By Andrew Kirk

With a nuclear reservation, national laboratory and cutting-edge agricultural processing in the Tri-Cities’ backyard, Jeff Leskovar expected Mitsubishi’s plug-in hybrid electric vehicle Outlander would be well received.

“We thought they’d be

popular with Hanford scientists, a high-tech product like this,” he said. “But

we sell a lot of them to Spokane.”

Almost every Outlander

PHEV is sold to someone out of the area who comes to Tri-Cities to shop,

including one from as far away as Wisconsin, he said. Even then, the Outlander

only accounts for less than 5 percent of total sales.

“It’s more of a niche

product,” he said.

Doug Overturf said his

Volkswagen and Kia dealership has only carried fully-electric cars in the last

year or two.

“We’ve sold a few,” he

said. “They’re not big sellers.”

George Stanley, general

manager of BMW of Tri-Cities, said the Audi E-Tron Q5 is popular in Seattle,

Portland and San Francisco, but not so much here.

Greg Hudson at Nissan

of Walla Walla said they quit carrying electric cars, but just signed back on

because new models with longer-range battery life are coming soon.

This optimism for these

new models also was echoed by Leskovar, Overturf and Stanley.

Electric cars may have

been a “niche” market in previous years, but Nissan, Volkswagen and especially

Tesla are making a bold move and betting on increasing acceptance in the near

future as battery life and range increases. Local car dealers believe

Tri-Citians will come around as well.

Stanley said he’s not

sure it’s a good business move in terms of economics but confessed Tesla sold

58 of its new Model 3 to people in the Tri-Cities in 2019. They are customers

who likely could afford one of his electric cars. And these same people also

know they have to drive to Portland or Bellevue for repairs or other services.

Volkswagen has

announced up to a quarter of its new vehicles will be electric in the near

future, Overturf said, with a range exceeding 200 miles on a single charge.

William Robertson at

Bill & Debbie Robertson Nissan in Pasco said the new Nissan Leafs already

come with dual plugs, one for existing cords and one for fast-charging stations

popping up around the Northwest.

Jennifer Harper,

business and programs developer for Energy Northwest, said six of nine planned

50-kilowatt fast-charging stations are already operational in the Mid-Columbia

area (Kennewick, Pasco, Ellensburg, Connell, Cle Elum and Yakima). Construction

on the final three (Richland, Prosser and Moses Lake) will begin soon.

Garrett Brown, founder

of the Mid-Columbia Electric Vehicle Association, a chapter of the

Electric Auto Association, said the Tri-Cities is experiencing a trend seen

throughout the West.

While sales of electric cars have been slow and membership

in groups like his have been modest, charging stations continue to grow as

agencies and businesses predict longer-range batteries will make electric cars

more popular.

“In 2019, the big news is the Tesla Model 3,” Brown said.

“The number sold was 10 times that of the next nearest electrified car (which

would be the Toyota Prius)… I’ve seen 10 to 20 people I don’t recognize driving

Model 3s.”

Volkswagen’s “Electrify America” campaign is working to

create a network of charging stations around the country. The nearest one to

the Tri-Cities is in Umatilla, Oregon, Brown said.

Like the nine stations Energy Northwest is involved with,

the idea is to place charging stations at intervals along highways to

facilitate speedy recharging during interstate travel.

Yet even with more charging stations, electric vehicles

are still more expensive than their gas and diesel counterparts. Brown said the

economics of the used electric vehicle market are unique because the cars are a

little like a computer. A good car can be sold and resold for 30 years. But a

new computer depreciates rapidly. As battery life increases, older electric

models become even less popular than they were new. Still, the average driver –

even in Tri-Cities – only travels about 30 miles per day, Brown said. Even

10-year-old cars can handle that on a night’s charge without issue.

When Tesla first launched, early adopters sold their Priuses,

Volts and Leafs to buy Tesla. That allowed a surge in the used electric car

market. But electric car fans bought those up and now there’s a dearth. The

Model 3 is affecting the used market a different way, Brown said. Potential

buyers are sitting on their money waiting for a Model 3, hurting sales for all

other brands. When Tesla announced it was opening in the European market, the

same thing happened to BMW in Germany. And now Chinese dealers are complaining

buyers have stopped shopping in hopes their market is next.

Brown hopes people who can’t afford a new Tesla, E-Tron,

Leaf or Volt will still consider the older models.

“You can get one for less than $5,000 now. And you’ll save $1,000 to

$2,000 a year in gasoline on average,” he said. “Plus they have low maintenance

costs. I have a 2011 Nissan Leaf and I’ve done nothing to it but put on new

tires, new windshield wipers and added new washer fluid.”

Repairs are

outside the ability of the average mechanic, however, and Hanford scientists

haven’t bought them because they commute farther than the average driver and

can’t charge them while at work, Brown said. He and others convinced Pacific

Northwest National Laboratory to add charging stations, but time on them has to

be purchased due to budgetary restraints.

With “buy in”

from traditional companies like Volkswagen, Nissan, Toyota and Chevrolet, Brown

is optimistic for the future.

Stanley said

he’s not sure. Tesla’s sales are unprecedented and changed consumer

expectations, but there’s more to the story.

“Tesla attracts

customers who are fanatical in their conceptualizing of the manufacturer, like

Apple vs. PC … there is an emotionally strong attraction,” he said. “Meet the

clients and talk to them and they almost don’t care what the features are, it

was Tesla not the product that attracted them.”

And yet, Stanley

pointed out, the company is not profitable. They are dominating the market

without profitability.

“Economics are

at play that make the electric vehicle a longtime challenge for profitability,”

he said.

To learn more

about electric vehicles, Harper recommends looking up the Electric Vehicle

Infrastructure Transportation Alliance, or EVITA. It’s a public and private

partnership including public utility companies, Energy Northwest, governments

and GreenLots, a charging station installer. Benton and Franklin counties,

Benton Rural Electric Association, the city of Richland and Grant PUD all are

members.

Harper said she

and her husband both drive electric cars. They charge overnight and carry ample

charge for the next day’s commute and errands. She also pointed out Washington

state recently extended sales tax rebates for new and used electric cars.