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Why Winter and Electric Vehicles Don’t Mix


By: Andrew Weiss / December 18, 2023

Read more at https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/12/18/winter-electric-vehicles-dont-mix-wisconsin/

An abandoned electric car is buried in snow in Draper, Utah, on Feb. 23, after a powerful winter storm dumped up to two feet of snow. When the temperature drops below 40 degrees, electric vehicles experience a reduction in range and efficiency, with losses of up to 40% when the heating system is in use. (Photo: George Frey/AFP/Getty Images)

COMMENTARY BY

Andrew Weiss

Andrew Weiss is a research assistant at the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment at The Heritage Foundation.

EAU CLAIRE, Wis.— Here in Wisconsin, where fewer than one-tenth of 1% of vehicles are fully electric, it’s rare to see an EV outside the city. That’s why the latest international climate conference, Conference of the Parties (COP28), which advocated widespread adoption of electric vehicles, should have Wisconsinites concerned.

When the temperature drops below 40 degrees, which occurs over 200 days per year in Eau Claire, electric vehicles experience a reduction in range and efficiency, with losses of up to 40% when the heating system is in use. My visit to my local automotive shop to have the tires rotated on the family Ram truck was unaffected by the 13-degree Fahrenheit weather.

While the truck was up on the lift, Liz Fox, a service adviser at the shop, told me that while not many electric vehicles come in for repairs, when they do, repairs typically take longer and are more expensive than repairing internal-combustion engine vehicles.

“Switching to EVs is really costly, and it’s going to be really time-consuming.” Fox told me. She cited a recent case where nearly two months were spent troubleshooting and sourcing components on a broken EV, despite having a certified electric vehicle technician.

She’s not alone. A recent report shows that repair costs for EVs are 56% more expensive than traditional vehicles—and purchase costs are often 50% higher.

A new special report by The Heritage Foundation, “Powering Human Advancement,” shows how access to affordable, abundant energy is essential to living. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

“Depriving people in any society of reliable and affordable energy denies them access to clean water, adequate medical care, affordable transportation, and economic opportunities, which will limit any human advancement, especially in the most vulnerable of countries,” the report states.

Governments and international organizations cannot force renewable energy and electric vehicles before people are ready. That’s a recipe for crisis.

Construction sites in Eau Claire feature battered pickup trucks and SUVs driven by construction workers, who can’t afford EVs. There is no subway in Eau Claire, bus service is limited, and people can’t rely on bicycles due to snowy weather and long distances.

Affordable transportation provides a means to a job, a ride to school, and to take weekend trips and vacations with the family.

In contrast, EVs are popular as second cars with upper-income individuals who have short commutes. Americans value the freedom to choose gasoline-only, hybrid, or electric vehicles, and for that freedom, it’s crucial to have alternative choices. But the organizers of COP28, supported by President Joe Biden, don’t want Americans or residents of other countries to choose which vehicles to buy.

This erosion of choice is not only detrimental to consumer freedom, but also to the livelihood of auto producers and car dealers. Look no further than last month’s letter to Biden signed by about 4,000 auto dealers, who were disturbed at the surging supply of unsold electric vehicles on their lots. Even with subsidies to car manufacturers and tax credits for buyers, only 7% of new-vehicle sales are electric, well below Biden’s 2030 goal of 60%.

Codifying the recommendations of COP28 would require that America generate an additional costly 1.4 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity, or 30% of current output, to support the charging needs of a full fleet of electric vehicles.

Over the past two decades, nearly $7 trillion has been spent globally on subsidies for wind and solar energy. Despite this substantial investment, these sources contribute only 2.3% to the global supply of energy. Pairing fully electric vehicles with costly and unreliable electricity is a recipe for disaster.

Wisconsinites appreciate the benefits of affordable energy and the mobility of gasoline-powered cars. As a cold Christmas approaches, they know that COP28 recommendations won’t fly here in the Badger State.

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Political

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New EV battery factory requires so much energy a coal power plant will be expanded and its closure delayed by years


By: PAUL SACCA | October 01, 2023

Read more at https://www.conservativereview.com/new-ev-battery-factory-requires-so-much-energy-a-coal-power-plant-will-be-expanded-delayed-closure-by-years-2665776550.html/

Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

A new electric vehicle battery factory in Kansas will require so much energy that a coal plant slated for closure will now remain open, plus it will be expanded.

Panasonic is building a $4 billion EV battery factory in De Soto, Kansas. The upcoming lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility is expected to start mass production of EV batteries by the end of March 2025.

Despite the massive $4 billion price tag for the 2.7 million square-foot Panasonic facility, the Japanese company is “poised to get as much as $6.8 billion from provisions in last year’s federal Inflation Reduction Act,” according to a July report from the Kansas City Star. The Japanese company is expected to receive state and local incentives – pushing the total financial incentives to as much as $8 billion.

This massive EV battery factory will require enormous amounts of power. So much energy, in fact, that a local coal-fired plant will be expanded and the life of the plant will be extended.

The EV battery factory will reportedly require between 200 and 250 megawatts of electricity to operate – roughly the same amount of power needed for a small city.

The plant in Lawrence is owned by Evergy – an investor-owned energy company serving more than 1.6 million customers across Kansas and Missouri.

Evergy had reportedly planned to close its coal-fired Unit 4 at the Lawrence Energy Center in late 2023 or early 2024. However, Evergy is extending the life of the coal plant in Lawrence “until 2028 and would then transition Unit 5 to gas to provide power at times of high demand,” the Kansas City Star reported.

“The demand created by the nearly 4-million-square-foot plant in Johnson County is expected to double that of Evergy’s current largest customer in the state and require two new substations, upgrades to three current substations and work on 31 miles of transmission lines,” according to the outlet.

Kayla Messamore – Evergy’s vice president of strategy and long-term planning – admitted during testimony that the electric car battery plant will present “near-term challenges from a resource adequacy perspective.”

“Beyond the sheer magnitude of load and load factor, Panasonic’s construction schedule, and, in turn, its energy needs, are being planned on a very aggressive schedule,” Messamore said. “With energy needs starting to ramp in 2024 and full load requirements by 2026, there is urgency to procure capacity and energy to fulfill the expected energy usage schedule.”

Carl Walton – Panasonic Energy of North America’s vice president of strategic initiatives and facilities – said, “Panasonic is making a significant investment in upgrading Evergy’s infrastructure to be able to serve the factory, and we will pay for all costs immediately attributable to our operations.”

Panasonic is expected to receive a discounted electric rate that is offered to economic development projects.

Evergy had already filed for a rate hike for its customers with state regulators. The rate hike was largely denied by the Kansas Corporation Commission.

However, regulators allegedly agreed that Evergy “should be permitted to petition for another rate increase next year, as the utility has said those may be needed to accommodate Panasonic’s new battery plant in De Soto. In its initial rate-increase request, Evergy had said the company wanted to make adjustments to accommodate the power load for the plant.”

Evergy spokesperson Gina Penzig said over 50% of the utility’s power generation is carbon-free, but “the grid still needs baseload energy for times when intermittent fuels are not operating.”

The factory is said to employ approximately 4,000 workers.

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