* Greg Hinz has a story about twin developments in the state’s goal of building up the electric vehicle industry here, including the supply chain. Small excerpt…
A major push has begun in Springfield to lure investment from the fast-growing electric vehicle business with significant new financial incentives and other aid.
An initial bill was filed Monday evening by state Rep. Dave Vella, a Democrat from Loves Park whose district is just west of Stellantis’ huge Belvedere plant. Tens of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs potentially are on the table. […]
The administration has talked to Ford about potentially assembling electric Explorers at its South Side plant, as well as Stellantis and other producers. It also has begun coordinating with academic researchers, some of them at Argonne National Lab, which has developed an expertise in work developing better batteries.
Officials say they don’t yet know what will be in the governor’s package. But among items being discussed are lengthening the Edge tax credit period from 10 years to 20 years and building some sort of temporary relief from local property taxes.
Vella’s bill is here. The Pritzker folks told Hinz that it isn’t quite what they’re looking at doing.
…Adding… WREX…
Exelon is starting to prepare for its future after Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed the controversial energy bill into law earlier this month.
The new law will keep both Exelon’s Byron and Dresden nuclear plants open for at least another six years.
Now, Exelon announced they’re looking to fill 650 vacant positions across the state and plan on investing more than $300 million in capital projects over the next five years.
- Just Me 2 - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 10:47 am:
Oh, creating tax loopholes? I thought Democrats hate tax loopholes (for everyone except Hollywood of course when they are branded as incentives).
- Blue Dog - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 10:47 am:
Typical Progressive thinking. Lets shift the burden of corporate taxes on individuals and residential neighborhoods. Wait a minute…conservatives do the same thing. The two party system has again failed.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 10:48 am:
All of this w/o some unconstitutional garbage about reducing state pensions in order to stimulate growth?
It’s almost like the IPI/Center Square have been talking out their ***es for years.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 10:49 am:
=== Oh, creating tax loopholes? I thought Democrats hate tax loopholes (for everyone except Hollywood of course when they are branded as incentives).===
So you’re against the incentive?
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 10:59 am:
“creating tax loopholes”
Sure. Let’s not try to entice one of the world’s largest auto maker who has it’s sight set on the future, which is EV’s.
- Donnie Elgin - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 10:59 am:
You want to attract foreign-owned or partnered plants like BMW, Toyota,Subaru… Then push for RTW legislation. Of the 31 plants, that have located in the USA, none are union.
https://www.uniontrack.com/blog/foreign-manufacturing
- Dysfunction Junction - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 11:00 am:
Why would they do this? Everyone knows that manufacturers can’t leave Illinois fast enough. To quote our last governor, “No auto company wants to invest in Illinois because of Madigan’s power, because of regulations and taxes.”
The Rivian truck plant in BLN is an anomaly. And the planned electric bus plant in Joliet. And - er, wait a minute…
- DuPage Saint - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 11:01 am:
I would be very much against incentives especially if it involves shoving their property taxes onto others. And if they do give incentives there better be huge consequences when company does not preform as promised. School robbed of tax money roads and traffic problems. No different than give no state money to Bears.
- Ducky LaMoore - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 11:02 am:
“The two party system has again failed.”
That’s Federalism. States are required to compete against one another to succeed.
- D - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 11:07 am:
==No different than give no state money to Bears. ==
Wait, the Bears are boosting manufacturing jobs?
- MisterJayEm - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 11:11 am:
“Oh, creating tax loopholes? I thought Democrats hate tax loopholes (for everyone except Hollywood of course when they are branded as incentives).”
Oh, opposing tax breaks. I thought Republicans loved tax breaks (for everyone except green energy of course when they are branded as playing favorites).
– MrJM
- Arsenal - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 11:22 am:
==You want to attract foreign-owned or partnered plants like BMW, Toyota,Subaru… Then push for RTW legislation. ==
We’d rather not garrote our work force, thanks. So we’re going to this another way.
If it’s really about dollars cents, well, cash is fungible, so money saved on taxes is just as good as money saved on labor.
If it’s actually about keeping that boot on the other guy’s neck, well, to hell with ‘em.
- Flying Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 11:51 am:
“push for RTW legislation”
Missouri couldn’t get RTW legislation passed on a statewide ballot measure.
Now do “we need pension reform”.
- Jibba - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 11:53 am:
===I thought Democrats hate tax loopholes===
We do, but we recognize the necessity of occasionally playing the race to the bottom game that has been forced on us. A new industry for the future? Sure, with guarantees. But you can’t give away the farm.
- levivotedforjudy - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 12:29 pm:
Making Illinois an EV manufacturing and supplier hub? Invest in growth sector that creates jobs that help people stay in or enter the middle-class? This is the reason why I voted for JB. I think he would have been doing things like this a lot more but the pandemic didn’t cooperate.
- Downstate - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 1:40 pm:
The typical residential grid infrastructure will have to be increased by a factor of 3 to support even 50% of the homes having an electric vehicle.
- Dysfunction Junction - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 1:53 pm:
==The typical residential grid infrastructure will have to be increased by a factor of 3 to support even 50% of the homes having an electric vehicle. ==
Do you have a gasoline pump at home? Or do you rely on the public infrastructure like most other motorists?
*I* have an electric vehicle and I didn’t have to make any changes at all in my 110 year old house. An unused electric dryer plug worked fine. A co-worker has the same car and charges his from a 20 amp 110V plug. Your mileage may vary, of course, but if you’re going to make generalized statements like that, you might want to offer some data to back them up. “Factor of 3″ seems pretty specific.
- Blue Dog - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 2:02 pm:
Dow state and Dysfunction. You are both spot on.
- Anon221 - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 2:03 pm:
Here’s an interesting online tool to estimate what kind of infrastructure might be needed for EV expansion- https://afdc.energy.gov/evi-pro-lite
- Anon221 - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 2:13 pm:
Example for Springfield (IL) based on about 10% of the EVs (2016 data)-
For reference, there were 160,300 light-duty vehicles on the road in the Springfield area as of the end of 2016 and 200 of those were plug-in electric vehicles.
In the Springfield area, to support 16,000 plug-in electric vehicles you would need:
375 Workplace Level 2 Charging Plugs
230 Public Level 2 Charging Plugs - There are currently 18 plugs with an average of 2.6 plugs per charging station per the Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center Station Locator.
32 Public DC Fast Charging Plugs - There are currently 12 plugs with an average of 6.0 plugs per charging station per the Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center Station Locator.
- Ares - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 2:19 pm:
Cook County property taxes are due this Friday, and homeowners will have to bear the tax burden to make up for the reduced revenues worked by tax incentives, property tax abatements, and TIFs. Our state and local governments will never be able to improve their finances until they get off the incentive opioids. Why not treat incentives as spending, and plan / legislate accordingly?
- Downstate - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 2:21 pm:
Dysfunction,
My point is that the residential grid won’t support any significant increase in electric vehicle usage. You reference the use of public infrastructure. Okay, but using public infrastructure to charge a vehicle will be akin to the time it takes to get an oil change. I don’t believe most people want to endure that on a weekly basis. So, if they chose to recharge at home we’ll have to prepare for a massive upgrade of the residential grid, if we expect widespread use of these vehicles.
- Dysfunction Junction - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 2:35 pm:
Thanks, Anon221. Interesting tool but it only addresses *public* charging stations. “Downstate” was fairly specific in his or her contention that the “typical *residential* grid infrastructure would have to change (and like that would be a bad thing).
Almost anyone with a full electric vehicle or PHEV knows that one needs to make some adjustments to drive successfully without gasoline. For example, you get used to letting your vehicle charge at night while you’re sleeping (and while the grid has excess capacity to spare). Software built into the car turns charging on and off and lets you take advantage of off-peak rates.
Springfield has a lot of *really* old neighborhoods like mine. Wooden service poles leading into 100+ year old houses and detached garages. The kind of infrastructure that regularly gets taken out by a squirrel crawling around a transformer. But still, in just the adjacent block, there are about half a dozen all-electric vehicles not including mine. Somehow we’re making it work, even here “Downstate”, and with a local grid that’s far from state of the art.
- Dysfunction Junction - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 2:53 pm:
Sorry Downstate and Anon221, I’ve tried to reply but apparently run afoul of the dreaded moderation filters. No curse words or banned punctuation, I promise. Good info from both of you.
- Downstate - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 2:55 pm:
Dysfunction,
You wrote, “you might want to offer some data to back them up.”
From the Pew Foundation, “The average electric vehicle requires 30 kilowatt-hours to travel 100 miles — the same amount of electricity an average American home uses each day to run appliances, computers, lights and heating and air conditioning.”
So, every new electric vehicle is akin to adding one new house to a subdivision for purposes of the electrical grid. And that’s only if people are charging their vehicles for 100 miles of usage. During winter months (given the lower mileage of E vehicles and inability to hold a charge), homeowners will want much more than 100 miles of range.
- Downstate - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 2:58 pm:
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to E vehicles. They are an important element in America’s transportation future. Candidly, hybrid vehicles are a critical bridge to an electric future. But we seem to have dismissed those all too quickly.
- Boris - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 3:04 pm:
Downstate,
I have switched over completely to EV’s, 3 total. My electric usage has increased 62%. cost to ‘fuel” all EVs has been $1100-1500 per year, roughly 1/3 of what I was paying for my gas vehicles. I have solar panels so that a lot of that ‘fuel’ doesn’t come from the electric grid and for the rest I normally try to charge off-peak (after midnight). Roughly 90% 0f my charging is done at home every 2-3 days.
Based on my experiences, there is no way 3X residential infrastructure will be needed. All you need to do is encourage people to install solar (which we are doing) and/or charge off-peak. If you do these thing you won’t need any big residential infrastructure upgrade.
- Downstate - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 3:10 pm:
Boris,
Great points. And I appreciate the personal perspective. My friends that switched to complete EV’s ended up replacing one with a IC vehicle, due to the inconvenience of longer trips and leaving the vehicle at the airport for anything more than a weekend, particularly during the winter.
Solar is a great supplement, but without battery storage, those individuals that work away from home and are charging in evening hours will be challenged.
- Dysfunction Junction - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 3:11 pm:
==the same amount of electricity an average American home uses each day to run appliances, computers, lights and heating and air conditioning==
This is key. Most people don’t run a lot of these things at night, which is precisely when most EV owners charge their vehicles (and frankly their phones). I’ll admit it’s an adjustment from the “wait until the tank is empty then fill up a week’s worth of gas in five minutes” approach we all grew up with, but it works for all EV owners I know. Charging at night lets us more fully utilize the existing grid instead of having to replace it.
- Mama - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 3:15 pm:
- Boris - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 3:04 pm:=.
Thank you for answering all of my questions about the cost of EVs.
- Hieronymus - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 3:31 pm:
Also getting hit with moderation filters — dunno.
Just a simple link regarding Distributed Energy Resources: https://www.volts.wtf/p/rooftop-solar-and-home-batteries
- Frumpy White Guy - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 3:37 pm:
Brilliant move. The generations behind us boomers actually care about the environment and will demand an end to the fossil fuel destruction of our planet.
- Hieronymus - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 3:46 pm:
Trying to get past Rich’s moderation filters — I suspect the actual link might be the problem, so here is the TinyURL version:
tinyurl.com/4ka848xf
It is an interesting analysis of Distributed Electrical Resources (DERs).
- Hieronymus - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 3:49 pm:
Bingo.
Rich, you posted a link to a different article on this same site last Thursday, but apparently didn’t get hoisted by your own filters. The site domain is “volts” dot “W” followed by “T” followed by “F”.
- SKI - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 4:01 pm:
Will manufacturers / suppliers & users of electric motorcycles be able to take advantage of this bill, or will the Pritzker Administration insist on excluding them yet again, like they did in the Energy Bill?
- Unconventional wisdom - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 4:06 pm:
=I have switched over completely to EV’s, 3 total. My electric usage has increased 62%. cost to ‘fuel” all EVs has been $1100-1500 per year, roughly 1/3 of what I was paying for my gas vehicles.=
Sound good. But there is going to have to be a surcharge for each EV sold that is put directly into the road fund. Or some other idea that relates to directly obtaining revenue from EV users. The roads are not that good and the fuel tax is getting higher. This is a long term issue that needs to be thought out and if there is not much thinking as far as a I can tell.
- Unconventional wisdom - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 4:10 pm:
The average taxpayer is sick and tired of ‘tax incentives’ but Illinois is desperate for businesses.
A real dilemma that had better be very carefully thought out by our elected leaders.
- Unconventional wisdom - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 4:14 pm:
=Brilliant move. The generations behind us boomers actually care about the environment and will demand an end to the fossil fuel destruction of our planet.=
Hope they think out the consequences and have viable alternatives/solutions. Just being FOR or AGAINST something is not sufficient.
- Hieronymus - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 4:33 pm:
@Unconventional Wisdom - 4:06 pm:
Illinois already charges an extra $100 for EVs in annual registration fees.
- Unconventional wisdom - Wednesday, Sep 29, 21 @ 7:32 pm:
=Illinois already charges an extra $100 for EVs in annual registration fees.==
A teardrop in the ocean as to what that would make up for.