BUFFALO, N.Y. — If you're going to have a show of any kind, you have to have a "show stopper."
And at the Buffalo Auto Show, which returns to the Convention Center downtown after a one year hiatus, that just may be the EV.
"There's a misconception that EVs are something down the road, but they're here today," said Paul Stasiak, President of the Niagara Frontier Automobile Dealers Association.
The future is now
At the 2020 Buffalo Auto Show, there were five electric vehicles on display.
"We had every EV that was available," Stasiak recalled.
This year there are 17, which represent only a fraction of those that customers can now buy, or will soon be able to.
"There will be 77 models in our franchise dealers by the end of the 2022 model year," Stasiak said.
Continued improvements
The reputation of a technology, which not too long ago was too expensive and too impractical for most motorists, has improved dramatically.
Some EV models now have a range nearly equivalent to what you would get from a tank of gas.
And while many remain a bit more expensive than their companion internal combustion versions, you'll never have to change the oil, and with fewer moving parts under the hood, you may not need as many repairs.
At least in theory.
"We won't know entirely what's going to happen in terms of repairs, durability, and performance for at least another two years," Stasiak said.
And while you can fill an empty gas tank in a few minutes (as opposed to the hours it might take you to fully charge an EV) there's been a great deal of progress there as well.
"We have the ability to have charging stations installed in our homes. We didn't have that early on," Stasiak noted.
In other words, while it may take hours, the owners of electric cars can charge them while they sleep, in much the same fashion as they currently charge their cell phones.
Gaining traction
Many more of us may be looking to EVs for our next vehicle purchase within the next few years, if not by choice then by mandate.
The Biden Administration wants to force the issue by further increasing emission and fuel efficiency standards for gas powered passenger vehicles to the point where they become in effect too expensive and impractical to produce.
"The options of combustible engines will be seriously negated," Stasiak predicted.
Indeed, many auto manufacturers, while weighing this and attracted by a healthy dose of government incentives, have announced plans to produce EVs exclusively in the the coming years.
In addition, some lawmakers have proposed carbon taxes on those who continue to use gasoline powered automobiles in an attempt to further drive them toward EVs.
And in his all out push for EVs, the president recently asked Congress for $174 billion from taxpayers to build out 500,000 charging stations, even though The International Council on Clean Transportation concluded that we would need five times as many EV charging stations if even one-third of new car sales were electric by 2030.
"If there's no infrastructure this whole thing tears down," Stasiak said. "So that will be a big component of how fast EVs will grow and succeed.
The EVs' impact on the WNY economy
The continued growth of electric vehicles will also impact the Buffalo-area economy and its workforce.
GM recently announced that it would be hiring more than 200 workers in the next few years to make components for electric vehicles at its Lockport plant.
At the Tesla factory in Buffalo, which was envisioned as a mass production facility for solar panels, some work has shifted to producing components for electric cars and the charging stations needed to energize them.
Attending the Buffalo Auto Show
The Buffalo Auto Show was the last big event to be held at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center prior to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March of 2020. Interestingly, it's the first to return.
And while there is proof of vaccination required for admittance, once inside, according to Stasiak, visitors will not have to wear masks.
"It'll be similar to attending a Bills game," he said.
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