Portland, Salem, Eugene and Corvallis are all part of a new test market for electric vehicles along with Seattle, Phoenix, Tucson, San Diego, Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga. Hopefully the tests will go well in these cities and the vehicles will catch on nationwide.
According to a 2009 poll of about 800 Willamette Valley residents by Davis, Hibbits & Midghall, 83 percent of respondents said they want Oregon to help pioneer electric vehicles. This is probably why Oregon has a whopping four cities within the test market. This is not a surprise.
There are already over 30 charging stations in Oregon, with many more on the way. Completely electric vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf and the Tesla Roadster are already on the road and emit zero emissions. They can go about 100 miles per charge. A charge can take anywhere from 15 minutes—if you use the “level three” high-powered charging stations—to eight hours if you use the 220-volt charge stations.
According to an April 27 Vanguard article, Toyota had already chosen PSU earlier this year to test out 10 hybrid vehicles because of the university’s reputation for sustainability. These vehicles go about 15 miles without spewing any emissions and then switch to a gasoline-powered engine. The average commute in Portland is 14 miles. This seems to be a match.
Opponents of hybrid and electric cars like to say that electricity still comes from coal and that the cars are not any better than gasoline-powered vehicles for the environment for that reason. This is only partially true. Unfortunately, much of our electricity still does come from power plants, many of which burn coal, and another big chunk comes from natural gas and hydroelectric power which have their own negative environmental consequences. This is not ideal, but it doesn’t mean we should just give up and continue driving our polluting gas guzzlers.
Ideally, all electricity would come from solar and wind power and then electric cars would be even more environmentally friendly. However, according to University of California researchers, a fully electric car, even when charged by coal power, might emit about one-fifth of the greenhouse gasses of a gasoline-powered car, including emissions from the manufacturing process. It’s a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done.
According to Portland General Electric’s 2009 report “The Electricity Sector’s Role in Oregon’s Carbon Emissions,” PGE has adopted one of the nation’s most stringent Renewable Energy Standard, which requires that 25 percent of Oregon’s electricity comes from renewable sources by 2025. According to The Oregonian, PGE is “playing a lead role in attracting [electric vehicle] companies to Oregon.” They are even helping to build charging stations.
This all sounds really good and PGE, Electric Vehicle Manufacturers and Willamette Valley residents, along with citizens in the other test market cities, all have the right idea in embracing the newest greenest technologies. However, if Oregonians, Americans and all residents of the planet really want to make a difference and actually save the environment, we need better technology for vehicles and for electricity. We should all be racing for scientific discoveries in sustainability similar to the 1960s enthusiasm for space exploration.
According to The Oregonian, electric vehicle charging stations will begin appearing near big box stores, perhaps offering to charge the cars for free as an incentive to shop. This is what is wrong with our half-assed approach to sustainability. Big box stores are not environmentally friendly. They ship goods with pollution-causing vehicles to America from faraway countries where they do not use environmentally friendly manufacturing processes. Offering to charge electric cars for free does not make this OK.
We all need to remember to be smart about sustainability, and we need to use our smarts to create better sustainability. This would be good for both kinds of green. Whoever invents the best new technology will pass on environmental goodness and receive economic benefits. Electric cars are great for the moment, but we need to look farther than that.