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Electric car advocate Chelsea Sexton is the featured speaker at the September 15 public session at EV 2010 in Vancouver. (Andrea Bricco photo)
September 2, 2010
'Who Killed the Electric Car?' star coming to B.C.
Posted by Rob Klovance
Chelsea Sexton will probably never quite get over the premature death of the EV1, the electric car she marketed for General Motors before it was literally crushed – in a scene played out famously in the 2006 documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?
But if Sexton is not willing to forgive GM for ending the EV1 program in 2002, then taking part in the repossesion and crushing of existing EV1s, she is optimistic that GM will do the right thing with the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt.
"They really have no other choice," says Sexton, arguably America's leading electric vehicle advocate and the featured speaker in the September 15 public session of the the EV 2010 VÉ Conference and Trade Show in Vancouver. "GM is committed to the Volt – I've spent a lot of time with the Volt program folks and they love that car like I loved EV1, there's no question.
"But I also think there's a relative understanding that they just won't get away with not being sincere this time."
A self-confessed geek who worked for Saturn at the age of 17 and then jumped at the chance to market the EV1, Sexton is certain that plug-in electric cars are on their way to mass adoption. The only question is how many, how fast – a question she feels will only be answered by how well auto manufacturers respond to consumer demand.
Sexton doesn't buy into the argument that range anxiety, consumer concern over the limited range of pure electric vehicles, is the greatest barrier to widespread adoption. Certainly that won't be an issue with the Volt, equipped with a small gasoline motor that significantly extends its range.
"The biggest barrier is absolutely supply of vehicles," she says. "Range anxiety is a question we've always had and it's a fair question. But it tends to go away pretty quickly. I think we're overblowing range anxiety at the moment.
"As soon as they start to get cars on the road and people try them... within a few days people will be saying 'Oh I don't drive as much as I thought I did – I've just been sitting in traffic all day.'"
In an engaging discussion (audio available online) at Plug-in 2010 in San Jose this past July, only fellow panelist Bill Nye "The Science Guy" dared make a prediction when asked to predict the percentage of EVs on the road by 2020. Nye said it was unlikely it would even be 10% in the U.S.
So in my phone interview with Sexton, I posed the question again.
"I think 10% of new car sales is feasible by 2020, but I don't think I'd go much beyond that," says Sexton, "And that greatly assumes the automakers will make enough cars to meet the demand so that it actually hits that 10%.
"I think it's fair to say that for the next few years we'll have more buyers than cars."
That's probably doubly true here in B.C., where the Volt – a plug-in electric with gasoline backup that is due for a U.S. release this November – is not expected to arrive until August, 2011, as part of the Canadian release of the vehicle.
The encouraging news is that within months, likely by the end of 2011, we can also expect to see the Nissan Leaf – a full-electric competitor to the Volt – also available here.
The question of "how many, how fast" is big on the minds of BC Hydro these days, which has to consider EV adoption in electricity demand forecasting. Those load forecasts play a pivotal role in our long-term planning for electricity generation in B.C. And with that future in mind, BC Hydro is already playing a leading role in researching charging infrastructure in the province.
If, as Sexton hopes, the auto manufacturers eventually meet the demand, B.C. could emerge as one of the leaders in EV adoption. The reason? A comparatively affluent, green-leaning public and affordable, clean power courtesy of our wealth of hydroelectric generation.
"You immediately surpass the hurdle we always face, which is: 'What about the coal on the grid – is electricity actually cleaner than gasoline?," says Sexton. "Even here in California, even with coal, electric vehicles are still the cleaner option. But you get to avoid that conversation to start with, which is rather handy."
It's not just about the Volt
As the former EV1 specialist who emerged as the leading voice of EV advocates via her role in Who Killed the Electric Car, Sexton has no trouble landing test drives of new plug-in vehicles.
She's excited about the Volt, thinks the Nissan Leaf has the "best user interface of any EV she's ever seen", and gives a thumbs-up to the Mitsubishi i MiEV which is scheduled to finish a cross-Canada trek at the EV VÉ conference in Vancouver later this month.
"I think it's a great little car, a fun little scoot," she says. "It' wickedly endearing in terms of its look. We brought it home for a week and my kid instantly named it Mr. Bean. And it became this little anthropormorphized runabout that we went out and had adventures in."
Still, she says the very quick EV1 spoiled her and she freely admits that the sportier EVs like the Tesla Roadster are what really get her jazzed. "Yeah, I have a lead foot – Bill Nye calls it the lithium foot now," she says.
What has Sexton excited is that auto manufacturers, in part prompted by Nissan's aggression with the production and pricing of the Leaf, appear serious about plug-in EVs.
"Sure, there are some manufacturers who are more greenwashing and getting pulled along because they have to," she says, "but basically every automaker – at least the majors – have some sort of plug-in program in the works. It's a good thing for consumers, because not all of them will work, but enough will that we'll have a nice variety going forward."
Don't miss Sexton in her appearance at EV 2010 VÉ Conference in Vancouver. And look for Revenge of the Electric Car the followup to Who Killed The Electric Car?, tentatively due for release next spring.
Rob Klovance is managing editor of bchydro.com and a regular contributor to Unplug This Blog!
