Mobster Nate Shadoin is a veteran Hemingway who lives in Mt. Lookout with his wife and three kids. You can find him at Maketewah, Herb & Thelma’s, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hinkle Fieldhouse. Here’s his latest take on electric vehicles.
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Greetings Mobsters and thank you in advance for reading TML Electric Vehicle 2.0
While Doc is off to far-away places enjoying cigars, cheap drinks and family time I’ll try to do TML justice and provide some facts and opinions about electric vehicles (EVs).
I started in the automotive industry 10 years ago working for a small startup company that converted RAM ProMaster gas vans to EV. The owner was ahead of his time, a hotel operator, an early adopter of Tesla vehicles, and wanted an electric shuttle van to take customers to and from airports. I sold a grand total of two vans in one year.
I spent the next seven years leading all EV fleet deployments for a large fleet management company. We helped the City of Columbus deploy 200 EVs, mostly converting pool vehicles like a Ford Focus to a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Bolt. Municipal fleets are perfect fits for EVs because the vehicles rarely leave a defined area and do not travel lots of miles. And, you’re spending other people’s money, which we will get to soon.
I spent the past two years working for a large, renewable energy company that developed solar and wind farms and operated a regulated utility in the Southeast. The business unit I worked in provided EV charging stations to municipal and commercial fleets.
The places where EVs work today and are “in the money,” meaning they have a lower total cost of ownership (TCO, the metric in which fleets measure cost) than an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle are: Daily drivers, Uber drivers, Rental Cars, Taxi, Black Car, Last Mile Delivery and “yard trucks” that move containers around port facilities.
Some of you have probably seen Amazon vans that look different roaming your neighborhood recently. Those vans are EV and manufactured by Rivian, who accepted a nine-figure investment from Jeff Bezos to fund the operation. Last Mile Delivery (Amazon, UPS, Fedex, USPS, DHL) are perfect fits for EVs. The routes are 30-100 miles per day, they can charge overnight at the warehouse, and outside of tire wear, there is virtually zero preventative maintenance like oil changes.
The cost premium for a Rivian electric delivery van or EDV is roughly $20k more than ICE. The fleet operator can save $10k per year on fuel alone, so years 3 – 10 are when you get the payback, which drives profit to the bottom line. The big X factor for commercial EV deployments is around the charging, which can be massively expensive if you’re retro-fitting an existing facility. Trenching concrete in a warehouse or parking lot costs big money. The new Amazon facility being built near CVG will have a dramatic cost-advantage because they are installing chargers during construction.
RJ Scaringe and Elon Musk are the ONLY people who have been able to start a new Automotive manufacturing company that made it in my lifetime. John DeLorean couldn’t do it and it’s a testament to the grit and determination both men have to take on the establishment and lose a stupid amount of investor’s money while you ramp up operations.
Others have tried, including a local guy who hood-winked and swindled investors out of tens of millions of dollars while his company, Lordstown Motors, failed. He went on CNBC and falsely claimed they had 100,000 “pre-orders”. The stock jumped, and while nobody was looking, he and key executives sold their shares in a classic “pump and dump” scheme. They filed for bankruptcy last year. People like Steve Burns give our industry a bad reputation.
The ONLY reason I’m driving an electric F150 is because Elon and Tesla were a direct threat to the entire establishment, especially the Detroit “Big 3”.
How Far Does it Go?
Published Range: 320 miles. Actual Range: 200 on the interstate @ 75 mph, 250+ in combined driving.
How Long does it take to Charge?
Home charging will add 8 to 19 kWh of energy to an EV battery per hour, depending on breaker size and type of charger. Basically, it’s an electric dryer plug.
Total capacity of the F150 Lightning battery pack: 130 kWh
I drive, on average, 60 miles per day. The truck “efficiency” is roughly 2 miles per kWh. 30 kWh of energy is a four-hour charge at night.
If I want to “charge in the wild”, the Electrify America chargers in Oakley run at 150 kWh per hour. If I drive to Indy and back, I stop at a Wal-Mart on 465 and charge for 15 mins.
How much does it cost?
We enjoy very cheap power in the Tri-State. Those barges that carry coal and natural gas to the Lawrenceburg facility keep it that way, at roughly $.08/kWh. For comparison, California residents pay $.30 to $.50 per kWh.
If I drive 60 miles per day, using 30 kWh of energy, my cost is $2.40. Compare to 15mpg on a standard F150, or four gallons of gas costing ~$15, and I’m saving north of $300/month and close to $4k per year. I have NO IDEA what gas costs and I no longer care. How great is that?
“Opportunity Charging” in the wild, using the Electrify America fast chargers, costs $.50/kWh.
Last year, I installed a small solar array on my garage that produces, in the summer, 600+ kWh per month. That’s 1200 miles of carbon-free driving.
Charge at home friends.
EV Sales
2023 US Auto Sales: 16 million
2023 US EV Sales: 1.2 million
2023 Commercial US EV Sales: 17,500 (7000 were Amazon vans)
Best Selling vehicle Globally? Tesla Model Y at 1.2 million units.
Government Influence
When Biden came into office, it was en vogue to make ESG (environmental, sustainability, governance) goals equally as important as bottom-line, financial performance. Stock prices (and executive bonuses) were rewarded by establishing carbon-reduction goals into their mission statements. Mary Barra, CEO of GM, set the mission to be zero-emission (EV), zero-congestion, and zero-crashes (both meaning autonomous vehicles) by 2035. The Cadillac brand would make the other car I drive, a CT5V Blackwing with a six-speed manual, obsolete. Not so fast…
As most regular readers will note, I’m not exactly aligned with the Democratic Party. But I prefer to stick to facts, not root for politicians and their party like it’s my favorite sports team, and understand the landscape so I can adapt.
We have a budding threat to our EV business in the USA by Chinese, state-backed, electric vehicle manufacturers. BYD is the most prevalent, as they manufacture the batteries and vehicles at subsidized prices to gain market share. The rumor is they plan to bring a $20k EV that resembles a Tesla Model 3 to the US market. Would you buy one?
The Inflation Reduction Act, Chips Act, and Build Back Better laws earmarked funds for public charging stations to be installed at existing truck stops and fueling station facilities. The goal is to expand public charging along highways and interstates, like broadband, to connect the dots and enable EV adoption. Truck stops and rest areas probably win the battle of public charging because they are already experts at monetizing your time while you pump gas.
Those laws also mandate to qualify for tax credits, grants, and incentives the batteries, charging stations, and vehicles MUST be manufactured domestically. That equates to new jobs in the USA. Ironically, many of the Red States are the ones getting massive investments by traditional auto manufacturers to build battery and EV assembly plants.
Growing up in Muncie, Indiana in the latter parts of it’s heyday, we had lots of blue collar manufacturing jobs that mostly went to far away places like China and Mexico. I believe in the usefulness of EVs and look at it as an opportunity to create new, modern jobs for Americans. And help revive the Middle Class.
That said, eventually the industry needs to stand on its own, not just survive by government subsidies. That is my North Star in this business, to make EVs work for the right applications and continue to push technology forward so EVs have longer range, lower cost, and better capability.
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Got a chance to play Coldstream this week for the Joel Cornette Memorial. His brother, Jordan, is an NBC Sportscaster and former ESPN employee. Joel went to St. X and led Butler to three NCAA tournament appearances as a player. He and a large group of guys who attended the Memorial set the stage for Butler to become a national name with a coaching tree that expands far and wide. You would not have known it by looking at the guys sitting in the back during Tom Izzo’s keynote speech, but we had an NBA Champ among us.
Song of the Day:
Long-term fan of the Black Crowes, who are playing at the Hard Rock downtown late summer. Here’s a new cut that sounds just like an old cut. Let me know if you pick it up.
AND NOW. . .
Hey Michelle makes alla youse weekend fun experts.
Cincy Music Fest ~ This weekend of epic music will fill our city Thur-Sat the weekend shows are at Paycor Stadium with 5 shows a night!
Final Friday ~ Pendleton Art Center 5-9 showcasing many local artists
Art After Dark ~ Cincinnati Art Museum Friday 5-9 The Culture of Hip Hop & Contemporary Art in the 21st Century. DJ, jaw dropping performers, cash bar, food, photo booth and more
Florence Y’alls ~ Friday 7 against Sussex County, Saturday 6:36, Sunday 1:00
Tick Tick Boom ~ at the Carnegie in Covington 7:30 Friday & Saturday 3:00 Sunday
Goettafest ~ Two weekends of goetta! At Newport’s Festival Park at the Levee..Check out the temporary Ferris wheel while you’re there.
Olympic Opening Games Bar Crawl ~ Newport on the Levee will be our local Olympic village! Saturday join in a fun Team USA Bar Crawl. $10 for exclusive drink specials, crazy good raffles, patriotic games, themed swag and more. Benefits the Campbell County Special Olympics
Danger Wheel ~ This is one of the most epic events of Summer! Hit up the Pendleton area while crazy people fly down the hill riding big wheels and bystanders pelt them with water balloons.. seriously it’s a blast!
My Mom’s 100th Birthday ~ She deserves to get a shoutout! Born in 1924 in Milwaukee, Wis. Mom of 8 kids and lots of grands and greats still rockin it. Loves a big glass of wine everyday, loves to read the paper, has a wicked sense of humor and is a gem!
Michelle Dorward Jones
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Promoting restaurants, bars and all things fun in Cincinnati & travel
Thanks for the low-down on EVs. This was very informative.
Nate, Great article. It's nice to peek behind the Blackwing Manual curtain. I have a Bolt and love it. Not thrilled about the software recall that Chevy put in limited charging to 80% . That takes trips to Indy/Columbus off the table without recharging. Chevy says I will be able to charge to 100% after 6000 miles of no issues. What is your opinion of GM new baterry platforn and the EV Equinox? What about hydrogen powered vehicles? Thanks again for the article