Say yes to EVs
There are many of reasons to consider purchasing an electric vehicle (EV). First, while they are only truly emissions free if they are charged with with clean energy, they emit considerably fewer emissions than comparable gas-powered vehicles–even when powered with Green Bay’s relatively ‘dirty’ grid. This is because they are vastly more efficient.
A staggering 90% of the energy stored in your EV’s battery is used to drive it forward, heat or cool it, light the road ahead of you, or play amazing music. On the other hand, the average gas-powered vehicle wastes 80% of its energy. That means for every 10 gallons of gas you purchase, roughly 7 gallons is turned into heat energy and another gallon is lost to the drivetrain. If you hate waste, you should be giving your gas-powered car side-eye. Unless, of course, your secret goal is to heat up the atmosphere as you drive through it.
Second, an EV is much more affordable to operate. Unlike gas-powered cars, EVs don’t have to deal with the consequences of having thousands of small, controlled explosions inside of them. This means much less can go wrong. There are fewer moving parts and no carburetors, fuel injectors, coolant, etc. They don’t even need oil! On average, maintaining an EV costs 6 cents per mile vs. 10 cents for a gas-powered vehicle. If you drive 15,000 miles per year, over 5 years that adds up to $3,000!
They are also very fun to drive. Seriously, go take a test drive and enjoy the instant torque.
Used EV prices have come down
Due to a number of economic factors, the price of used EVs has fallen dramatically over the past 5 years. They are no longer necessarily more expensive than comparable gas-powered cars. And when you consider that a used EV may be eligible for a $4,000 instant rebate and will save you $6,000 in fuel and maintenance costs over 5 years of ownership, they begin to look like a very, very good deal.
Tax credits for EVs may vanish by New Year’s
However, by next year it may be less of a good deal (though the numbers still pencil out favorably). If you’ve been following the progress of the budget reconciliation bill that passed by the US House of Congress, you’ll have seen that the tax credits that were designed to save you $7,500 and $4,000 on qualified new and used EVs respectively may end by New Year’s Eve. In other words, the clock is ticking. While we won’t know for sure until some time in July, it’s possible you have just seven months left to take advantage of the credits.
The same holds for tax credits for businesses that want to incorporate EVs into their commercial fleet.
WPS programs to know about
If you have an EV or are considering purchasing one, there are two WPS programs that can very much act in your favor. These are the Three Level Time of Use program and the Residential EV Charger Pilot program.
Three Level Time of Use
This program creates three time periods across the 24 hour day that have different rates. The time periods vary by time of year. But roughly speaking, during the morning and early afternoon, your rate will be the same as the standard one. In the afternoons and early evenings it will be considerably more expensive. And during the night considerably cheaper. This means that if you can shift the bulk of your electrical usage to after 7 or 8 pm (depending on the time of year), you will save a lot of money. You’ll learn to be strategic and plan plan ahead to do your laundry, dishwashing, and EV charging at night. Here are the details.
Residential EV Charger Pilot Program
If you own your home, own or lease an EV, and are a WPS customer in good standing, then WPS will discount your EV charging considerably up to 400 kW per month. The only hitch is that you need to charge your EV between midnight and 8 am. Typically, EVs allow you to set them to charge during specific time windows, so as long as you plug-in your car before you go to bed, you’ll be fine. It’s a remarkably generous program, click here to learn more and sign up.