February 4, 2011

Dear NJGCA Member:

Here's what you'll find in this edition of the NJGCA Road Warrior, and thank you for reading:

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE: GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS!
•Investing in the Future: Electric Cars & Your (POTENTIAL) New Customers

NEWS AROUND THE STATE
•Christie heads to Illinois to lure businesses to the Garden State
•Assembly Commerce Committee approves school choice pilot program
•Opinion: Teacher salary hikes should be capped
•Governor vetoes ‘ineffective’ civil service reform bill

A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM BELLOMO FUELS
•Serving New Jersey since 1910 -- 100 years of supplying gasoline retailers like YOU!

TRAINING CLASS SCHEDULE
•See our latest training class schedule below!!

POLITICAL PARTICIPATON: THE NJGCA PAC
•Participate in the NJGCA PAC today and help us keep our Agenda rolling in Trenton!

THE MEMBER TOOL BOX
•On the NJGCA Homepage
•Know your Territory Manager!

 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE: GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS! 

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE: ELECTRIC CARS & YOUR (POTENTIAL) NEW CUSTOMERS

Time waits for no man.  I was recently reminded of that old folksy proverb when I was sitting in a hearing yesterday in Trenton.  That’s because this week, the Legislature considered six bills that focus on how to assist the public in charging their electric vehicles.

Since you sell today’s fuel to keep your customer’s cars moving, it is important for you to begin considering how to sell tomorrow’s fuel to keep their cars moving, because the legislature already is considering this.

What do these six bills do?  Two bills A-3650 and A-3651 create tax credits for installing electric vehicle charging stations, and create tax credits for purchase of electric or hybrid vehicles.  A-3648 mandates that electric charging stations be installed at rest areas on the state’s toll roads, while A-3647 and A-3649 virtually demand that new shopping centers must install electric charging stations or be denied DEP permits.  That’s a pretty wide spectrum of initiatives; some plays nice-nice to get folks to install these charging stations voluntarily, while others threaten to harm them if they don’t.  Nice right?

I know you must be thinking: Electric vehicles?  Aren’t they coming YEARS from now?  Well – NO!  In fact, two mainstream electric vehicles – the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf – can be purchased right now at your local dealer.  The Volt is a sedan driven by an electric motor that also has a gasoline-powered generator on board (essentially a small displacement 4-cylinder engine) to extend the vehicles range.  When you run low on electricity, the generator seamlessly kicks on to feed electricity to the batteries; the batteries then power the electric motor enabling you to get to your destination without fear of running out of electricity.  The Leaf, by comparison, is powered only by an electric motor, which limits its real world applicability, but is still very viable as a daily commuter car with its 100 mile range (note that statistics state that most daily commuters travel approximately 25-30 round-trip miles per day).  What’s more, there have been a number of electric vehicles produced by specialty “Tier 2” manufacturers (such as Tesla, Coda, Fisker, GEM, REVA, and TH!NK) for well over a decade.  And that doesn’t include past attempts at electrifying the automobile from other major world automakers (the GM EV1 and Honda EV Plus for instance).

I’m sure that some of you will dismiss this as a “fad”, a “phase”, or merely “automakers bowing to political/public pressure” – and you may have a point.  But remember, that is also what many of us said when we dismissed the marketability of hybrid vehicles – which are now very commonplace (in fact, most automakers are now planning to expand the number of vehicles they offer with hybrid powertrains).  No, electric cars aren’t any different.  And unlike past attempts at electrifying the automobile, two very important things makes today’s move to electric cars different: perception and technology. 

Today’s “green” perceptions have colored how many see the world.  The public wants every company to be environmentally conscious and be more sensitive to how their daily operations impact the globe.  That means that these “eco-conscious” individuals may look beyond price to something that reflects this mindset.  In doing so, they will want their new-car purchases to reflect this change in perception – and the world’s automakers are starting to deliver.

Besides the “green” perception, there will be a never ending concern about the supply and price of gasoline.  Worldwide demand for oil has put huge pressure on the price and availability of petroleum products here at home.  Don’t ignore the unrest in Egypt right now.  The potential for that region of the world to erupt in to a serious interruption of crude oil has the potential to wreak havoc on your business.  Electric vehicles are one solution to use less oil, and politicians and motorists are interested!

Today’s engineers and scientists are pushing the envelope faster and further than ever before.  Thanks to new materials and hefty R&D investments, battery technology has evolved to overcome the range limiting anxiety that made many electric car concepts from 10 or 15 years ago utterly unfeasible.  Thanks to lithium-ion batteries (the same kind of batteries that power your laptop and other power-eating electronics), getting a sustainable and powerful enough charge to motivate a heavy car isn’t as impossible as once thought.

Yes, this entire market segment is in its virtual infancy, but rapid tech-advancements all but promise that, in the long-term, electric cars will become a legitimate alternative to vehicles equipped with an internal combustion engine (ICE).  And why shouldn’t they?  Between fluctuations in the oil markets, pressure from government regulators on emissions and fuel economy, the public perception of the fuel and automotive industries, and the overlaying perception of the “green” movement, there couldn’t be a more perfect storm to see electric cars to enter the mainstream.  Or is it?!

One huge missing component that currently stands in the way of electric cars becoming more and more common is due to the logistics of recharging the vehicle.  This is a two fold problem: On one hand, a battery may take as long as 8 hours using a 110v electrical outlet (or 3 hours using a 220v outlet) to fully charge.  That’s a long time, but this problem will soon be overcome thanks to the next generation of batteries.  Right as you read this, automakers such as General Motors, Ford, and Toyota (not to mention battery makers such as Panasonic, Hitachi, and others) are developing batteries which move beyond the limitations of lithium-ion technology to create something which charges quickly and offer improved efficiency. Yet, even if the battery technology evolves, where do you go and recharge your batteries when on the go?

That’s where YOU come in – and it brings us back to beginning of our discussion.  While I was in Trenton listening to the deliberations on these bills, I was astonished at how fiercely the Legislature is moving to tackle this issue.  Although a cynic could just say these Legislators were merely looking for some press (and they probably were), it doesn’t dismiss the fact that these ideas have enough popular support to pass with little trouble.

My disagreements on how to implement such policies aside (never let it be said that the government does anything gently), it doesn’t take away from the fact that Trenton is essentially trying to pull the rug out from under you – but you won’t realize it until its too late. 

Think about it: If the government is using carrot-n-stick tactics to expand the use and availability of charging stations, does that not rob you of the opportunity to serve your future customers?  When someone uses the charging station at the local supermarket to recharge her electro-minivan while he is inside shopping or a commuter stops by a charging station on the Parkway on her way home, doesn’t that mean they ARE NOT patronizing your shop?

Yet even as automakers are looking down the line to address the needs of their customers 10 years from now, what are you doing?  Are you going to evolve just as they are?  Will your service station offer gasoline, bio-fuels, electric charging stations and hydrogen?  What’s more, will your technicians be able to work on and repair these vehicles?

Trust me when I tell you that you have to start considering this now.  If you don’t you’ll get left out of the race as Trenton and Washington moves to fill the void they perceive you aren’t moving to fill.  And if you aren’t careful enough, it will mean you may have to compete with your neighborhood mall, supermarket, or local office complex for the right to serve the motoring public.

I have to get my ass moving too.  I must dedicate more effort to exploring, learning and gathering more info needed for you to begin your considerations.  I am getting to work on this now!

Earlier this week, I sent out a special Events & Announcements to tell you about a recent change regarding your Underground Storage Tank insurance policy. It seems that Zurich, the company that has traditionally insured many of your tank policies, has changed their underwriting standards to exclude tanks that were installed prior to 1986.  This is incredibly important and demands your attention.  Failure to provide adequate coverage could mean stiff finds from the DEP.  If you haven’t done so already, please CLICK HERE to read the most recent Events & Announcements, and then call me with any questions.

Thanks for listening - See you next week!

Regards,

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

NEWS AROUND THE STATE

2/4/2011:
Christie heads to Illinois to lure businesses to the Garden State
In an attempt to capitalize on Illinois’ recent tax hike, Governor Christie says he will go to Chicago to try and attract businesses to relocate to New Jersey.  Christie said that while some much needed changes have been made over the last year to make the state more business friendly, more needs to be done.  In the meantime, the Governor stated that the decision for Illinois businesses to move to New Jersey should be easy to make since Illinois taxes will be increased over the next three years while taxes in New Jersey will decline.

2/3/2011:
Assembly Commerce Committee approves school choice pilot program
This week, an Assembly committee voted 5-0 to advance a controversial school voucher bill.  Under this measure, the Opportunity Scholarship Act, scholarships would be offered to 40,000 low-income public school students to attend private or parochial schools chosen by their families. The bill passed despite the objections of the state’s largest teachers union, yet supporters say this offers a way out for thousands of children trapped in failing public schools.

2/3/2011:
Opinion: Teacher salary hikes should be capped
The Star-Ledger Editorial Board recently penned a piece supporting a limit on salary increases for public school teachers.  With the implementation of a 2% property tax cap, school boards are finding it more and more difficult to fit their budgets within the tax cap.  Enacting a cap – as well as reforming mediation rules and archaic seniority rules – are long overdue.  Click above to read the full article.

2/3/2011:
Governor vetoes ‘ineffective’ civil service reform bill
Earlier this week, the Governor conditionally vetoed a civil service reform measure for not going far enough to restructure the current system.  The conditional veto (which agrees with the purpose of the bill but offers amendments) Christie proposes allowing civil service towns to opt out of the civil service system through a referendum.  The bill will now go back to the Legislature to either be approved by members as amended or overridden by a two-thirds majority vote.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES IN OUR “NEWS AROUND THE STATE” ARCHIVE