A month and a half ago, I posted an alert in Going EV #3: Tax credit for your EV... so long as it still burns gasoline (action item!). The House had passed H.R. 5351 -- the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008 -- which, among other things offered massive incentives for vehicles with electric drivetrains. However, it specifically mandated that they had to both have four wheels and still have an internal combustion engine, which excluded most EVs. Lots of people contacted their elected representatives to remedy this situation, and it shows: just recently, the House sent a new bill to the Senate -- H.R. 6049 -- and it's a huge improvement. However, for those who care about maximizing efficiency, more remains to be done.
Read on for more details.
I've jokingly referred to the old H.R. 5351 as the "Volt Bill", because it appeared almost as though the section on transportation tax credits had been specifically designed by GM. Its mandates of the credit applying to only A) automobile with an electric drivetrain produced by a registered manufacturer, B) having four wheels, and C) also having a gasoline engine would only apply to a handful of the upcoming EV options. Only a few vehicles such as the Chevrolet Volt and the low volume, luxury Fisker Karma would seem to be covered. I helped spread the word about the defects in this bill at different sites, and the response from everyone who loves the benefits that EVs provide was incredible. Dianne Feinstein apparently got so many responses that her staff drafted a custom form letter for the topic. And today, I'm proud to say, we have what can only be described as a victory -- H.R. 6049, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008, which is an improved version of H.R. 5351.
The House passed this bill and sent it to the Senate. Now, even if it makes it through the Senate, Bush has promised to veto any of these bills which use the repeal of subsidies to the oil companies to fund investment in cleantech like EVs (as well as solar, wind, geothermal, and half a million other great technologies). That's unimportant; either this bill or one based on it will be passed by the next Democratic congress and sent to President Obama next year (wink).
What are the differences between the new H.R. 6049 and the old H.R. 5351 in relation to transportation? Let's start with the opening of section 30D of the new bill:
There shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an amount equal to the sum of the credit amounts determined under subsection (b) with respect to each new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle placed in service by the taxpayer during the taxable year.
Right there we see a huge difference: the credit is not for "plug-in hybrids", but for "plug-in electric drive motor vehicles". Gone are the requirements that there be a supplementary source of power from the vehicle, such as a gas or diesel engine that takes up most of the space that would have been used by batteries; pure battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are now covered as well. Anyone who gets a Tesla Roadster, an Mitsubishi i-EV (formerly MiEV), a Subaru R1e, or any of a dozen or so upcoming cars that achieve excellent performance on electricity alone would get the credit.
However, the result on three-wheeled electric vehicles are much less clear. But first, why three wheelers, and why should we care whether they're included or not? Let's briefly look at some high-mileage conventional cars:
(From left to right: 1) the EV1, the world's first mass-produced modern EV; 2) the Honda Insight, the highest mileage mass-produced vehicle available in the US; and 3) The Volkswagen 1L car, arguably the most fuel-efficient streetlegal vehicle on the planet.)
What do you notice about all of them? The one trait that they share in common, despite having four wheels, is that they narrow down the rear axle. In the case of the 1L car, the most extreme example, the rear wheels are right next to each other, virtually a single wheel. Now, the obvious question becomes, why is this?
The most aerodynamic shape is a teardrop. The taper on the rear of the vehicle needs to be as slow as possible to reduce flow separation (i.e., to prevent your vehicle from dragging a wake). Also, the further back along the vehicle you go, the more significant ground turbulence becomes, which imposes drag. A narrow rear wheelbase not only helps you better approximate the teardrop shape, but also reduces the area encountering ground turbulence and lets you shroud your wheels for smoother flow (a further drag reduction). In the ideal situation, this reduces down to two wheels in the front and one in the rear, a configuration known as a "tadpole" trike. You often see this design in eco-racers and solar cars, which need extreme streamlining.
(From left to right: 1) Pac Car II, a record-setting eco-racer; 2) Nuna, a record-setting solar car)
The "Tadpole" design also has an additional advantage: handling. While it requires a slightly wider wheelbase for stability than a four wheel car, a front-steered tadpole trike has the same handling characteristics as a four wheeled cars, except that they also have an improved yaw response time. This is in contrast to "delta" trikes, with two wheels in the rear, which tend to oversteer.
A completely different approach is taken in a new generation of "tilting" trikes, such the VentureOne and the Carver. In these, the third wheel, located on either the front or the rear, exists only to keep the vehicle stable when parked. At high speeds, they're balanced like a motorcycle. The stability comes not from a wide wheelbase, but from an active balance control system that tilts the vehicle into turns at the ideal angle. The advantage to this design is that as the vehicles can be quite narrow, this leads to a very small frontal area. As drag is the product of the drag coefficient times the frontal area, this can lead to significant improvements in aerodynamics indeed.
How much of an improvement in aerodynamics are we talking about? Just to give you an idea, the Aptera Typ-1 (pictured at the top of this article) gets incredible numbers, 1/5th the drag of the streamlined Prius, 1/25th that of a Hummer H2, and less drag than a person riding a 10-speed bike.
It's not only aerodynamics that is affected. Three wheels reduces weight by completely ditching the rear axle and eliminating a wheel and a tire. Apart from reducing purchase price and maintenance costs, this also reduces weight, which in turn reduces rolling and braking losses and lets the battery pack be smaller. A smaller battery pack has a lower environmental footprint and a faster charge time, as well as being lighter (further helping reduce rolling and braking losses)
Even for a person who wouldn't want a three wheeler for themselves, there should be little question that they reduce the impact on the environment that we all live in. We should stand up for cleantech whether or not we ourselves will be the ones using it.
Back to the bill at hand. Another improvement in H.R. 6049 over H.R. 5351 is that it does not explicitly rule out three wheelers. The constraints are:
(1) IN GENERAL- The term `new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle' means a motor vehicle (as defined in section 30(c)(2))--
`(A) the original use of which commences with the taxpayer,
`(B) which is acquired for use or lease by the taxpayer and not for resale,
`(C) which is made by a manufacturer,
`(D) which has a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds,
`(E) which has received a certificate of conformity under the Clean Air Act and meets or exceeds the Bin 5 Tier II emission standard established in regulations prescribed by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under section 202(i) of the Clean Air Act for that make and model year vehicle, and
`(F) which is propelled to a significant extent by an electric motor which draws electricity from a battery which--
`(i) has a capacity of not less than 4 kilowatt hours, and
`(ii) is capable of being recharged from an external source of electricity.
`(2) EXCEPTION- The term `new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle' shall not include any vehicle which is not a passenger automobile or light truck if such vehicle has a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 8,500 pounds.
In short, so long as the three wheeler qualifies as a "passenger automobile" and meets the other requirements, it should be eligible for the hefty tax credit. But what is a "passenger automobile"?
(3) OTHER TERMS- The terms `passenger automobile', `light truck', and `manufacturer' have the meanings given such terms in regulations prescribed by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for purposes of the administration of title II of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.)
So, this is left up to the EPA, which currently doesn't consider three wheelers passenger automobiles. Now, the EPA administrator has a good deal of latitude to decide what is what, and it appears that (although I can't say for certain -- any legal experts familiar with this code here?) they may be able to define vehicles differently in different contexts. President Obama's EPA chief certainly seems more likely to be sympathetic to high-efficiency vehicles than President Bush's. However, it would clearly be preferable to have the bill explicitly include three wheelers, whether they get classified as passenger automobiles or not.
== Action Needed ==
A two-pronged approach is needed here. We need to try and get the legislation amended to specifically include all direct-replacements for cars, thus including enclosed, crash-tested three-wheelers like the soon-to-be released Aptera and the in-development VentureOne. If it passes in its current form, we'll need to then work on getting the EPA to consider such vehicles as passenger automobiles.
Talking points: House
- If they supported it, thank them for their support of H.R. 6049, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008. If they opposed it, encourage them to support such bills in the future.
- Stress the importance of electrifying transportation, and how important support for all-electric vehicles is in terms of advancing battery technology, reducing air pollution, reducing oil imports, encouraging job creation, and any other benefits you feel are important to mention.
- Point out that non-traditional passenger automobiles such as modern enclosed three wheelers retain all of these benefits without sacrificing safety, and further reduce energy consumption over four wheelers. Consider mentioning specifics on how they reduce energy consumption, such as reduced weight and aerodynamic drag, and specifics on how they retain safety, such as having two wheels forward, low centers of gravity, wide wheelbases, and/or tilting.
- Encourage them in future bills to explicitly cover these vehicles in any future bills offering benefits to vehicles with electric drivetrains, since they stand as a no-penalty direct replacement for an automobile with great benefits to society.
Talking points: Senate
- Mention that H.R. 6049 was recently passed by the House, and that in general, it is an excellent bill that you hope will garner their support.
- Point out that while electrifying transportation is very important, and credits supporting all-electric vehicles will have a major effect in advancing battery technology, reducing air pollution, reducing oil imports, encouraging job creation, and any other benefits you feel are important to mention, the bill has a weakness in that it doesn't offer credits to enclosed three wheelers.
- Point out that non-traditional passenger automobiles such as modern enclosed three wheelers retain all of these benefits without sacrificing safety, and further reduce energy consumption over four wheelers. Consider mentioning specifics on how they reduce energy consumption, such as reduced weight and aerodynamic drag, and specifics on how they retain safety, such as having two wheels forward, low centers of gravity, wide wheelbases, and/or tilting.
- Encourage them to amend the bill to extend the same credit to enclosed there-wheeled vehicles with electric drivetrains, since they stand as a no-penalty direct replacement for an automobile with great benefits to society.
A list of senators's contact information can be found here:
http://www.senate.gov/...
A list of House members' contact information can be found here:
http://www.house.gov/...