Plugs and Cars

Dong slams the box in the Danish electric car adventure

2011-10-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

Google translate sure knows how write a headline.

Seems the deal between Better Place and its Danish partner Dong Energy has gone south. BP Denmark has gone through the initial investment of 400 million kroner, and Dong denies an obligation to loan more.

"There are eroded cooperation between DONG Energy and Better Place Group," according to the story in epn.dk

Regarding additional funding of Better Place Denmark, "it is our choice. Not a promise, "says Torben V. Holm, Project Manager at Dong Energy.

[Source: epn.dk]

Missing EV opportunity: Sell Cool

2011-09-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

Huffington Post blogger Carol Pierson Holding just got in her friend's LEAF. It's the coolness that impressed. Read it here.

Transmission Losses: Shell tries to halt North Sea oil spill

2011-08-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

"An oil spill in the North Sea is estimated to amount to several hundred tonnes, making it the biggest such leak in more than a decade, according to UK Government figures."

"...the energy firm is still trying to "completely halt" any further leakage."

[Source: The Independent]

What's the matter with Costco?

2011-08-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

Costco, the big box retailer, has for over a decade been the business with more electric vehicle charge stations in more places around California than any other. Put in service during California's Zero Emission Mandate between 1997 and 2003 when about 6000 EVs roamed the streets, these charge stations have continued supplying power to the RAV4 EVs and other electric vehicles saved by Plug In America when it was known as DontCrush.com, a struggle chronicled in the film Who Killed the Electric Car. Costco's own magazine proudly reported in 2006, just as the film was being released, that 64 stores had a total of 90 charge stations.

Now, Costco has the opportunity, thanks to the California Energy Commission's ReConnect California program with ClipperCreek, to upgrade legacy AVCON charging equipment to J1772 at no cost. As I see it, Costco's noteworthy and foresightful participation in California's earlier electric vehicle program will give them a deserved leg up on all the national retailers now looking into providing electric vehicle charging stations for their customers. While their competition is trenching through concrete and striking costly deals with new businesses long on promises but short on experience, at Costcos a quick swap-out could quickly give them the opportunity to tout the most extensive retail network of EV charging stations.

It seems, however, that Costco has chosen to look this gift horse in the mouth. The company has refused to consider the CEC grant to upgrade their charge stations for free. And it has actually begun to take out the chargers that it has, despite the fact that they have been used a lot by their own customers. Just take a look at an evchargermaps.com entry for a Costco with chargers. For example, the Mountain View location, a place I've charged and shopped at a few times a year since 2004. It has 44 reports going back to 2008. And dozens more going back to 2003. (This doesn't include every time someone charged, merely the times a driver made the effort to confirm the condition of the charger for other drivers.)

It has been reported that some store managers would rather not be removing chargers right when we see plug-in cars coming to market. Providing charging fits well with the company's sustainability efforts, including both the physical stores and the products they sell. President and CEO Jim Sinegal touts Costco as "one of the early companies to embrace many of the earth-friendly technologies, such as skylights and recycling" in it's Corporate Sustainability Report from 2009.

Why Costco isn't embracing their early support for plug-in cars now that the rest of the world is jumping in is beyond me. Given that it will actually cost the company more money to say no than to say yes makes this a no-brainer for me. It should for Costco as well.

Keepin' it simple

2011-07-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

Plug-in cars are being delivered at long last. Yet there remains confusion about the necessary infrastructure and its expense. Electric Vehicle Service Equipment (EVSE) home wall units are priced at between about $1000 and $2500. Plus installation. Need it cost this much? Is it as complex and time-consuming a process as has been experienced by many new owners of plug-in cars?

All plug-in cars these days come with a 120-volt charge cord. This will actually be sufficient for many if not most Volt drivers, and quite a few LEAF drivers. An empty Volt pack will take 10 hours to fully recharge; an empty LEAF about 20 hours. That may seem like a long time, but the relevant questions are: How long will the car be sitting anyway? Until the next morning or just an hour or two? How full is the battery when it gets parked? And where are you going next?

For most folks most of the time, chances are the battery isn’t near empty when it gets plugged in, perhaps at work, perhaps at home after work. Recharge time will usually be much less than what it takes to go from empty to full.

And the cost to the consumer to enable the 120V cordset? If you’ve already got a grounded 120V outlet in the garage or carport, zero. If you need to put an outlet in a convenient place, it would likely cost about $100.

Surprising to many, including I suspect Tesla Motors itself, they found that about half the charging of Roadsters at home in the U.S. is at 120V. Despite the fact that it takes 38-60 hours to charge a Tesla from empty to full at 120V. One can’t presume the peculiarities of a Roadster tell us too much about plug-in cars with much less range, but I think we shouldn’t write off 120V charging just yet, as many involved in readying infrastructure for EVs would have us do. The cord that comes with the car just might suffice for many, especially plug-in hybrids which have smaller battery packs.

Still it remains true that most will want the ability to charge their car at a faster clip at least some of the time, which is what 240V charging stations provide. With the 16 amp charger both cars have today (the actual charger is located in the car, not the box on the wall,) a 240V EVSE takes about four hours to fill an empty Volt pack. It takes about seven hours to fill a near empty LEAF, ensuring a complete charge overnight. If a complete overnight charge is the goal, 120V will still suffice for a Volt, but a 240V EVSE will be essential for most who buy an all-electric car.

Nissan and GM have each had their preferred provider for home charge stations in an attempt to streamline the process, but many customers have had complaints about the cost and scheduling. Dozens of manufacturers seem to be selling equipment at a range of prices, but few actually are available now. The situation for new owners has also been complicated by the various government infrastructure programs, including the DOE-funded EV Project (Ecotality) and ChargePoint America (Coulomb,) which have differing requirements and benefits depending on one's vehicle and location. If eligible, most people accept a free 240V charge station, of course, as I did. My installation was pretty simple, so it cost me nothing. But government support for infrastructure won’t last forever. Coulomb and Ecotality sometime soon won’t be able to leverage taxpayer money to keep other manufacturers at a disadvantage. Quite likely not beyond the current programs.

I am pleased to participate in the EV Project, which came late to the San Francisco Bay Area, and happy to get my tax-payer funded charger and DC Fast port. I believe in government support for electric vehicles (and many other things also on the congressional chopping block at the moment.)

However, for the last month my Blink has been on the blink. Something about firmware, they said. An email on June 8th said they’d get back in touch to schedule a visit. As I write on July 13th I’ve recently been contacted by the contractor who installed the unit, but I’m still waiting for the service call. However, I remain unconcerned. Not because I always charge at 120V mind you. Rather, because I’ve had the 120V cordset provided with the car upgraded to 240V. EVSEupgrade.com offers the upgrade, which allows the Volt or LEAF to charge at their maximum 240V capability of 16 amps. Cost of upgrade: under $300. (For this to work in place of a wall-mounted unit, you still need a dedicated 240V 30 amp circuit and outlet, which would cost a few hundred dollars of an electrician’s time and perhaps $50 in parts.)

The point isn’t simply to plug the good folks at EVSEupgrade.com, although I’m happy to do it. They’ve kept my LEAF juiced, after all. Something Ecotality couldn’t do even with $100 million in federal grant money.

I am not alone in my concern that there is some level of unnecessary complication, excessive cost, and unhelpful mystification going on around electric vehicle infrastructure. It isn’t helpful to the “cause,” those picking up their new plug-in cars or those who are considering it.

For the electric vehicle project, broadly speaking, to be successful, we need to be mindful to keep it simple and keep it cheap. This is not rocket science. We are adding yet another electrical appliance to our ever increasing array of devices, from light bulbs and cell phones to refrigerators and HVAC systems. It needs to be done safely, of course. But it needs to happen. To do it right, the focus needs to be on consumers’ interest. The result will be simple, safe and cheap. Thank you evseupgrade.com for pointing the way.

Using leverage

2011-06-30T00:36:00.000-07:00

To ensure effective and tough federal CAFE standards for 2017-2025, enviro groups are holding on to the California card - the state's right to set its own auto emissions standards - according to Jim Motavalli in the NY Times. Read the full story here.

[Source: NY Times]

Think goes down

2011-06-22T16:21:00.000-07:00

Think has declared bankruptcy in Norway. Sad.

[Source: ElectricAid, Indianapolis Business Journal]

Think in trouble as Norwegian EV market booms

2011-06-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

Think, maker of the Think City, is in trouble, Norwegian business newspaper E24 reports. It's not paid it's bills since February, according to Swedish parts supplier AQ Wiring Systems.

At the same time, sales of electric cars are booming in Norway. The iMiev has become the fastest selling car in its segment, beating out gas vehicles. 764 new electric cars were registered in the first five months of the year. During the same period last year, the number was only 123.

[Source: E24]

From Scooters to High Speed Rail, China is Electrifying

2011-06-09T17:17:00.000-07:00

I’m sure I’m not the first to say it. China is electrifying.

When I was studying China and Mandarin Chinese 35 years ago, “Red” China was unrecognized by the US, literally, and dark in a way difficult to imagine now. Who knew what was going on over there? Was “reality” that the world’s oldest civilization was throwing off the shackles of Western domination and its own past to offer a new vision of civilization, or was it bodies floating downriver to Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution?

Just as today we can look at a nighttime satellite image and see the black void that is recalcitrant, unelectrified North Korea, once that was China. Today China is as illuminated as the rest of the world, and they are carrying electrification further. I can’t cite the government decree, but having just returned from two weeks that took me from Beijing to Changsha, Hunan to Shanghai, it is evident that a national transportation system is being implemented, and electrification is at its core. From two-wheeled scooters, a mainstay of urban mobility, and urban mass transit, to high-speed inter-urban rail, China will soon see the day most people move about most of the time on electricity. Fifteen years ago Shanghai was a city of diesel busses and bicycles. It had few private cars. For a while, gas scooters held sway piled high with people and products. It had no subway system. Today Shanghai has the world’s largest. Smoother and quieter than any I’ve ridden anywhere. And three types of electric busses - legacy trolleys with catenary wires, battery busses, and super capacitor busses. And most of

the scooters are now electric. (And they are headed directly at you, at night, with no headlight.)

Not very many years ago, tens of millions of Chinese packed themselves regularly into unairconditioned, slat-seatted box cars to get to work and visit family during holidays, enduring trips of more than 24 hours. I’m sure there are still plenty of old-school trains about, but today Chinese are boarding comfortable, high speed electric trains coursing on unimpeded raised trackbeds at over 200 MPH between cities large and ever-larger. Last year it took 24 h

ours to go from Beijing to Guangjou. Next year it will take 6 or 7.

With these dedicated high speed electric rail lines crisscrossing the nation, and the huge, attractive new train stations being opened to serve these inter-urban lines, it becomes clear China has decided most long distance passenger travel will be by electric trains. And these trains are being integrated with existing and new subway systems. Step off one system right onto the other.

Cars will undoubtedly be the last piece of the electric transportation matrix in China. The week I was in Shanghai, the Electric Vehicle Test Drive Center opened to the public in Shanghai Automobile City, a far suburb still reachable by subway. Plug-in cars from a half dozen Chinese automakers were on display along with charge stations in an attractive setting amidst a winding course for test drives. The BYD plug-in hybrid I drove performed well. I have no doubt we will see Chinese brands in the US when they are ready to make a move. While I think selling gasoline cars by the tens of millions to the domestic market is perceived to be of prime economic importance, I hope they choose to forgo following the Japanese and Korean model of aggressively competing on the low end in the export market. We really don’t need more cheap gas cars. With some attention to fit and finish, the Chinese could use their low-cost advantages (labor and a huge battery industry) in a market segment that sells at a premium outside their borders. Once EVs are cool in the West, the Chinese domestic market will follow.

China is very much a work in progress. As progressive and foresighted as they seem to be on the transportation front, they’ve got huge challenges ahead regarding electricity production. Largely dependent on domestic coal, cities are smothered in smog. Beijing, which systematically restricts automobile usage and moved a lot of factories out of town for the Olympics, had clearer skies than I expected. But it is an anomaly. Shanghai and Wuhan are enshrouded in poison.

Factories, including a solar panel plant I know of, have had to curtail production because coal can’t be shipped fast enough to supply electricity generation plants. Transportation of freight, including coal, will be relieved by moving passengers off the freight path and on to the growing high speed rail network. But that only postpones the reckoning that will come with the growing power demands of a burgeoning consumer culture.

China may end up with the world’s most efficient electric transportation system powered by the world’s most toxic electrical generation.

We, in contrast, may end up with an efficient, relatively clean, partially renewable electrical grid, while still burdened with a transportation “system” dependent on trucking freight and moving passengers on petroleum.

The approaching Tesla dry spell

2011-06-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

Interesting piece by Katie Fehrenbacher about Tesla and the period of limited revenue that approaches. "...this latest funding underscores how Tesla will be transitioning into a period where the company will be generating a lot less revenue for several months — hence part of the reason it needs to raise more funds now."

Fehrenbacher had thought components sales might provide a backstop until the Model S appears, but points to the recent S-1 filing. "Tesla doesn’t have any signed agreements for powertrain component sales after 2011." As interesting for what it says about Toyota. There's no evidence yet of a deal beyond 2011 regarding the heralded, new RAV4 EV. And Daimler is committed to German batteries going forward for Smart and Mercedes, and has a deal with BYD for China.

Tesla has weathered dry spells before with Elon Musk's money, as it appears will be the case again.

[Source: GigaOM)

Transmission Losses: 4 killed in Chevron UK refinery blast

2011-06-03T07:11:00.000-07:00

The Independent reports four workers at the Chevron refinery in Wales were killed yesterday in what is being described as a "tragic industrial accident"....

Billowing black smoke gushed from the refinery and spread across the sky in what some have described as a "mushroom cloud"....

Fukushima oil spill and explosion

2011-05-31T06:38:00.000-07:00

A oil spill has been detected, and another explosion occurred, at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, here.

How Japan uses public works projects, including gyms and swimming pools, to buy acquiescence for its nuclear projects, here.

Atomkraft? Nein, Danke.

2011-05-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

Germany calls it quits on nuclear power.

Last plant to close in 2022.

Today about 25% of Germany's electricity comes from nukes.

The U.S. gets just under 20% of its electricity from nuclear.

2011-05-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

War is Peace dept.

2011-05-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

It seems in Foxland if Obama didn't cause the problem, George Bush found the solution. Check out "George W. Bush -- Father of the Modern Electric Car?"

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/05/26/george-w-bush-father-modern-electric-car/#ixzz1NWHup7DX

Missed Charge Station Opportunity in San Francisco

2011-05-24T06:35:00.000-07:00

ClipperCreek, an Auburn, CA based manufacturer of electric vehicle charging equipment, has just announced the shipment of its 5,000th unit. Some of those units are being paid for by a California Energy Commission grant to upgrade existing Avcon charging stations across California.

Seventeen Avcons eligible for replacement are located at San Francisco city-owned parking lots. With the city budget constrained just as investment in EV charging infrastructure has become warranted, one would think the City would jump at the opportunity for seventeen n0-cost new units to serve LEAFs, Volts and Teslas now. These ClipperCreek chargers would be simple to use - just park and plug in. No card to swipe, no phone call to make, no network to join. Just as they have been for over ten years.

Instead, the Department of the Environment has opted to utilize a federal grant to Coulomb Technologies' ChargePoint America to pay to upgrade these charge stations. What's the problem? The CEC grant is restricted to the replacement of legacy units. $50,000 to $100,000 was left on the table. The Coulomb grant could have been utilized anywhere. The City has sacrificed early expansion of charging beyond the downtown core which today contains the lion's share of the charging stations.

There were undoubtedly considerations beyond the mere efficient use of available public resources involved in the choice made. Coulomb touts the sophisticated capabilities of its "networked," revenue-producing solution, but it is only one of numerous business models for EV public charging. With the ClipperCreek/CEC chargers, for example, the City wouldn't be on the hook for ongoing networking charges with Coulomb once the federal grant runs dry in a year or two. Will there be enough usage of a pay-to-charge statioin to justify the annual fee to Coulomb?

Once there are enough cars and enough public infrastructure, we'll begin to understand what will best serve drivers and the development of useful public charging at appropriate charging levels. Might be a monetized, networked system. Might look quite different. The ubiquity of electricity offers many options if the playing field stays level. Consumers will decide.

It seems obvious to me that government ought not prematurely buy into a "business plan" when we mean to buy charging stations. Especially when the opportunity presents itself at no cost to the City and greater simplicity of use for consumers.

iMievs do their bit in Japan

2011-05-06T17:21:00.000-07:00

Mitsubishi iMievs have played a roll in the petroleum deprived region around Fukushima. New York Times Wheels blog has the story. The picture tells the story.

Downtown South San Francisco electrified

2011-04-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

Four electric vehicle charging stations were unveiled today at a new parking structure in downtown South San Francisco. The Coulomb J-plug/120V units were installed under grants to ChargePoint America (DOE and CEC money). For the time being, there is no charge for either the parking or charging for vehicles that plug in.

The opening of the new parking garage and office complex one block off Grand Avenue was a big deal. Miller Avenue was blocked off as dignitaries gathered to celebrate the

delayed opening of this large project for

this small city in the shadow of San Francisco. Hoping the parking will contribute to the revitalization of

Grand Avenue, SSF now offers a convenient spot to stop for a bit of juice just off 101. Lots of

restaurants, a Peets coffee, and many banks and shops are within a few blocks. If you've always driven past the Grand Avenue exit, pull of the highway, plug in, check it out.

One caveat to an otherwise positive report. With very limited signage, and a prime location right by the entrance, we'll have to see how long before these spots begin to be ICED.

More SF Bay Area Charge Stations....some work

2011-04-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

Once again, charge station serendipity.

I arrived a couple of days ago at the parking garage beneath One Montgomery Tower in the LEAF with Peter Van Deventer, Dutch EV guru, and a couple of professors from Holland. Jay Friedland, Plug In America Legislative Director, followed in a RAV4 EV with some more profs, who had come to learn about California's EV efforts. Lo and behold, we spy two Coulomb J-plug/120V units, one with a plug-in Prius conversion plugged in. I waved my Coulomb card only to find the unit gave us a fault and wouldn't release the J-plug. The other unit however, was in working order and I plugged the LEAF in.

As we walked away, pleased to have given this unexpected real-world demonstration of public charging to the visiting Dutch scholars, we saw a Tesla plugged in to a

random 120V outlet. Believe it or not, and we didn't, there were two plug-in cars in the lot before we even arrived!

Later I checked, and the charge stations do appear on the Coulomb/ChargePoint America maps. They are listed as "Not Available" and "Free." (This is of course a pay garage.) I suspect the map hasn't caught up to reality on the ground.

Last week I went to the opening of the charge stations at a new San Rafael municipal pay lot at 900 C St. Two Coulomb J-plug-only units located right by the entrance. A grand opening ceremony attended by the mayor saw many EVs, although only one could charge at a time, as one unit here didn't work either. Furious phone calls during the event couldn'tget the machine to allow the juice to flow after waving the Coulomb Card.

We'll see how this all plays out, but in the short term, the added technical complexity of these charge stations that require activation with RFID cards dependent on

remote connections not only add a barrier to usage they present another point of potential failure. For now, drivers and the EV project broadly speaking, would be better served if one could confidently arrive and simply plug-in, as you can at some charge stations - public chargers upgraded to J-plugs, for instance. Like the one I used yesterday at the Vallejo Ferry Terminal. Once The EV Project (the other DOE-funded program) charge stations begin to appear (hello Ecotality, anybody home?), will Coulomb cards work, or will drivers need to collect every network's proprietary card?

Now I learn from fellow LEAF driver and long-time EV driver Danny Ames (he loved his Th!nk

City, too, and also built a conversion) of yet more ChargePoint America charge stations. A brand spanking new South San Francisco municipal parking garage one block off Grand Ave. sports four J-plug/120V units. Three are currently listed as "Available" and "Free." (Metered pay parking.) One is "Not Available." (I won't presume why.) There's a great Korean restaurant near there. I'll visit soon.

FIRST-EVER plug-in prius! Really?

2011-04-24T01:30:00.000-07:00

A story on Toyota's announcement that an ordering system for the plug-in prius will be coming later this year prompted me to check out the site. I find it rather funny and rather sad.

"THE FIRST-EVER prius plug-in hybrid," it says. Really? Ask Felix Kramer of CalCars. Ask any of the hundreds of individuals and fleets driving around in prius converted to have plug-in capability.

It's not even Toyota's first plug-in prius. They've been showing variants around for more than two years. The only thing that's "first" about it is that they will have a system for selling them sometime later this year in a baker's dozen states give or take.

Also headlined on the website: "the prius everyone's been waiting for." That they got right. Their own customer polling a long time ago showed a plug was at the top of Prius drivers' wish lists. Surely there's a market for their plug-in hybrid. But the bar has been raised in two unexpected directions. Nissan has begun to put a real all-electric car on the market. And GM has extended the electric range expectation for a plug-in hybrid before Toyota's even in the game.

Toyota has passed on the opportunity to be the plug-in leader, given up the lead they'd accrued from the RAV4 EV and the Prius as much as GM postponed its rendevous with destiny when they jettisoned the EV1. Someone from Toyota once told me they are "never first, always best." Time will tell.

Who knew, part 2, 120V edition

2011-04-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

Some more places to plug in. SFO now has 120V plugs available in each of its public parking garages. You'll need to provide your own cable; of course every new EV comes with one.

Airports are one of the places 12oV makes lots of sense. Most cars sit for many hours, some for days at long-term parking. And it's very cheap to install, probably less than 10% the cost of a Level 2 unit.

A few Level 2 charge stations would be useful in short-term parking, as well.

And more importantly, I'd suggest a DC Fast Charger, perhaps at the Cell Phone lot. The airport is a crossroads, and folks with an EV driving over 40 miles to pick someone up at SFO could charge up quick allowing them to not use a gas car.

Well done, SFO!

CHAdeMO DC Fast Charge network coming to Norway

2011-04-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

The Norwegian energy company Ishavskraft yesterday unveiled its plan to make the stunning vistas of Norway's isolated fjords accessible to vacationers in electric cars with a 2500 mile network of DC Fast Chargers using the CHAdeMO connector.

Displaying a stunningly Nordic prototype charger in downtown Oslo, Ishavskraft announced it is looking for partners, public and private, to make this electric highway a completed reality within two years.

The Mistsubishi iMiev, with a CHAdeMO connector, is currently the best selling

small car in Norway. It is also available rebadged as the Citroen C-Zero and Peugeot Ion.

The Nissan LEAF will arrive in Norway soon, and is also available with the fast charge connector.

California, Oregon and Washington, too, are working on creating a west coast DC Fast Charge corridor through some rather picturesque scenery. With any luck we'll soon argue over which country has got the best views while getting a quick charge.

[Source: ElectricAid]

Who knew?

2011-04-11T17:48:00.001-07:00

A few more J-plugs have appeared in the San Francisco Bay Area, tho I challenge you to find out where they are. They are not listed on the DOE funded charge station project sites. Not on ChargePoint America/Coulomb's charge station map. Nor on The EV Project/Ecotality's map.

I did find one of the three on recargo.com, one of a number of outfits aggregating charge station locations. Good for them. And one on Google's map.

The units I found quite accidentally are Free Juice Bar dual-connector units. Free Juice Bar, as the name implies, dispenses electricity to cars without networks to join, credit cards to wave, or phone calls to release the precious, if not dear, electrons. Charge cars, not people is their stated philosophy.

Now of course these days free doesn't necessarily mean free. These three charge stations are located in places you'll have to pay to park your car. And probably not cheap. There's a carpark at touristy Beach and Hyde; the Park 55 Hotel downtown; and the Expresso long term parking near the Oakland Airport that could run $15/day for the valet service. But it could just as easily be a shopping mall, a municipal lot or employee parking.

The notion here is that once a business buys and installs a charge station, the running costs (electricity) are too low to give much value to the operational complexities and expense of participating in and paying for a "network". The opportunity to gain some "green cred" for your hotel or shopping mall or parking lot company might be all that's required to make the sale. At first glance the cha-ching of a revenue stream of EV drivers charging up is enticing to the host, but it may take an awful lot of $2 charges to be significant or even earn back the ongoing charges to remain in the network once the DOE grant contribution disappears.

I'm obviously not sure how this will all play out, but there is more than one way to skin a cat.

A side note about infrastructure. Lots of mistakes will be made as public infrastructure is deployed. Charge stations will appear where cars don't. Bad siting or signage will lead to empty or ICEd spaces. And 240V charge stations will appear where 120V outlets would suffice. I've publicly pondered when the first J-plug would appear at an airport long-term parking lot, as there would seem to be little benefit to charging faster if the car is sitting for one or more days. If you're parking in a long term lot, your Tesla will fill up at 120V before you return.

So for all that I like about the Free Juice Bar business model, this is one case where they are not a model to follow. While I suspect the Expresso charge station has the "added value" of Valet Service, I'd rather see a wall of 120V outlets at half the cost. At least this charge station wasn't paid for with public funds.

"Transmission Losses" - The Cost of Bio-fuels

2011-04-07T08:04:00.000-07:00

The Times has story of the consequences of crop production for bio-fuels: higher food prices and tragic irony.

...last year, 98 percent of cassava chips exported from Thailand, the world’s largest cassava exporter, went to just one place and almost all for one purpose: to China to make biofuel.

...It can be tricky predicting how new demand from the biofuel sector will affect the supply and price of food. Sometimes, as with corn or cassava, direct competition between purchasers drives up the prices of biofuel ingredients. In other instances, shortages and price inflation occur because farmers who formerly grew crops like vegetables for consumption plant different crops that can be used for fuel.

China learned this the hard way nearly a decade ago when it set out to make bioethanol from corn, only to discover that the plan caused alarming shortages and a rise in food prices. In 2007 the government banned the use of grains to make biofuel. [emphasis added.] ...Although a mainstay of diets in much of Africa, cassava is not central to Asian diets...

“For Americans it may mean a few extra cents for a box of cereal,” she said. “But that kind of increase puts corn out of the range of impoverished people.”
Higher prices also mean that groups like the World Food Program can buy less food to feed the world’s hungry.

[Source: NY Times]

Public Transit or Private Cars, It's All About the Fuel

2011-03-30T12:45:00.001-07:00

[The following is an article I wrote in Earth Island Journal last year to answer the question "Public Transit or Electric Car?." ]

Greater support for mass transit and appropriate land use policies that make mass transit accessible are essential. They are essential for more livable communities and more efficient use of resources, including energy. However, we have created a nation that is dependent, for the foreseeable future, upon the automobile. And many of the rest of the world’s inhabitants aspire to automobile ownership. China has opened up high-speed rail lines while the United States fiddles. Yet simultaneously, China has overtaken the United States in the number of automobiles sold annually.

City of San FranciscoSan Francisco recently became the first city in the country to mandate plug-in charging stations
for all new buildings.

Despite billions of dollars of investment, in most of the United States only a tiny percentage of people use mass transit regularly. The latest report by the American Public Transportation Association documents a 3.8 percent decline in ridership overall in the first nine months of 2009. Designing our cities and regions around mass transit is something we must do, but it is a multi-generational project.

In other developed countries – in Europe and Asia, for example – clean, electric public transit is the principal means of transportation. In most of the developing world, public transit remains the only viable means of getting around. But the commuters in poorer nations usually travel in a haze of pollution created by petroleum-powered trains and buses. The basic problem that faces transportation today isn’t whether people travel on mass transit or in automobiles, but rather the technology and fuel employed.

The question that faces us is how to ensure that our mass transit and private cars minimize the negative environmental impacts of travel. To do that we must set our nation, and the world, on a path to eliminate petroleum as the predominant fuel for transportation. To continue to rely on petroleum is to accept as inevitable the immense political power of the world’s wealthiest corporations and the resultant pollution, climate change, and war. There is no catalytic converter that can fully scrub the toxics that result from burning oil. And there is no way to democratize the production and distribution of petroleum.

There is, however, an alternative path: Electricity. It’s been around a long time and powers just about everything we use except transportation. It’s ubiquitous, relatively price stable due to government regulation, and is created in many ways, increasingly including renewable – such as solar, wind and geothermal – sources.

Of course we need energy to create electricity, and just as we’ve been burning petroleum for a century to move us and our stuff around, we’ve been burning oil and coal and natural gas to create electricity. While burning all those fuels has caused pollution just as surely as gasoline cars and trucks, we have options. As aging, filthy coal power stations are retired, they are often replaced with cleaner-burning natural gas generators. And now we are making a commitment to renewable electricity generation. Multiple sources of electricity generation make the grid reliable. In contrast, there is no effort to protect our transportation “grid” from vulnerabilities to petroleum’s monopoly.

While our electricity generation is becoming cleaner and more renewable due to state and federal mandates, switching to electricity for transportation immediately lowers emissions. On the existing US electric grid, half of which is powered by dirty coal, an electric car already is less polluting and emits fewer greenhouse gases than the average gasoline car. In the worst cases, like some nearly 100 percent-coal-powered states, the emissions profiles may be a wash. In others, like California and Texas, which use a preponderance of natural gas, it’s truly a slam dunk for electric transportation. Given our commitment to ever more solar, wind, and other renewables, electric transportation will only get cleaner.

Only with an electric car could you aspire not only to zero-emission driving, but to making your own zero-emission electricity to feed it. Putting solar PV panels on one’s roof is not rocket science, nor out of reach for millions of homeowners. With renewable power and plug-in cars, we can begin to get control over our energy destiny.

A central goal of the twenty-first century must be to bring the revolution of electrification to transportation – and that will include both mass transit and personal vehicles.

Transmission Losses: 100 mile oil slick in Gulf

2011-03-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

The Coast Guard is investigating reports of a potentially large oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico not far from the Deepwater Horizon site. According to a knowledgeable source, the slick was sighted by a helicopter pilot on Friday and is about 100 miles long. A fishing boat captain said he went through the slick yesterday and it was strong enough to make his eyes burn.

[Source: Huffington Post]

Automakers continue to face challenges caused by quake

2011-03-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

Nissan may have to ship engines from Tennessee to Japan.
Honda is extending the shut down at its shuttered plants.
Worries about Prius supply has already increased the average price by the consumer by $1,800.
GM and Nissan production in the US is being disrupted by lack of Japanese parts.

[Source: NYTimes]

PlugShare creates guerilla network to charge electric cars

2011-03-07T07:54:00.000-08:00

For years we've been hearing there's a chicken/egg situation with EVs. Consumers, it's often suggested, have rejected plug-in cars because there is no charging infrastructure. No, I've always said, we have a chicken problem. No plug-in cars. The infrastructure, ubiquitous electricity, exists.

Volts and LEAFs are being slowly delivered, but the public charge station rollout paid for by the feds is coming even more slowly, especially in places getting early vehicle allocations. And those that do exist are often encumbered by restrictions and fees.

PlugShare launches today, just in time. Radical democracy for plug-in cars. One doesn't even need an EV to participate. Strike a blow against Big Oil by letting cars plug in at your place.

Stories today in the SF Chronicle and NY Times.

The trials of public charging, part 2 (of many to come)

2011-03-03T21:13:00.000-08:00

I wrote back in December about my unhappy experience attempting to charge my loaner LEAF at San Francisco City Hall's electric car charging stations. Parking in these Coulomb charge stations is restricted to city-owned vehicles and Car Share companies under threat of towing. A threat taken seriously in San Francisco.

I wrangled a few hours of charging back in December from Bob Hayden, the SF Department of the Environment's EV Czar. And I wrangled time again while Tom Dowling and I met more recently with Bob at the SFDOE (this time to charge my own, recently delivered LEAF.)

But one shouldn't have to know Bob to plug in your new car. It's city, state and federal policy to enable electric cars for the emissions and petroleum reduction they provide. I'd hoped the City would find a way to open up the opportunity for the people beginning to obtain plug-in cars to more freely use these rare, public charge stations. Publicly plugging in is an act of coming out, of civic responsibility. Plugging in to public charge stations is part of the process of introducing Americans to electric cars.

Unfortunately there are still damn few J-plugs (the new standard for plug-in cars) publicly deployed, despite the expectations created by the federal grants to the EVProject (Ecotality) and ChargePoint America (Coulomb) and ex-Mayor Newsom here in San Francisco. The situation is similarly bleak in Southern California. And the fact is that the cars, however slowly, are being delivered. San Francisco's Department of the Environment just received its first LEAF, which now uses one of these spaces. It sits over the weekend, long since fully charged, demonstrating the city's greenness, I suppose, while preventing anyone from using the charge station. Making one spot available over the weekend would be one way to demonstrate a commitment to public access to this publicly funded infrastructure.

Here in San Francisco there are three sites (6 J-plugs) listed on Coulomb's/ChargePoint America's/MyChargePoint.net website, including the three at City Hall. At one you pay for parking and for plugging in, one is free, and one is restricted. In fact, there is another pair of J-plugs I know of in the Hilton's garage on Kearny St., but since they aren't Coulomb product, they aren't listed. Problem #1, Who's going to aggregate this information to be useful for drivers?

Problem #2: It needs to be noted (especially by new drivers) that the electrons don't just flow from many of these public J-plugs when you plug into the car as they do for the previous generation - EV1s and RAV4 EVs. They need to be activated with a phone call, a Coulomb card (one-time $10 per card), or in some cases a credit card. For a while, the electricity will be free with a phone call or Coulomb card, but eventually - probably sooner rather than later - there will be a cost to charge at many charge stations.

There is a cost to charging. Take that every way it can be taken. What I want to focus on is the unintended consequences of near-term monetization of public charging. Only half the story about public charging is providing juice: enabling drivers to extend the range of their vehicles beyond their night-time "fill-up" at home when necessary and overcoming newbie "range anxiety." The other half, for the next five years or so, is outreach and education. An opportunity to demonstrate to the 99+% who have no experience with plug-in cars that the cars are real. "There one is," says Mr. Jones to Mrs. Jones as they walk pass one plugged in at the shopping mall. And if the Joneses ever wondered about electric cars, they just might get to ask the owner some questions.

Monetize that charge station during the first few years the cars are appearing, and we lose 90% of the opportunities to talk with Mr. and Mrs. Jones. Here's what's going to happen: You get your new LEAF or Volt. A charge station appears at the grocery store you frequent. You plug it in, but nothing happens. You see the credit card symbols. If you happen to have a chip-enabled credit card (I have no idea how prevalent they are), you wave it. Juice flows. A small crowd gathers. You answer questions about the car. This is exciting. But after getting the monthly bill, you decide to forgo the recurring $2 charge for 50 cents of electricity you didn't need anyway. And maybe you'd begun to tire just a little of the attention.

Now that your new plug-in car is parked discretely with the gas burners, what happens to the charge station? It waits patiently for someone to really need it. And everyone entering the store passes the empty space, the "charger" standing sentry inconveniencing the "real" cars while suggesting government waste on another failed project.

Near-term monetization also threatens needed expansion of charging infrastructure, as the early installations become underutilized. It is already ironic enough that the two companies pushing monetization as the necessary component for a successful rollout of public charging infrastructure have taken the lion’s share of the public funding in order to develop their “free market” solution. It would be doubly ironic if low usage caused by early monetization resulted in insignificant amounts of revenue suggesting a poorer profitability picture than projected creating an impediment to necessary further expansion of both public charging stations and their own business.

The federal funding should have come with strings attached. For a certain period, say two to five years, the electricity should just flow. No connecting to a network, no payment. The host - the city parking garage or shopping mall - would agree to cover the cost of electricity in exchange for the charging unit and all the green cred and good will they can muster. After a few years, with lots of experience, let the hosts decide if they want to monetize. At that point hopefully there will be enough plug-in cars around that they will no longer be a novelty needing explaining, and we will actually want to discourage purely opportunistic public charging to ensure their availability when someone really needs the juice. At that point, we'll all be willing to pay.

But if PlugShare catches on, we may not have to.

"Transmission" Losses: Billion Dollar Fuel Theft

2011-03-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

After nearly a decade of mismanagement, theft and fraud, the U.S. military still hasn't found a way to staunch the flow of what is likely hundreds of millions -- if not billions -- of dollars in lost fuel in Afghanistan, some of which is sold on the black market and winds up in Taliban hands, a TPM investigation has found.

[Source: TalkingPointsMemo.com]

The electricity in gasoline

2011-02-26T21:21:00.000-08:00

I just ran across the latest available data, from 2007, for the electricity consumption by petroleum refineries. The US is, hoorah, #1. Over 49,000,000,000 kWh.

One electric car, roughly speaking, will use about 3000 kWh to go about 12,000 miles.

That means the electricity alone we use to refine petroleum each year could drive over 16,000,000 electric cars 12,000 miles each year.

And that doesn't include the electricity used in oil extraction and pumping.

[Source: Energy Statistics Database | United Nations Statistics Division under "Total Electricity" then "Consumption by petroleum refineries"]

iMiev #1 in Norway

2011-02-03T09:04:00.000-08:00

Norway's EV enthusiast site Electricaid reports that iMiev is #1 in Norway. In its small car segment in January, the little electric outsold each of its gasoline competitors. 99 iMievs sold.

[Source: Electricaid]

"When money flows from the ocean floor"

2011-01-26T18:00:00.000-08:00

In January 2007 it was reported from Davos that Shimon Peres was in talks to bring an electric car factory to Israel. I wrote:

It's about time. If there's one country that ought to have long ago developed a domestic electric car industry it is Israel. No oil of its own should be reason enough. Every drop purchased on the international markets propping up its sworn enemies should be reason enough. Not very far to drive in this very small country should be reason enough. Lots of high tech brainpower should be reason enough. Dayenu.

The beginnings of Better Place, of course. Also, one could hope, the beginning of the transformation of Israel from a vulnerable fossil-fuel deficient and dependent nation into a 21st century renewable energy beacon.

Now it seems the discovery of natural gas off the coast may have moved Israel's eye off the prize.

"The beautiful vision evaporated in the bureaucratic grinders, and the prime minister fell into the very trap against which he had warned. When money flows from the ocean floor, who has time to think about correcting the world?"

Read the interesting tale here.

[Source: Ha'aretz]

Obama rolls out EV strategy

2011-01-26T09:59:00.000-08:00

At EnerDel's Indiana battery plant today, VP Biden outlined the administration's EV strategy. The Obama administration is calling for raising the number of plug-ins that qualify for federal incentives from 200,000 to 500,000 cars per manufacturer. In addition, Obama is looking to convert the federal tax credit into a rebate available at the time of sale. More here.

[Source: Detroit News]

Mercedes Pleads for More Handouts for Hydrogen

2011-01-20T12:04:00.000-08:00

While governments scrape together money to roll out a public charging infrastructure for the plug-in cars that are already being delivered to customers, Mercedes is pleading for more money to enable hydrogen fuel cell vehicles they have failed to deliver for a decade.

[Source: AutoBlogGreen]

LEAFs arriving by the truckload

2011-01-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

LEAFs are beginning to arrive by the truckload. Seven drove in to a SoCal dealership this morning.

EV Ownership Shortcut?

2010-12-28T14:23:00.000-08:00

Here's an unexpected opportunity to purchase an EV, especially if you've had a hankering for a Th!nk City.

According to the Seattle Clean Cities Newsletter, you've got three days to order a Th!nk City for $6000 off from the base price of $41,695 if you live in a ZEV state. Th!nk is apparently looking to quickly sell 150 of the vehicles they are putting together in Elkhart, IN. Offer ends December 31.

Add in the federal tax credit, and the electric two-seater is down to around $28,000. If they can deliver quickly enough to California, a rebate of $4000 - 5000 should kick in as well.

That's obviously less car for about the price of a Nissan LEAF. But if you haven't ordered one yet, there could be quite a wait.

Proud Papa

2010-12-22T12:53:00.000-08:00

Felix Kramer, indefatigable campaigner for plug-in cars, took possession today of his Chevrolet Volt at Novato Chevrolet. Here he is, with his son Josh in the driver's seat.

Andy Frank, father of the plug-in hybrid, drove down from Davis, California in the Volt he received yesterday to join in the celebration.

My Trial LEAF & the trials of public charging

2010-12-15T12:31:00.001-08:00

I've got a LEAF for a few days. Very exciting. I'll have a full report soon. But I've got to mention one frustration I've encountered. Restricted charge stations.

In San Francisco at this moment there are, I believe, six deployed new J1772 charge stations. One, a ParkPod unit in the Hilton parking lot, was installed with private funds. Two are at a private parking garage on the Embarcadero, paid for with federal and state money via Coulomb's ChargePointAmerica grants. And three streetside at City Hall, trumpeted in signage as a "Green Vehicle Showcase."

Usage at the City Hall location is restricted; only official city and ZipCar plug-in vehicles may use them. All others subject to ticketing and towing.

Ironically, in practice this means only the converted plug-in Priuses in government and ZipCar fleets, using the 120 Volt receptacle in these Coulomb ChargePoint stations, can park and charge. The LEAF I've got for a few days, which could plug in at Level 2 and be showcased, remains underground out of site while I sit on a jury a block away. And I could use the charge, as I'm charging at 120 volts at home. And, adding insult to injury, two of the three spaces with chargepoints were open when I went to court, during lunch, and when I departed. The third, occupied by a BAAQMD plug-in Prius, appears not to have gone anywhere, long ago charged to full.

The point isn't my convenience while doing jury duty. Ordinarily, I'd take the bus. It's about optimally utilizing the public investment in charging infrastructure. San Francisco spent tens of thousands of dollars installing these charge stations. Mayor Newsom trumpeted their arrival, and Coulomb uses them in its self-promotion. They are serving everyone's interest save the public.

The day has finally arrived when they could be used as intended, for opportunity charging and to showcase the arrival of electric vehicles. Bureaucratic obstacles must be overcome, at least during the first year or two, to maximize the public benefit of this investment. Empty spots and/or restricted access does not serve the interest of the drivers, nor in reality, of the infrastructure providers or government trying to educate the public about electric vehicles.

First LEAF delivered in Petaluma California

2010-12-11T23:53:00.000-08:00

Olivier Chalouhi, owner of the first LEAF sold in the world with Carlos Tavares, Nissan Executive Vice President for the America.

Olivier at the wheel driving off to the Nissan event in San Francisco Civic Center.

Caravan of LEAFs headed to SF as seen from my RAV4 EV.

Olivier surrounded by the media outside SF City Hall.

Crowd gathered in SF Civic Center.

Check out Nick Chambers' report in plugincars.com

Help Plug In America renew the EV infrastructure tax credit

2010-12-08T16:28:00.000-08:00

From Plug In America:

Last year, Plug In America, along with electric vehicle and EV infrastructure manufacturers from coast to coast, worked with members of the House and Senate to get a critical plug-in vehicle infrastructure tax credit into the stimulus bill.

And then you helped us get it passed!

These EV tax credits of 50% up to $2,000 for individuals, and 50% up to $50,000 for businesses have led to the beginning of early deployment of EV charging infrastructure all across the United States.

But the infrastructure tax credit is set to expire on 12/31/2010 unless we act now!

Just as plug-in cars are about to get on the road is absolutely the wrong time to end these tax credits.

We were initially successful in advocating for an extension in the proposed 2010 tax extenders legislation. But now our efforts are threatened - we hear that the tax credit extension for EV infrastructure may be scaled back or eliminated from the tax extenders bill. This credit should be extended at the same level as in the stimulus for at least another three years.

We need your help - and we will do most of the work. Please take just a moment to click through the link below and send a strong message to your representatives in Congress and the President telling them that you want plug-in electric vehicles to be successful along with the truly green jobs they can create. Show Washington just how serious you are about wanting to make sure we can get affordable plug-in infrastructure at our homes and businesses and support plug-in vehicles getting on the road now.

It is time to ask Congress to advance the next generation of transportation options. Each and every voice they hear will make a difference.

Let us do the work for you - Just click the link below and in less than a minute you can get your message to Congress about this key issue:

Click here to tell Congress you want these tax credits extended

Thank you!

Jay Friedland
Legislative Director
Plug In America

P.S. If you are about to purchase a new plug-in vehicle, you may want to purchase your EV charging station before the end of the year just in case!

Plug In America releases another spot

2010-11-30T12:25:00.000-08:00

Ethanol Gets Teabagged

2010-11-24T12:39:00.000-08:00

Senators Coburn and DeMint have corn ethanol subsidies in their sights. The environmental case rests on a thin reed indeed. I'm hoping they succeed. Firedoglake has the story.

UPDATE: California Senator Dianne Feinstein is on board will letting the subsidies expire on December 31, 2010.

[Source: Washington Post]

Coulomb, MasterCard, and the future of public charging

2010-11-17T17:02:00.001-08:00

Coulomb Technologies unveiled San Francisco's first ChargePoint America charge stations yesterday in a Priority Parking lot along the Embarcadero. The charge stations and installations were paid for with federal stimulus and California Energy Commission grants won by Coulomb.

Mayor Newsom and many city employees were there, along with large signs and representatives of MasterCard. MC will enable one-off charging in Coulomb charge stations with their new touchless "paypass" credit card. So if you find yourself by Pier 27 in a J1772 compliant or 120 volt-capable electric vehicle and are a Coulomb member or have one of MC's fancy new cards, two spaces with charge stations are available for the parking fee plus an as yet undetermined fee for the electricity. Richard Lowenthal, Coulomb CEO, threw out the figure of $2 for the charge, but noted the host can set the fee.

The big takeaway: If you want a free charge station and are located in a program area (Austin, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Sacramento, San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area, Bellevue/Redmond, Washington DC, Southern Michigan), raise your hand now. ChargePoint America is looking for hosts for charge stations.

If you are a consumer, and you get a Volt, Smart, or Ford electric car, you probably qualify for a free home charge station. (Nissan LEAF buyers are excluded. Ecotality's EV Project got an exclusive.)

If you are a business in a program area, you can get the same deal - free charge stations paid for by stimulus money. And if you're located in California, the California Energy Commission portion of the grant to Coulomb will pay for installation.

As Richard Lowenthal said to me at the event: "Great deal!" Certainly. But for whom?

I want to see adequate public charging infrastructure installed in sensible locations. I think it makes sense for public resources to drive the early rollout. Time will tell what business model/s might work to provide an adequate supply and dispersal of public charge stations. But given the relatively low cost of electricity, and the large public environmental benefit, it seems premature to presume monetization or let the desire for monetization drive the placement of charge stations.

Where should publicly funded infrastructure be located, and who should decide? Is it good public policy to encourage businesses to acquire free charge stations at public expense without any commitment other than putting them in service? Should 100% of the cost be born by taxpayers if 100% of the benefit goes to private business? Should a model of host-supplied electricity (like host supplied parking or wi-fi) be given an equal chance to succeed?

In the past, in exchange for California's financial support for public charge station installation, the business hosting the charge station covered the cost of the electricity, the smallest part of the equation. EV drivers thus have simple access to electricity, allowing them to use their zero-emission vehicle to the max. The business hosting the charge stations get some "green" cred, along with hopes of attracting customers with EVs. That seems to me a fair deal between taxpayers and business, and a better way to promote the use of electric vehicles.

To be fair, Coulomb itself is officially agnostic regarding whether a station's host will charge for the electrons, but the deal with MasterCard suggests the direction they're heading.

And Coulomb is not alone. Ecototality, the other big beneficiary of public largesse (again in the tens of millions of dollars,) has made clear that its EV Project public charge stations will require payment by next May.

Some companies are pursuing a different model, selling charge stations that aren't part of a proprietary network and that don't presume to be monetized. As far as I know, Clipper Creek, Leviton, AeroVironment and GE, for example, will be selling equipment but will not attempt to collect ongoing revenue from the delivery of electrons. Free Juice Bar explicitly sells charge stations to offer free power.

The question isn't whether drivers of plug-in cars deserve free power. Obviously not.

The only important question is what will help drive rapid adoption of plug-in vehicles. Will a monetized public charging infrastructure from the get-go promote plug-ins? Or, in fact, could we soon find monetized charge stations remain underutilized given a cost at least twice that of home charging. Resulting in empty, restricted parking spaces sparking general resentment rather than the recognition and perhaps envy we hope to engender.

The new ChargePoint America installation seems designed to illustrate my point. Why, given what we know about charge station placement, are the two Priority Parking charge stations in the most prominent, desirable spots, right at the entrance. Virtually everyone who enters this parking lot for the foreseeable future will likely pass two empty spots, reserved for apparently non-existent electric vehicles.

Public charge stations are best located where hosts have motivations greater than some small financial benefit. Businesses are looking to attract customers and show their green side, and government is seeking the emissions reduction benefit of plug-ins.

Public dollars should be used in a manner that best promotes plug-in electric vehicles and maximizes the environmental benefit in the near term. Creating an new industry that converts cheap electricity into a monetized charge session is not necessarily the best way forward.

BP Israel awaits first 13 Fluences

2010-11-14T18:21:00.000-08:00

Better Place has just received authorization from the Minister of Transport to import 13 Renault Fluence electric cars. The cars are expected to arrive in the next few weeks.

[Source: TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk]

Do you need a gas cell phone?

2010-11-10T09:01:00.000-08:00

[Source: YouTube]

Czinger Zinger: CODA CEO resigns

2010-11-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

Just three days after Michael Jackson, Coda Automotive's senior vice president of global sales, marketing and distribution, resigned to start his own company, the company's CEO, Kevin Czinger, is also stepping down from his position. Czinger, who has pretty much been the public face of the Miles Electric Vehicles spin-off since he joined in 2008 – and a substantial shareholder – will adopt the role of senior strategic advisor.

[Source: AutoBlogGreen]

Energy/Climate bill prospects dim, but....

2010-11-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

It will be next to impossible to pass comprehensive climate legislation in the next two years, but it appears Reid will focus on a series of low-hanging-fruit provisions that are popular on both sides of the aisle, including bills to incentivize electric vehicles, improve energy efficiency and weatherize homes.

[Source: Washington Independent]

Honda: The toughest nut cracks

2010-11-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

“It’s starting to look like there will be a market for electric vehicles,” said Takanobu Ito, the chief executive of Honda, according to Reuters. “We can’t keep shooting down their potential, and we can’t say there’s no business case for it,” Mr. Ito said at the recent event, referring to electric cars.

Honda has long been the most adamant of the automakers, refusing to consider plug-in cars, even after building the well-received EV Plus to meet the California ZEV mandate in the 90s. Of course Honda, in its heart, is an internal combustion company. It is not surprising it might find a transition to electricity even more troubling than other car companies.

[Source: NY Times Wheels blog]

Did you just say Mommy?

2010-10-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

Driving iMiev

2010-10-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

I got to drive the Mitsubishi iMiev a couple of weeks ago for a mile or so at Green Drive Expo in Richmond. I was much impressed with the car. A four seater that defies space by seeming so small outside but so large inside. Like my beloved Th!nk City, only grown up.

Chuck Squatriglia of Wired Autopia has got an iMiev for a couple of weeks. I'm envious. His story of using the iMiev around Berkeley and San Francisco reminds me why most of the time I wish I still had my Th!nk rather than my RAV4 EV.

But then could I have done what I did yesterday? 88 miles straight up to Sacramento, recharging while attending the PEV Collaborative meeting at the CEC, and then straight back. (For RAV geeks: I arrived at each destination with 20-22% SOC. Drove between 55 and 65mph. This car remains awesome.)

Also worth noting for those contemplating a new EV, the trip literally cost me nothing. I happened to hit the bridge tolls during commute hours in each direction (EVs free), and parking and charging in Sacto was also free. In a Prius, the trip would have cost something over $40.

[Source & Photo: Wired Autopia]

Strikes cause fuel shortages in France

2010-10-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

Airlines are being diverted from France as jet fuel supplies dwindle, and French motorists are panic-buying diesel and gasoline for their autos as strikes grip the country. France has already begun dipping into its 30-day strategic reserve of oil. Strikes at oil refineries have entered their second week, with a general strike called for Tuesday.

Strikers are protesting the proposed rise in the retirement age from 60 to 62. According to a poll cited in the New York Times, 71% of the public supports the strikes.

[Source: NY Times]

BP goes electric....a bit

2010-10-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

Ecotality has a new, unexpected partner in the rollout of public charging infrastructure for plug-in electric cars. BP. Must have taken BP about three seconds to accept this partnership. They get to put free DC fast chargers at gas stations in the EV Project locations, agreeing to supply electricity to folks who probably would have stayed as far away as possible from a BP gas station.

[Source: NY Times]

Transmission Losses: More Oil Supply Trucks Bombed in Pakistan

2010-10-06T00:04:00.000-07:00

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Dozens of tankers carrying fuel to Afghanistan for NATO troops were torched near Quetta in western Pakistan on Wednesday, the third major attack on supplies since Pakistan closed one border crossing to Afghanistan a week ago and the first at the only checkpoint that remained open.

Source: NY Times

Infiniti Electric in 2013

2010-09-27T00:33:00.000-07:00

I'm getting used to hearing electric car announcements. I usually take them with a grain of salt, as in the case of the Saab 9-3 ePower concept. Or the Toyesla RAV4 EV redux, for that matter. Putting together an electric car is not rocket science, and there are many reasons other than actual plans to commercialize to go ahead and build a few.

But when Nissan's luxury brand Infiniti announces an EV for 2013, they get the benefit of any doubt. Autobloggreen reports on the sketch that appeared on Infiniti's FaceBook page.

Coda sets price on new EV

2010-09-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

Coda has set the price for its new electric car: $44,900. After the federal tax credit, the cost drops to $37,400. In California, the only place the car will be offered this year, the cost should drop to $32,400, presuming the car receives CARB certification as a 100 mile range EV.

That's still a good $10,000 more than the Nissan LEAF. But Coda has an ace up its sleeve. Range. With a 33.8kWh lithium battery pack, nearly 10kWh larger than LEAF's, it could have significantly greater range.

But the proof is in the pudding. Until we get a chance to drive both cars the distance, it's all conjecture.

Source: AutoBlogGreen

GE WattStation get TV ad

2010-09-21T00:19:00.000-07:00

GE has taken to the airwaves with an ad for its electric car charging station.

Stop tinkering: Sierra Club Chief touts vehicle electrification

2010-08-23T22:43:00.000-07:00

After spending time in the Gulf, the Sierra Club's new executive director, Michael Brune, ponders getting off oil in "Create," his Sierra Magazine commentary. After extolling biking and transit, he concludes:

"The single most effective thing we can do as a country to get off oil, however, is to electrify transportation. The days of tinkering around with tiny increases in fuel economy should be long gone. As detailed in "The Latest From the Labs," page 38, even the dirtiest electricity is cleaner than internal combustion. Happily, the alternatives are already here—or arriving soon."

[Source: Sierra Magazine]

Raving about my RAV4 EV (again)

2010-07-26T00:15:00.000-07:00

The recent Toyota-Tesla announcement regarding a new generation of RAV4 EVs has sparked interest in the originals, here, in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Subversive advertising

2010-07-15T15:25:00.000-07:00

Coda's got the right idea. Spied atop a gas pump in Santa Ana, California.

Tip o' the hat to Al.

Shanghai: Amidst the clamor, many glide by silently on two wheels

2010-06-14T07:22:00.000-07:00

Shanghai is a mind blower.

Exuberant, flashy skyscrapers dot the landscape soaring above the city's overhead freeways, many claiming their place in the skyline with decorative, synchronized light shows. Immense shopping malls with every major international brand represented are packed with locals out merely for a stroll, the newly rich dressed to the nines toting Cartier bags, and tourists alike.

Down at street level, boulevards and alleys are stuffed to the gills. Cars, most of recent vintage (including BMWs and Mercedes) compete with busses (some electric) and trucks, as well as innumerable scooters, and bikes in crazy disrespect for both the modern traffic control systems and pedestrians negotiating their way amidst the traffic.

It's the hubbub of noise and smog that comes with fast-paced, well-funded economic development.

Yet almost undetectable amidst the cacophony, most of those ubiquitous two-wheelers are electric. When you find yourself on a less trafficked street it becomes apparent as e-bikes loaded with boxes obscuring the vehicle itself, and young people on scooters, cruise by inaudibly. Old and young, male and female, manual worker and office worker, they slink,drift and dart about silently. Then a gas scooter destroys the relative tranquility leaving a stink in its wake.

The e-bike and scooter store near my centrally located hotel is doing a brisk business every day

of the week selling the $300 electric two-wheelers. One sees them parked everywhere, but I've yet to see one charging, except at the store. There's no public charging, but that clearly hasn't hampered their adoption. Not only by local consumers, but also the local government. I've seen small electric police vehicles and trash collectors.

The Chinese government is putting serious money behind this electric transportation revolution, recently announcing an $8000 subsidy for electric cars and investments in public charging infrastructure. To complement the modern, clean and extensive electric Metro system, hopefully they will also expand the legacy electric bus network still at work in Shanghai, a system San Francisco maintained as most American cities pre-maturely abandoned this generations-old zero-emission transit technology.

With recycling bins and advertisements for wind power, the ubiquitous electric two-wheelers, and
investments in electric cars, maglevs and bullet trains, there is awareness among the Chinese leadership of sustainability issues amidst the impenetrable, insufferable smog of Shanghai's economic development. They have a long way to go, but steps are being taken.

Posted by Marc Geller

Steve Jobs orders LEAF at WDC

2010-06-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs just showed off the Nissan LEAF on the new iPhone at Apple's Developer's Conference in San Francisco.

He displayed the ad Nissan will be running for LEAF on Apple's new iAd platform.

And then he ordered a car with via the ad.

Check out a couple of images from Engadget.com

One more T/Thing: new EV before Model S

2010-05-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

"In an interview with The Chronicle, Musk said the new alliance would produce a joint Toyota-Tesla car that would be a Toyota vehicle powered by a Tesla drive-train, hitting the market before the Model S. The companies also plan to develop other electric vehicles together, he said."

[Source: San Francisco Chronicle]

Toyota and Tesla make a deal; NUMMI back in business

2010-05-20T17:24:00.001-07:00

This is a big deal. Biggest EV news since Carlos Ghosn got religion.
I just watched the press conference where Musk and Toyoda announced an agreement.

Toyota's investing in Tesla.
Tesla's buying the NUMMI factory.
Model S and subsequent vehicles will be made at NUMMI.
Tesla won't oppose any union activity.

This is obviously great for Tesla and advocates of electric cars.
It's great for the San Francisco Bay Area.

It's also great for Toyota. They appear forward-looking. And give people something other than brake problems to think about when they hear "Toyota."

Toyota gets to continue their "everything hybrid" goal without damaging the brand's strategy.

And they take their great knowledge of electric vehicles off the shelf where it gathers dust.

As one whose 8 year old Toyota electric car with 78,000 miles on the original battery pack drove exactly 100 miles yesterday using 89% of the charge, I welcome Toyota back.

Electric VW due in 3 years

2010-05-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

VW has released some more information on its electric plans. Look for an e-Golf to be launched in 2013. 93 mile range from a 26.5 kWh lithium battery pack. Similar to the LEAF or RAV4-EV, the car weighs about 3400 pounds, a few hundred pounds heavier than the gas/diesel versions.

Around the same time, VW intends to have two other EVs on offer, a smaller e-UP, and a Jetta.

One interesting side-note: Many of us RAV4-EV drivers have become used to and supportive of an option to "free-wheel" when letting off the accelerator. Although Tesla and LEAF don't incorporate such an option, it seems VW will. According to VW's press release:

"...the Golf blue-e-motion - with its top speed of 140 km/h - ... can even coast or "sail". "Sailing" occurs whenever the driver – adopting an anticipatory style of driving - releases the gas pedal, or more apropos: the electric pedal. As in the drive system of the Touareg Hybrid, which is being produced today, the motor is then is disengaged from the drivetrain so that the car can coast..."

Oil Spill Containment Attempt Fails

2010-05-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

“I wouldn’t say it has failed yet,” said Doug Suttles, the operating officer for exploration and production for BP, the company that was leasing the oil rig when it exploded April 20. “What I would say is what we attempted to do last night didn’t work.”

The slick, which has already come ashore on the Chandeleur Islands off southeast Louisiana, is projected to curl west in the next three days, threatening not only the Mississippi River Delta but also miles of Louisiana coastline to the west of the river.

[Source: New York Times]

Transmission Losses:" Military joins oil spill effort

2010-04-29T09:05:00.000-07:00

"The US military has joined efforts to stop an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico as fears rise about its scale."

The oil rig disaster off Louisiana is the top news item on the NY Times and BBC.com. The "transmission losses" from this one event now include not only the oil leaking and the environmental consequences, but also the costly involvement of the US military.

Same "transmission losses" when everything goes right, of course. There are always leaks, though not at this scale. There is always the US military, ensuring safe passage for tankers in another gulf. Now to protect our shores they are assisting industry to mitigate the mess, in this case BP. (Beyond Petroleum, really?).

[Source: BBC.com]

"Transmission Losses:" Oil leak worsens

2010-04-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

Government officials said late Wednesday night that oil might be leaking from a well in the Gulf of Mexico at a rate five times as large as initial estimates have suggested.

[Source: New York Times]

UCS proposes plug-in cars roadblock: What's wrong with Big Enviro?

2010-04-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

With friends like these.....

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has proposed what could be a huge roadblock to the further implementation of our sensible pro-plug-in car policies. At the SAE World Congress,

Union of Concerned Scientists [Research Director of the Clean Vehicles Program] Dave Friedman stated that automakers should be responsible for the methods used to generate power for electric vehicles.

Autobloggreen.com's report continues:

Toyota's director of environmental technology, Tom Stricker, was shocked by what Friedman said. Stricker responded in disbelief with, "Are you saying auto companies should be held responsible for electricity generation?" Friedman replied stating that new policies need to account for the entire energy use of a vehicle.

And that reaction was from an auto company that is taking a "go slow" approach to using grid electricity as a "fuel" for cars.

Let's be clear. Scientific studies comparing the emissions from a gas car's tailpipe and the electric car's smokestack, so to speak, range from "a wash" (all coal) to "a big win" for the electric car (natural gas, hydro, nuclear, renewables or even a combination including some coal.) Begin to account for petroleum's up-stream emissions, and we find ourselves well past no-brainer territory.

Yet here we've got a reputable enviro organization, with "science" right in it's title, that appears ready to penalize plug-in cars just as they are approaching the showroom by asking the cleaner technology to pass a hurdle never demanded of petroleum.

Big Enviro - the national Sierra Club , the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC,) and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) - have long been less than enthusiastic about plug-ins. Based on the science, they should have long ago made clear to their members and policy makers that a plug-in car driving on the grid today is cleaner than a gas car. Whether plug-in cars are available or not, this is something they know and should want people to understand. In addition, because an EV can drive as easily on renewable electricity as coal, electric points the way toward a true zero emission future that includes electricity generation and mobility.

Instead, Big Enviro has gone down the rat hole of diminishing returns. Putting their faith in perpetual tinkering with engine efficiencies and fuel mixtures along with an array of ways to perpetuate the gasoline paradigm, from biofuels to hydrogen, has left consumers and policymakers confused. Perhaps they bought into the automakers determination not to make plug-in cars, and didn't want to tilt at windmills, so to speak. Perhaps they saw their "SUV-into-the-wild"-driving membership base as a tough nut to crack for "limited range" electric cars. There are signs that bode well for Big Enviro becoming more actively supportive, including that Michael Brune, longtime supporter of plug-in cars at Rainforest Action Network, has come on as Executive Director at Sierra Club.

This will all change as plug-in electric cars hit the road. It won't be long, I suspect, before the leadership of our major environmental organizations gets with the program, as their own membership begins to drive plug-in cars. They'll begin using plug-in cars in their self-promotion, as if they've been pushing for this all along. May that day come soon.

[Source: Autobloggreen.com]

"Transmission Losses:" Oil Rig Sinks in Gulf, 11 still missing

2010-04-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

"The oil rig off the southeast coast of Louisiana where an explosion occurred Tuesday night has collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico, a Coast Guard official said....

On Wednesday, as firefighters battled the blazing rig, Rear Adm. Mary Landry, the commander of the Coast Guard’s Eighth District, estimated that 13,000 gallons of crude were pouring out per hour. But officials said then that the pollution was considered minimal because most of the oil and gas was being burned up in the fire. (emphasis added.)...

Workers who survived the explosion arrived at a hotel here early Thursday to reunite with their families as the search for 11 missing crew members continued in the Gulf of Mexico...

Robert MacKenzie, managing director of the energy and natural resources group of FBR Capital Markets, said that in 11 years as an analyst, he could not recall another incident like this.

“There are rigs that burn down, but it’s usually during the drilling process and not when the rig is close to finishing the well,” he said. (emphasis added.)

[Source: New York Times]
[Photo Credit: Reuters/U.S. Coast Guard/Handout]

"Transmission Losses:" Oil Leaking Underwater From Well in Rig Blast

2010-04-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

Robotic devices monitoring the deepwater well where a giant oil rig exploded and sank last week have discovered oil leaking from the well, a development that a senior Coast Guard official on Saturday called a “game changer.”...

Roughly 1,000 barrels of oil a day are estimated to be emanating from the riser, officials said....

The sheen of crude oil and water mix on the surface of the water was still more than 40 miles from shore at its closest point on Saturday. “That gives us a lot of time to try to mitigate in response to the spill,” Admiral Landry said.

The sheen had spread to a 20-by-20-mile area, Coast Guard officials said.....

High winds and 10-foot seas have prevented the oil spill response vessels from making it to the site to continue cleanup on Saturday....

On Friday, officials suspended the search-and-rescue operations for the 11 missing members of the rig’s crew...

[Source: NY Times]

"Transmission Losses:" Oil Rig Blast in Gulf...of Mexico

2010-04-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

Beyond Petroleum?

An explosion Tuesday night on an oil drilling rig off the coast of southeast Louisiana left at least seven people critically injured and 11 others missing....

The oil drilling rig, named Deepwater Horizon, is positioned about 50 miles southeast of Venice, La. It is owned by Transocean, a Houston-based company, and under contract to British Petroleum....

“The rig is leaning badly,” Mr. Nungesser said in an interview with WWL-TV, a New Orleans television station. He added that Coast Guard officials felt “like it may go over sometime today.”

[Source: New York Times]

"Transmission Losses" A 2Fer - Oil and Coal

2010-04-03T19:30:00.000-07:00

Small patches of oil were seen Sunday from a coal-carrying ship that ran aground on Australia's Great Barrier Reef....

Authorities fear an oil spill would cause environmental damage to the world's largest coral reef...

The vessel was carrying about 72,000 U.S. tons (65,000 metric tons) of coal from the Queensland port of Gladstone to China. It has 1,000 U.S. tons (950 metric tons) of oil on board.

Conservationists have expressed outrage that bulk carriers can travel through the reef without a marine pilot with local expertise.

[Source: SFgate.com]

"Transmission Losses:" 5 die in Wash. refinery blast, fire

2010-04-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

An explosion and fire at a Washington state oil refinery shook homes and shot flames into the night sky early Friday, killing five people and critically injuring two others....

The blast was the biggest fatal refinery accident since a 2005 explosion at a BP American refinery in Texas killed 15 people and injured another 170, authorities said....

The state of Washington fined Tesoro $85,700 a year ago after an inspection found 17 serious safety and health violations at the Anacortes refinery. The state Department of Labor and Industries reached an agreement with the company in November requiring the hazards to be corrected and an independent safety audit, the agency said on its Web site. The fine was reduced to $12,250, according to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Web site....

Greg Cummings, from Abbottsford, B.C., had just gone to bed at the RV park across the bay from the refinery when he heard a loud whoosh and saw the flames.

“I thought it was a terrorist attack,” he said.....

San Antonio-based Tesoro Corp. is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products. The Anacortes refinery can refine about 130,000 barrels of crude daily, according to the company. The U.S. Energy Information Administration Web site ranks it as the 59th largest refinery in the nation.

Tesoro has owned the Anacortes refinery since 1998. It mainly processes Alaska North Slope crude and makes gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, mostly for Washington and Oregon....

Of the 18 open major accident cases the chemical safety board is examining, at least seven are refineries, Horowitz said. Yet there are only 150 refineries in the country and tens of thousands of other chemical plants.

“Almost half our accidents, the serious ones, are at refineries,” Horowitz said. “We’re seeing a disproportionate number of serious accidents at refineries.”

[Source: MSNBC.com]

Transmission Losses: Motorist Dies in Flash Fire at Gas Station

2010-04-02T13:20:00.000-07:00

A motorist today died today after his car caught fire on a petrol station forecourt, police said.

Firefighters said the "flash" fire had been contained inside the car and no-one else was hurt.

Police said fire was thought to have broken out shortly after the man had bought fuel and climbed into the car at a Shell garage in Guyhirn, Cambridgeshire.

"It obviously could have been much worse," said a police spokeswoman. "It seems that the fire didn't spread at all and the garage was able to reopen."

[Source: The Independent]

Big news: LEAF in the mid- 20s

2010-03-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

The Nissan LEAF, the first all-electric car to be mass marketed by a major automaker, will come in around $25,000, with help from the federal tax credit of $7500. At 25% of the cost of a Tesla, we're no longer talking about a car for millionaires.

If you live in a state that recognizes the benefits of EVs with rebates and incentives of their own, the LEAF could come in as low as about $21,000. If you don't, get active with your state legislators.

Get ready to sign up, $99 refundable deposit, on April 20.

More info at NissanUSA

Gearless in Great Britain: Fast charger in action

2010-03-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

Robert Llewellyn is a Brit with a keen interest in electric cars who is one of those leasing a Mitsubishi iMiev this year. He's got a great weekly video podcast, Gearless, chronicling his experiences. This week, Quick Charge. Using the same Japanese device I visited in Vacaville last week.

He uses quaint British time-measurement terms. "A cuppa and bacon bun" is how long it takes to fill up. I wish he'd been more specific, using standard quantitative terms (like minutes,) giving us the state of charge he arrived with and left with.

Anyway, Robert is wowed by how quickly the car charges. We can see that the charger delivered 345 volts at 70 amps, which is actually on the slow side for fast chargers. Check it out:

Fast charger comes to Voltageville: A Glimpse at the Future

2010-03-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

In 2001 I began driving an electric car, obtaining the last of the ZEV mandate-required EVs. As I got turned on to the benefits and technological readiness of electric cars, the writing was on the wall and EVs began to disappear from California's roads. I got enthused just as the automakers, CARB, the feds, and major environmental organizations ended their various flirtations with EVs.

The notion of the plug-in hybrid revived the hope of plugging in. I made my peace with the notion of a transition vehicle, with a plug and an engine. GM announced the Volt.

Then a couple of years ago Carlos Ghosn had some sort of epiphany and announced Nissan's belief in the inevitable electrification of cars, and Nissan's intention to lead the transition. He defied conventional thinking by moving directly toward the commercialization of all-electric cars. Hundreds of thousands of Nissan all-electric cars would be manufactured in Asia, America and Europe within a very few years.

I was thrilled. Consumers would soon begin to have a choice of vehicle types that include real electric cars. The marketplace, rather than bureaucrats and academics, would decide whether EVs have a place.

Government and industry began to plan for the rollout of plug-in cars with a plan to roll out public charging infrastructure. Level II charging stations are great for opportunity charging while shopping or working and should be widely diffused. But there wasn't much discussion about faster charging options, as it entails additional obstacles of cost and lack of standards and a presumption that cars wouldn't be fast-charge enabled. Although I knew it was technically feasible, it seemed we would have to wait. Although fast charging stations could enable long distance EV driving and are one way to meet the needs of urban purchasers of EVs who don't have parking with access to electricity, it is logically not a matter of first priority.

But just as I was pleasantly surprised to find Nissan's LEAF in the offing, so too fast charging is going to appear more rapidly than expected. The DOE grant to the Etec EV Project will put 260 Level III chargers in the ground in the next two years. Nissan's LEAF will initially appear with a fast charge connector, something that will surely be a purchase option in the future. (And is some compensation for the slow 3.3kW Level II charger in the first cars.) The iMiev, should Mitsubishi do an American release, also has a fast charge connector. And Th!nk announced intentions to enable fast-charging in its cars in an agreement with Aerovironment.

Once again, I celebrate that consumers will have options as we work our way toward the best solutions for quick charging. Better Place has pushed its proposed solution to the range dilemna - battery swap stations. One car maker, Renault, is making cars to spec, and BP has demonstrated the battery swap device in Japan. Swapping out an empty pack for a full one is enticing. It's proven to be enticing to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. If swap stations can be commercialized and the batteries can be charged at Level II speeds and below, they too might offer benefits and be part of the clean transportation quilt. But essentially off the shelf Level III fast charge stations, capable of delivering near-to-full charges in under 30 minutes, can be put in service within months. A Level III fast charger can be installed for about $100,000, compared to millions for a hydrogen station and perhaps $1 million for a battery swap station.

Which finally brings me to the fast charger I saw the other day in Vacaville, CA. Installed by PG&E with funding from the State, it sits beneath a solar PV array amongst a handful of Level II chargers, including small paddles for RAV4 EVs, AVCONs for RangerEVs, and aTesla charge station. The fast charger uses a Japanese connector (an American standard remains under consideration) which was easy to handle. I wish I had gotten a photo of the complete line-up of chargers under the solar array, because it is evidence of real-world solutions, available now, to make plug-in cars and renewable electricity a reality quickly.

Billion Dollars a Day

2010-03-08T12:26:00.000-08:00

VoteVets.org has a campaign to highlight the true cost of our oil addiction. Yet another argument for plug-in cars.

Guerrilla charging: theft or public service?

2010-02-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

So you've finally got your electric car. You're going out of town for a few days and recall a few spots at the airport parking lot that have a regular 110-volt electric outlet on the wall. Do you plug in your Tesla (or Nissan LEAF or Chevy Volt)? Are you "stealing" power?

Solar Dave thinks you are. And he is taunting the authorities in Denver to fine the owner of the Tesla he found plugged in at the airport. He raises a question that should be settled quickly. And he points out one place where public charging solutions will be easier and cheaper to install than I first thought.

First let's dispel the notion that there are any serious financial implications for the garage. Solar Dave writes: "My first thought was, “hey that is not fair” and that is why is (sic) costs so much to park at DIA." As if. John Voelker at GreenCarReports.com ran the numbers and found that if the Tesla arrived on empty and slowly, completely refilled the battery over the next few days, it would cost $4.50. Parking costs the driver $18 per day. And if I want to get nit-picky, I'd point out that the garage doesn't incur the expense for cleaning up after the electric car's leaking oil nor the electricity to power the fans to exhaust the exhaust.

When we consider the question of public access to electricity for plug-in cars, we have to consider the social benefit. If plugging in at the airport (or work or some parking garage or mall) allows you take your electric car rather than a gasoline car, we all benefit from reduced emissions and petroleum consumption. These shared benefits are great enough to establish "rules of the road" that encourage access to power for cars. This is not new, actually. In our far northern states, one often finds free power available in parking lots to plug in engine block warmers. Given the low cost of the electricity and the social benefits, we should encourage a positive attitude about granting access to power for plug-in cars. If solar advocates such as Solar Dave don't get it, we've got our work cut out for us.

Dave inadvertently does point us toward a good policy as public infrastructure is installed this year. Airport long-term parking is one place where fast charging, even conventional Level II 240-volt 30 amp service, is faster than necessary. The cost to install 110-volt 20-amp outlets would likely be 10% the cost of purchasing and installing chargers (J1772-compliant EVSEs, in the parlance of the industry). Installing parking spaces with 110-volt power for plug-ins at airport long-term parking should be considered by metropolitan areas as they roll out public charging infrastructure.

"Transmission Losses:" Nigeria's oil pipeline sabotaged

2010-01-31T23:02:00.000-08:00

Shell has shut three flow stations after its oil pipeline in the Niger Delta was sabotaged.

Recent attacks have resulted in $1bn a month in lost revenue.

[Source: bbc.com]

Tesla IPO: Taking the dream for a ride

2010-01-30T10:14:00.000-08:00

For a couple of years now, the dream ride has been in a Tesla Roadster. You strap in, feel the instantaneous surge of power, maneuver the curves above Palo Alto on electrons.

The next ride won't be the Tesla S Sedan, it will be Tesla the stock.

Tesla Motors has filed an IPO plan with the SEC to raise $100,000,000 in a public offering.

Tesla will stop production of the Roadster in 2011. The electric sedan is meant to appear in 2012.

"Transmission Losses:" West African pirates

2010-01-29T11:04:00.000-08:00

West Africa's burgeoning oil industry has a pirate problem.

On Jan. 5 Nigerian pirates stormed a Panamanian-flagged Ukrainian tanker, the Westaf, anchored off Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, according to the Sovfracht Maritime Bulletin published in Kiev.

They robbed the crew, shooting and wounding the captain and six of his men. The Westhaf, built in 1986, is used as a floating storage and processing terminal.

28 attacks were logged in 2009 compared with 40 a year earlier. But shipping sources suggested that there were another 30 attacks last year that went unreported. Most were related to the oil industry.

In the Niger Delta, the pirates in armed speedboats attack tankers and work with militants in the delta's swamplands who steal around 150,000 barrels a day from oil installations or pipelines, around 5 percent of Nigeria's daily production.

The poorly equipped government forces are now receiving support from the US Navy. The US Africa Command, inaugurated in 2008, will undoubtedly play a major role to enable safe passage of this increasingly vital oil. The cost of this protection will, of course, be borne by American taxpayers. By 2015 the region is expected to be supplying 25 percent of U.S. oil imports.

[Source: UPI.com]

Wired blogger takes on Nissan LEAF

2010-01-25T17:43:00.000-08:00

Darryl Siry blogs over at Wired's Autopia. He's pretty plugged in, having worked at Tesla and consulted for CODA. He's a bit surprised, as are all of us, that Nissan has emerged as the first big automaker to manufacture a mass-produced electric car.

In his recent post, "In Race to Market, Nissan’s Electric Car Takes Shortcuts," Siry makes the point that CEO Carlos Ghosn's enthusiasm and charisma alone couldn't be enough to get such a job done so quickly. He writes that the urgency of the project "appears to have driven the company to take some shortcuts."

Sounds ominous. Ultimately, I'm not sure what he's actually getting at. Because Siry makes only two points. Neither of certain significance.

First, he suggests Nissan overstates the range of the LEAF. The 100 mile range cited by Nissan uses "a number tied to the most optimistic benchmark, the LA4 cycle." I don't doubt that this is true. The LEAF pack has fewer kWh than my RAV4 EV, but could be almost as heavy. Until we get final specs on weight, and drive the car around a bit, we won't know to what extent people will need to handicap official range numbers as they do EPA gasoline mileage ratings. Big surprise, your actual mileage may vary. Buyer beware!

Second, and the point on which the article devotes most attention, is whether Nissan is "cutting corners" by forgoing an active thermal management (HVAC) system for the batteries. Instead Nissan is relying on air circulation with a fan.

Now I don't know whether something about lithium, regardless of chemistry or packaging, will prove to require an active system. But I do know, interestingly and perhaps relevantly, that the electric car that has probably driven more miles than any other model, the Toyota RAV4 EV, does not have batteries with an active system. A fan circulates air. The Honda EV+ used the same Panasonic EV-95 NiMH battery modules with an active system, and those packs didn't last as long. Many EV+ packs were exchanged during their brief time on the road. At least with NiMH, Toyota's passive system worked out better in the real world. Of course the cooling system may have had nothing to do with the the difference in performance of the same batteries in two Japanese EVs, but we'll never know.

Siry notes the different approach being taken by GM for the Volt. They reverted to the T-shaped tunnel configuration for the battery used in the EV1. (How did that work out?)

I may be approaching this too simply, but the tunnel has never made sense to me. It eliminates the possibility of a fifth passenger seat. And I find it makes me feel confined. The batteries, too, enshrouded on three sides, require, apparently, an active thermal management system.

The RAV, on the other hand, suspends the batteries below the vehicle. There is minimal loss in cabin space and a large surface below helping dissipate heat, which is an issue with NiMH, too. And we find that the LEAF's battery pack, too, will be located under the floorboard. Maybe that's the key. Keep the batteries low and spread them wide.

I don't know, of course, but I'm willing to give Nissan the benefit of the doubt.

I'm giving Tesla and CODA and GM the benefit of the doubt, too.

"Transmission Losses": Tanker truck explodes, closes LI Expressway

2010-01-23T22:31:00.000-08:00

A tanker truck clipped a car.
The tanker flipped over and burst into flames "creating a fireball seen for miles."
The driver was killed.
The Long Island Expressway was closed for hours in both directions.
A typical tanker truck holds between 5000 and 9000 gallons of gasoline.

"Transmission Losses": 450,000 gallons of oil spill in Texas

2010-01-23T20:17:00.000-08:00

Two vessels collided in Port Arthur, Texas.
As much as 450,000 gallons of crude oil spilled.
Some nearby residents have been evacuated from the area because of hydrogen sulfide that was emanating from the oil.

[Source: RawStory.com]

More EVs, Faster Charging

2010-01-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

It's official, the Cadillac Converj is to be the second extended-range electric vehicle after the Volt. I may be most interested affordable electric cars, but this makes sense to me. I only wish GM had the smarts back in the day to have rebranded the EV1 as a Caddy and continued limited run production.

[Source: Detroit News]

Volvo might be getting serious about EVs. They showed a prototype Electric C30. The car was described by EV Goddess Chelsea Sexton as "überpragmatic." An electric offering could be fit nicely into the historical perceptions of the benefits of the brand.

[Source: Wired Autopia]

Coulomb is getting ready to enter the Level III charging arena. Commonly dubbed a "fast charge," Level III is higher voltage and a considerable investment, around $60,000 (including installation) for their 480-volt, 125-amp offering. With the DOE investment in some fast chargers as part of infrastructure development in the five Nissan/Etec Leaf target regions, Level III is happening faster than might have been expected.

Fast charging will extend the range of pure EVs when deployed by freeways. More importantly, it is one of the ways to make EVs accessible to those without access to power where they park in urban centers. Whether there is a business model to make this successful remains an open question. The first Level III chargers deployed by Etec will offer free juice. I'd like to see a ten year commitment to free charging, underwritten by participating automakers and government.

[Source: Autobloggreen.com]

Mitsubishi is doubling down on the iMiev. Demand is outstripping the supply for the electric jellybean. Almost 2000 were delivered to corporate customers in Japan last year. Production targets have been upped to 8500 units for 2010. By 2013 they intend to make 30,000 units annually. The really good news is they have a target price of about $22,000 after the production hike. I suspect they'll find plenty of government and corporate buyers at the early higher price point as they strive to project greenness and meet emission targets.

[Source: Autobloggreen.com]

News from Detroit

2010-01-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

BMW has recognized that they simply teed up GM and Nissan to benefit from the MINI E experience. Today they announced officially that MINI E "pioneers" will be able to extend their leases until 2011. At that point the ActiveE, an electric Series 1 Beemer, is projected to be available, however only as yet another "electric vehicle test program," as they put it in their wordy press release. Will MINI E drivers be so loyal to BMW they'll forgo the opportunity to actually purchase a plug-in car?

Over at GM, Bob Lutz says an all-electric Volt would be "technologically trivial." No word on when.

Toyota titillates with its plug-in Prius test program (600 vehicles worldwide over the next few years) as well as an all-electric 50-mile range "small, urban commuter BEV" and a plug-in hybrid concept small car. But they still want us to believe that their fuel cell vehicles will hit showrooms in 2015. This despite the fact that they project placing in service a mere 100 or so such cars over the next three years.

And Toyota's press release continues their "blame the consumer" rewrite of history regarding the RAV4 EV (about 800 of which, including mine, remain on the road.)

The RAV4 EV and e-com programs were short lived due to lack of commitment from the market; the consumer and the consumer's environmental mind set were not ready to commit to battery electric vehicles at that time.

Audi, too, continues to tantalize with its E-tron. They say the car will go on sale in 2012. At the moment the concept car has four wheel motors, always a red flag to me. If I remember correctly, Mitsubishi's iMiev had wheel motors when it was a concept, but reverted to a more mainstream drivetrain with commercialization. When and if Audi becomes serious, I suspect we'll see a more conventional approach to electric drive.

It's official - Think to set up shop in Indiana

2010-01-05T15:59:00.000-08:00

Th!nk CEO Richard Canny and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels slapped a "Made In Indiana" sticker on a Th!nk City this morning in Elkhart. According to Th!ink's press release, cars will begin to be sold stateside before the end of the year, although US assembly won't begin until 2011. Getting cars into the hands of consumers in a way that gets noticed sooner rather than later will be essential if the brand is establish itself here.

The company has announced its intention to invest $43 million in the Elkhart facility, and has been offered $3 million in tax credits and a small job training grant by Indiana. Th!nk has an active application before the US DOE under the $25-billion Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program that has benefitted Tesla and Fisker. A lot may hinge on that application.

Elkhart IN to welcome Think

2010-01-04T20:47:00.000-08:00

The Elkhart IN City Council took the first step tonight toward creating a tax abatement for Th!nk North America to open a plant to assemble the Th!nk City all-electric two-seater. A formal announcement will be made tomorrow at the site with Republican Governor Mitch Daniels and Th!nk representatives. No word yet on how quickly we'll see cars rolling off the line.

[Source: Fox28.com]

Plug-in Mercedes in 2012?

2010-01-04T19:41:00.000-08:00

Mercedes-Benz's S-Class sedan will offer a plug-in hybrid version when it hits the showrooms, reportedly in 2012, according to Autocar.co.uk. The German automaker's R&D chief Thomas Weber says they are not presently considering an all electric version. However Mercedes' intention is to roll out plug-in hybrid versions of all its models eventually.

Jay Leno drives the Volt

2009-12-29T10:10:00.000-08:00

"Electricity has always been the best way to power a car. They knew that since the turn of the last century." - Jay Leno

Source: Autobloggreen and NBC

Flawed PHEV report has legs

2009-12-18T11:16:00.000-08:00

There has never been a shortage of stories in the press denigrating plug-in electric cars. Why? Because people naturally, logically believe electric cars are a good idea. Special interests who preferred to maintain the internal combustion status quo (read oil and auto companies) have long needed to plant seeds of doubt. Via paid consultants, close relationships with universities, a pliant press more apt to reprint a press release than analyze it, and print and television advertising, their negative message has been successfully imparted.

We've seen it all in the press: electric cars are more polluting, less safe, require too much water, will electrocute rescuers after a crash, will spontaneously explode, and will kill the blind. It takes a sustained effort to sow confusion about the obvious benefits of electric cars. Little would have been gained by attempting to expand the reach of gasoline to laptops or refrigerators, so we've long been subjected to a decades-long preemptive assault on electric cars. As electric cars seek a place in the market, expect more such stories.

This week saw the sophisticated version with the release of a National Academies of Sciences study, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The press release headline blares: "PLUG-IN HYBRID VEHICLE COSTS LIKELY TO REMAIN HIGH, BENEFITS MODEST FOR DECADES." The report highlights battery cost in 2010 leading to a $18,000 premium for some initial PHEVs, and suggests no lower cost is unlikely to be achieved with economies of scale. Dubious presumptions about PHEV usage lead the authors to minimize any potential petroleum and emissions reductions. Many reports, including presentations at CARB in September 2009, see much more positive indicators on the battery front, and the NRDC/EPRI study that led to the "more polluting" story cited above, actually points to significant emissions reductions with PHEVs. [update: Felix Kramer has published a detailed debunking, as has the Electrification Coalition .]

If you read to the end of the press release, you find out more about who actually issued the report. It was something called the "Committee on Assessment of Resource Needs for Development of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technology & Potential Impacts of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles" within the "Board on Energy & Environmental Systems" of the "Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences" of the National Academies of Science. An odd-sounding committee, really, albeit imbued with gravitas. According to the Committee Membership Information, the group contains at least three retired oil and auto company people, academics who do hydrogen research, consultants with oil company ties and one who has served on the National Hydrogen Foundation board and another the retired Vice President Hydrogen Systems for Chevron Technology Ventures, and a venture capitalist immersed in hydrogen. And, of course, a professional environmentalist, a Union of Concerned Scientist scientist, whose work has focused on fuel cells. Stacked deck?

The message from those attempting to derail the inevitable plug on vehicles is always the same - we've got to keep trying everything. Nothing's ready yet. We can't choose winners.

According to the report, a portfolio approach toward reducing U.S. dependence on oil is necessary for long-term success. This should include increasing the fuel efficiency of conventional vehicles and pursuing research, development, and demonstration into alternative strategies, including the use of biofuels, electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

CNN picked up the story questioning whether plug-ins pencil out for consumers.

Friday's Washington Post editorializes ignorantly against government support of plug-ins, based it would seem solely upon this report.

One of the many smaller media outlets and blogs to pick up the story got the message. The author of Don’t Believe the Hype About the Plug-In Car, opined:

There’s always the hope that a genius at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or another top school will invent the gizmo that changes everything. But this isn’t Hollywood and technological advances are likely to be incremental. That means no immediate miracles and oil will continue to be a vital part of the economy for the foreseeable future.

In fact it doesn't take a miracle. It takes a clarity of purpose, a willingness to pay attention to the science, and the guts to aim high. We need a focused effort at transportation electrification to work in parallel with the move toward renewable energy.

Yet another CARB ZEV meeting

2009-12-11T00:53:00.000-08:00

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) met on Thursday to discuss the Zero Emission Vehicle regulation and the revisions staff was tasked with exploring for 2015 and beyond. Plug In America President Dan Davids offered testimony applauding CARB's achievements, but faulted the agency for skewed priorities and reliance on unreliable information and projections. Mr. Davids said CARB's resource allocation has favored fuel cells and hydrogen over plug-in electric by 75% to 25%, based on conversations with Legislative Director Jay Friedland. Chair Mary Nichols said that isn't true. CARB staffer Elise Keddie said Friedland had taken back his assertion regarding a 75/25 split. Friedland sent an email immediately for the record clarifying the conversation with Ms. Keddie and indicating he stood by Plug In America's analysis. He is awaiting a response.

The representative from Honda, the most consistently pro-fuel cell automaker, said FCVs are "not yet ready for mass production" and that much work needs to be done "before even slight volume increases." The Nissan rep touted the imminent LEAF, although without the enthusiasm of the Nissan employees I've met over the recent months. Sierra Club, NRDC, UCS and Friends of the Earth each raised serious questions about the direction of the ZEV regulation, signaling a renewed interest in plug-in electric vehicles for the near-term GHG reduction benefit that could be achieved.

CARB's policies do not appear poised to utilize the historic opportunity offered as plug-in electric vehicles are achieving commercialization. Given their professed "technology neutrality," one might expect to see the state agency newly responsible for greenhouse gas reduction policy to aggressively support the zero emission vehicle technology arriving in the market soonest. Yet much of the white paper simply reaffirms CARB's intention to focus on hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles, despite their own belief that even pre-commercialization of fuel cell vehicles remains over five years away. CARB's continued unbalanced allocation of resources is reflected on its website homepage and in the white paper itself (for example, 658 words are devoted to hydrogen infrastructure; 109 to BEV infrastructure.)

Despite CARB's preference for H2/FCVs, its policies have helped bring major manufacturers back to California with plug-in electric cars. CARB ought to recognize that near-term commercialization of plug-in electric cars is happening. The greater near term carbon reduction benefit of plug-in electrics should not be sacrificed to projections of cost and consumer preferences decades hence.

Two new EV initiatives

2009-11-20T16:36:00.000-08:00

Two items caught my attention this week.

Plug In America has a new ally with the announcement of the creation of the Electrification Coalition. The goal of this high-powered group of corporate executives is nothing less than the complete transformation of our transportation sector, one in which electricity plays the dominant role where possible. Quoting from their website: "electrification is the best path to the fuel diversity that is indispensable to improving the nation’s economic strength, environmental health, and national security." Along with one large automaker (Nissan), infrastructure providers and utilities, FedEx is among the founding members.

Comprehensive does not begin to describe Electrification Roadmap, the report they have issued. Download it.

Bowing to the burgeoning electric vehicle industry in both countries, President Obama and President Hu Jin Tao announced the formation of the U.S.-China Electric Vehicles Initiative. The Initiative is meant to work on joint standards and provide for data sharing as cars roll out in both countries. Public awareness and engagement is one area of specific attention.

With corporate execs and world leaders coming on board, can the cars be far behind?

Reva to bring new electric car to Iceland

2009-11-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

Reva, the Indian electric car company best known for the G-Whiz in England, has signed a deal to bring their new product to Iceland with sales beginning within a year. The NXG and NXR, revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show recently, have a Th!nk City-like footprint, 100 mile range and 65 mph top speed.

Electricity is a more renewable resource than ice in Iceland. This provided hydrogen utopians with the world's best-case scenario for transitioning to a hydrogen economy. Yet after a decade of hydrogen hype and fuel cell fever stoked by car and oil companies, few cars have arrived. None for sale. At one time there were 16 hydrogen cars in Reykjavik. As of July, that was down to 12.

"In the past years, teams from all the big car manufacturing companies visited us and said they intended to market fuel cell-powered hydrogen cars shortly after 2010," said Bragi Arnason, a professor of chemistry at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik.

Three hydrogen busses once served regular Reykjavik routes. "The bus project has now been terminated; we are waiting for the next generation to be built," Arnason said.

Now Mitsubishi's iMiev and Reva are poised to begin the viable zero-emission transition in Iceland.

[Sources: autobloggreen.com and eenews.net]

Nissan sketches electric commercial vehicle; envisions electric ambulance

2009-11-06T11:12:00.000-08:00

Nissan has released an official sketch of an electric urban delivery vehicle that looks closer to viable than many EV concepts that have appeared at auto shows over the last few months. It is a somewhat stylized take on the NV200 light commercial gasoline van Nissan sells in Japan and Europe.

The press release from Nissan highlights the potential use as an ambulance which could drive directly into a hospital. One time when I took a friend to an emergency room in my Th!nk City I realized hospital emergency areas would be designed differently if EV ambulances existed. How absurd that critical care cases are transported through a plume of toxins between the ambulance and medical attention. Significant moments wasted because the internal combustion vehicle can't drive directly into the hospital.

Yet another benefit of EVs. Yet another market.

[Source: AutoBlogGreen.com]

Al Gore plugs electric cars on Daily Show

2009-11-05T08:01:00.000-08:00

Al Gore has probably been presumed to be a long-time booster of electric cars, but it hasn't always been so. Like many, he couldn't see past the dirty, coal-produced power many plug-ins would utilize, despite the environmental benefits. Now he's sees a EVs a'comin'.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Exclusive - Al Gore Extended Interview Pt. 2

www.thedailyshow.com

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GM CEO: FCVs 10X more expensive than electric

2009-10-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

GM CEO Fritz Henderson sat down with reporters and editors from the Washington Post yesterday. No real news on the Volt, but his comments on Fuel Cell Vehicles should cause a stir. Anyone at CARB in Sacramento paying attention?

Post: Is GM pulling back on its hydrogen car?

Henderson: "Are we putting resources into it? Not as much. . . . We spent through the mid part of this decade a reasonably high portion of our research and our development money on hydrogen fuel cells. We put 100 vehicles into the market. Consumers have tested them . . . We've learned a lot. The vehicles work. The issue is always cost, 100 percent cost. [He put the cost of the vehicles at upwards of $400,000.]

"It's still a ways away from commercialization. No question."

[Source: Washington Post]

GM reveals electric car production number in 2010....for India

2009-10-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

GM recently entered into a 50/50 partnership with Reva, the Indian electric car company, to produce an electric version of the Chevrolet Spark. Reva has been selling small EVs in India and England for the past few years.

According to a report in the Business Standard of India, GM plans to sell 4000 electric Sparks in India in 2010. That's about 10% of the total number of gas-powered Sparks GM will sell this year in India.

For GM India, our investment into this project can be covered if we can sell (the electric version) between 10-15 per cent of all the Spark vehicles sold in India,” GM India Vice-President (Sales & Marketing) Ankush Arora said.