Maryland Lawmakers Seek Retroactive EV Tax Credits for 2017 Funding Gap

Lanny

Maryland Capitol Annapolis

Some Maryland EV Buyers Didn’t Get State Tax Credit in 2017

Relief may finally be coming for Maryland Electric Vehicle drivers who missed out on the State Tax Rebate program when funding ran out before the end of fiscal year 2017 which ended on 6/30/2017.

A bill sponsored by Maryland Delegate Marc Korman, who represents District 16 in Montgomery County, proposes to retroactively give rebates to individuals who purchased a plug in electric vehicle in fiscal year 2017 but did not receive a state rebate after the program ran out of funds.

Maryland HB 72, the Extension of Electric Vehicle Incentives Act, would also provide rebates to certain individuals who did not receive a qualified rebate under the Fiscal Year 2017 Electric Vehicle Recharging Equipment Rebate Program after that program also ran out of funds.

Delegate Korman’s bill would authorize an applicant to receive a refund of excise tax imposed for a qualified plug–in electric vehicle if the vehicle was purchased new and titled for the first time on or after July 1, 2016, but before July 1, 2017 if the applicant is the vehicle’s original owner and owns the vehicle when applying for the tax credit. Read More …

Hancock Maryland Getting DC Fast Chargers

Lanny
Hancock, MD DCFC
Two concrete pads await EV charging equipment at Western Maryland Rail Trail Parking Lot.

CCS & CHAdeMO Chargers Part of Maryland AFIP Grant Award

EV drivers have waited years for DC Fast Chargers to be installed farther west along the Interstate in Western Maryland. It looks like a pair of chargers are about to arrive in the town of Hancock, about 25 miles west of Hagerstown.

The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) awarded grants to install DC Fast Chargers in the state under the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Program (AFIP) for fiscal year 2018. Included in that award is funding for a pair of Fast Chargers at the Western Maryland Rail Trail Parking Lot in Hancock, MD. On Sunday, January 6th, I was out that way and decided to have a look. I found two recently poured pads of concrete with conduit sticking up in the north-east corner of the lot. It looks like construction has begun.
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Frederick Maryland Supercharger Planned for Mall

Lanny

Frederick Maryland Tesla Supercharger site plan front

Francis Scott Key Mall is Proposed Site of Frederick, MD Supercharger

Tesla plans to build a Frederick Maryland Supercharger at Francis Scott Key Mall according to documents submitted to Frederick County and obtained by PlugInSites through a Maryland Public Information Act request. The planned location is south east of the town of Frederick which is roughly in the vicinity of where I-270 and I-70 merge. Map link.

Plans show ten charging stalls located on the north edge of the parking lot along Spectrum Drive near JC Penny. There’s a Red Robin restaurant and a BJ’s Brewhouse nearby in the same parking lot. In addition to the Mall’s food options, there’s a Panera, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Baja Fresh and several other eateries across Spectrum Dr.
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National Harbor Supercharger Lot Permanently Closed

Lanny

National Harbor Supercharger Closed

Site Closed Less Than 15 Months After Opening

Early this morning, the Tesla Navigation map indicated that the National Harbor Supercharger was out of service. By 10 AM, the pin for National Harbor had disappeared completely and by this afternoon, National Harbor had been deleted from the Supercharger list on Tesla’s website.

There now stands a bank of 12 dark stalls where a day earlier had been active with Tesla cars coming and going. This Supercharger site went from Ribbon Cutting to decommissioning within 15 months.

In October, National Harbor announced that the Tesla parking lot would be closing. The lot was said to have been sold in order to build a hotel. We were assured that the Superchargers would be relocated somewhere else within National Harbor.

In December, we reported finding a permit and construction activity by the Fleet Garage just to the north of the original Supercharger location.
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Downtown Hagerstown Fast Chargers

Lanny

Hagerstown Maryland EV Chargers

Featured Plug In Site: Hagerstown, Maryland Fast Chargers

Ranked as Maryland’s sixth largest city, Hagerstown lies near the intersection of Interstates 81 and 70. Many travelers stay on the highway and bypass the downtown area. That’s unfortunate because Main Street Hagerstown is rich in history and culture plus it sports a number of delightful restaurants and attractions. Now, electric vehicle drivers have a special reason to visit Main Street Hagerstown, a bank of four DC Fast Chargers serving both CHAdeMO and CCS. Read More …

Electric Vehicle Legislation Tracker – 2019

Lanny
US Capitol PlugInSites

Lawmakers in Washington, DC and around the country are considering legislation that could affect electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. Bills under consideration include EV tax credits, anti-ICEing laws, “Right to Charge” and “EV Ready” ordinances. PlugInSites is noting many of these bills as they are introduced and following their progress below.

Click here for current 2020 Bill Tracker

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To the Maryland Public Service Commission from an EV Driver

Lanny

When the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) held a hearing to decide on allowing utilities to provide EV charging, many parties with a vested interest showed up. There were the charging network companies, the utility companies, automobile manufacturers, industry consultants, lobbyists and trade associations, local government officials and more.

What I did not see on the agenda was a list of individuals from the public. Regular citizens. EV drivers. People like us. So, I called and asked if I could come speak. They put me on the “Additional Advocates and Consumer Panel.” I wanted to look the Commissioners in the eye and speak from the heart of the challenges that we face when depending on public charging infrastructure. Here’s a transcript of those comments.

Maryland PSC Case No. 9478 Hearing Sept 7, 2018, In the Matter of the Petition of the Electric Vehicle Work Group for Implementation of a Statewide Electric Vehicle Portfolio – Consumer Panel

My name is Lanny Hartmann, I live in Howard County, Maryland. I’ve been driving an electric car since April, 2012. My wife and I have two electric cars, we bought the first, which is an 80-mile all-electric battery-only car, and we also have a Tesla Model S that we’ve driven across the country, coast-to-coast, two times. We’ve driven that car to the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado and across Death Valley.

In those trips, we don’t know what range anxiety is. The Tesla private network is highly reliable and if a station happens to be out, it tells you right there on the screen, it will alert you, so that you can make preparations to skip over it.

Now, the question was asked, “has anybody ever pulled up to a station needing to charge and not been able to?” On these other stations that exist out there, unfortunately, the answer is yes.

I have a few stories to tell that I’m concerned about, because Tesla owners on their own private network are probably fine, but what you’re talking about installing here in Maryland is the network of CCS and CHAdeMO stations.

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Featured Plug In Site: Outer Banks Brewing Station

Lanny

Charge your electric car while enjoying food and entertainment in the OBX

On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made their historic first flight in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. This is the 115th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ famous achievement and a good day to feature the  electric vehicle charging stations at the Outer Banks Brewing Station which is located next to the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

The Outer Banks Brewing Station opened in March, 2001. Founders, Aubrey Davis and Eric Reese, incorporated environmental sustainability into the restaurant and brewery from the very beginning. The Outer Banks Brewing Station is the first wind-powered brewery in the United States. The same wind that made the conditions favorable for the Wright Brothers can now help power the EV charging stations that were installed as part of the Tesla destination charging program in 2017.
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National Harbor Supercharger Moving to Nearby Garage

Lanny

National Harbor Tesla Supercharger Garage

Construction of New Supercharger Location at National Harbor has Begun

In October, the National Harbor website announced that the parking lot that contains the Tesla Superchargers will be closing. Apparently a new building will be constructed on the land where that parking lot now resides.

New Superchargers are to be installed at the Fleet Street Garage located just to the north of the current Tesla Supercharger lot in National Harbor. A permit for Tesla, Inc. was issued on November 8, 2018 for the “Installation and Use of Electric Car Charging Station and ancillary equipment inside existing parking garage.”

Today, there are signs of construction outside the north-west corner of the garage.
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Fritchle Arrives in New York in an Electric

Lanny
Fritchle New York City

110th Anniversary of an Epic Cross Country EV Tour

When Oliver P. Fritchle rode his 100-Mile Electric into New York City on November 28, 1908, it was a sensation.

1,800 miles from Lincoln, Nebraska. In an electric car! How was that possible?

The New York Times published a story under the headline: FROM NEBRASKA IN ELECTRIC AUTO – O. P. Fritchle Accomplishes Long Tour in Car of His Own Make.

The newspaper proclaimed, “Mr. Fritchle’s trip served the useful purpose of establishing the fact that an electric car, capable of going no more than 100 miles average on one charging, can actually be driven across the country and can find sufficient charging stations to keep it going.”

Fritchle staged his trip to demonstrate the long distance capability and durability of the electric car and batteries that his company manufactured in Denver. He had invited all other electric vehicle manufacturers to join him for a race between Lincoln, Nebraska and New York, saying they “should hail this opportunity for proving the efficiency of electric automobiles for touring purposes.” No one accepted the challenge so he set off alone.

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