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Electric cars are more popular than ever in Alaska, but do they meet the test of Alaska's challenging winter road conditions?

The snow is so high that it was hitting the grill, but it handled really well.

We'll hear from an EV car owner and proponents of the technology right now on Alaska Insight.

Good evening.

So many of us enjoy the freedom and joy that comes with jumping in your car or truck and heading out for a road trip.

If, like me, you've always done that in a gas powered vehicle.

We'll learn tonight about the distinctions of taking that trip in a vehicle that does not emit exhaust, doesn't need gas or oil, makes little to no sound.

And we'll hear about how well electric vehicles perform in Alaska.

But before we get to that discussion, we'll start off with some of the top stories of the week from Alaska Public Media's collaborative statewide news network.

Two U.S. Army helicopters collided and crashed Thursday near Healy while returning from a training flight, killing three soldiers and injuring a fourth.

An Army spokesperson said the names of those killed are being withheld until relatives can be notified and the cause of the crash is still under investigation.

The crash is the second accident involving military helicopters in Alaska this year after two soldiers were injured when an Apache helicopter rolled after taking off from Talkeetna in February.

Governor Mike Dunleavy says he's optimistic that state leaders can come to an agreement on the size of the budget before the end of the legislative session.

He also says legislators may even be able to pass a long term fiscal plan that could include a new, broad based tax.

Dunleavy, who has long been resistant to taxes, says his administration will likely release a sales tax plan in the next few days that will cover most goods and services.

Still, there is no clear framework for how legislators and the governor would overcome their impasse over the size of permanent fund dividends and the reluctance among some to implement new taxes.

With just 20 days left in the legislative session, Senator Lisa murkowski voted with Democrats on a resolution Thursday that would pave the way for adding equal rights for women and men to the Constitution.

However, the measure failed to get enough votes to advance.

Murkowski was one of just two Republicans to vote with Democrats for the resolution, while Senator Dan Sullivan was among the no votes.

Sullivan declined an interview with Alaska Public Media, but said in a statement he believes the resolution has serious constitutional infirmities.

He also argued that equal protection for all is already guaranteed by the Civil Rights Act and the 14th Amendment.

You can find the full versions of these stories and many more on our website.

alaskapublic.org or by download the Alaska Public Media App on your phone.

Now on to our discussion for this evening.

The Biden administration has proposed strict new pollution limits that would require up to two thirds of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2032.

The proposal, announced this month by the Environmental Protection Agency could pose challenges in Alaska, where EV infrastructure is still minimal.

But the state is home to a small but rapidly growing community of electric vehicle owners.

Alaska Public Media's Michael Fanelli took a ride with one EV owner to find out how the car handles Alaska's harsh winter conditions.

Kelly Willet just finished her workday as a medical assistant in Anchorage and is heading back to her home in Eagle River on the Glenn Highway.

And then, of course, like the acceleration on the highway is nice.

Oh well, its 18 mile commute is a lot more enjoyable since she bought a Tesla model y six months ago.

She saved for more than ten years to buy the car.

She's been interested in the sustainability movement since studying biology in college, but Willett says she was also tired of the maintenance costs for her Subaru.

The only maintenance I have for the car is to put windshield washer fluid in it and that's it.

Willa is part of a rapidly growing number of Alaskan EV owners.

Chugach Electric Association estimates there are more than 2300 EVs on the road in Alaska.

That's still a tiny percentage of the total cars.

But in Anchorage alone, the number has more than doubled in the last two years.

Alaska's famously long and frigid winters can be problematic for EVs.

Some cars can lose more than 30% of their range in cold temperatures.

But Will, it says she only noticed about a 10% difference this winter.

Perhaps it starts.

I charge it to 80% every day, which is kind of what it's recommended to charge at.

And you can see now that it's just the 74%.

And I've been around, I've, you know, it's a 36 mile round trip for me.

As for the handling in ice and snow, well, it says the off road mode came in handy on a particularly snowy day when her neighborhood hadn't been plowed.

And I still needed to get to work.

And it worked great.

The snow was so high that it was hitting the grill, but it handled really well.

She sees her Model Y fitting seamlessly into her Alaska lifestyle.

We're going to see this year.

I'm hoping to take it out on a hunt.

Will it fat bikes, ice climbs and hunts, often with her dog, Nala.

Good girl.

As for whether EVs can ever really take off in Alaska, Willett says they already have.

I see more and more every day, and people are getting more and more receptive every day.

I hope that it continues to catch on.

Unfortunately, Alaska is so spread out that the charging network isn't there yet, but it's getting there.

I think eventually EVs are going to be more prevalent in Alaska than you believe they could be.

There are currently 12 active fast chargers on the Alaska road system, but many more are on the way, thanks to $52 million in federal infrastructure funding.

In Anchorage, I'm Michael Fanelli.

Joining me tonight to discuss the future of electric vehicle use in Alaska is Dimitri Shein the executive director of the Alaska Electric Vehicle Association.

And Mark Henspetter is also here Mark is a business development analyst for Chugach Electric.

Welcome, both of you.

Great to be here.

Thank you.

Thanks so much for being here in person.

Dimitri I want to start with you.

How many Alaskans are part of the association and sort of what's the aim of the organization?

Well, you know, we pretty much treat every Alaskan, the advisor, the owner as a member.

So if as your story mentioned, there's 2000 members.

So and so the goal of the Alaska Electric Vehicle Association is to advance EV adoption and promote infrastructure development for electric vehicles in the state.

Okay.

Pretty straightforward.

Yeah.

You put on the Arctic Road rally.

Tell us about this effort and why.

Well, you know, so we try to do fun things to promote EVs in Alaska.

And what we did was we build a fast charging network from Fairbanks all the way to a looked at point, which is the northernmost drivable point in the United States.

And basically why is to say that, you know, if you can build a fast charging network from Fairbanks to Electric Point and drive ten electric vehicles there in back, you can do this anywhere like a new highway in Alaska can be electrified.

So I think we just proved the point that EVs are good and possible in Alaska.

And how was that trip?

It was amazing.

It was amazing scenery.

It was.

I'd like to thank ConocoPhillips for hosting us at Car Park Operations Center.

It was very beautiful and a great learning experience.

What initially convinced you to buy an electric vehicle?

Why did you decide to do it?

I always was interested in electric vehicles, but my apprehension has always been because we have a big family.

I have six children and I knew the vehicle that could fit a large family.

So Tesla made the Model X that would fit seven people.

And then I decided, you know, this is the time.

And, you know, I've I've been pretty happy.

I've had I have had this vehicle for six years now.

Oh, you have?

All right.

Well, thank you, Dimitri for starting this off.

Mark, I want to turn to you now to gas.

Electric has an incentive program for people who buy home charging units.

Tell us about that program.

Yeah.

So we have an incentive program that's for our residential members.

So if they purchase a TV and install a charging, either a plug or a charger in their homes, we'll give them a bill credit or $200 bill credit for that incentive.

And that's for home charging.

That's at 240 volts.

So it's it's faster than just your 120 volt standard plug, but it is for residential members.

But we also have a similar program for commercial members.

So we have incentive program for both level two, which is up to $1,000 and then for DC fast charging for commercial members as well, which is up to $5,000 to install those more expensive but also faster chargers.

How long has the program in place and how widely adopted is it becoming?

How many people have them now?

So our residential program was started in 2021.

We currently have just under 200 members who are actively participating in that which, you know, based off of the number of EVs registered in the Anchorage area is about 2020 5%.

So we've seen a lot of interest in that program and it's helped people install EV chargers and charging at home.

Well, you brought one with you today.

Let's look at it.

And what does it cost for someone to put one of these in?

So the.

Well, I'll start just by showing this.

And this is a the Tesla mobile connector.

It's it's Tesla branded.

But this here will work with with any electric vehicle today.

So this is about $230.

This is my personal one I own and drive it and charge at home and this is an adapter.

So this is the Tesla plug.

So this would work with a Tesla vehicle and then this adapter goes on and it will work with all the other EVs.

So I like this one because it's really flexible.

This will charge any EV and you can see here this is just a standard hundred 20 volt plug like you have any any wall outlet or you can swap this out and put on a higher speed plug that can get this right that would plug into, say, a dryer outlet if you had.

Oh, I was going to say that would require not just your regular household current, but.

This would be a regular household current that you already have.

So this would be 244.

Oh 240 Yep.

And that's all you need for fast charging.

So a lot of people already have the infrastructure in their homes to, to do EV charging, level two, EV charging.

I usually just plug in at the 120 volt, but there's a lot of flexibility and it varies on cost kind of depending on how fast you want to charge.

So it's a level two charger that has wi fi connectivity and some smart management tools maybe in the 5 to $600 range.

But the costs are coming down.

And if you're willing to charge a little bit slower, say, maybe for four or 5 hours overnight, you can get a charger like this for, you know, less than $300.

You also brought an image of a level three charger.

Let's see that and tell us about the differences between level two and level three in terms of speed for charging and also the price.

Yeah.

So this is the level three charging station that's over at the Diamond Center, and that one's capable of up to 62 kilowatts.

So that's about ten times faster than what this is capable of here.

And those are direct current charging stations.

So DC fast charging stations, level three, that's kind of the terminology.

And those units are much more expensive.

So the return on investment for a level three charging station is longer than for a level two.

And those costs anywhere from $50,000 and up depending on how fast you get.

Modern charging stations now can be upwards of 250 or 300 kilowatts, so speeds are rapidly increasing as vehicles increase their their voltage.

So the actual voltage of the vehicle battery has an impact on how fast it can charge.

But the diamond center charger will take about an hour to charge your vehicle up.

If you're in a low state of charge up to 80% or more.

There's federal money aimed at getting more fast chargers installed.

You said they can be up to $50,000.

So some of the DC fast chargers at very high speeds are start at $50,000.

So to develop a site that meets the standards for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Grants, the net funding, those require that there's going to be four charging stations capable of 150 kilowatts or more.

So that can be a site that's that's very expensive to develop.

It is estimated it could be, you know, $1,000,000 per site for some of those.

Once you factor in all the equipment, the hardware, the switchgear, transformers, site development.

So this is a significant investment in infrastructure, but it will have a longer term.

And there's is it about $52 million coming to Alaska to help support that?

There's going to be 52 million total.

The first phase right now is going to be for the alternative fuel corridor between Anchorage and Fairbanks.

I believe it's $16 million that's in the in the first round of funding.

I had someone say to me the other day, well, I would never we're not ready for electric cars here because how are you going to get to Fairbanks?

And I was thinking about how when I first moved to Alaska and people said, if you're driving to Fairbanks, you have to stop in Cantwell or you won't make it.

Is it the same thing now that there is a charger in Cantwell?

Correct.

It's interesting you brought that up.

There's actually two fast chargers in Cantwell.

So yeah.

So you can drive to Fairbanks in the wintertime.

You would probably have to do some planning to make sure you arrive at the fast chargers with enough range and and budget some time for charging.

But other than that, I think Mark just drove to Fairbanks recently, so in his RV.

So yep.

On Tuesday I went from Anchorage to Fairbanks and back actually in a day I went up the park's highway and came back the Richardson and Glenn Highways because they're like Major said, there are fast chargers in Cantwell, in Healy, in Fairbanks and Delta Junction and Glen Allen now.

So there's a lot more fast charging.

It's it's still not ultra high speed, but there is fast charging and a lot of people don't even realize it.

So, Dimitri as someone's still driving a gas engine car, how different is the feeling as you're driving?

I have a manual transmission in my car, too.

It's older.

It's hard for me to imagine driving a vehicle that operates on a completely different set up than a mechanical drive train.

Yeah.

I mean, some people who drive in the village say, Oh, it feels like a roller coaster because it's just so effortless that you're kind of floating.

But I mean, it's a good feeling.

It's, you know, it's very convenient.

It has additional electric vehicles, offer additional conveniences, like being able to warm up your vehicle with an app in your garage and, you know, having lots of features and connectivity.

So yeah, it's a great vehicle to drive in Alaska.

And what do you find for the differences between winter and summer conditions?

You've had yours for six years now.

How how much reduction is there in cold weather for how far you can go on a charge?

I think a simple way to describe this is that in the wintertime, it's summertime.

I can go about three days without plugging in my car at home.

And the winter time, because you're running the heater, you're there's maybe snow on the road.

I'll have to plug in my vehicle every evening.

And it's just a simple in your video, you just kind of plug it in and you go to sleep and you wake up and you have a full tank of gas.

So it's pretty effortless.

To find some new terminology there.

So it seems like things are really starting to advance fairly well around South Central and up through the quarter up to Fairbanks.

But for folks that want to go on the other roads that we do have, there aren't a ton of them.

But is there a way for them to find out where they can see about where a charging station may be?

How will they know that?

Well, like everything else in life, there's an app for that.

So it's called Plug Share dot com and it has a list of charging sites and they vary from official fast charging sites to a level two sites and even some motorhomes and so forth.

And campsites offer a level two charging, so you kind of have some options for traveling around.

So you can see that there's the plug share up there.

That you can.

Actually see the map that shows the Anchorage area and then you can pan around to other areas of the state.

Yeah, it's a very useful tool for planning.

Very useful.

Yes.

Thank you.

There there are incentives for buying and leasing electric cars within the Federal Infrastructure Act up to 70 $500.

What do you know about these intensive incentives and for leasing, are there many options yet in Alaska?

Do you want to have ideas about that?

Yeah.

So the provisions on on the federal tax side have been rather dynamic and it's been a bit of a moving target.

But where things have landed now, you know, it is going to require that the vehicles you purchase are, you know, assembled in North America, have a majority of their components.

The battery minerals and materials sourced from North American production or free trade partners.

So there's some criteria there.

So not all EVs are eligible for the tax credit, but most of the the GM products are most of the Ford products are EVs and Volkswagen as well as some Teslas.

So other Volkswagen get in there.

So Volkswagen actually the vehicle I have the ID for is made in America.

They have a new assembly line in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The batteries assembled nearby in Georgia.

So there's a lot of manufacturing that's coming to the US to take advantage of these tax credits.

If you are looking to lease a vehicle, there's more options.

Even like the Subaru sold, Hara is eligible for the lease.

The Hyundai Ioniq five, I believe is eligible.

So there's a bit more flexibility on the leasing side and that may be a good way for people to kind of get their feet wet and dry and heavy.

And how easy or difficult is it right now to go out and buy an electric vehicle in Anchorage or Alaska?

Generally today.

I would say, of course, it depends on what kind of vehicle.

But if you like, if you can, just about every dealership, major dealer in town has some kind of an EV like Honda or Kia.

Ford has the Ford Lightning, VW.

And so just about every single dealer has an offering of an electric vehicle.

So things really have changed in the last five years.

You mentioned that the incentives, the materials have to be primarily sourced in the US.

We know that most of the rare earth minerals and a lot of the components are coming from China and other places currently.

How difficult will that make it to get those incentives when there isn't a lot of that sourcing that's happening, at least not currently in the US that might ramp up in the future, but isn't happening right now.

It it is ramping up right now.

And so there's going to be a lot more flexibility over the next 2 to 5 years on where those materials are coming from.

Right now, there's a lot of the raw materials like, say, the lithium, for example, a lot of that's coming from Australia.

So it's not just to be eligible for the tax credits, it's not just US sourced but free trade partners as well.

So there is some flexibility there and there's going to continue to be more exploration in North America because there are reserves of these materials.

Some of them like lithium, again, just need to be accessed in a different way.

So there's technologies to extract it from geothermal brines and kind of different types of mineral extraction.

That's low impact.

There's also a fairly robust recycling program with these vehicles.

Yeah.

And if I could just add one more point to Mark, what Mark is saying, you just check the IRS dot gov website for which vehicles qualify and shop with confidence knowing that you can buy an RV that qualifies for the tax credit.

But yeah, there is a with batteries, there are major recycling programs starting and funding from the federal government is being administered to make sure that there is a responsible way to recycle any batteries.

And that's there's a fairly high percentage of of these components being recycled, correct?

There is.

I think Tesla as of like 2020, I think Tesla was saying they were at about 92% Redwood Materials, which is another major recycling manufacturer that now has partnerships with Ford and some other major automakers.

They're saying about 95% recoverable.

So it's, I think, an important message that these batteries in these vehicles have a lot of materials and that material's still valuable.

Even if it isn't useful to the EV anymore, it can be either repurposed as a stationary storage if it just has slightly less energy density but still works fine.

And if it's an EV that's been an accident and needs to be deconstructed, those materials still have a lot of value because they're they're already processed.

We don't need to go into the ground to get them.

They're already there.

Just repackage them and put them back in the car.

Dmitri, you said the bonus of owning an electric vehicle is the fun of driving it, but you said the jury is still out on whether they are actually cheaper to buy and own than a gas engine car.

Why is there not more of a clear distinction for you here?

Well, it is a very new technology.

And, you know, repairing something that's brand new and parts may not be readily available.

It may just lead to longer lead times and longer wait times to get your vehicle repaired.

And some of the parts like computers and screens and all the fancy things that we see in new products tend to be a little bit more expensive to repair.

Let's look at to get electric looks at the number of fully electric and hybrids registered in Alaska every six months.

And we have a graphic about that.

The graph shows that fully electric vehicles are more popular, which kind of surprises me, given the the current limits for charging, it's getting better.

But for both of you, what do you hear from owners about why they choose fully electric over a hybrid?

Well, one of the reasons a lot of people choose full battery electric is it's so much simpler.

A plug in hybrid is almost more well is more complex than even a traditional vehicle because you still have a gas engine drive train and battery electric motors and drive train, whereas a full battery electric vehicle, it's just electric motors and battery.

There's, you know, orders of magnitude less moving parts and the maintenance that goes with that.

So that's one of the reasons.

And what do you hear from your association members?

Yeah, I would agree.

It's just kind of the the plug in version, the hybrid version is kind of just that takes the complexity of both vehicles and puts it into one.

And that's why people tend to go either gas vehicle or a vehicle fully be.

And that's why you see full, full battery electric vehicles outperforming the plug in versions.

All right.

Well, thank you both so much.

This went by very quickly.

Was fun to see an actual charger and how simple the technology is.

So thanks for being here.

Absolutely.

It's interesting to consider what the future could be like with more electric vehicles plying the roads of Alaska, less pollution from tailpipe emissions.

And for people who live by busy city roads like me, less noise drifting to my house from the loud vehicles streaming by.

We know the fuel transition will take time, but cleaner, quieter energy technology is the aim for the future health of the planet and ourselves, even in a state that for decades has made its bread and butter from extracting fossil fuel.

That's it for this edition of Alaska Insight.

Visit our website, alaskapublic.

and reports from our partner stations across the state.

While you're there, sign up for our Free Daily Digest so you won't miss any of Alaska's top stories of the day.

Thanks for joining us this evening.

I'm Lori Townsend.

Good night.