Hot off the presses, Senator Joe Manchin announced on Wednesday that he had agreed to climate and energy programs in The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 that - if passed - will enable America to meet emission reduction goals. We're still pouring over this consequential legislation. Of note, there is an EV tax credit included in the pending bill that would include a $7,500 credit for new EVs that is tied to American sourced and manufactured batteries and a $4,000 credit for used EVs that include income limits and MSRP caps. As we digest the proposed bill, we'll relay pertinent electric transportation and mobility pieces and keep you informed on how you can help pass this once-in-a-lifetime legislation.
Speaking of federal funding, is your school district applying for the federal funding available to purchase electric school buses? Check out our resources in the newsletter to help you apply, and don't hesitate to contact us for help. Applications are due August 19, and it's not something you'll want to procrastinate on starting.
More locally, a few weeks ago, the Florida Municipal Electric Association kicked off their Annual Conference with a panel on electric vehicles. The conversation included SACE's own Dory Larsen alongside Florida Public Service Commission Chairman Andrew Fay and Clint Bullock, GM/CEO of Orlando Utility Commission. It was a great opportunity for SACE to share the status of EVs in the Sunshine state, federal funding opportunities, and economic development activities with the 33 public power communities in attendance.
The weather is hot and so is electric transportation momentum in Tennessee. Our "Transportation Electrification in the Southeast" year-end update published in collaboration with Atlas Public Policy, highlights the Volunteer state as a leader in manufacturing employment with 9,600 jobs as of December 2021. Now that Volkswagen has announced this week the start of production of its all-electric ID.4 SUV in Chattanooga, the state will see a 1,000 job boost. But that's not all of the manufacturing jobs coming to the state. The Energy Department has announced it will lend G.M. and LG $2.5 billion to build electric vehicle battery factories in Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan. These announcement are not only positive for the local Tennessee economy, but also for helping get more EVs on the road to satisfy consumer demand.
All measures include medium- and heavy-duty EVs, except for sales which refers exclusively to passenger EVs. EV manufacturing employment and investment represent commitments made to specific facilities in the state. Utility investment refers to investor-owned utilities only. To understand EV Sales and charging deployment in a national context, please read our report.
As we continue to track the progress of electric transportation growth in the Southeast and beyond, we remain grateful for our readers who stay connected to us and others on Facebook and Twitter. To receive these newsletters in your inbox, click here to sign up!
Charging Forward,
Dory Larsen
Powering the EV Movement
Time is Running Out to Catch the Electric School Bus
Whether you're a parent, teacher, administrator, or neighbor, make sure your school district catches the electric school bus! If you work at a utility or a school, you might have heard about the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program by now. As part of the bipartisan infrastructure bill (IIJA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is overseeing $5 billion in new spending for clean school buses with money available over the next five years. Read more.
Equitable Electric Mobility in Black and Hispanic Communities
On July 13, 2022, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy’s partner, EVHybridNoire, socialized and discussed findings from their ongoing qualitative and quantitative analysis of the attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs toward e-mobility, clean transportation, and electric vehicles among Black and Hispanic communities in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. EVHybridNoire’s findings shed light on the electric mobility attitudes, knowledge, and desires of populations historically excluded from transportation planning and policy-making. The webinar presentation and discussion informs government, utility, advocate, and research efforts underway to engage underrepresented communities authentically and create equitable electric mobility policies and programs in North Carolina and beyond. Watch the webinar and read the brief.
Fueling the Electric Vehicle Movement with Equity
Last week, ETS's own Patrick King got a chance to head to the annual Roadmap Conference ahead of the team for the first-ever Towards Equitable Electric Mobility (TEEM) Convening. Founded in 2020, TEEM is a peer-to-peer community of advocates that share policy goals, build capacity, and develop a mutual commitment toward advancing racial equity in electric mobility and climate change goals made in partnership through Forth Mobility and The Greenlining Institute. Comprising individuals from five state cohorts, the convening allowed advocates to strengthen connections, share strategies, and learn from each other. You can read more on the convening and Roadmap in Cyatharine Alias' blog post.
Get Plugged-In
Sustainable Fleets & Technology Conference & Expo 2022
Event
The 2022 Sustainable Fleet Technology Conference & Expo showcases the latest and greatest in advanced vehicles, fuels, and technologies — including data-driven solutions. This conference is a source of on-the-ground experience for increasing fleet efficiency and sustainability while reducing emissions and costs. The two-day in-person conference, August 31 and September 1, 2022, will be at the Durham Convention Center in Durham, NC, with pre-conference events taking place on August 30.
Attendees can expect to learn and share about:
Alternative Fuels (including biofuels, CNG, electric, propane, and renewable diesel)
Advanced Vehicle Technologies
Motor Fleet Management
Vehicle Sharing Technologies
Idle Reduction
Vehicle Right Sizing
Eco-Driving
Autonomous Vehicles & Future Technologies
Who should attend?
Public & Private Fleet Managers
Purchasing Officials
State Government Leaders
Municipal Government Officials
Non-Profit Stakeholders
Clean Cities Coalitions & Stakeholders
Alternative Fuel Trade Organizations
Sustainability Managers
Academic Leaders & Researchers
Sustainable Fleet Technology Conference & Expo 2022
August 30 – September 1 | Durham, North Carolina RSVP
Clean School Bus Rebate Program
Learn More and Apply
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 authorizes Environmental Protection Agency to offer rebates to replace existing school buses with clean and zero-emission (ZE) models. The 2022 Clean School Bus (CSB) Rebates process includes SAM.gov account registration, application submission, review and selection by EPA, purchase order submission and request for payment, payment receipt, new bus delivery and old bus replacement, and close out. The program guidance and application process differ from prior EPA school bus rebate programs in many ways. Learn more about it and apply below. As we're talking with school districts, we're using this resource, Power Planner for Electric School Bus Deployment, from our partners from the World Resources Institute to help districts think through steps to take when they're electrifying.
Clean School Bus Rebate Program Learn more and apply before August 19,2022
National Drive Electric Week
RSVP or Host Your Own Event
Calling all EV drivers and enthusiasts. This year, National Drive Electric Week will be September 23-October 2. The annual event, is a nationwide celebration to raise awareness of the many benefits of all-electric and plug-in hybrid cars, trucks, motorcycles, and more. Now is the time to begin planning! Please consider joining in an event or if there isn't one near you, becoming a "city captain" and organizing one yourself!
National Drive Electric Week Get Involved
Paving the Way
Cumulative Plug-in Vehicle Sales in the United States Reached 2.6 million in April 2022
Mass market plug-in vehicle sales began in the United States at the end of 2010 with just a few models available to consumers. As new plug-in models have been introduced and production volumes have increased, sales have accelerated accordingly. It took nearly eight years to reach one million cumulative sales but just two and a half more years to reach two million cumulative sales. Just 10 months after reaching two million in June 2021, cumulative sales climbed to 2.6 million as of April 2022. Read more.
Biden Administration Announces $2.3 Billion for States and Tribes to Strengthen and Modernize America’s Power Grid
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Energy opened the application period for States, Tribal nations, and territories to apply for the $2.3 billion formula grant program designed to strengthen and modernize America’s power grid against wildfires, extreme weather, and other disasters exacerbated by the climate crisis. The Preventing Outages and Enhancing the Resilience of the Electric Grid program is established by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered through DOE’s new Building a Better Grid Initiative. This Funding opportunity could have electric transportation implications for integrating distributed energy resources like microgrids and energy storage that can power electric vehicles. The program will get the nation closer to the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of a national grid run on a 100% clean electricity by 2035. Read more.
How Electric Cars and Pick-Ups Beat Gasoline on Lifetime Global Warming Emissions New analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists finds that over its lifetime—from manufacturing to operation to disposal—the average new battery electric vehicle produces roughly half the global warming pollution than a comparable gasoline or diesel vehicle. Based on the most recently available data on power plant emissions and EV sales, driving the average EV in the United States produces global warming emissions equal to a gasoline vehicle that gets 91 miles per gallon. To speed climate benefits and to encourage more drivers to choose electric vehicles, UCS's report recommends policy changes and investments to bring even more renewable energy onto the grid, develop robust battery recycling programs to help reduce manufacturing impacts, and make EVs more accessible and affordable. Read more.
Opinion: Georgia is poised to be the Silicon Valley of electric vehicles
Currently, Georgia ranks #1 in EV manufacturing jobs and #2 in EV manufacturing investments, writes SACE's Stan Cross in the Savannah Morning news. Georgia stands to benefit greatly from transitioning to electric vehicles. Federal and state policies that make it easier for consumers and fleet operators to buy electric cars, trucks and buses will help grow the market for manufacturers operating in Georgia, like Hyundai, Bluebird, SK Innovation, and Rivian. Read more.
Patience and a willingness to pay more than sticker price helps when buying a new EV
SACE's Stan Cross spoke with Mary Landers for The Current Georgia and noted that due to a number of constraints and increasing awareness of the benefits on EVs it's difficult to buy certain large ticket items, including electric vehicles right now. But we're also "seeing a significant increase in activity by auto dealers in Georgia, in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee. There's even a Tesla "gallery" in Savannah, though it typically has vehicles available for test drives only at the beginning of the quarter and ordering is still online. Up until this point, (automakers) have produced low volume, and prioritized zero emission states. As they start to ramp up and deliver high volume, then we're going to see wider availability across the country, regardless of whether or not you have adopted those stricter air quality standards." Read more.
Readers and Partners Kicking Gas
Every month we'll spotlight stories and photos from YOU, our readers, about how EVs play a role in your world. To be featured in an upcoming ETS newsletter, send us an email here! We'll also highlight our partners and allies from our testimonials page.
Nick Nigro, Atlas Public Policy
"Over the years, Atlas Public Policy has worked closely with SACE to shape the conversation around transportation electrification opportunities throughout the Southeast. Working at both the regional and state level, Atlas and SACE have effectively communicated a growing opportunity for transformational investments in transportation electrification throughout all of the states where SACE operates. Our collaborative efforts have resulted in three reports on the transportation electrification landscape across the region and a deeper dive in two state markets. Atlas is excited to continue this work in 2021 and expand the impact of this fruitful partnership!"
Look out for the next iteration of our "Transportation Electrification in the Southeast" report early this fall!