Legislature(2023 - 2024)BARNES 124
03/09/2023 11:00 AM House ENERGY
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation: Electric Vehicle Infrastructure | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ENERGY
March 9, 2023
11:00 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative George Rauscher, Chair
Representative Tom McKay
Representative Stanley Wright
Representative Mike Prax
Representative Calvin Schrage
Representative Ashley Carrick
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Josiah Patkotak
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: ELECTRIC VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
SARA HALL, Co-founder
ReCharge Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Gave a PowerPoint presentation, titled
"Electric Vehicles in Alaska."
KRIS HALL, Co-founder
ReCharge Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the presentation,
titled "Electric Vehicle Infrastructure."
ACTION NARRATIVE
11:00:40 AM
CHAIR GEORGE RAUSCHER called the House Special Committee on
Energy meeting to order at 11:00 a.m. Representatives Carrick,
Wright, and Rauscher were present at the call to order.
Representatives Prax, McKay, and Schrage arrived as the meeting
was in progress.
^PRESENTATION: ELECTRIC VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE
PRESENTATION: ELECTRIC VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE
11:01:58 AM
CHAIR RAUSCHER announced that the only order of business would
be the presentation on electric vehicle infrastructure in
Alaska.
11:02:26 AM
SARA HALL, Co-founder, ReCharge Alaska, gave a PowerPoint
presentation, titled "Electric Vehicles in Alaska" [hard copy
included in the committee packet]. She began on slide 2 and
slide 3, stating that the goal of ReCharge Alaska is to make
driving electric vehicles (EVs) more accessible in Alaska. She
said that 90 percent of EV charging happens at home, and they
usually do not need to be charged on a daily basis. She showed
a chart with the different types of EV chargers.
11:06:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked whether a charging station would
have all four types of chargers available.
MS. HALL answered that the J1772 charger would not be located at
any fast-charging stations because it is a slow charger. The
CHAdeMO and CCS Type 1 chargers are available on ReCharge Alaska
machines, while an adapter is available for Tesla EVs. She
added that only the CCS charger is being required, and this is
because the CHAdeMO charger is being phased out.
11:09:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WRIGHT asked what the cost is for using a
ReCharge Alaska charging station.
MS. HALL answered that some localities require costs to be per
minute rather than per kilowatt-hour (kWh), and this causes
discrepancy in prices. She said that ReCharge Alaska charges 60
cents per kWh in locations that charge by kWh. In response to a
follow-up question, she stated that charging at home is cheaper.
11:11:39 AM
CHAIR RAUSCHER, for the purpose of comparing electric rates,
asked where Ms. Hall lives.
MS. HALL answered that she lives in South Anchorage. In
response to a follow-up question, she stated that the cost of
charging would vary based on the make of the car and the driving
habits of the owner.
11:12:50 AM
MS. HALL continued to slide 4 and gave an overview of the
machine specifications for charging. She said that level 1 EV
outlets take between 1 and 6 days to charge, level 2 EV outlets
take between 6 and 24 hours to charge, while level 3 EV outlets
take between 18-120 minutes to charge. She added that level 3
chargers continue to become faster and more powerful, as they
are meant for semitrucks.
11:16:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCKAY asked how the charging machine works.
MS. HALL answered that EVs have adapters similar to ones on
laptop chargers. She added that different adapters could be
used to adjust to the outlet's voltage.
11:19:21 AM
MS. HALL continued to slide 5 and stated that EVs have between
80 and 500 miles of range. She pointed out that the lower end
models are older models, such as the Nissan Leaf, and they would
have less range. Newer EVs are being made with larger
batteries, and this helps compensate for the loss of range
experienced during cold weather conditions. She said that 1
gallon of gasoline is approximately the equivalent of 32.3 kWhs.
She added that her husband drives a vehicle with a 64-kWh
battery that needs charging "every couple of days," and this
means it uses approximately only 2 gallons of gas during this
time.
11:22:11 AM
CHAIR RAUSCHER asked how far a fully loaded electric tractor
would be able to travel on a cold day.
MS. HALL expressed uncertainty concerning the exact number of
miles, and she suggested that it would be in the hundreds
because of the size of the battery. She added that Tesla
estimates a range of 500 miles in California, but 40 percent of
this range could be lost because of cold weather in Alaska.
11:24:21 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX asked how long it takes to recharge the
battery of an electric semitruck.
MS. HALL answered that on a level 2 machine, such as the ones
owned by ReCharge Alaska, it would take seven or eight hours.
She added that technology is improving for the purpose of
decreasing the time it would take to charge a larger vehicle.
In response to a follow-up question, she stated that the
substation would determine whether a grid would be able to
handle larger charging machines.
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX asked whether ReCharge Alaska has received
an estimate from Golden Valley Electric as to how much its grid
would be affected by people switching to EVs.
MS. HALL answered that ReCharge Alaska has not received an
estimate; however, she added that ReCharge Alaska does work with
the utilities to ensure that it will not do something to cause
issues with the grid. She added that the developers of
residential areas follow the same principle.
11:30:47 AM
KRIS HALL, Co-founder, ReCharge Alaska, added that Golden Valley
Electric has sent out a memo stating that it would have enough
power for the Fairbanks area, even if everyone were to switch to
EVs. As more people start to use EVs, he expressed the opinion
that each utility would have work to do for the transition.
11:32:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX asked whether ReCharge Alaska was aware of
Golden Valley Electric's statement that the intertie between
Fairbanks and Healy was already near capacity.
MR. HALL responded that he was not aware of the statement. He
added that he is confident that utilities will continue to
upgrade their infrastructures.
11:33:56 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SCHRAGE asked whether there is technology to
balance peak and off-peak charging hours.
MR. HALL answered that Juneau is currently the only place
participating in off-peak hour charging. He added that there
are only approximately 2,000 EVs in the state of Alaska. He
stated that many EVs have settings that can be changed based on
peak hours for charging.
11:36:27 AM
MS. HALL continued to slide 6 and addressed frequently asked
questions regarding EVs in Alaska. She reiterated that EVs work
well in Alaska, including electric trucks on the North Slope.
She stated that the time it takes to charge a vehicle has
several dependent factors. As time goes on and more charging
machines are installed, she suggested that the likelihood of
having to wait for a fast charger would decrease.
11:38:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK asked whether there are adapters so that
an EV could be plugged into the same outlet used to keep the car
battery alive during the winter.
MS. HALL answered that this infrastructure exists; however,
additional infrastructure would be necessary if an individual
wants to charge their vehicle at a faster rate. In response to
a follow-up question, she stated that most of the grants
available are for charging stations build every 50 miles.
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK, if the driver were stuck in a cold
place, asked whether an EV could be run while charging.
MS. HALL answered that the amount of power needed to run the
cabin of the vehicle is insignificant compared to the amount of
power it takes to move the vehicle while driving. She added
that she has had personal experience with charging and running
an EV in very cold conditions.
11:45:31 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WRIGHT asked whether there are any issues with
starting an EV in cold conditions.
MS. HALL answered that the battery management system keeps the
battery at a temperature that allows the vehicle to be powered
on at any time, although this can result in the battery being
drained while the vehicle is off.
11:46:28 AM
MS. HALL stated that many aspects of vehicle maintenance
necessary for a vehicle with an internal combustion engine are
not necessary for an EV. She continued to slide 7 and slide 8
and gave a brief history of ReCharge Alaska. The company was
founded because of a lack of EV infrastructure in Alaska. She
said that ReCharge Alaska began with old Nissan charging
machines and has upgraded to newer ones, as the older ones
became unsupported. She stated that ReCharge Alaska has
expanded to Healy and along the Richardson Highway in Delta
Junction and Glenallen. She stated that one of the biggest
challenges ReCharge Alaska had faced in the beginning was to
charge by kWh because of regulations. She stated that this
caused charging to be more expensive during the winter.
11:51:08 AM
MS. HALL added that there have been other challenges, such as
weather and areas with poor cell phone coverage. For this
reason, ReCharge Alaska machines have credit card readers. She
continued to slide 9 and slide 10 and stated that the EV
infrastructure is continuing to grow in Alaska. She noted an
additional $52 million in grant opportunities in Alaska for the
building of EV infrastructure. Using a chart found on slide 10,
she gave a comparison between charging by the minute and by kWh
using a Chevy Bolt and a Tesla Model Y. She said that if net
metering became available to ReCharge Alaska, solar panels could
be used at charging stations.
11:57:52 AM
MS. HALL added that because of cell phone coverage and access to
smart phones, it is important to consider having credit card
readers at all charging stations. The importance of direct sale
for EVs is that it means Alaskans will not have to go through a
third party in order to purchase one. She said that EVs
currently do not pay any road tax, as that tax is tied to the
sale of gasoline.
12:00:15 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MCKAY asked for clarification on the direct sale
of EVs.
MS. HALL answered that it means that there are no Tesla dealers,
and to buy a vehicle from Tesla means an individual would have
to buy it directly from the company. She added that she is
unaware of any potential resale restrictions.
12:01:41 PM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX asked who is financing the capital costs of
ReCharge Alaska.
MS. HALL answered that it is self-financed other than a few
small grants from Golden Valley Electric.
12:02:38 PM
CHAIR RAUSCHER asked what the battery life expectancy is for
EVs.
MS. HALL answered that both of her EVs have a battery warranty
of eight years. She added that batteries can last much longer,
and they can be used for other purposes, even if they can no
longer propel a vehicle forward.
12:06:25 PM
CHAIR RAUSCHER asked how many EVs are in Alaska.
MS. HALL answered that there are approximately 1,700 EVs in
Alaska, not including hybrid vehicles. She added that the
growth rate for new EVs in Alaska is currently close to 100 per
month. In response to a follow-up question, she expressed the
belief that people are not giving much thought to the extra
mechanics involved for a hybrid vehicle. She expressed the
belief that people are more hesitant about fully EVs because of
the sparseness of EV infrastructure in Alaska.
12:10:13 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Energy meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| House Energy Committee Recharge Alaska.pdf |
HENE 3/9/2023 11:00:00 AM |
ReCharge Alaska |