The news is all pointing to a deceleration in EV sales as car companies' losses per EV pile up and consumers start to really question the benefits of going electric. People who don't worry about the high initial costs or the lengthy payback (some estimates put it at 7 years) have bought their EVs already. We are now approaching the trough of adoption while waiting for cheaper versions, longer range and more charging stations. These trends haven't stopped B'game from going full speed ahead with 16 new charger spaces downtown. The latest swap of fully public spaces to preferred parking for EVs in need of a boost is coming to the public lot (K) between Walgreen's and Safeway. This is a busy lot for much of the day and early dining evening. Per the Daily Journal piece
The City Council authorized the city manager to proceed with negotiations on a contract for Tesla to rent the parking lot space from Burlingame, although councilmembers said they’d like to see details on lease and fee rates as well as plans for signs that would delineate the chargers as usable for all electric vehicles. Tesla has said they will pay a monthly rent of $6,000, and everything will be free to the city, including installation.
Let's go easy with the F-word (i.e. "free"). It's only "free" if $6K per month covers the lost revenue of the 19 spaces lost. That's about $315 per month or about a dollar a day per space. My math says these new charger spaces are far from "free".
After Beach inquired about the leasing agreement and rental cost, Tesla Supercharger Project Developer Caitlyn Hanner said the company would require a 10-year lease minimum but could provide a rent increase of up to 3% a year. Installation of the Tesla superchargers would create a loss of three parking spots.
Ten years with a very modest rent escalator is quite a deal. There are about 57 spaces in Lot K now. Three will be taken for the e-infrastructure, so about 30 percent of the lot is planned to be preferred parking for EVs. As the DJ article notes, several council members are Tesla owners and others own other brands which these new superchargers will accommodate. Did we just witness a conflict of interest that should have caused recusals on the vote? Just kidding. But it would have made a great April Fool's Day post.
Maybe the time has come to require chargers to also pay for the parking. EVs already skirt the gas tax and they inflict more wear and tear on our roads than gas cars due to their higher weight. I will tag the "Friends with benefits" category as well since this looks like a sweet deal for a few people and the car companies.
Why should Tesla owners get preferred parking? Because they can afford a Tesla? Those front spaces at Walgreens should NOT be reserved for EV Charging stations.
Put these in the back of the lot and let the supposedly "environment conscious" walk a little further to save the planet. This will only add to the "class" distinction.
Posted by: Joanne | February 14, 2024 at 07:53 AM
Lot K is more of a long term lot for employees in the area since it is $3 flat rate for up to 10 hours. Are they supposed to park somewhere else so all the Teslas can recharge while their owners grab a coffee on the Avenue?
Posted by: Mom | February 14, 2024 at 11:04 AM
The WSJ has a full page, front page piece on the steep decline in EV sales growth. Multiple quotes from dealers worried about EVs sitting on the lots. Assembly workers being moved to gas-powered manufacturing lines. Here's a taste:
As recently as a year ago, automakers were struggling to meet the hot demand for electric vehicles. In a span of months, though, the dynamic flipped, leaving them hitting the brakes on what for many had been an all-out push toward an electric transformation.
Last summer, dealers began warning of unsold electric vehicles clogging their lots. Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen and others shifted from frenetic spending on EVs to delaying or downsizing some projects. Dealers who had been begging automakers to ship more EVs faster are now turning them down.
Even Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk warned of “notably lower” growth in vehicle deliveries for the company in 2024.
“This has been a seismic change in the last six months of last year that will rapidly sort out winners and losers in our industry,” said Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley on an earnings call in early February.
Around that time, car dealer Mickey Anderson began noticing that EVs were accumulating on his lots in Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado. At first, Anderson and other retailers thought the slower sales were a fluke. At meetings with manufacturers in the late spring and summer, the dealers compared notes.
“We were worried,” Anderson recalled. “We went from wait lists to six months of supply, seemingly in a matter of weeks.”
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There's a lot more including Toyota crowing about how they were right to focus on hyrbrids instead of pure electric.
I still maintain 16 spaces is a lot of government-subsidized space.
Posted by: Joe | February 15, 2024 at 02:29 PM
If Anyone took the time to understand how Electricity is "Made" EV Vehicles contribute to the "Degradation" of the Planet too.
-Mining
-Processing
-Transportation
-Waste Storage
-Air Pollution
-Physical Threats to "The Trades People who make "The Magic Happen.
Posted by: hollyroller@ gmail.com | February 15, 2024 at 07:59 PM
You are correct hollyroller. Child labor in the Congo for cobalt and who-knows-what is going on in the lithium processing plants in Chin=a.
BTW, Safeway has finally figured out their parking is being abused and has started enforcement. They are using a phone-based license plate reader setup to track length of stay and keep track of repeat offenders.
This will add to parking pressures on Lot K.
Posted by: Joe | February 16, 2024 at 02:21 PM
How is that going to work at Safeway? Maybe I'm not up to date on the law, but isn't it that even if private security issues a citation, you don't have to pay? Are they going to actually start towing, which I believe they are allowed to do?
Posted by: HMB | February 16, 2024 at 08:22 PM
After a warning notice, they will start to tow. It's also possible that they could see someone park and leave the premises which would be grounds for an immediate tow.
Posted by: Joe | February 17, 2024 at 11:43 AM
True story:
I fill my car with gas at the station and drive away.
I don’t have to wait for charger to download which can be up to a half hour at some charging station or worse waiting for a station to free up ⬆️
Posted by: Coniq | February 17, 2024 at 04:20 PM
The psychological impact of societal feedback on electric vehicle (EV) owners can be significant, especially if they face "I told you so" attitudes from others. This situation can lead to feelings of guilt or regret among EV owners, especially if they made their purchase decision based on environmental considerations and are now confronted with criticism about the total environmental impact of EVs.
Where once, they stood tall and had cocky expressions of real trend setters, I now find them looking quite sheepishly as they approach their cars.
Posted by: Timothy Hooker | February 18, 2024 at 09:23 AM
Favorite “early adapter” license plate: “RPART.”
Posted by: Cassandra | February 18, 2024 at 11:02 AM
Now it should read "RPARKING".
Posted by: Phinancier | February 18, 2024 at 12:53 PM
The battery metals markets are "crashing" which is putting expansion plans on hold and shuttering marginal mines. All of this is benefiting the dirtiest/cheapest mines around the world....from the WSJ:
When the world’s most valuable lithium company last year announced plans for a $1.3 billion plant in South Carolina, local officials hailed it as transformative for the Palmetto State.
Some Western policymakers fear the current situation will derail recent efforts to diversify critical-mineral supply chains away from China, which refines more than half the world’s lithium and has spearheaded Indonesia’s nickel boom with big investments. Officials also have concerns that global markets will be full of metal from low-cost but high-polluting mines if producers with stricter standards are priced out.
“The global nickel situation is dire and it is, in my view, an extreme threat to national/international security as well as the environment,” U.S. Department of Energy deputy director for batteries and critical materials Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes said in a LinkedIn post.
Producers of lithium and nickel, which are used in lithium-ion batteries for EVs, have been stalling projects and closing mines to save cash after a painfully quick fall in commodity prices. Prices of lithium are down as much as 90% since the start of last year, while the price of nickel has roughly halved.
Posted by: Joe | February 20, 2024 at 12:29 PM
Well there you have it! Guess the cleanest form of transportation will be your two feet pulling a wagon.
Posted by: Joanne | February 21, 2024 at 08:08 AM
Here's another EV whoopsie from the WSJ:
Apple has put an end to its decadelong push to build its own electric vehicle, an effort once seen as having the potential to transform the auto industry.
The secret group inside the iPhone giant—known internally as Project Titan—has been informed that Apple would be shutting down its efforts in building a car while the company ramps up investments in the area of generative artificial intelligence, a person familiar with the situation said.
Apple has spent billions of dollars on research and development on the car project. The car group inside Apple was the subject of several rounds of restructuring and shifting strategies over the years as Apple struggled to figure out a path forward, people who worked on the project said.
Posted by: Joe | February 28, 2024 at 01:02 PM
A sales rep visiting from the East Coast flew into California's Central Coast and was given the last remaining rental vehicle, an electric car. Arriving in Burlingame today she said she tried several methods of payment to charge the car in the lot off Broadway near the Wells Fargo Bank. "I even downloaded their app and that didn't work."
Posted by: Gerald Weisl | February 28, 2024 at 06:58 PM
The Broadway chargers are mostly used by city and East Bay Lyft and Uber drivers. I have not seen anyone in the neighborhood with an electric car. The new chargers will probably be the same. Uber and Lyfts.
Posted by: Handle Bard | February 29, 2024 at 03:56 PM
Look closely when you are in the Broadway lot. Some EVs park in the space and don't even pretend to be charging. It's just free parking for them.
Posted by: Phinancier | March 03, 2024 at 01:53 PM
This is an interesting idea from the WSJ article on Friday. It might be even more "fair" for stations that are on public property.....
A number of Republican-led states are charging higher fees and taxes for electric-vehicle owners to make up for lost gasoline-tax revenue that helps fund roads and highways, prompting pushback from EV industry groups and drivers who say they are being squeezed more than owners of gas-guzzling cars.
The debate goes to the heart of one of the thorniest transportation challenges the country faces: how to pay for highway construction and maintenance when the traditional funding mechanism for such work is slowly collapsing.
Proponents of EV fees and taxes say they are necessary because owners of those vehicles aren’t contributing gas-tax money to federal and state transportation funds. Many say they are just trying to assess amounts comparable to what gas-vehicle owners pay.
“Everybody that uses the public highway should be paying the user fee,” said Georgia state Sen. Steve Gooch, a Republican who sponsored a bill signed into law last year that added a tax of about 3 cents per kilowatt-hour for public EV chargers.
So far, 33 states spanning the political spectrum have applied annual registration fees for EVs and hybrid vehicles, with EV fees ranging from $50 in Colorado to $225 in Washington, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. At least seven states, mostly Republican-led, have enacted legislation in recent years to tax electricity consumed at public EV charging stations, NCSL data shows.
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Once you know that EVs of comparable size to gas vehicles weight more and thus batter the roads more, this makes even more sense.
Posted by: Joe | March 10, 2024 at 04:12 PM
I guess we won't be getting Tesla superchargers at Walgreen's. Back to the ones that seldom work.
Posted by: resident | May 03, 2024 at 01:42 PM
From the WSJ
Tesla Is Pulling Back From EV Charging, and People Are Freaking Out
Widespread layoffs within the Tesla unit are a blow to efforts to build out a national charging network
Tesla’s move this week to lay off much of the team responsible for creating the largest and most successful electric-vehicle charging network in the U.S. threw the industry into a state of shock and confusion.
The layoffs halted construction work at a dozen Supercharger sites in Texas. In New York, property owners in negotiations with Tesla were left hanging as discussions about adding chargers to their sites were ongoing.
The upheaval comes as the EV industry struggles with sluggish sales growth and a bumpy rollout of a national highway-charging network.
Posted by: Joe | May 03, 2024 at 05:11 PM
Yikes! I hear that the same thing is happening to Caltrain's new copper power lines-to the tune of a million dollars or so!
Bay Area dog trainer Josh Beckler stumbled upon an unusual sight last Sunday on his way to the gym. As he pulled his Tesla into the parking lot of a Target complex in Vallejo, he noticed the row of supercharging stations had been vandalized.
Taking out his phone, he recorded a video as he walked down the row of 20 stations, highlighting that every charging cable that connects power to the electric vehicles had been cut.
Beckler told the Chronicle that he wasn’t surprised by the discovery. With 17 years of experience as an investigator for Home Depot, Beckler regularly pursued thieves who stripped copper from the store’s generators.
“If it were a protest, they wouldn’t have taken the cords because they’re extremely heavy,” he said. “They hauled about 250 pounds of hose. There’s also a small control box on the stations, and they took those too.”
According to Scrap Monster, copper scrap material fetches approximately $3 per pound in the East Bay.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/tesla-supercharger-vandalism-vallejo-19455056.php
Posted by: Joe | May 14, 2024 at 12:47 PM
EV's running out of ga$. From the WSJ:
Roughly a third of people who financed their vehicles have negative equity on their auto loans, according to a survey by car marketplace CarEdge, which means their loan is larger than the value of their car. That share would amount to some 31 million of the more than 100 million auto-loan accounts tallied by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Being “underwater” is common because a car loses value as soon as it is driven off the lot. But that 19% drop in used car prices since their peak in 2022 means more cars are now worth less than the remaining balance on the car loan—and by larger amounts.
The share of drivers with negative equity is higher among those who financed their vehicles since 2022. Some 46% of drivers with electric vehicles are underwater, CarEdge found.
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A third of all cars, but 46% of EVs are underwater.
Posted by: Joe | October 30, 2024 at 12:48 PM
And yet, the do-gooders amongst us will insist we go all electric?
Whatever happen to "freedom of choice"?
Oh, that only applies to one topic!
Posted by: Paloma Ave | October 31, 2024 at 07:28 PM
There are more chargers going into the parking lot next to the library. I couldn't tell how many parking spaces will be reserved for the special few.
Posted by: resident | November 01, 2024 at 01:29 PM
More drain on the battery from today's WSJ:
Ford Motor Co. on Thursday said it will idle production of its F-150 Lightning electric truck in Dearborn from mid-November through the end of the year.
Ford’s production stoppage follows a string of ominous announcements, starting in October 2023 when it announced plans to lay off about 700 workers who build the Lightning. In the spring Ford said it would eliminate two of three work crews at the Dearborn plant. In August it scrapped a planned electric SUV.
“We continue to adjust production for an optimal mix of sales growth and profitability,” Ford said Thursday.
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"Optimal mix of sales growth and loss minimization"
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Ford has sold a mere 22,807 Lightnings so far this year—a far cry from the 180,000 the Dearborn factory was originally supposed to produce.
Ford’s EV division has lost $3.7 billion during the first three quarters of this year—about $55,000 per EV—and expects $5 billion to $5.5 billion in losses this year. Under the UAW contract, workers earn a $1,000 bonus for every $1 billion in company profit. The EV losses could result in $5,000 in reduced pay for Ford workers.
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The Lightning was supposed to be all the rage. No need for contractors to lug around a generator for the day's work--just use the truck battery, blah blah blah
Posted by: Joe | November 02, 2024 at 05:06 PM