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V O L . X X V I I N O. X X I V N OV E M B E R 1 , 2 0 2 1 10 L O G I S T I C S / T R A N S P O R TAT I O N C ar enthusiast Ben Van Deventer is a new convert to electric vehicles after a Subaru WRX he had driven for years broke down on a high- way in the middle of the night earlier this year. e structural engineer, who lives in Westbrook, ordered a white Tesla Model 3 online he picked up in New Jersey and drove to Maine. ough he initially missed the vroom and vibration of a manual transmission, Van Deventer now gets that experience from a virtual- reality home racing simulator while relishing his new ride. "It's incredibly smooth and quiet and relaxing, but it's also violently fast if you want it to be," he says. "It's kind of like driving a UFO." As a new convert to EVs, Van Deventer is among a small but growing number of drivers who have made the jump from filling up gas-powered inter- nal combustion engine cars to plugging in vehicles that run on electricity. It's a transportation shift that's slowly taking hold in Maine. "is rivals the transition from horse and buggy to combustion energy, or rotary dial to cell phones, because it rein- vents transportation's relationship with energy," says Barry Woods, director of electric vehicle innovation at ReVision Energy, a South Portland-based installer of solar-powered EV chargers with seven electric Chevy Bolts in its 80-strong sales fleet and long-term plans to go all electric. "e vehicles are no longer solely about travel but about consumer interac- tions with the electric grid, which has hitherto been invisible for the average person," Woods says. "Now we can cre- ate our own microgrids at home, provide utilities with storage, lower our energy costs and effect reduction in carbon through clean energy use without com- promising our transportation demands." While all that will take time, the momentum is picking up. It's been more than a dozen years since Elon Musk's Tesla released the Roadster, still the world's fastest production electric car — with a neck-straining 0-60 speed of 1.9 seconds, but a base price that might give a buyer pause, $200,000. ough carmakers have been slow to follow Tesla's lead, many are now converting their portfolios to EVs as states including Maine promote carbon- reduction policies in the fight against climate change. Market momentum In 2020 when the global automobile market shrank 16%, a record 3 million new electric cars were registered, a 41% increase from the previous year, the International Energy Agency said in an April report. Momentum remains strong this year, with sales in the first quarter reaching nearly two and a half times their level in the same period a year earlier, the report shows. Another report, published in September by McKinsey & Co., shows a steady rise in the electric share of U.S. car sales, from 1.7% in the first quarter of 2020 to 3.6% in the second quarter of 2021; in absolute terms, the number of U.S. electric cars sold has jumped from 54,000 in the second quarter of 2020 to 160,000 in the second quarter of 2021. Sales of all-electric or battery vehicles are also outpacing hybrids and plug-in hybrids, whose motors are powered by a combination of fuel and electricity. However, with only 17% of the world's total stock of 10.2 million EVs in 2020, the U.S. still lags well behind China and Europe, whose electric car markets are also growing much faster. Looking at the road ahead, McKinsey analysts note that while reduced inventories could continue through 2022, EVs could make up more than half of passenger-car sales by 2030. McKinsey also predicts a turning point for all auto dealers, saying the move to electrification will transform every aspect of their business from front-end sales to service and maintenance. In Maine, where an estimated 65,000 new cars are sold every year, electric cars remain a novelty, totaling less than 0.5% of total light duty vehicles. But F O C U S P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Barry Woods, director of electric vehicles at ReVision Energy, says the South Portland-based solar provider has seven all-electric Chevy Bolts in its 80-strong sales fleet. This rivals the transition from horse and buggy to combustion energy, or rotary dial to cell phones, because it reinvents transportation's relation- ship with energy. — Barry Woods ReVision Energy S O U R C E : McKinsey & Co., Sept. 2021 U.S. ELECTRIC VEHICLE SALES Electric avenue Mirroring U.S. trend, Maine move to electric cars picks up pace B y R e n e e C o r d e s 40K 60K 1.0% 1.5% 20K 0.5% 0 0% 80K 2.0% 100K 2.5% 120K 3.0% 160K 4.0% 140K 3.5% Q4 2019 Q12020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020 Q1 2021 Q2 2021 % OF TOTAL VEHICLE SALES TOTAL EV SALES

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