Rotary Weekly Meeting
Date/Time
Date(s) - 29 Feb 2012
7:30 AM - 8:30 AM
Location
Waialae Country Club
Category(ies)
David Rolf, Executive Director, Hawai¹i Automobile Dealers Association
Topic: Electrification of the Car: Hawai’i's Role as a Test Bed City
David H. Rolf—Since 1999, serving as the Executive Director of the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association (Hawaii’s franchised new car dealers, representing 135 franchises in the islands), has coordinated dealer-related public policy input relating to the introduction of electric vehicles in Hawaii. He recently developed and implemented the education-of-the-general-public component of a portion of the State’s EV READY grant program. His company, Rolf Advertising and Communications, is the one of the oldest advertising agencies in Honolulu, and serves as the management firm for Hawaii’s automobile dealers association, which annually sponsors the First Hawaiian International Auto Show. Mr. Rolf serves on the national board of directors for the Automotive Trade Association Executives in the U.S.
In 2003, he played a key role in the development of the U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Mr. Rolf is a frequent lecturer on the subject of “Hawaii’s increasing role in the electrification of the car” and has published articles on the subject of Hawaii’s key role as a test bed for new vehicle technology.
The legislature in Hawaii found that bold steps must be taken toward reducing its dependence on imported fossil fuels. Nearly 90% of the state’s electric energy production is derived from burning oil—making it the most fossil fuel dependent state in the U.S.
The Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, in 2008, laid out a roadmap to achieve 70% clean energy by 2030, with 30% from efficiency measures and 40% coming from locally generated renewable resources. These are the most aggressive goals in the U.S. and are designed to position Hawaii as a worldwide leader in the clean energy category.
Estimates are that the transition will require $30 billion in investment. Since the Hawaiian Electric Company is a government regulated utility, investors are starting to see opportunities for excellent long-range returns on investment in wind energy, bio-energy, photovoltaic energy and more.
Electric vehicles, if the Hawaiian Electric Company can succeed in its planned transition to using more renewable fuels, can rapidly move Hawaii toward the goal. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has selected Hawaii as the first rollout market in the U.S. for its iMiEV electric vehicle (103 pre-orders have been received). Nissan has designated Hawaii as one of its 7 rollout markets in the U.S. for the LEAF. This year, the company has sold more LEAFs in Hawaii per capita than another market (300 have been pre-ordered and about half delivered). Chrysler Group LLC will provide a test fleet of PHEV RAM 1500 pickup trucks to Hawaii for a 3-year demonstration project. General Motors Corporation has selected Hawaii as the #1 site for the test of its hydrogen fuel-cell Equinox vehicles.
Hawaii’s ACT 156, signed in June of 2009, requires certain parking lots to include spaces dedicated to electrically charged vehicles and sets up a grant program for building electric-vehicle infrastructure. The City and County of Honolulu recently announced its online permitting system for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations.
Rotary Inspiration and/or Activity: Emiko Yamashita
