Electric Vehicle Town Hall gets revved up in Grand Rapids
Who knew that taking a Subaru into the shop could generate so much buzz? But when Automotive Engineer and Grand Valley State Electric Car Club Founder, Mike Helsel started talking about how he and fellow electric car aficionados gutted the internal combustion engine from a 1999 Subaru Outback and replaced it with a lithium-ion battery, he got more than a few heads to turn.
“Guarantee you won’t find any other stick-shift electric car,” Helsel boasted as he looked inside the now spacious hood of the Subaru.
Helsel’s enthusiasm for this project echoed the other panelists and audience members who convened for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters and Built By Michigan Town Hall event in Grand Rapids. The event drew great press from the Grand Rapids Press, and the state-wide Michigan Radio.
While the panelists emphasized the growing job opportunities and economic development happening in West Michigan related to the electric vehicle industry, they did not stray from a fundamental question: what does the electric car industry need to succeed?
According to panelist Rob Ozar of the MI Public Service Commission (MPSC), one of the biggest reasons people are not buying electric vehicles is due to range anxiety (loosing a charge before you get to the next charging station), and because the market is still in the “introduction” adoption phase.
“The state has been able to make it affordable for homeowners to get charging stations installed; and pay a lower electricity rate for charging their car. Now the MPSC is working on ways that automakers and electric companies can work together to improve customer service,” said Ozar.
Panelist Greg Northrup of the West Michigan Strategic Alliance, echoed Ozar by giving the chicken or the egg example. “Do we build the infrastructure and people feel more confident buying the cars, or does the charging stations follow the cars?”
Yet, Northrup’s vision for the electric vehicle was grand. In the not-to-distant future, people will find charging stations in all of Michigan's urban centers, and citizens will drive around the state without fearing their car will run out of juice. People will be able to swipe a card at a charging station, and the electricity will be generated from renewable sources.
But the crux of both Ozar and Northrup’s arguments was that expanding the charging station grid is crucial to generating a market and therefore getting automakers to create jobs in Michigan instead of overseas.
“That’s why we desperately need to build markets here so we can build these cars here in Michigan,” Ozar said. It's an issue of policy and politics, and we need our lawmakers to encourage the growth of this industry.
The event generated a buzz around the halls of Grand Valley State. Now we need YOU to generate this buzz to your Michigan legislators by signing this petition, and letting them know you want an electric vehicle industry Built By Michigan!
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For all you Southeast Michiganders, if you couldn’t make it to the Grand Rapids Town Hall, there is an opportunity to check out the next Built By Michigan Town Hall featuring a "ride-and-drive.” The event will be Monday October 10th at the Detroit Electrical Industry Training Center in Warren.
Speakers include: Kristin Zimmerman, Ph, General Motors • Ana Medina, DTE Energy (invited), • Representative, A123 Battery Systems (invited), • Steve Cohen, AICP, PCP, Auburn Hills Director of Community Development,• Charles Griffith, Clean Vehicles and Fuels Director, Ecology Center
