does not see that as contradictory to preparing for the market shift that is already well underway.

“Electric vehicles are the wave of the future and our dealers are excited to sell them, but there are a lot of things they need to do to prepare to be able to sell them,” she said. “We get a lot of questions from dealers and we thought it would make sense to bring somebody in-house who could put together those resources and answer their frequently asked questions.”

The association selected Steve Nesbit, a former executive who oversaw electric vehicles and renewable energy programs at an electric cooperative and worked at an auto dealership. Nesbit said he sees his role as helping dealers “support the sale of electric vehicles and keep their business model operating.”

Nesbit worked for Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association for 12 years, focusing on renewable energy and community solar for part of his time there. Before taking the association job, he worked for an energy technology company and an auto dealer.

The association has been a long-term member of Drive Electric Minnesota, an initiative of the Great Plains Institute. M. Moaz Uddin, a policy specialist at the institute, said the addition of Nesbit will help “bridge the gaps between dealerships and utilities” and make for a smoother transition to vehicle electrification.

While electric vehicles will play a crucial role in decarbonizing transportation, they will not be the only solution. Minnesota needs to continue efforts to create low-carbon fuels and communities where residents can walk or use transit, bicycles and other transportation modes instead of cars, Uddin said.

Fighting California rules

Nesbit starts his role as the association continues fighting the state’s clean cars standards in a case heard in November at the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Last year, Minnesota adopted the clean cars standards developed by the California Air Resources Board, a move requiring dealers to make more electric vehicles available starting in 2024. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency oversees the new rule.

Auto dealers and Republicans have criticized the Walz administration’s embrace of the California model. The federal government only permits California to have its own auto emission regulations. However, it allows other states to follow the Golden State’s rules or those of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

More than a dozen states have embraced the tougher rules, but California’s decision to ban the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles in 2035 has left several states, including Minnesota, debating whether to return to the federal standard. Backhaus expects the appeals court to release a decision early next year, which comes after the association lost an earlier challenge in federal court last year. 

Fresh Energy, which publishes the Energy News Network, is one of six organizations that have signed on to a brief of amici curiae in support of the tougher standards. Fresh Energy policy staff do not have access to the Energy News Network’s editorial process.

Both Backhaus and Nesbit say the lawsuit does not diminish the association’s embrace of electric vehicles nor its desire to help members overcome challenges. Dealers may not like the speed of the transition, Nesbit said, but they understand the need to educate sales and service staff on the new technology.

They must learn how to speak to consumers about the strengths and weaknesses of electric vehicles in weather conditions in Minnesota, such as brutally cold winters that can diminish battery charges quickly, he said.

Backhaus said automobile manufacturers have begun requiring dealers to have chargers onsite and new equipment in repair shops. Dealers will need new lifts — because electric vehicles weigh more than internal combustion vehicles — and a retraining program for their mechanics. Ford recently announced new requirements could cost individual dealerships $1.2 million in upgrades, she said.

Minnesota dealers work with 65 different investor-owned, cooperative and municipal-owned utilities, Backhaus said. Some utilities, especially those owned by municipalities, have little experience with electric vehicles or chargers. Auto sellers will need onsite chargers, as will their clients. 

“Hopefully, we can also educate utilities serving our dealers, so this is a smooth transition,” Backhaus said.

‘A massive misperception’

Tom Leonard, incoming chair of the association and president of Fury Motors in the Twin Cities, has become a big fan of electric vehicles and of the association adding a staff expert devoted to training, education and advocacy. The lawsuit, he conceded, may have led Minnesotans to believe dealers don’t want to sell electric vehicles.

“That’s a massive misperception that has been maybe played more in the media than in the car dealership world,” he said. “Car dealers are very pro-electric vehicles, zero-emission vehicles. We don’t want to be behind what’s coming at us.”

Leonard said he will have to upgrade his dealership, which sells Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles. The association has been working with manufacturers about how infrastructure charging investments work in Minnesota, for example by pointing out that state funding requires the public to have access to the equipment. Many dealerships must start installing chargers and new equipment early next year to meet 2023 car company deadlines, he said.

Backhaus said auto manufacturers have not yet created programs to help dealers pay for upgrades. The association plans to look for funding for members through federal and state sources. The Inflation Reduction Act offers a 30% tax credit from charger installations, but some of the other initiatives come with “a lot of red tape,” she said.

The association plans to continue advocating for legislation in Minnesota to offer incentives for electric vehicle purchases and develop a program to help dealers pay for upgrades. Rep. Zack Stephenson, a Minneapolis Democrat, has sponsored legislation that offers rebates for buyers and assists in helping dealers pay for programs certifying employees to sell electric vehicles.

In the next few years, Backhaus would like to see dealers have the educational background, infrastructure and services in place to sell EVs. 

“We want them to be able to talk to their consumers about how [electric vehicles] work and that they’re not a scary, unknown thing,” she said.

Fresh Energy staff, board members and funders do not have access to or oversight of the Energy News Network’s editorial process. More about our relationship with Fresh Energy can be found in our code of ethics.

While fighting clean car rules, Minnesota dealers gear up for an all-electric future is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

Virginia Republicans’ threats to slam the brakes on the state’s groundbreaking clean transportation law are continuing despite the growing appeal of electric vehicles among auto dealers and drivers.

The 2021 legislation known as Clean Cars is designed to rein in carbon pollution by squeezing outsize tailpipe emissions statewide beginning in 2024. Clean Cars is modeled after a program that originated in California that sets stricter  emissions standards for cars and light-duty trucks. It also directs auto manufacturers to deliver significantly higher inventories of electric vehicles to new car dealers. Currently, Virginia’s inventory is low.

The Clean Air Act granted California exclusive authority to draft vehicle emissions standards that are tougher than federal ones because the Golden State was wrestling with such severe smog problems. Other states can choose to follow California’s lead by adopting those more robust standards or continue to stick with the less stringent federal standards. However, they are not allowed to design their own rules.

Virginia legislators’ decision to hitch the state’s tailpipe standards to California has long been unpopular with many Republicans, but that opposition reached a crescendo in late August when California regulators proposed an update to its standards that would ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars beginning in 2035.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would still have to approve the upgrades rolled out by the California Air Resources Board. 

Republican legislators have already pre-filed three bills to constrain Clean Cars months before the next General Assembly session begins on Jan. 11. The blowback was compounded Monday when Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin stated in his first Virginia Energy Plan that the Clean Cars law should be scrapped to protect the electric grid. 

If they succeed, they’ll do so against the wishes of the state’s auto dealers association and Virginians who are frustrated that a shortage of in-state electric vehicles often forces them to shop in Maryland and beyond.

Don Hall, president of the Richmond-based Virginia Automobile Dealers Association, is a native Californian. That affiliation, he said, helps him understand why some Virginians don’t want to be told what to do by a West Coast state with a megaphone on environmental issues.

But he said his trade group for new vehicle dealers continues to champion Clean Cars legislation because his 43 years in the industry have honed his ability to read the tea leaves of transportation’s future.

“All I know is this: The manufacturers are all in with electric vehicles,” Hall said. “I’ve got to make sure my dealers are all in.”

For dealers, EVs about boosting sales

Hall drives an electric Volkswagen ID.4 sport utility vehicle “to set an example.” 

While he doesn’t have figures on how many electric and low-emissions vehicles have been delivered to the 450 dealerships he represents statewide, he said the numbers are “very small.” 

Without Clean Cars, he said, that number would continue to stagnate. States that sign on to California’s rules become priorities for deliveries from auto manufacturers. 

“I would love to tell you this is all about the environment, but that is not my motivation,” Hall said. “I don’t want to see my Virginia dealers cut out because they won’t have cars people want to drive. I want to make sure they have vehicles consumers will continue to demand.”

Related: Auto dealer sees Clean Cars as great first step for electric vehicles in Virginia

As of May, Virginia is one of 17 states — and the District of Columbia — that has followed California’s lead and adopted its regulations for tailpipe emissions in some fashion. The phasing in of electric vehicles gives auto manufacturers the flexibility to generate, buy and sell credits to meet the standards.

Hall is disappointed Virginia legislators couldn’t find the momentum to fund incentives in the form of rebates to entice “average folks” to join early adopters in purchasing electric vehicles.

For instance, one bill that failed to pass last year would have reduced the upfront cost of an electric vehicle with a $2,500 point-of-sale rebate for Virginians purchasing new, used or leased vehicles up to $55,000. Low- to moderate-income buyers would have received an additional $2,000. 

Such rebates are hot potatoes across the country as legislators fret about  subsidizing a purchase that will be made anyway or seen as an unnecessary giveaway to wealthier residents.

Hall said rebates — “money on the hood,” in dealer-speak — shouldn’t last forever, just long enough to bump up sales.

“If you don’t put money where your mandate is,” Hall said, it indicates “you must not be committed to the program.”

‘Going electric’ sends a message 

Meanwhile, as drama over Clean Cars unfolds in Richmond,  Charlottesville-based Generation 180 has co-launched a “National Going Electric Pledge Campaign” in its home state and beyond.

“Despite EV demand outpacing supply, consumers can still send a powerful message to the auto industry, legislators, and everyday folks by pledging to make their next new or used car purchase an EV,” said Generation 180 Executive Director Wendy Philleo. 

Electric vehicles represented roughly 3% of the 15 million new car sales across the country in 2021. 

In November 2020, Philleo’s nonprofit advocacy group released a comprehensive report indicating that more than half of Virginians are amenable to electrifying their next ride. But barriers such as a shortage of car lot inventory and a lack of point-of-sale rebates are stalling the electric vehicle adoption rate at below 2% statewide.

Virginia then ranked 13th nationwide in electric vehicle sales. The top 14 states with the highest electric vehicle sales accounted for 81.1% of U.S. electric vehicle sales in 2020. Of those states, only Colorado and Illinois generate more than 30% of their electricity from coal. 

Electric vehicle supporters have touted Clean Cars as an enormous leap forward for reining in transportation emissions. That sector — which accounts for at least half of Virginia’s heat-trapping gas emissions — is also the leading source of carbon emissions nationwide. 

Proponents count on Senate Dems 

In 2021, Clean Cars was carried by Democrats on a straight party-line vote in both the House of Delegates and the Senate. 

The measure was signed into law by former Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat whose four-year term ended in mid-January. Virginia governors are barred from serving consecutive terms.

In this year’s legislative session, a Senate with a slim Democratic majority was able to keep Clean Cars intact despite a vote in the House of Delegates to repeal it. In November 2021, voters had flipped the House of Delegates back to a GOP majority.

Proponents of Clean Cars hope the Senate holds the line again next year. Thus far, two of the bills to repeal Clean Cars in the upcoming General Assembly session were pre-filed in the Senate, still led by Democrats, and one was in the House.

Trip Pollard, a senior attorney who specializes in transportation issues with the Southern Environmental Law Center, expects more such measures are on the way. He said he is dismayed that Republicans are again intent on undoing a law that hasn’t even taken effect yet. Beyond addressing climate change, he noted, Clean Cars is a victory for the health of Virginians.

For years, advocates have emphasized the link between tailpipe emissions and asthma, other respiratory diseases and an array of health setbacks.

Exhaust pollutants such as fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds can disproportionately affect families living near highways, often low-income residents and minorities. Those populations, plus the elderly, experience a 61% higher death rate attributable to Virginia vehicle air pollution. 

The overall health burden caused by fine particulate matter contained within Virginia’s vehicle emissions amounts to $750 million annually, according to a study prepared for Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action.

“They want to repeal Clean Cars, but offer zero alternatives,” Pollard said. “But this is the future.”

Virginia Republicans vow to repeal Clean Cars law as interest grows in EVs is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

In 1902, H. Carter Myers started out in the hardware, machinery and mill supply business. But when residents of Petersburg, Virginia, began trading horses for internal combustion engines, he directed employees to market cars his in-store team assembled from kits.

More than a century later, his great-granddaughter is orchestrating yet another transition at the family-operated auto dealership that sprang from that single store. Liza Myers Borches, president and CEO of Carter Myers Automotive, is at the forefront in acclimating drivers to electrifying their rides.

In her view, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s signing of the General Assembly’s Clean Cars Virginia bill into law last month allows more dealers to climb aboard the electric vehicle bandwagon.

Environmental and health advocates had pushed Clean Cars to the top of their legislative agenda this year, an effort to rein in the state’s prolific emissions of heat-trapping gases from the transportation sector. To date, Virginia is first in the South and the latest of 14 states and the District of Columbia to follow California’s lead by adopting clean car standards.

The milestone measure signals to auto manufacturers that Virginia dealers are receptive to a steady supply of greener vehicles. In a nutshell, it sets two standards. One requires manufacturers to roll out vehicles that steadily decrease emissions of greenhouse gases, soot and smog-forming pollutants. The other requires a wider array of electric cars, SUVs and pickups, known as zero-emissions vehicles.

Clean Cars will likely line up with the rollout of electric vehicles for model year 2025, so state dealers have a few years to pivot. 

More than half of Virginians are amenable to purchasing an electric vehicle, according to a survey conducted by Generation 180 late last year. A comprehensive report issued by the Charlottesville-based environmental nonprofit revealed that barriers such as a shortage of car lot inventory and a lack of point-of-sale rebates had stalled the adoption rate at below 2% statewide. Nationwide, Virginia ranks 13th in electric vehicle sales.

Carter Myers Automotive, now headquartered in Charlottesville, is the fifth largest dealer group in Virginia with 17 franchises in 15 locations.

Borches joined her family business in 2003 and had worked in the industry since graduating from the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce in 1997 with a degree in finance and marketing.

She and her husband, Peter Borches, are early and enthusiastic adopters of transport fueled by electrons. Not only do they have two electric bikes at home, but she drives a Volvo plug-in hybrid and he drives an all-electric Nissan Leaf. 

Borches is already eyeing a Volkswagen ID.4 as the next family car because they anticipate their son will inherit the Leaf when he turns 16. 

“Its range is very solid at 250 miles, its performance is great, and the interior is simple, super-clean and usable,” she said about the VW. “As a mom, I have to consider how the vehicle is going to work in my life. This one is a sport utility vehicle so it has space for kids and room for their friends.”

The following Energy News Network interview with Borches about electric vehicles in Virginia has been lightly edited for length and clarity. 

 Q: Let’s start off with Clean Cars Virginia. How does it broaden access to electric vehicles?

A: It’s pretty simple and clear. It’s a great first step because it means Virginia becomes a higher priority for receiving electric vehicles from manufacturers. We hope we will have the electric vehicle models that customers are demanding.

What has held some dealers back is a 30-day mindset. They feared they wouldn’t move a car off the lot because interest might not be there.  

Clean Cars means more electric vehicles on Virginia’s roads. The delay in putting it into place means we will have time to build out charging infrastructure and make sure point-of-purchase rebates are funded.

Q: What are the top three changes it will require of your company? 

A: The bill itself doesn’t require changes. If we want to put more electric vehicles on the road, it’s a matter of asking auto manufacturers if they want to partner with us. 

Here in Virginia, we’ll have to invest in equipment such as new lifts and new tools to service electric vehicles. And, new training is required for our sales associates, who can learn online, and our technicians, who have to be certified.

Dealers also have to take the risk of stocking electric vehicle inventories. Once we have them on our floor, we own them. “Are they going to sell?” and “What do we do if they don’t?” are the questions that concern dealers. We need to make sure there’s consumer demand because if we don’t sell them before the next model year is available, it’s a high-dollar investment.

Q: At first, members of the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association resisted this legislation and, at the very least, wanted to delay it. What role, if any, did you play in shifting that opposition? 

A: It was such a short legislative session and it was all being done virtually, so we had a lot going on in a short amount of time. We sent out that initial letter in opposition because our immediate reaction to the bill was, “Wait a minute, we haven’t had time to digest this and understand the positives and the negatives.” It’s coming too fast and we couldn’t talk in person about it.

After the letter went out, we had to educate ourselves. That meant checking in with multiple dealers in other states with clean cars legislation to find out how it worked and with representatives from the environmental and other groups. Our attitude was, “Let’s talk this through.” Once we learned more, the negatives disappeared.

Q: Broadly, people know tailpipe emissions are wreaking havoc with the planet’s future, but driving is ingrained in our culture. Did you have an “aha” moment about climate change?

A: It started with my husband, Peter, who oversees new builds and remodeling projects for the company. One project with challenges was a parking deck in Charlottesville that needed some sort of roof or cover. He connected with Sun Tribe in 2016 and started exploring solar options. It just made so much sense and we couldn’t find a downside.

Looking at the science of climate change, and taking the political side off the table, it led to a pretty clear moment where we both asked how we could be part of the solution. As a couple in the transportation business with two young kids, we had a choice to make right now. We could either stick our heads in the sand and continue to sell thousands of internal combustion cars or start switching to hybrid and electric models. As part of an industry that is the number one contributor of greenhouse gases, we realized we could take advantage of that and play a role in significantly alleviating the problem.

Q: That initial solar superstructure of 480 panels led to your company’s Colonial Nissan dealership becoming the first sun-powered one in Virginia. Is solar a trend?

A:  Our fourth installation is being hooked up now in Staunton at our Chrysler store. That will give us a total of 523 kilowatts of direct current solar.

Q: You are active with multiple nonprofit organizations, including the Community Climate Collaborative (C3) in Charlottesville. What perspective on EVs did the latter offer to you that you didn’t have before?

A: We were part of the collaborative’s Better Business Challenge. Peter joined the board, which helped us focus on energy use and ask how we could work with C3 to bring action to Charlottesville. Together, we developed Driving Climate Solutions in 2019, about eight months before COVID-19. We made a couple of Nissan Leafs available so politicians and business and nonprofit leaders could drive one for a day. That generated awareness buzz about how easy it is to switch to an electric vehicle.

Also, during the pandemic we’ve made five Leafs available in Charlottesville. People can drive a Leaf for a day while their car is in the shop.

Q: Electric vehicles can be intimidating for buyers who don’t sell cars for a living. How can auto dealers make that less so? 

A: Two points. First, it’s so important to get people to experience an electric vehicle by driving one. Dealers should take the time to do educational events that are not threatening in common areas where participants have the opportunity to get to know the vehicles. We’ve worked with community and manufacturing partners to do events at a local country club and businesses. For example, we did a lunch and learn at Apex Clean Energy in Charlottesville where a test drive was part of the presentation.

The other point is that all of this will be less intimidating in the near future because of how manufacturers are integrating the technology. It’s part of the journey as product portfolios advance.

Q: Right now, EVs have higher price tags. How do you counter the argument that they are a rich person’s indulgence?

A: Well, the alternative is to not put electric vehicles on the road. Even if they’re more expensive than internal combustion models and even if they’re driven by buyers with higher incomes, having them on the road allows us to get used to this vehicle option in three to five years. 

The second thing is, we have to start somewhere. As we achieve enough volume, we have economies of scale, which brings down the price point.

Q: Relatedly, Virginia legislators passed House Bill 1979. It reduces the upfront cost of an electric vehicle with a $2,500 point-of-sale rebate for Virginians purchasing new, used or leased vehicles up to $55,000. Low- to moderate-income buyers receive an additional $2,000. The trouble is, it wasn’t funded this session. Why does this bill matter to auto dealers?

A: The rebate is important because it helps drive demand, so volumes increase and costs come down for manufacturers. Manufacturers will want us to stock their vehicles in order to meet their sales numbers, but we do not have to carry them unless we feel there will be consumer demand.

I love that the bill includes more money for low- to moderate-income buyers. That shows Virginia really tried to do everything they could to provide an incentive to people who are maybe not considering an electric vehicle.

I can’t tell you that the legislation is perfect, but it’s a very intentional effort to create a rebate that is focused on helping people who otherwise couldn’t afford an electric vehicle. I don’t know how we can differentiate somebody who was going to buy an electric vehicle anyway from the person who opted for an electric vehicle because of the rebate.

In the meantime, we still have a lot of work to do. We have time to create amendments to give legislators more confidence to fund the bill.

Q: Not everyone has the money or interest to invest in at-home charging infrastructure. How do you and your employees address that?

A: The cost of home charging stations has dropped significantly and they are very available. We’re investigating the idea of a partnership with a company that sells charging stations to make the purchase all one package and stay super easy for consumers buying electric vehicles. One-stop shopping puts all the pieces of the puzzle together.

What we haven’t addressed as a country is: How do we help renters or those living in condos, apartments and multifamily housing have access to at-home charging? We haven’t cracked that yet and it’s still a big issue on the table.

Q: You pointed out that your great-grandfather H. Carter Myers and his business partner sold a few electric trucks in Petersburg, Virginia. Do you think he would be astounded that EVs are having a resurgence now?

A: It’s a good question. It makes me wonder how different our country, our climate, our world would be if electric vehicles had taken hold in the early 1900s instead of internal combustion.

Q: Readers should know you’re named after Elizabeth P. Myers, your great-grandfather’s sister. She evidently kept the fledgling family business, then known as Petersburg Motor Company, afloat during the Great Depression. Can you tell us a bit about your great-great-aunt?

A: I only wish I knew more about her and could have met her. In the 1920s, while in her 20s, she moved to New York City for a job with Northwestern Insurance. Working with executives there, she gained a great reputation as a strong businesswoman. She saved enough money to keep our family afloat through the stock market crash (1929) and during the Depression.

In addition to giving her brother money, she gave him advice. We have letters she wrote spelling out what she thought he needed to do to keep the company going during the Depression and well beyond. She gained a broad perspective living in New York. For instance, she encouraged him to add racial diversity to his staff by hiring Black sales associates. He listened and became the first Petersburg dealership to do so.

Auto dealer sees Clean Cars as great first step for electric vehicles in Virginia is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.