The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON-On Thursday, April 8, the Dayton Kiwanis Club heard from Dick Muri, City Captain for National Drive Electric Week Steilacoom. Muri has been a member of the Kiwanis Club in Steilacoom since 1993 when he helped start the local club. Steilacoom is a town in Pierce County Washington, on the south end of Puget Sound.

"The joke around Steilacoom is 'don't talk to Dick Muri, or you'll become a Kiwanian," he joked before his presentation.

Muri is the program and membership chair for his club and reported that they just inducted their 191st member.

Muri has held multiple local and state leadership positions, where he met Terry Nealey of the Dayton Kiwanis Club.

"Since then, I have been retired until yesterday," he shared. "I was selected by the town council to become the new interim mayor until November."

He said that he plans on running for mayor later this year, filling the shoes of the late Ron Lucas, who resigned earlier this year for medical reasons. He said that Lucas was a beloved leader, known fondly as "Mr. Steilacoom."

According to Muri, his other claim to fame is his electric car.

"I bought an electric car eight years ago, a Nissan Leaf," he shared. "I looked into electric vehicle meet-ups and found out there weren't any in Pierce County. So, I started what was then called National Drive Electric Week Steilacoom. We started small and are now the fifth largest electric car festival in the nation."

The car industry is evolving, accelerating away from gas and diesel-powered vehicles, and moving into a world of ACES: Autonomous, connected, electric shared vehicles. Muri said that electric and autonomous vehicles are becoming more widely available, as automakers are making them more cost-efficient for consumers. In 2010, EV batteries cost roughly $1,000 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and are down to just over $150/kWh today. The sensors required for autonomous vehicles (AV) are also becoming more affordable.

The push to go electric is not just in the United States. China is paving the way to be the world's leader in EV to combat its high level of air pollution. Muri said that China has 13 cities with populations of over 20 million, which create a lot of pollution and are driving green initiatives. Germany recently passed a resolution to ban the internal combustion engine by 2030. France, India, the UK, and the Netherlands all announced a sales ban on fuel-powered vehicles starting 2025.

Earlier this year, the Washington State House Transportation Committee voted to push HB 1204, known as Clean Cars 2030, which would require all car models after 2030 to be electric if they are sold in the state. General Motors announced that they would move to an all-EV production by 2035.

The use of autonomous cars, however, is still a little farther out than EV's. Not completely self-driving, the Tesla X offers auto-pilot features and sensors that monitor speed, distance, and can brake or change course to avoid accidents. The concept is still new, but large companies like Amazon are planning on integrating AV into their delivery vehicles, and long-haul trucks are being designed.

Muri shared that EV's would be exceptionally affordable in a place like Dayton, where electric rates are low. Kiwanis club members said that electric rates start at roughly 6 cents per kilowatt in the area. Muri went on to say that his car costs him approximately 2 cents per mile. Five hundred miles costs Muri roughly $10, and he doesn't have the extra expense of routine car maintenance.

"I've had an electric car since 2013," Muri said. "I've had to replace the windshield wipers once, and I've had to put a new set of tires on. That's it."

A big challenge for early EV owners was finding a place to charge their car while on the road. Today, though, even small towns like Waitsburg and Dayton have charging stations available to EV drivers.

Muri pointed out that there are a handful of electric hybrid vehicles, like the Prius Prime, which have an option to switch over to a gas-powered engine should the vehicle run out of electric charge. He said this was a realistic option for people who live in an apartment and may not have access to a personal charging station.

"A friend of mine has a Prius Prime, which goes about 30 miles on a charge. He has gone over 30,000 miles and is only on his fifth tank of gas," Muri said. "He's averaging about 6,000 miles per tank."

Muri finished up his talk by addressing the loss of tax revenue that would come with fewer gas-powered vehicles. He shared that a vehicle mileage tax would likely be the best answer. Instead of being taxed at the pump, the state would tax drivers on miles driven (Washington is looking at 2 cents per kilowatt-hour). He was unsure how mileage could be measured without infringing on privacy or being otherwise too invasive, but the state legislature would likely develop a workable plan.

A vehicle talk in Dayton wouldn't be complete without discussing farm equipment, with many members weighing in on the possibility of electric tractors, combines, and other heavy farming vehicles.

The Steilacoom's 8th Annual National Drive Electric Week Event is scheduled for Saturday, September 11, 2021.