Coulomb, MasterCard, and the future of public charging

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

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?

[Source: YouTube]

Czinger Zinger: CODA CEO resigns

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....

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

“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?

Driving iMiev

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stop tinkering: Sierra Club Chief touts vehicle electrification

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)

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

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

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

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

"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]