Detroit, MI (WBEN) In New York State, there is not only a push to electrify homes and businesses in the next ten years, but vehicles as well.
How is the grid positioned to handle this increase in demand?
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"We know we have plenty of electrical generating capacity across the U.S,
the weakness is in the distribution," said Sam Abuelsamid, an auto analyst with Guidehouse Insights in Detroit.
"Getting the electrons where they need to be, when they need to be there. We need some pretty substantial upgrades to the grid pretty much everywhere," he told WBEN Wednesday.
Here in New York State, automakers must sell 68% of sales by 2030 as EVs or plug-ins and by 2035 can sell no more than 20% of models as plug-in hybrids.
The Big 3 automakers are spending a lot of money right now developing batteries and new electric vehicles and re-tooling many factories.
"Between Stellantis (formerly Chrysler), General Motors and Ford, they are investing well over 100 billion dollars just between now and 2026 and launching dozens of new electric models," added Abuelsamid.
Does this mean hybrids are going away?
There is still a place for hybrids, for the next ten to fifteen years he said.
"One of the big challenges that we have with electric vehicles is towing. EV's have plenty of torque for towing, but the problem is how far you can tow.
If you want to tow a camper trailer hundreds of miles, it becomes a real problem. With something like the Ford F-150 Lightning or Rivian R1T, if you hook up a trailer, your range can drop by half or more. Because of that, there is still a need for plug-in hybrids."
Vehicle range is one of the biggest concerns of consumers. Abuelsamid said battery technology continues to improve. Most lower cost EV's have a minimum of 250 to 300 mile range on a charge. And household charging equipment has come down in price. You can buy a decent home charger now for $250 to $300 dollars and a lot of utilities offer rebates on those. And some manufacturers offer free home installation of a charger, he said.