The future method of transportation across the Commonwealth is difficult to predict with any certainty when it comes to what people drive. There’s no question that electrically powered vehicles will become a bigger part of the state fleet’s makeup. But, just how much remains a question mark.
Kentucky has long been known as a significant player in the automotive industry. With Toyota, Ford, and GM assembly plants and lots of auto suppliers in place, the Commonwealth is also making a mark in electric vehicle battery production. Two EV battery plants near Elizabethtown are being built along with a third in Bowling Green.
Kentucky’s Transportation Department is assisting in the effort to see electric vehicle chargers situated along high-speed roadways. State Transportation Secretary Jim Gray.
“And that’s going to mean every 50 miles a station with up to eight ports on the interstates and the parkways. So, all together 37 stations in phase one,” said Gray.
Engineers in the state transportation department expect at least one fast charging station to be up and running by the end of the year. Gray said the state government’s stake in the EV industry will likely spread to its citizens.
“Well really all you have to do is drive down I-65 near Elizabethtown and Glendale and see the massive battery plant that Ford is building today to see that it’s not really just a transformation underway in the automotive industry but it’s a full revolution that’s underway,” said Gray.
In a parking lot earlier this fall in downtown Lexington, a large number of electric vehicles were on display as part of the National Drive Electric Vehicle observance. It was sponsored by Evolve Kentucky-described as Kentucky’s non-profit electric vehicle group. Jess King and her husband, own a Tesla model 3, and are relatively new members. King said charging station anxiety hasn’t been a thing for them.
“Just this past summer we’ve taken it to New York City and we’ve taken it to Orlando Florida. Both of those went swimmingly. I mean I didn’t have a concern in the world about my battery. Probably the place with the least amount of chargers surprisingly was toward New York City with West Virginia. But there was still plenty enough. We were still comfortable,” said King.
King said there are apps on phones to indicate where fast chargers are along the highway.
Wrensey Gill is vice president of Evolve Kentucky. He bought his first EV car in 2015, put a 1000 miles on it the first month. Gill said it cost 15 dollars to charge it for that mileage and that’s when he knew he’d never buy another gasoline-powered car. And Gill thinks fast chargers will be game changers.
“The time it takes you the 15 minutes to go into the bathroom, grab a snack, a drink, your car is charged and ready to go. The difference is instead of spending 50 dollars in gas, you’re actually only spending about ten dollars on an electric car charge,” said Gill
Gill said that can mean another 250 to 300 miles in range.
Mike Proctor helped form the EV owners’ group. He noted these vehicles are less costly than traditional gasoline engine cars to operate: 2 cents a mile compared to 20 cents a mile. And he added there is an environmental benefit which will grow in time.
“I’m realistic to know that it’s going to take a while but this is a start. We’re going to make things happen here. This is a step in the right direction not something that says we’re just going to ignore it…the reality of climate change,” said Proctor.
And Proctor says with more saturation of EVs, utility companies will be more motivated to strengthen the electric grid. And the EV enthusiast says solar panels on the roof of his house to help power his car.
And Daniel Lowry with LG and E-Kentucky Utilities is confident power companies will be able to keep up with demand when it comes to powering EVs. And he said any concern about increasing coal burning emissions at plants to keep up with EV charging is not warranted.
“And the emissions of gas-powered vehicles far outweigh anything we would have to produce to fuel electric vehicles. So, the offsetting is more beneficial for the environment..for the emissions…to have EVs on the road..zero emissions as opposed to gas-powered vehicles,” said Lowry.
Lowry said it can take between six to 24 hours to fully charge a car on a basic wall outlet. That’s shortened to two to 12 hours with level two chargers and between 15 and 90 minutes on a fast charger.
Several observers took in the EV display in the KU parking lot. One of them was Lexington’s Marcus Jones who anticipates his next car purchase to be electric.
“Got actually four cars but just two of them, three of them run. The other one is a project car. That’s a lot of emissions. So, I’m thinking you cut down on the carbon footprint and not have to go to the gas station every day, you know.” Said Jones.
Jones met up with EV Owner Fred Rockhold of Campbellsville. He’s got a top-end electric car who took Jones on a test drive, after first demonstrating the spurting ability.
Rockhold said the knock-on EVs about pickup is just a memory with today’s vehicles.
“This one behind me here has a top speed of 145 miles an hour. No, I’ve never been there. Don’t really need it. But, it’s a full-fledged car. Zero to 60 in 4.3 seconds? That’s faster than I need. It’s a full-fledged car and we don’t have to convince people of that anymore,” said Rockhold
As with any relatively new technology, there are challenges to address. A recurring theme during this time of growing EV interest for many is how to handle the EV battery issue.
Jack Groppo is a professor of mining engineering at the University of Kentucky. He says many of the minerals needed to construct an electric vehicle battery are not found in the United States. And Groppo says that’s not likely to change anytime soon.
“If you go shopping in the United States, we don’t have any cobalt resources, we import all of our nickel, we don’t have any graphite sources. We’re kind of down to a little bit of copper and some lithium. So, that’s why we’re looking at finding new potential resources and then exploiting them in order to recover the raw materials we need to make a battery,” said Groppo
Groppo said EV batteries at the end of their life shouldn’t be dumped in landfills. He says that would set the stage for a hundred years from now mining landfills for critical elements. The mining engineer said the responsible measure is to do the first level of separation now. Groppo doesn’t see the complete reuse of EV batteries as feasible.
“In a perfect world, you would be able to take a battery, use it, when it’s at the end of its life, you would then separate it into its components and then use it to make another battery. That would be ideal but that is not gonna happen,” said Groppo.
And, in the larger discussion about renewable energy, Groppo says renewable resources in Kentucky are very limited, saying there will never be a wind turbine in Kentucky, and then qualifying that with, quote, “there should never be a wind turbine.” With all this in mind, it appears electric vehicles are not apt to fade out into the sunset.
LG and E-Kentucky Utilities is a financial supporter of WEKU.
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Jess King at Evolve Kentucky Showing 09-30-23
left to right-Marcus Jones-Fred Rockhold During Test Drive Prep 09-30-23
UK Mining Engineer Professor Jack Groppo 10-06-23
