Robert McCartney (01:10):
In this podcast though, I want to concentrate on electric vehicles or EVs, partly because consumers are showing more interest right now in buying them. In my own household, we're part of the way there. We currently have two Toyota Hybrids, a RAV4, and a Prius which burn gasoline but also rely on a battery so emissions are reduced. For our next car, we'll definitely consider buying a fully electric one which doesn't use gasoline at all. But we'll do that only if we see enough charging stations around to be sure of being able to keep it juiced. Happily, regional officials are considering how they can work together to deploy a widespread, reliable EV charging network. New funds are available. As last year, the federal government approved more than $7 billion over five years to start building a national network of such stations. This is Maia Davis, senior environmental planner at COG.

Maia Davis (02:12):
In our region, the number of battery electric vehicles alone increased by more than 450% just between 2016 and 2020. We need to press forward to build out the regional electric vehicle charging network so that no matter where you live, work, or play across the region, you know there's a charging station around the corner. Just as today, we know there's a gas station nearby.

Robert McCartney (02:37):
Manufacturers also have to overcome technical challenges such as shortening the amount of time it takes to charge an EV. They need to increase the distance or range that an EV can travel before it needs more juice. The good news is that automotive engineers are working intensely on these issues and expect to make a lot of progress in the next few years. At the same time, just to make things more complicated, there's growing attention paid to eventually converting, not to battery-powered electric vehicles, but to ones powered by fuel cells burning hydrogen. That could mean we ultimately rely on an entirely different technology. Here's John O'Donnell, president of the Washington Area New Automobile Dealers Association and Washington Auto Show.

John O'Donnell (03:24):
I just came back from our national convention where a senior executive at Chrysler told me that the next five years will be the largest dynamic shift in the car business we've ever seen.

Robert McCartney (03:41):
In our region, Montgomery County in suburban Maryland is a leader in pushing for EVs and in seeking generally to reduce greenhouse gases. County executive Marc Elrich told me the county was already experiencing some negative effects from climate change.

Marc Elrich (03:57):
We had one storm that actually resulted in fatality and a flooding event that was kind of unprecedented in the county. We have more and more issues coming up from neighborhood groups about the inability of our storm water system to actually contain the storm water and keep it from causing more localized flooding. And it's coming from places that hadn't seen it before.

Robert McCartney (04:20):
Flooding is probably the biggest threat that climate change poses to our region. But higher temperatures also increase the risk of drought. The region is already experiencing more days with temperatures above 90 degrees. You told the COG board meeting that you wanted to set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that were and I quote, "really hard to achieve". So, what are those targets and why did you want them to be so difficult?

Marc Elrich (04:49):
So, targets are 80% by 2027 and a 100% by 2035, which is, I think more aggressive than anybody else's. Why did I want them to be so hard? Because we could set modest goals, we could achieve modest goals, but when we solve the problem.

Robert McCartney (05:04):
So, what are the highlights of Montgomery's program to fight climate change?

Marc Elrich (05:09):
So, there are three big sectors. We want to put as much solar into it as we can so we're looking at solarizing buildings, parking lots, garages for building our first microgrids. So, we've got this bus depot that has microgrid on top of it. It's got solar panels, the power of the microgrid, and that leads to the other two big sectors, one is transportation.

Robert McCartney (01:10):
In this podcast though, I want to concentrate on electric vehicles or EVs, partly because consumers are showing more interest right now in buying them. In my own household, we're part of the way there. We currently have two Toyota Hybrids, a RAV4, and a Prius which burn gasoline but also rely on a battery so emissions are reduced. For our next car, we'll definitely consider buying a fully electric one which doesn't use gasoline at all. But we'll do that only if we see enough charging stations around to be sure of being able to keep it juiced. Happily, regional officials are considering how they can work together to deploy a widespread, reliable EV charging network. New funds are available. As last year, the federal government approved more than $7 billion over five years to start building a national network of such stations. This is Maia Davis, senior environmental planner at COG.

Maia Davis (02:12):
In our region, the number of battery electric vehicles alone increased by more than 450% just between 2016 and 2020. We need to press forward to build out the regional electric vehicle charging network so that no matter where you live, work, or play across the region, you know there's a charging station around the corner. Just as today, we know there's a gas station nearby.

Robert McCartney (02:37):
Manufacturers also have to overcome technical challenges such as shortening the amount of time it takes to charge an EV. They need to increase the distance or range that an EV can travel before it needs more juice. The good news is that automotive engineers are working intensely on these issues and expect to make a lot of progress in the next few years. At the same time, just to make things more complicated, there's growing attention paid to eventually converting, not to battery-powered electric vehicles, but to ones powered by fuel cells burning hydrogen. That could mean we ultimately rely on an entirely different technology. Here's John O'Donnell, president of the Washington Area New Automobile Dealers Association and Washington Auto Show.

John O'Donnell (03:24):
I just came back from our national convention where a senior executive at Chrysler told me that the next five years will be the largest dynamic shift in the car business we've ever seen.

Robert McCartney (03:41):
In our region, Montgomery County in suburban Maryland is a leader in pushing for EVs and in seeking generally to reduce greenhouse gases. County executive Marc Elrich told me the county was already experiencing some negative effects from climate change.

Marc Elrich (03:57):
We had one storm that actually resulted in fatality and a flooding event that was kind of unprecedented in the county. We have more and more issues coming up from neighborhood groups about the inability of our storm water system to actually contain the storm water and keep it from causing more localized flooding. And it's coming from places that hadn't seen it before.

Robert McCartney (04:20):
Flooding is probably the biggest threat that climate change poses to our region. But higher temperatures also increase the risk of drought. The region is already experiencing more days with temperatures above 90 degrees. You told the COG board meeting that you wanted to set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that were and I quote, "really hard to achieve". So, what are those targets and why did you want them to be so difficult?

Marc Elrich (04:49):
So, targets are 80% by 2027 and a 100% by 2035, which is, I think more aggressive than anybody else's. Why did I want them to be so hard? Because we could set modest goals, we could achieve modest goals, but when we solve the problem.

Robert McCartney (05:04):
So, what are the highlights of Montgomery's program to fight climate change?

Marc Elrich (05:09):
So, there are three big sectors. We want to put as much solar into it as we can so we're looking at solarizing buildings, parking lots, garages for building our first microgrids. So, we've got this bus depot that has microgrid on top of it. It's got solar panels, the power of the microgrid, and that leads to the other two big sectors, one is transportation.

Robert McCartney (05:36):
Montgomery County is in the process of converting its entire bus fleet to EVs or other zero-emission vehicles. And for car owners, it wants to reduce the cost of buying an EV by setting up a buying club. Anybody who joins gets a discount for participating in a group purchase.

Marc Elrich (05:54):
We're getting people signed up. We've got 750 people who've made a pledge to make their next vehicle electric vehicle. We're going to try to drive that number higher.

Robert McCartney (06:04):
The county also is changing various regulations to help people set up charging equipment for EVs at their residences.

Marc Elrich (06:12):
We've got a permitting process now where if you don't a driveway and you park in the street in front of your house, we actually allow you to bring a curbside charger out to your street. We will let you install a curbside charger in what is often the county right of way. So, there are a lot of other things coming in line that we can start looking at and trying to adopt. Some were confident than I was when we set out on this, but I feel like almost every week, something comes along that you look at and say, "This could be helpful."

Robert McCartney (06:43):
Now, that we've heard from a local government, where does the private sector stand on EVs? For that, let's hear more from O'Donnell, head of the local Auto Dealers Association. He said, "Car sellers fully support the new technology because they know that customers will be demanding them."

John O'Donnell (07:00):
The local car dealers are all in on EVs. We own and operate the Washington D.C. Auto Show and the theme has been electric vehicles, alternative energy vehicles for a number of years. But this most recent show was very heavy in the EVs. The car dealers are merchants. They want to sell whatever it is that the general public wants to buy.

Robert McCartney (07:27):
O'Donnell said most of the public won't embrace EVs until people are confident. They can easily find a charging station when they need one. The news stations also will eventually have to offer 440 volt chargers which can fully charge a car in minutes. A typical one now offers only 110 volts which takes hours.

John O'Donnell (07:50):
It's actually being worked on quite a bit by several companies, Blink Charging, Electrify America, ChargePoint, just to name several. And they're actively working in the most robust populated areas right now to install them as quickly as they can. So, you're going to see them on the major highways and byways, you're going to see them in shopping centers. The average time to charge battery, depending on the manufacturer, is going to be somewhere between five and eight hours. When we can get that rapid charge at a 440-volt basis down to say 15 minutes, I think a lot of people are going to be a lot more comfortable and will be willing to purchase these cars.

Robert McCartney (08:42):
What can local governments do to encourage the expansion of the charging infrastructure?

John O'Donnell (08:49):
That's a good question. I would say zoning could help, of course, money or tax incentives always help. But I think the larger companies I just mentioned are searching high and low and cutting deals on revenue sharing to get these things installed and operational right now. So, I would essentially say, as long government sort of supports and doesn't regulate this to death, the market should take care of this.

Robert McCartney (09:23):
The federal government in some states are already offering substantial tax credits to encourage people to buy EVs.

John O'Donnell (09:31):
Right now, the federal government will give you $7,500. The State of Maryland will give you an additional 2,500. So, now your $40,000 vehicle just cost you 30,000. D.C. has some minor incentives and Virginia is coming along. Their legislature is expected to approve it this year.

Robert McCartney (09:53):
The federal government's biggest contribution to EVs came last year with that approval of more than $7 billion for charging stations, which was part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package. That was welcomed by Antoine Thompson, executive director of the Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition.

Antoine Thompson (10:17):
So, the District of Columbia will get $16 million, the State of Maryland will get $62 million, and the Commonwealth of Virginia will get $106 million. And so, part of that, those funds will go towards making sure that there are access to charging along the key corridors as people travel in and out of the region. And then, we want to make sure that underserved areas get some of those resources as well.

Robert McCartney (10:50):
One step that local governments can take quickly is to convert their bus and truck fleets to EVs. School buses in particular are a good place to start. A recent study found a significant hazard posed by diesel fumes leaking up into the passenger section where children sit. Did I understand you to say that the air quality inside the school bus is as bad or worse than the air quality directly behind the bus?

Antoine Thompson (11:20):
Yeah. The National Resource Defense Council did a study couple years ago and they actually tested the air quality on the bus. Remember, behind the bus is filtered, inside the bus is not filtered, right? And so, air studies show that the air quality on some of the buses was actually worse than riding or walking right behind the bus.

Robert McCartney (11:45):
So, are any school districts in the Washington area now using electric school buses?

Antoine Thompson (11:50):
There are a few school districts that are currently using some of those. You have Fairfax, you have Arlington, you have Montgomery County. They should have a couple school buses on the road shortly as well. They actually are leading the way in terms of making the commitment and they put out the largest school bus contract in the country. So, there are a handful and I know D.C. and Prince George's County, they've all made commitments to electrify their fleet but we've got to accelerate that process. And then, we've also got to accelerate the ability to charge and make charging accessible to everyone in a equitable way.

Robert McCartney (12:34):
I asked Thompson how the prospect of having hydrogen-powered cars affected the future of EVs. He predicted that existing gas stations would eventually come to serve all varieties of vehicles.

Antoine Thompson (12:47):
Which you'll probably have as this thing accelerates, is you'll go to a fuel station and they'll have all these different options, which they currently have now, but you don't have a lot to have hydrogen at them or that don't have electrification. Right? And so, as the market dictates that and the government provides incentives and economic stimulation, hopefully, you'll see more of that.

Robert McCartney (13:16):
So, how is the region doing overall in switching to EVs and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions generally? For all the numbers on that, I turn to Davis, the COG environmental planner. At present, the region has 23,000 fully electric vehicles on the road and nearly a 150,000 hybrids. That's more than triple the number from a decade ago.

Maia Davis (13:42):
In 2010, we had about 50,000 hybrid electric vehicles on the road and no battery electric vehicles. Now, we have over 170,000 hybrid and battery electric vehicles on the road and that accounts for 4.7% of all the light-duty vehicles. So, we have seen significant increase in the cars getting cleaner on the road, and a lot of that is through people buying hybrid and electric vehicles.

Robert McCartney (14:13):
That change helped move the region close to meeting its goal of reducing emissions by 20% from 2005 to 2020. It appears that we didn't quite go far enough.

Maia Davis (14:26):
We are still analyzing how we did on our 20% by 2020 goal. But we very likely will fall just short of meeting that goal. That puts us in a place where we are less than halfway to our 2030 goal. So, in the next decade, we need to reduce emissions 50% below 2005 levels and we're not halfway there yet. We had set goals for ourselves between 2010 and 2020 that we did meet so we know it's possible for us to achieve stretch goals as we look to accelerate progress towards 2030.

Robert McCartney (15:01):
Davis described some of the steps that the region has taken such as increasing the number of rooftop solar systems.

Maia Davis (15:09):
We went from less than a thousand renewable energy systems in 2010 to more than 50,000 in 2020, which is well beyond what our stretch goal of 30,000 systems was. The region went from less than a thousand green buildings to surpassing our goal for 5,000 by 2020. And we surpassed the goal for a thousand electric vehicle charging station locations to support those electric vehicle owners. So, we are making progress. Per capita emissions have decreased 27%. The electric grid is getting cleaner, our buildings are becoming more efficient, our cars are getting cleaner, but we need to step on the pedal and accelerate this progress like never before if we're going to meet our climate goals moving forward.

Robert McCartney (15:57):
Davis said that while hydrogen vehicles were a promising option in the future, the available technology favors a focus on electric vehicles. Now comes the time in the podcast when I briefly share some of my own thoughts. The need to slow and ultimately halt climate change is probably the top priority for the entire planet. The region's experts have identified many solutions and an especially effective one is to reduce dependence on gasoline-burning cars in general. That means, among other things, increasing use of transit. And in earlier podcasts, we've talked about the importance of locating more jobs and residences closer to metro stations, bus lines, and commuter rail. It also means expanding use of vehicles that produce zero emissions as we've discussed here. Auto manufacturers and dealers support this goal. But the private market won't do it alone.

Robert McCartney (17:00):
Like the federal government, state and local governments must promote a rapid conversion to non-polluting vehicles. That means replacing government fleets with EVs and providing subsidies to help individuals and businesses absorb the cost of buying the new vehicles. It also means adjusting regulations and helping to fund construction of the infrastructure to charge EVs. The federal government has made a substantial down payment for this, but it's only a start. Finally, regional officials need to ensure that the changeover from gas guzzlers to EVs does not leave behind lower income communities and other marginalized groups. 10 years from now, we don't want to have EV charging deserts reminiscent of the fuel deserts we know about today. The climate crisis is real. I'll end it by letting COG's Davis explain why these changes are so important.

Maia Davis (17:58):
As climate change progresses and if emissions continue to get worse, then we are going to see further impacts from extreme heat, extreme weather events. And our children and our grandchildren are going to be the ones who experience the greatest climate risks. So, that really brings it home for me that it could be my children or grandchildren that are experiencing the worst impacts of climate change in metropolitan Washington. So, it's not some far distant future. It's happening now and it's going to continue to happen.

Robert McCartney (18:38):
I hope you've enjoyed this podcast. We welcome your feedback. Please email comments to thinkregionally@mwcog.org. This podcast is produced by Megan Goodman and Janele Partman. Until next month, this is your host, Robert McCartney, urging everyone to think regionally.