Close said he needed a roomy vehicle to carry his golden retrievers, Daisy and Raina. But his concern about improved fuel efficiency also attracted him to the eco-friendly features of the GLE.
"I preferred something that was a little bit more economical," he said.
It is customers like Close, coupled with pressure from governments concerned about carbon emissions, who are forcing car makers to invest more in the design and development of fuel efficient cars and trucks that rely on electricity.
While this may be the decade of the plug-in-hybrid car, the 2020s maybe the decade of something radical indeed: the all-electric vehicle.
Leading the pack right now is Tesla Inc, whose Model S is the top-seller among plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles, EVs, followed by the Chevrolet Volt, Toyota Prius Prime, according to InsideEV, a Motorsports Network website that follows the industry.
With a manufacturing facility in Fremont, Calif., Tesla has experienced explosive growth. The all-electric-car company is talking to the city of Shanghai about opening a factory there to serve the Chinese market.
Tesla's revenue from China tripled to more than $1 billion last year, or 15 percent of total revenue, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the California plant is "bursting at the seams." The company is considering three other plant sites.
Meanwhile, Tesla is raising about $1.5 billion as it ramps up production of the Model 3 mass-market electric car.
Tesla isn't alone. Volvo recently announced it will stop producing conventional gas and diesel engines by 2019, according to The Wall Street Journal. France and the U.K. want to ban the sale of conventionally fueled vehicles by 2040.
Daimler Mercedes-Benz intends to debut battery-powered cars by 2022. One dealership here, Tom Masano Inc. Mercedes-Benz, 815 Lancaster Ave., plans to expand its showroom to accommodate demand for hybrids and EVs.
Toyota and Mazda say they plan to build a $1.6 billion plant that will create about 4,000 jobs. The location has not been determined.
Demand for EVs
Mercedes-Benz recognizes that the demand for EVs will increase in the next decade.According to Green Car Reports, Daimler, Mercedes-Benz's parent company, is on track to bolster its portfolio with 10 electric vehicles by 2022, instead of its original plan to have this in place by 2025. Daimler has invested about $10.8 billion on the plan, called EQ, an acronym that stands for electric intelligence. The first EV will be modeled on the GLC-sized SUV crossover to echo the Generation EQ concept, shown last year at the Paris Auto Show.
Daimler intends to increase battery manufacturing and plans to - every five years - have five times the mileage for these vehicles, said Lorie Kleeman, Mercedez-Benz representative at Tom Masano Inc.
"There is a C-class model coming out, a GLC model coming out (hybrids), both of them this year," said Philip J. Hart, general manager of Tom Masano Inc. Mercedes-Benz. "An S-class sedan will be available in a hybrid version."
For now, Daimler is serious about its investment in EV technology.
Kleeman, with four years of sales experience at Masano, went to training classes on hybrid electrics.
"By 2025, 25 percent of our market will be electric hybrids, in our inventory," she said.
For the GLE, eventually there will be an all-electric version, Hart said.
"We are putting a charging station in," he said. "We're going to get geared up for it. Our BMW store went a little heavier with electrics. They had the smaller hatchback and the sports car. They have a charging station there."
Close expects car companies to continue to develop and learn, just as computer companies fine tuned their technology.
The next generation of buyers won't go through these development phases, he said. And by embracing the new technology, he is supporting a path to the ultimate: better range on his battery. His gas-electric car has a 20-mile range on the electric motor alone; he'd prefer 150 miles.
"The problem, you know, is battery size," Close said. "That's my only gripe with this. It needs a 150-mile battery."
All-EV technology
Other companies already have taken the step to all-EV technology.Matthew L. Brophy of Reading, who drives 70 miles round trip to his job as an English professor at Delaware County Community College, Downingtown campus, bought a 2017 Nissan Leaf EV in July. The car has a range of 100 to 120 miles on a single charge.
"I love it so far," he said. "It's not going to be anywhere near what I used to pay for gas for the commute."
Brophy was conscious about the cost but, to him, it was important to be green. An alumnus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., Brophy participated in a combined Nissan-Bard College rebate promotion that offered $10,000 in rebates to purchase the Leaf. Coupled with state and federal rebate programs, he offset $20,000 of the car's cost.
One of those rebate programs is the Pennsylvania Alternative Fuel Vehicle Program through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Applications are accepted here.
As of June 30, according to the DEP, 114 rebates are available at the $1,750 level. The program has been extended until Aug. 31.
There is also a $7,500 federal incentive available on all plug-in hybrids and EVs from dealers.
Tax credit
A tax credit is available for the purchase of a new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle that draws propulsion using a traction battery that has at least 5 kilowatt-hours of capacity, uses an external source of energy to recharge the battery, has a gross vehicle weight rating of up to 14,000 pounds and meets specified emission standards. The minimum credit amount is $2,500, and the credit may be up to $7,500, based on each vehicle's traction battery capacity and the gross vehicle weight rating.For more information, see the Internal Revenue Service plug-in electric vehicle credit website.
Concern for environment
Those who purchase the hybrids and EVs talk about their concern for the environment.The ecologically minded Brophy powers his home with wind-generated electricity. He uses a special charger, called a JuiceBox, which cost $600, which allows him to plug his Leaf into a 40-amp system with a 240-volt plug. Full charging can be done overnight.
Eric Naumann, sales consultant at Eisenhauer Nissan, who sold the Leaf to Brophy, said the dealership sells about six of the EV Leafs per year. Nissan has been selling Leafs since 2010.
In early September, Naumann said, Nissan plans a major announcement as an upgrade to the EV technology with the IDS concept: a 60 kilowatt-hour battery. (The Leaf comes standard with a 30 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery.)
The Leaf, manufactured in Smyrna, Tenn., has a 106-mile range. And the range, Naumann said, drives demand.
To accommodate that demand, more charging stations will start to appear everywhere.
"You are starting to see more and more businesses, more outlets on the East Coast, offering charging stations," he said. "You will start to see charging stations at malls. King of Prussia Mall has charging stations, as does Hersheypark. We service three vehicles for Hersheypark. Each one is wrapped with a different candy wrapper."
Chevy Volt
Tim Bitting, a partner and litigator in civil business law at Koch & Koch, 217 N. Sixth St., purchased a 2017 Chevy Volt, his second, last August from Bob Fisher Chevrolet Inc., Muhlenberg Township.Even though Bitting lives only about 5 miles from his office, the Volt has reached 13,000 miles. A lot of that came from visiting family in New Jersey and North Carolina.
What motivated Bitting to buy a newer Volt?
"At first it was the gas prices," he said.
With the 2013 Volt, a full charge lasted about 58 miles. The 2017 goes up to 73 miles on a single charge.
Maintenance is low on the vehicle, he said.
Electric motors drive the wheels. Because of the electric drive, the Volt is very responsive, according to Bitting.
On days when Bitting was busy going to client and other meetings, he would run out of electrical charge. But the Volt allows a 9-gallon gas tank to recharge the battery, giving him a wide range of travel.
'Instant acceleration'
John P. Monroe, general sales manager at Bob Fisher Chevrolet, said the hybrid Volt is a plug-in that will travel 53 miles on a charge but has a range of 500 miles or more. The dealership has been selling Volts since 2013, although the vehicle went into production in 2011.Monroe said he drove his own hybrid Volt for one year. His commute from Malvern, Chester County, is 45 miles. He could charge up each time at work.
"I was not buying any fuel, which was cool," he said.
Chevrolet makes an all-electric model as well: the Bolt. The Bolt's base price is $36,620.
Monroe said the Bolt is rated 238 miles on charge, but 260-270 miles under optimum accelerator conditions.
Yogy Jean-Baptiste is a sales consultant for Bob Fisher Chevrolet. The dealership sells the Bolt EV.
"A couple of people asked about it and drove it," said Jean-Baptiste.
What do customers like about the car?
"The torque; it gives you instant acceleration," Jean-Baptiste said. "The second reason is the bird's-eye view, with sensors and cameras that give you a view at the top of the car."
For those who cannot charge at home, many dealerships that sell plug-in hybrids and EVs are all on the same page with charging station technology.
For charging on the road, most plug-in and EV dealers provide an adaptor, if necessary, to all them to plug into charging stations, including many scattered throughout Berks County. Most plug-in and EV car manufacturers have agreed to standardize on the J-1772 socket, a North American standard for electrical connectors.
Fortunately, locating the stations has gotten better for drivers.
Toyota models
Performance Toyota, Lower Heidelberg Township, stocks an array of standard, non-plug-in hybrids.Models include the popular Prius, Camry, Avalon, RAV4 sports SUV (its best-selling hybrid) and Highlander SUV, according to Eddie Rodriguez, sales representative.
About 12 to 15 percent of the vehicles he sells are hybrid, with Prius making up 8 percent of total hybrid sales.
One model at the dealership is the Prius Two, which gets 54 MPG, according to Rodriguez.
Assembled in Blue Spring, Miss., its base MSRP is $26,213.
Rodriguez said the reason the Prius sells so well is the repeat customers.
He said the Prius is designed to be more than just gas-efficient. It's designed to be economical.
In the Prius, a driver gets more MPG in the city than on the highway. That is also true of most hybrids and EVs.
Pump price drives sales
In the showroom at Manderbach Ford, Muhlenberg Township, is a Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid. The demand for the plug-ins is driven by gas prices."When gas prices go up, we see more people purchasing them," said Butch Heffner, internet sales and leasing.
The range of the Fusion Energi is 615 miles. Gas capacity is 13 gallons.
The Fusion Energi hybrid can be charged at any station, Heffner said.
"All charging stations are exactly the same," he said.
The dealership, he said, even charged some Teslas.
Fusion Energi customers are mostly environmentally friendly, he noted.
Ford has introduced the EV line with the Focus. Base MSRP is $29,120, and it has a range of 115 miles with a 33.5 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery.
"Ford likes to think they are the pioneer in these, a pacesetter," Heffner said. "Ford plans to produce some hybrid police cars."
Range using electric and gas is 615 miles. The all-electric range is 21 miles.
Tesla Inc. customer service experience representative Sasoon Ajemian, working at the Tesla showroom in the Plaza at King of Prussia, said customers come from Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties.
The Model S EV ranges from a base MSRP of $69,500 to upward of $170,000, Ajemian said.
The Model S has a 250-mile range with a maximum speed of 130 miles per hour.
"It can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 2.5 seconds," Ajemian said.
The Model 3 is being shipped to customers who ordered one now, but as for a showroom model, Ajemian had no idea when the King of Prussia showroom would receive it.
"The technology is here and is rapidly accelerating," Monroe said. "Cars are going to go longer and longer on a charge."
Monroe said these changes could be radical for the car sales industry.
"The showrooms of the future may not have a gas-powered car," he said.
©2017 the Reading Eagle (Reading, Pa.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
