Washington Road Tests Jump-Start Electric Cars San Juan Islands Prove Perfect Place To Plug In

Here’s a riddle: How many electric cars are there in the San Juan Islands?

Answer: 12 electric cars can be found on San Juan County roadways.

In fact, Orcas Power and Light claims that the county - with a ratio of one electric vehicle for every 750 gas or diesel rigs - holds the national record for electrified driving. Six charging stations that look like parking meters allow drivers to charge up for trips around Orcas Island.

The islanders’ romance with electric-powered driving comes from a combination of geography, weather and a federal study.

Most electric cars won’t go very fast or very far, but that’s no problem on the county’s 19 major islands, where roads are typically narrow two-lane roads that discourage speed.

The climate also is kind to electrics, which aren’t practical where it’s too hot or cold. Air conditioning and heaters put too much of a drain on the batteries, which also lose efficiency in extreme temperatures.

In 1991, Orcas Power and 12 other utilities and universities nationwide were chosen to participate in a study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The idea was to see how electric vehicles performed in actual use, rather than in a laboratory. The government put up half of the $175,000 the utility used to buy, operate and maintain three electric vehicles for five years and install the charging stations.

Although the study is finished, the electric cars remain. Orcas Power operates two, and 10 private citizens have bought or built their own.

Power costs are lower. Bill Culliton, Orcas Power’s assistant manager, said slightly less than 2 cents worth of electricity will run an electric car a mile. Gas for a regular car costs about 4 cents for the same distance.

Despite that difference, Culliton said the study showed the economics “don’t pencil out” because of higher purchase prices and battery costs.

The cost of conversion or a new vehicle ranges from $15,000 to $40,000, Culliton said. Batteries need to be replaced at between 3,500 and 7,000 miles at a cost of $700 to $800, he said.

Nationwide, the other 12 test sites reported similar findings about the economics of electric driving, said Jim Francfort, technical manager at a private Idaho testing laboratory that monitored the electric vehicle trials for the federal government.