The lure of the open road provided by the U.S. Interstate system is ingrained in our consciousness through film, literature, television and for the lucky ones, through experience. But dropping the top and heading out in your 60’ Chevy Corvette to “get your kicks” on Route 66 has largely become a thing of the past.
In no particular order…General Motor’s arrogance, the OPEC oil embargo, constant Middle East strife, environmental awareness, rising gas prices, and other factors have laid waste to the wanderlust of Jack Kerouac, Peter Fonda, Thelma & Louise, and most notably the open road’s mystery. Practicality has replaced the dream while the charm of the nation’s highways and breathtaking beauty alongside their expanses remains, for long stretches, unchanged and staggeringly beautiful.
Granted, you won’t find the canals of Venice, the Louvre, or the Tower of London on any interstate, but you may find the pioneering spirit that stretched America from sea to shining sea. But can you make these discoveries in an electric vehicle(EV)? Perhaps not yet, but be patient.
To date, there have been roughly 60,000 all-electric cars sold in the United States in 2014. While this number can surely be viewed as a mere pittance or even negligible given the eight million plus vehicles sold over the same period, it’s not. It’s demonstrative of a shift in thinking, and economic understanding. It represents a 35% increase over last year that included record sales months in both May and June. Range manipulation and graphic misrepresentation of charts and graphs reaffirm Samuel Clemens assertion that “There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.” That, however, does not apply to simple volume numbers.
You don’t need a graph that shows the first half of a boomerang set on end to show that people are buying EVs, they simply are. In late 2010, when Nissan and Chevy began production of the Leaf and Volt respectively, there was real hand wringing in the boardrooms of both over sluggish sales. That was, at the risk of gross understatement, both premature and shortsighted. In the last year, the number of EVs on America’s roads has nearly doubled and presently stands at about 250,000.
EV sales have been dominated by four models: the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, Tesla’s Model S and the all-electric version of Toyota’s Prius. But even that is changing with Ford’s Fusion Energi outselling the Prius and the Volt in June this year. While Elon Musk may dominate the headlines given the rave reviews for the Model S, his vision for the colonization of Mars, his plans for $5 billion “gigafactories” that will allow for the annual production of lithium-ion batteries for over 300,000 cars each year, or just his entrepreneurial spirit; it’s still an exclusive club with a membership that begins at nearly $65,000. But for anyone who has enjoyed the 770% percent gain that Tesla’s stock has shown over the last two years, that club is considerably less exclusive. His company has yet to deliver 30,000 in a year, yet has a valuation of over $30 billion. That’s half the valuation of General Motors, which will deliver over nine million vehicles this year.
While impressive, it’s just a glimpse into the future of electric vehicles. In the next three years, nearly 70 new all-electric models will be introduced and sales of PEVs are projected to reach nearly 4 million worldwide in 2020. But imagine what those numbers could be if not for the two major failings in the EV industry: consumer range concerns and the lack of a standard for charging. There are at present three means by which to charge EVs, did we learn nothing from the limiting nature and inherent problems caused by the co-existence of Betamax, VHS, and laserdiscs?
CHAdeMO, CCS and Tesla Supercharger…oh my. None are compatible with the other. While its reassuring to read that California at present has over 6,300 public and private charging stations, its equally frustrating to know that the majority of these can’t charge YOUR vehicle due to a lack of a standard. While Elon Musk of Tesla has recently opened its Supercharger patents in an effort to standardize the industry, that doesn’t mean this folly will end any time soon forcing consumers into an awkward position. Enter Bruce Brimacombe, CEO and Founder of GOe3.
Automakers cannot and will not slow or stop production of EVs in a market that is growing as rapidly as it is until a charging standard is agreed. Mr. Brimacombe knows this and his company is embracing all three charging means as GOe3 builds the nation’s first electric vehicle charging network. By embracing all three and providing charging stations every 50-75 miles on the nation’s interstates, GOe3 may single-handedly end the worries over range limits that put EVs off the table in the minds of many potential first-time and continuing EV buyers.
In an interview on Bloomberg TV earlier this year, Brimacombe expounded on his plans to build around 1,250 charging stations in the coming years. He acknowledged the nonsensical nature of the “cord wars” and different charging standards while recognizing that GOe3’s future is bright because of his company’s willingness to embrace each equally. GOe3 plans to install its charging stations at existing locations where drivers already stop. The company also intends to provide coupons to its customers to enjoy local businesses at a discount as they wait the 15-45 minutes required to top-off their batteries.
In a recent interview with us at FSXinterlinked, Mr. Brimacombe explained how GOe3 would become a household name through its use of social media, and a reality TV show that will show the benefits of switching to an all-electric vehicle and plying America’s highways once again….at twenty-five cents on the dollar.
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