Wolf’s Finance World

It’s more than a year before GM’s Volt and Nissan’s Leaf — the first mass market electric-powered vehicles — begin rolling into local showrooms. And longer still before the cars become common in driveways and garages across the bistate area.

For Kevin Herdler, that future is now.

Herdler runs St. Louis Clean Cities, a Department of Energy-sponsored program to expand the use of alternative fuels. And since last fall, he has been cobbling together a regional task force to make electric cars a reality here.

"Most people right now are aggravated with the gulf oil spill," said Herdler. "They’re aggravated with paying $3 a gallon for fuel, and I think they’re looking for options. (Electric vehicles) are a very easy option. They don’t have to do a lot to make it work."
Electric-drive cars, a categothat includes battery-powered, hybrid and plug-in hybrid autos, have been touted as a cheaper, cleaner alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles — a reason why President Barack Obama called for 1 million plug-in and hybrid electric vehicles on the road by 2015.

To be sure, St. Louis lags other cities in preparing for electric vehicles —and not just cities on the West Coast. Kansas City and Houston — the nation’s oil capital — are farther along in planning plug-in infrastructures.

And the state of Missouri hasn’t aggressively implemented policies and incentives to catch automakers’ attention. Just last week, Maryland announced plans for 65 charging stations. Earlier, the state’s Legislature approved a tax credit for buying a battery-powered car or truck, and authorized drivers of the vehicles to use express lanes for carpoolers.

Nationwide, more than 15,000 reservations have been placed for the Leaf, which will be sold in a few select markets beginning late this year, said Mark Perry, director of product planning for Nissan. He didn’t say how many of those are in this area. But Nissan views St. Louis as a lagging market — not early adopters.

St. Louis task force members — a list that includes Clean Cities, the city of St. Louis, St. Louis and Madison counties, Ameren Corp., the Regional Chamber & Growth Association, the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, local community colleges and others — know other cities are further ahead in planning efforts and they’re hoping to be able to learn from them.

Clean Cities has already sent surveys to thousands on its mailing list — businesses, government offices and individuals — to get a better feel for the local interest in electric vehicles. Herdler expects task force committee assignments to be finalized by early fall.

There are myriad questions to be answered. A certain focus will be determining where charging stations are needed.

Plug-in owners will do most charging overnight in their garage. So the group wants to make sure buyers don’t run into headaches when they install charging stations in their garages.

Public infrastructure will be required, too.

"I’m not saying we need thousands of charging stations, but we do need key locations," Herdler said. "We want to make sure we’re ready for (electric vehicles) when they get here online payday loans."

That’s especially true for battery electric cars like the Leaf, which doesn’t even have a gas tank.

Possible charging station sites include downtown St. Louis, Clayton or on employer parking lots. Malls, parking garages and park and ride lots also could work. And charging stations in office parking lots could be linked to solar canopies to reduce stress on the power grid when electricity demand is highest.

A year ago, St. Louis-based Ameren began taking a hard look at the potential impact of plug-in cars on its system, which spans both urban and rural areas across 50,000 square miles in Illinois and Missouri.

Utility executives aren’t concerned that the initial wave of electric vehicles will strain the local power grid. And they are watching closely research from industry groups and lessons learned from utilities in cities that are leading the way.

"We do have time on our side to react and give it the proper degree of study," said Mark Nealon, manager of smart grid strategy and implementation for AmerenUE.

But a lot can change in just a few years.

"That’s why we’re making a concerted effort today to make sure we understand it and we’re ready," said Shawn Schukar, vice president of strategic initiatives for Ameren Corp.

Automakers have already learned from failed attempts to introduce alternative fuel vehicles, at least in part for lack of infrastructure.

Laclede Gas Co. and Shell Oil opened a compressed natural gas station at Interstate 44 and Hampton Avenue in the 1990s, but the idea never took off.

A lack of pumps has also hindered efforts to make corn-based ethanol something more than a gasoline additive.

Lack of infrastructure "held us back in the compressed natural gas market. It’s held us back in the ethanol market. And it could hold us back in the electric market," said Steve Nagel, director of planning for East-West Gateway and president of St. Louis Clean Cities.

Herdler sees consumer awareness as another part of the task force’s mission, even though automakers such as Nissan and GM will play a leading role because they have the most at stake.

The biggest of those challenges is addressing "range anxiety" — consumers’ fear that they’ll be stranded on the roadside on the way home from work because their car runs out of power.

"People believe that they drive a lot further than they really do," Herdler said. "But when you look at the statistics from AAA, it’s very rare that you drive 100 miles a day. Most people don’t drive more than 25 miles a day."

It’s imperative that customers understand the benefits and limitations of plug-ins because they will decide the fate of electric cars.

"It really comes down to the people," Herdler said. "If they want it, then I see a good market."

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