Keller @ Large: The state of electric vehicles in Massachusetts
BOSTON - Consumer Reports is out with its new list of the most reliable cars. The BMW X5 topped the list, followed by four Toyotas, including the 4-Runner and the Camry Hybrid.
But while hybrids from many automakers scored well, electric vehicles, or EVs, did not.
What's up with EV? First, the good news: due to oversupply and soft demand, they have never been cheaper and more readily available. Could this be a boost for Gov. Maura Healey's pledge to put a million EVs on Massachusetts roads by the end of this decade?
Here comes the bad news. "The idea that we're going to be having all EVs by a set date is not a smart idea," said Clifford Atiyeh, president of the New England Motor Press Association. EVs haven't "shifted to a mass market acceptance primarily because cost and the overall range and the technology of the batteries, that is still a massive concern," he said. "For example, if you're in a condo complex, even if you own, you're not gonna have a charging station just for you. If you rent in Boston, which I did for years, you're not gonna have one."
Charging issues have kept demand low and that's costing the big automakers billions. Massachusetts recently touted $9 million in federal aid for more charging stations. But that's a drop in the bucket.
"More than just the charging stations, it truly is the capacity of the electrical grid," said Atiyeh. "If we convert all of our vehicles right now in the state of Massachusetts into full EVs, and that includes buses, trucks, it's only gonna demand more power, more reliable power as the years go on. And I think again and again our market, New England, has proven that we're not always up to that task."
As the Tower of Power might put it, we can't cut loose without that juice, and when you see the power go out entirely during bad storms around here you wonder how long it will take to get to the point where EVs are actually practical. Which is not to say that reducing our reliance on fossil fuels isn't a noble goal - it's just looking increasingly likely that it's going to take us a lot longer to get there than some would like.