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By: Buck Patrick Summary. Michigan is the state with the most resistance to electric vehicles, due to the state's deep history with big car manufacturers. However electric vehicles are on the rise due to a big push by the Michigan Department of Climate and Energy called the Charge Up Michigan program. This initiative is trying to fund DCFC EV charging station installers. DCFC stands for Direct Current Fast Charging and that is the way that electric vehicles charge. The Charge Up Michigan program aims to make it cheaper for installers to install these DCFC stations by reimbursing them for each station they install up to $70,000. Besides the local governments and their initiatives on EV's, President Biden recently came to the Motor City to talk about Michigan and its future with electric vehicles and the jobs in the electric and automotive industry. Biden made a point in his speech to reassure listeners that the new job opportunities are going to stay in Michigan and stay local, no outsourcing to China or India, but keeping jobs done for Michiganders, for Michiganders. The reason Biden was in Detroit giving this speech is that he recently signed a bill giving $7.5 billion to the transition to electric school buses as well as another $7.5 billion to the installation of a better and more available electric vehicle charging network. This might help the problems with electric vehicles right now, which include finding charging stations and how expensive and time-consuming charging these vehicles are compared to gassing up a car to go the same distance. These problems with electric vehicles are major factors in why electric vehicles are just not possible to completely switch to at this moment. Why we should care? Electric vehicles are the future. It's that plain and simple. It may not be logical at this moment or even in our lifetimes but these vehicles will eventually be commonplace and for commonfolk.  Photo Credit: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/landdevelopment/electric-vehicle-charging-stations Example Article. https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2021/10/21/electric-vehicle-charging-cost-vs-gas/6110815001/ This article shows how electric vehicles may be the future but at this time they aren't the present. It shows that yes they exist but at this point in time, electric vehicles just aren't as practical for the large majority of people, whether it be because of how much more expensive they are to buy and charge, the cost of deadhead miles, or just the time restrictions of charging the vehicle and driving to a commercial charging station. For upper-middle-class citizens and above, electric vehicles are a reality, they have more cars so if their EV is charging they can get into a different car, they also have a better chance of having their own charging station. But for the average middle class and below, electric vehicles have too many costs for them to be possible for them. Science in Action.
Carla Bailo is President and CEO for Center for Automotive Research. Carla Bailo heads and leads research for the Center for Automotive Research. This is not just research about cars, but about the systems that cars drive in, what they drive on, and what allows cars to drive. This is relevant to my topic because she researched what it would take for the full electrification of Michigan and it is a lot. Things including making the cars cheaper, making the charging faster, making charging stations more accessible, making the stations cheaper to use, and making the cars able to handle the extreme cold temperatures seen in some parts of Michigan, as well as handle the tough terrain cars have to traverse in Michigan, especially in the Upper Penninsula.
17 Comments
Emma Cockerill
12/1/2021 19:08:57
This is great news! I know Michigan has a history of rejecting electric vehicles, which is understandable, but there are so many potential jobs in electric technology too. Our state above any others should embrace the chance to become leaders in electric vehicles. Only in 2020 did Michigan allow Teslas to be sold by dealers, before that the car had to be registered in another state. Your conclusion is spot on, we need to put more funding into the technology as electric vehicles are the future in our divergence from fossil fuels. 12/2/2021 10:51:51
It was nice to finally read an article that spreads some hope and positivity. I did not know Biden signed that bill to for a huge amount of money for electric school buses. It will be interesting to see if that actually happens anytime soon, or if it ever even does. I think even more promotion to spread awareness on the benefits and future of electric vehicles should be done. A minor change to electric school buses can start small at a local schoolboard, and then hopefully grow. I hope it happens soon because it'll make a big difference.
Abby Plonka
12/6/2021 14:23:54
It’s good to hear that we are getting funding for moving towards more use of electric vehicles. I feel that the increase in gas prices will also be a good incentive for purchasing electric vehicles. However, moving towards the use of more electric vehicles has to be a slower process because the production of the car batteries for them also causes pollution, so suddenly switching all cars to electric wouldn’t be much of an improvement.
Eric Domenico
12/6/2021 15:36:48
This is cool. I hadn't really considered electric capability for large vehicles like busses before and I like the idea of it for school busses. Having a bus-yard install charging stations for busses to charge in between morning and afternoon routes as well as overnight seems like it would be an efficient system, assuming a charge can last through a whole route. I like the idea of adopting it for fleet vehicles that are returned to the same location daily, like school busses, tow trucks, or snow plows.
alexandria simpkins
12/6/2021 18:01:15
It was very funny to read this while my stepdad complained about the lacking appeal of electric vehicles. I think ford's electric truck will open up a lot of people not particularly interested in electric vehicles to buy them, because it will be more fuel efficient obviously and has a classic style that most consumers will like. also, it's a vehicle that you'd usually use for shorter distance trips anyways, eliminating that fear of "omg what if i run out of power".
Matthew Vassilakos
12/6/2021 19:33:53
I think this article shows Michigan is taking a step in the right direction. As mentioned above the big three auto manufacturers have pushed back to some EV infrastructure and production but I think they are finally getting behind this trend. This is in part due to the most influential American car manufacturer of the past few years, Tesla. If Ford and GM want to continue to compete for their market share they must make electric cars. This is good news for our future, it means valuable jobs will likely stay in Michigan for years to come and more people will be able to drive electric cars as this competition will bring prices down. This is a win-win for Michigan, economically and environmentally.
Mikaela Owen
12/6/2021 20:24:32
I personally am all for electric vehicles and wish I could afford one, but I agree with this article and understand why they are not feasible right now for everyone. I'm glad that President Biden is taking the necessary initiative to fund electric vehicle charging stations while also making it apparent to Michigan's workers that their jobs will not be lost. I am excited to see how this will continue to become more normal in the future!
Meghan Richardson
12/6/2021 21:19:03
I am a huge supporter for the increase in electric vehicle manufacturing. Though Michigan is known for muscle cars, there is no reason we couldn't transfer some of our efforts towards helping the environment. Since a large chunk of money is being used to add new charging stations, we should make vehicles that use these stations.
riley stledger
12/6/2021 22:43:06
It makes sense to me that Michigan would be pretty resistant to electric vehicles. Hopefully with the push of the charge up Michigan program and the support of the President, Michigan can slowly start to make a change in the right direction. It will probably be a while before electric vehicles can be a suitable option for the majority of people, but now is a good time to start making this advancement.
Joshua Rahn
12/6/2021 23:34:39
I found this blog post very informative, because I did not know much about electric cars before reading it. The charging time seems very inefficient especially if one cant afford a charging station at their home or place of work. With all the hurdles for implementing electric vehicles I wonder if using the money aimed at promoting electric vehicles would have been better spent improving public transportation, and reducing our car dependency.
Cameron Cornellier
12/6/2021 23:36:18
I had not heard about the electric school buses before this post, so I am pleasantly surprised. It sounds like a great idea to reduce the carbon emissions that we put out. Hopefully it starts with electric school buses and eventually grows to other types of electric travel like electric trains. It seems far-fetched now, but with the direction and speed that technology is going, you might be able to fly using an electric airplane one day. Promoting money towards electric charging stations around Michigan seems like a great way to boost the confidence in electric vehicles.
Loren Solomon
12/6/2021 23:47:03
It's nice to see a positive article! Although electrical vehicles are quite expensive and come with many costs that most people cannot afford, I do agree that they are the future and the benefits they provide for the environment will be long lived if and when they become more widely disbursed. However, the major issue will still be cost. Yes increasing the number of charging stations for these vehicles will help, however how far of a drive would the average person have to go to refuel? Even with an increase in the number of stations, they would have to be located in areas best fit for the most consumers of those vehicles, thus I wonder would it be logical for someone in Garden City or Dearborn Heights where i'm from to own an electrical vehicle if the cost of the vehicle itself wasn't a factor. People would have to drive further than the average person with a vehicle to refuel, and as said in the article, it takes much longer to charge an EV than fill up a gas tank. I am still hopeful for the future, though I do have many concerns as to how we will get there on a wider basis.
Batoul Hassan
12/7/2021 01:50:19
I never thought about Michigan changing into an 'electric car' state since our history with automobiles is extremely deep. I wouldn't mind if people in Michigan started using electric cars, but I do not this change will happen quickly. Many Michiganders are huge fans of automotive, so it will be surprising if they start to adore electric vehicles.
Sobhie Nazal
12/9/2021 02:29:56
I really liked reading this blog. It was very fun to engage in and learn about. Vehicles are really important to help you get to where you need to be. However, the environment is also important. It helps give us a chance and opportunity of survival. I do agree that electric cars are much more beneficial to the earth than regular automotive vehicles and think it would be cool to see a change in cars in Michigan especially since that’s what “Motor City’s” all about. I really got intrigued at the idea of electrical buses as well, I think that would be an awesome way to keep a sense of sustainability.
Juliana Witt
12/18/2021 12:12:31
I think the topic of electric vehicles is very interesting, I did not know that Biden came to MIchigan to talk about EV and sign bills to pass new ideas. I think it is sad that it took so long for Detroit to recognize the upcoming idea of EV. We were once the big motor city so why not use that to our advantage and develop a new motor city. EV are the future and it would be a good idea to hop on the trend and start making new things and not live in the old. I like the idea of EV but it will take a long time to make it into a reality. EV are smart but at the moment the actual energy use is of question to me. Yes it uses electricity but where are we getting the electricity from, we need to develop new clean ideas.
Alex Leh
12/21/2021 20:30:47
This was inspiring to read. Yes electric cars are the future, but I can't lie, I don't want one anytime soon. It seems that public transportation is the perfect application for this technology right now. Since too many of us are just too poor to be able to afford these expensive batteries and charging equipment, more investment in public transportation would allow more people to live :greener". I hope we can also make our electric grid greener as well so that new charging stations can be utilized more effectively, and respectfully.
Keara McLaughlin
12/21/2021 23:28:06
I'm glad that there are strides being made to increase the usage of electric cars. I do wish that Michigan would get on board more. I have seen advertisements by General Motors advocating for electric vehicles and their future which is great! Having electric buses is also such a good thing. Diesel fuel used by regular buses is very detrimental, so it is good to see there is some change coming. Leave a Reply. |
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