EV charging from a driver's perspective.
There are two EV charging ports at the newly opened Elkridge Branch of the Howard County Library. The Grand Opening of the library was Saturday, March 10 and a large enthusiastic crowd attended the ceremony.
The dual 6.6 kW ChargePoint station in the parking lot requires no fee as of now, however, you will need a card or mobile device to release the connector from the holster.
We’ll need many gallons of green paint and hundreds of new signs to make electric vehicle charging stations enforceable in Maryland under the latest proposal for a state-wide anti-ICEing law. Are EV charging station site hosts, local and state governments and the EV community up to the task?
Eight states have enacted anti-ICEing laws. They all require that the charging spots be designated in some manner in order to be enforceable. One state, Washington, requires “green pavement markings” in addition to signs to enforce their $124 penalty for violators.
A bill proposed in the 2018 session of the Maryland General Assembly will also require green pavement markings in order to be enforced. HB 598, sponsored by Delegate Clarence Lam, is the sixth attempt at anti-ICEing legislation in Annapolis.
I have participated in efforts to get a statewide anti-ICEing law in Maryland since 2012 when Delegate Eric Luedtke introduced HB 108. In addition to many phone calls, meetings and letters, I have traveled to Annapolis on at least three occasions to testify in support of legislation as chronicled here in 2016 and here for 2017. What will it take to be successful this time?
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Lawmakers in Virginia, Maryland and other places are considering electric vehicle legislation and laws related to EV charging stations in 2018. These bills include enacting or repealing tax credits for plug-in vehicles and EV charging equipment, anti-ICEing laws and legislation authorizing the installation of charging equipment at multi-unit housing and office buildings. We are keeping track of those bills as they are introduced and following their progress here.
Electric vehicle buyers in Maryland that missed out on getting a state excise tax credit in fiscal year 2017 because the program had depleted its funds, may get that money after all if a bill sponsored by Senator Roger Manno passes.
Maryland SB177 would allow a credit against the excise tax imposed for a plug–in electric vehicle if an application for the credit was filed during fiscal year 2017 (7/1/2016 to 6/30/2017) but the credit was not allowed due to a limitation on the total amount of credits that may be allowed each fiscal year.
The funds devoted to the Maryland Electric Vehicle Excise Tax Credit program have usually been depleted before the end of recent fiscal years. Funds for fiscal year 2017 were depleted by September, 2016. Normally, the tax credits would be applied retroactively when funds were released at the beginning of the next fiscal year.
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We reached out to Virginia Delegate David Bulova of Fairfax County who has introduced bill HB922 that would give authority required under Dillon’s Rule to enable local governments, state universities, community colleges, and parks to operate retail fee-based electric vehicle charging stations. It also exempts localities that own or operate fee-based EV charging stations from being considered a public utility or service company under Virginia regulations.
As introduced, Virginia HB922 would require the charging stations to be restricted to employees and authorized visitors only. However, that restriction could be removed from the bill according to the sponsor. HB922 would amend a law passed in 2017 that gives authority to school boards to operate retail fee-based EV charging stations on their property. § 22.1-131.
We had a few questions that we posed to Delegate Bulova who kindly responded. His answers are highlighted in red below.
1. Is this bill simply to give enabling authority to localities to install fee-based EV charging stations pursuant to the Dillon Rule or is there another purpose or purposes?
Correct, because of the Dillon Rule, local governments need authorization from the General Assembly to install fee-based EV charging stations. This bill not only provides this authority to local governments, but also state universities, community colleges, and parks.
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On June 22, 2017, Electrify America announced that they had installed their first EV charging stations at eight locations in the Washington, DC area. These dual-port CCS/CHAdeMO chargers were upgrades to existing stations in Maryland and Virginia placed in cooperation with EVgo.
Electrify America was set up by Volkswagen to fund and administer a planned $2 billion investment in electric vehicle infrastructure and awareness projects as part of settlements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board over allegations of cheating on its diesel vehicle emissions tests.
The June announcement stated that 50 stations were to open in 10 cities by September. To date, 32 stations have been installed in five cities with one more to be finished soon according to figures supplied to PlugInSites by Electrify America.
These 33 fast chargers will complete this stage of the project instead of the planned 50.
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Blink Charging Company has filed a registration statement (Form S-1) with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a public offering. The Registration Statement was filed with the SEC on January 11, 2018.
Blink’s stock is presently quoted on the OTC Pink Current Information Marketplace under the symbol “CCGI”. According to the SEC filing, Blink’s common stock was quoted as $5.25 on January 10, 2018. They have applied to be listed on The NASDAQ under the symbol “BLNK”.
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Virginia Delegate David Bulova of Fairfax County has introduced a bill in the 2018 Virginia General Assembly that would authorize any locality, state park or public institution of higher learning to operate retail fee-based electric vehicle charging stations on their property.
If passed, Virginia HB922 would require the fee-based charging stations at those locations to have signs that restrict their use to employees and authorized visitors only.
HB922 would exempt the affected public institutions that own or operate EV charging stations from being considered a public utility or service company under Virginia regulations. Read More …
Del. David Reid of Loudoun County will introduce House Bill 469 when the 2018 session of the Virginia General Assembly opens on Wednesday, January 10 in Richmond.
Virginia bill HB469 would establish a tax credit of 10 percent of the price of an electric vehicle purchase or lease. The credit is not to exceed $3,500 per taxpayer. If the credit exceeds the taxpayer’s tax liability for the taxable year, the unused credit may be carried forward for up to three years.
The state EV tax credits would remain in effect until 20 percent of vehicles registered in Virginia are electric or taxable year 2023, whichever occurs first. Read More …
A federal judge in Baltimore has formally denied a request from ChargePoint for a temporary restraining order that would have prevented a competing EV charging company, SemaConnect, from selling equipment while a patent infringement claim is pursued.
ChargePoint claims in court documents that SemaConnect is infringing on a number of U. S. patents that they own. At a hearing on December, 22, 2017, ChargePoint asked United States District Judge, Marvin J. Garbis, of the U. S. District Court in Baltimore for Emergency Injunctive Relief. They told the judge that “irreparable harm” was being caused by a contract SemaConnect won to install approximately 1,400 charging stations for VW subsidiary Electrify America.
In a written memorandum and order issued on Thursday, December 28, 2017, Judge Garbis wrote, “the Court shall DENY Plaintiff’s motion.”
The memorandum also said that the defendant, SemaConnect, will be allowed to file a motion to dismiss using the defense that the patents are invalid under the so-called “Alice test.” The judge stated that the motion to dismiss based on invalidity would be promptly resolved. If SemaConnect’s motion to dismiss is denied, Judge Garbis wrote that he intended to move the process quickly with a scheduling order for expedited discovery and trial.
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