California Approves $768M for Charging Infrastructure

California has earmarked $768-million towards charging infrastructure and rebate programs for the state in a new five-year plan.

Under several proposals approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the money will go towards residential, electric truck, and bus charging stations to be implemented by the state’s three major utility companies, an about-face from car-centric incentives. Currently, truck and bus transportation are responsible for up to 39 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.

One electric vehicle charging station provider, ChargePoint, remarked on the program.

“This will lead to major benefits for California drivers, ratepayers, utilities, public and private fleet operators and transit agencies, and riders of public transportation,” said ChargePoint VP of utility solutions, Dave Packard, in an emailed statement.

Of the proposals, Southern California Edison will receive the lion’s share of funds, with up to $343-million going towards residential charging programs. In second place is Pacific Gas & Electric, awarded a treasure chest of $236-million towards infrastructure and rebates for the three aforementioned vehicle types, with $22-million going towards 234 DC fast-charging stations.

A third utility provider, San Diego Gas & Electric, will also receive $137 in rebates and at-home installation rebates for up to 60,000 customers. The rest will go towards program evaluation measures and other programs.

BMW Turning Light Poles Into EV Charging Stations In Seattle

A year ago, BMW’s car sharing program known as ReachNow folded up shop in San Francisco and moved to Seattle. The service began with 370 cars, including electric BMW i3 sedans and conventional 3 Series and MINI offerings. A year later, the ReachNow fleet has grown to more than 700 cars and expanded to Portland and Brooklyn. It now has more than 50,000 members.

Together with eluminocity US, BMW has developed its Light & Charge system, which converts existing street and parking lot light poles into connected nodes on a smart city network. Each pole includes high efficiency LED lighting, EV chargers, and a sophisticated Sensor Bus that connects the site to the cloud. Each Light & Charge location will include one ChargePoint DC Fast Charger and up to four AC Level II chargers. ChargePoint is the largest EV Charging network in the U.S. All of the chargers are available to the public and compatible with any EV equipped with a standard SAE J1772 charging port.

This week, BMW unveiled the first of its new Light & Charge locations at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, a popular place known for its sustainable practices. “Public access to charging stations is a critical step to increasing the adoption and use of electric vehicles,” says ReachNow CEO Steve Banfield. “The more EV charging stations there are, the faster we can scale the number of EVs in the ReachNow fleet and make sustainable urban transportation services more widely available.”

The Woodland Park Zoo was chosen because it draws more than 1.3 million visitors a year and is known for its commitment to sustainable practices. “Woodland Park Zoo has the highest attendance of any cultural institution in the Puget Sound area, which will provide major visibility for the benefits of EVs and car sharing,” says zoo president Alejandro Grajal. “Our members and guests have a keen interest in doing their part to improve the environment and we are expecting this new station will inspire them to act. We are thrilled to be the first home for a Light & Charge station in the city.”

BMW is investing $1.2 million in the Light & Charge program, a contribution to the local community that mayor Ed Murray was happy to acknowledge. “As a leader on climate change, Seattle is working to connect drivers to our clean, carbon-neutral electricity. This investment from ReachNow and the BMW Group demonstrates that together, government and private industry can help the City reduce pollution and create a healthier community. This partnership will also help Seattle become carbon neutral by 2050 and brings the City closer to achieving the goals laid out in Seattle’s Drive Clean Seattle initiative.”

The Light & Charge program will double the number of public EV charging stations in the Seattle area and make it possible for BMW to include more of its all electric i3 sedans in its ReachNow car sharing program.

Source: Electric Cars Report  Photo credit: BMW

CARB Considering Point Of Sale EV Rebate Program

California is about to begin testing a new “point of sale” clean vehicle rebate plan in San Diego. Under the present rules, people who purchase a qualifying EV can get a check back from the state for up to $7,000, depending on their income level. California started indexing its rebate program to income level a few years ago to avoid the charge that the incentives the state was offering were mostly benefiting wealthy tech tycoons replacing their Porsches with Teslas. The state is much more interested in encouraging low income families to give up their inefficient and pollution belching commuter cars and drive a low or zero emissions (and far safer) car instead.

The problem with the current system is that the customer must first buy the car and pay for it before the rebate check goes in the mail. A point of sale plan would lower the purchase price of the car immediately and lower the monthly purchase payment right from the get go. Customers would pre-qualify for the rebate by submitting their income information in advance and getting their level of eligibility determined before they go shopping for a new vehicle.

Current data indicates only 70% of eligible California EV buyers take advantage of the existing rebate program. A point of sale system would likely increase the utilization rate. Few people would bother to get pre-qualified and then not use the funds available when they buy a car. According to a draft of the plan being circulated by CARB, the process would work like this:

• The buyer submits an application with supporting documentation to the Center for Sustainable Energy.
• CSE reviews the application and notifies the buyer via e-mail if it is approved. The approval would come with an expiration date.
• The buyer then visits a local dealer to buy or lease an eligible vehicle. The dealer confirms eligibility online and completes the sale at the net price after the rebate is applied.
• The dealer than submits all required paperwork and is reimbursed by CSE.

Reactionaries like to scream that the federal tax credit is just a taxpayer supported giveaway to the wealthy. To be fair, it may not be the most efficient way of encouraging more Americans to drive low and zero emissions cars. Some suggest putting the money the government spends on the tax credit could be put to better use if it was used to build EV charging infrastructure, especially at apartment houses and condo developments where access to charging at home is either non-existent or severely limited.

California consistently leads the rest of the nation in pushing for low emissions transportation. The new point of sale rebate program should begin in San Diego later this year. The data the state collects from that pilot program could lead to changes in the EV rebate program statewide and that would likely have an impact on other states as well.

Source: Cars Direct  Photo credit: Kyle Field/Facebook

Volkswagen, Nissan Contributing To EV Charging Infrastructure

Electric car advocates agree that charging infrastructure is the key to making EVs appeal to mainstream drivers. This week, both Volkswagen and Nissan are putting their shoulders to the wheel to expand the EV charging infrastructure in the United States. In the Northeast, Nissan announced a partnership with EVgo at the New York auto show. The two companies will install a total of nine DC fast charging facilities in the busy Boston to Washington transportation corridor.

The Nissan — EVgo Partnership

The chargers will feature both CHAdeMO and Combined Charging System DC fast-charging outlets as a part of Nissan’s inclusive “Infrastructure for All” initiative. The two charging standards are competing for dominance in the EV charging environment. CHAdeMO is preferred by most Asian manufacturers while CCS is the choice of most European and US manufacturers. Tesla uses its own proprietary charging technology but its cars can be connected to a CHAdeMO charger with an adapter.

Nissan says the new chargers will give peace of mind to electric car drivers who use the busy Interstate 95 corridor. The facilities are already under construction and expected to be operational by this fall. Each will be able to charge up to 4 cars at a time at a power of 50 kW. They have been pre-wired for a high power charging at up to 150 kW with simple upgrades once that technology is available.

“Regardless of range capability, a convenient fast charge infrastructure along high traffic routes is imperative in the mass adoption of electric vehicles,” said JeSean Hopkins, senior manager for EV infrastructure strategy & business development at Nissan North America. “This element of the EV equation is seemingly overlooked by others, but we’re all in. Following a similar project in California, this is our second ‘corridor’ project in the U.S. and completion is expected in time for the launch of the all-new Nissan LEAF.”

Volkswagen’s Electrify America Plan

Volkswagen’s contribution is not as voluntary as Nissan’s. As part of its agreement to make amends for its diesel emissions cheating scandal, it agreed to spend $2 billion dollars to add to the nation’s EV charging infrastructure. It has formed a new division called Electrify America to carry out its part in the court ordered plan. This week, it announced the first $300 million will be used to create a national network of 450 electric car charging stations in 11 “major metropolitan areas” and along heavily traveled highways in 39 states.

The 240 highway stations will include both chargers capable of up to 150 kW of charging power. Those same chargers will be able to handle up to 320 kW of power in the future. That’s enough to provided most EV drivers with an 80% charge in about 15 minutes.

Volkswagen is prohibited by the terms of the court decree from using the charging network from promoting its own electric car business the way Tesla uses its Superchargers. But it can’t hurt Volkswagen’s chances of selling electric cars in America if the range anxiety that holds so many mainstream drivers back when it comes to driving an electric car is reduced.

Of course, it is ludicrous to have three different charging standards all competing with each other — CHAdeMO, CCS, and Tesla. It’s like having different gas pumps that only fit certain brands of cars. Eventually, one of those standards is going to win out and become the accepted norm. It is also absurd to have a welter of different payment protocols. EV drivers need a one touch app that takes care of all billing for all chargers everywhere. Once we have a harmonized charging standard and convenient billing, the electric car revolution will finally be ready for takeoff.

Source: Electric Cars Report, Endgadget

Dynamic Charging From Honda Would Cost Less Than Charging Infrastructure

When Honda isn’t working on hydrogen fuel cell technology to please the Japanese government, it occasionally finds time to work on electric car technology. In April, its engineers will present a paper at the SAE World Conference Experience that explores the advantages of dynamic charging systems for electric cars and trucks.

Dynamic charging is a concept that allows a vehicle driving on the highway to directly contact a source of electricity to not only move the car along but also charge the battery at the same time. It is an alternative to wireless charging systems that companies like WiTricity are developing for EVs.

In essence, the Honda people say if a car could be in physical contact with a charging source for one mile, it coulse pick up enough energy to drive 25 miles. That means only 4% of US highways would need to be electrified in order to meet the needs of EV drivers. Stopping to recharge batteries would become a thing of the past.

The Honda dynamic charging system would operate at high power levels. The system for cars would use 180 kilowatts of power — 600 volts AC at 300 amps. The system for heavy duty trucks would be far more powerful still at 400 kilowatts. Honda claims the system could work at speeds up to 96 miles per hour and cost just one twentieth what a nationwide wireless system would.

Wireless systems are getting pretty good, but they cannot begin to transmit as much power as a connected system. Most operate at 7.6 kilowatts with the hope that they can get to 15 kilowatts eventually. Clearly, the Honda system would be much more powerful than that.

But questions remain and until the paper is presented at the SAE conference, details are slim. To establish a direct connection, some component of the car would need to actually contact a power source. Think of the third rail system that subway cars use. They have a shoe that extends from one side and rides along an electrified rail.

That works OK in the confines of an underground subway, but keeping people and animals from electrocuting themselves is another matter entirely. That’s where an overhead wire contacted by a pantograph on the roof comes into play.

The abstract from the pending reports says, “Reducing the amount of CO2 emissions to zero while driving is considered an important goal for the mobility sector in order to achieve a zero CO2 society. A key point in achieving this is the further evolution of electrified vehicles that are driven only by motors and are not equipped with a generator that uses fossil fuels, that is to say electric vehicles (EV) and fuel cell vehicles (FCV).

“Major issues facing EV include range, charging (hassle, time, construction of infrastructure), and reduced driving performance due to increased vehicle weight. Technology enabling to both supply power and perform charging while driving (dynamic charging) is being researched and developed as a means of addressing issues such as those above.

“If the amount of energy that can be supplied while driving does not at least exceed the driving energy of the traveling vehicle, then battery charging cannot be performed, and the vehicle would also need to continuously travel in a restricted lane in the manner of a train. In addition, dynamic charging of large vehicles traveling intermixed with regular vehicles calls for power supply on the level of 400 kW.

“Against this background, this study developed a high-power dynamic charging system that uses high power to charge a traveling EV, with the goal of realizing an unlimited vehicle range. This enables complete energy refueling (charging) of a traveling EV in a short time and allows drivers to freely drive over the intended route after charging.

“This report describes a system that enables dynamic charging with a charging power of 180 kW (DC 600 V, 300 A) while driving at a vehicle speed of 155 km/h, presents the results of running tests, and discusses future prospects.”

Make of that what you will. Once we know more about the Honda proposal, we will share details with you.

Source: Inside EVs

Obama, States Agree To Increase EV Charging Infrastructure

Ask most people what is holding back the electric car revolution and they will tell you it is a lack of EV charging infrastructure. Confusion about how charging stations work is a close second. Recently, Alex Davis wrote an long and sometimes amusing piece for Wired that focuses on the difficulties he encountered finding places to charge the Nissan LEAF he borrowed for week long test drive.

He begins by explaining why an EV is fundamentally different from a car with an internal combustion engine. It’s more like a smartphone. Use it, plug it in overnight, use it again the next day. He calls it the “grazing versus gorging” model. Which is all well and good if you have a place to plug your EV in overnight. Davis lives in an apartment building in San Francisco and so he was totally dependent on public chargers. That’s where his problems began.

When he needed to recharge, the navigation system directed him to a facility that was no longer functional. Precious miles were wasted driving to the closed location, which only made his need to find a working charger more critical. Next, he drove to a hospital parking lot, spent ten minutes driving around but could not locate the charger that was supposed to be there.

Ah hah! There’s a charger at a nearby mall according to his smartphone app. Except this charger is not part of the ChargePoint network that his borrowed LEAF is linked to. Frustrating minutes leak by while he struggles to set up an account so he can access the charger. Fortunately, it’s not raining. After establishing an account, he plugs in but the car won’t connect to the charger.

Davis spots a ChargePoint location on the other side of the mall, but both chargers are in use. He has to wait 20 minutes for one of them to become available, than another 30 minutes to get enough of a charge to get home. A trip that should have taken an hour took three. Plus, Davis’ nerves are seriously jangled as a result of his travails. That’s why many people want nothing to do with an electric car.

The Obama administration and several states are planning a major push to expand the EV charging infrastructure. Their plan is to create 48 national EV charging networks along 25,000 miles of roads in the US in 35 states. The project has the support of several utility companies, the major charging networks, and several car makers, including including General Motors, BMW, and Nissan.

Money is always a factor in projects like this. In July, the US Energy Department announced that charging facilities are now eligible for up to $4.5 billion in loan guarantees. However, no loans have been made as a result. The big question that needs answering is whether private companies can make money operating charging networks.

At the beginning of the automobile age, gas stations made money for their owners by dispensing gasoline and doing repairs. Today, gas stations rely on attached convenience stores for most of their income. EVs require 30 minutes to an hour of charging time but many are stuck out in the middle of nowhere. People have no access to rest rooms, restaurants, or other businesses to help them pass their time.

Tesla is the only company that seem to have this figured out. It works diligently to put its Supercharger locations where there are rest rooms and restaurants available. In fact, many savvy business people ask Tesla to consider their stores and restaurants when choosing Supercharger locations. Tesla also consciously selects locations where single women will feel comfortable charging at night.

Everybody talks about EV charging infrastructure but few people seem to be doing anything about it. In a world in which there is an app for ordering a pizza, there are few digital assistants with accurate information about where chargers are located, whether or not they are in service, and whether they are in use. They also do not allow a driver to reserve a charging time in advance.

The entire field of EV charging is haphazard, chaotic, confusing, and frustrating. Only Tesla is doing things right. Everyone else is running around chasing their tails. No one knows what the solution will be, but standardization of equipment and charging protocols would be a good start. Interoperability between charging networks will also be a critical feature.

Imagine if a driver pulled into a gas station and was told that he or she could not use the gas pumps for lack of a proper account with that station. That would be stupid, right? So why is it the norm when it comes to EV charging networks? Sometimes it appears Tesla is so successful not because it is so smart but rather because everyone else is so dumb.

Source: Automotive News

Electric-Car Charging Station At Gas Station In Tar-Sands Land

Electric-car charging stations are still remarkably rare at gas stations, though a handful exist in the Pacific Northwest.

But earlier this year, the Petro-Canada station in Crossfield, Alberta, installed a charging station. It's free to use, too.

Perhaps not too remarkable, except that this is the heart of Canada's tar-sands oil region.

Petro-Canada gas station, Crossfields, Alberta, with electric-car charging station

The charger itself is a Sun Country 100-amp model that delivers up to 19.2 kilowatts of power, if the plug-invehicle can accept Level 2 charging at those speeds.

All about Crossfield

Crossfield is about 30 miles (50 km) north of Calgary, Canada's fossil-fuel capital, along Highway 2, which connects the business center to the provincial capital of Edmonton.

The cities are about 185 miles (300 km) apart, a distance that only Teslas can cover in one shot.

Happily, there are an assortment of chargers along the way, so other battery-electric drivers can make the trip.

Not that many may do so: Thanks to cattle ranchingand oil rustling, Alberta is prime pick-up truck country.

Despite an Oregon-sized population of about 4 million, Alberta is presently home to only about 100 battery-electric vehicles, along with perhaps 100 more plug-in hybrids.

Services for every car

Gasoline producer and retailer Petro-Canada – a division of Suncor, the world's largest producer of tar-sands bitumen – isn't necessarily making a push to be plug-in electric vehicle owners' pit stop of choice.

Petro-Canada gas station, Crossfields, Alberta, with electric-car charging station

The Petro-Canada station in Crossfield is independently owned and operated by a franchisee.

The company owning the franchise operates about 20 gas stations across Canada – and depending how well things go with this pilot installation, they may consider adding electric vehicleinfrastructure to other stations as well.

To quote a company representative, the electric-vehicle outreach is another way of providing services to motorists, "and that's what we do".

If you're one of Alberta's plug-in owners, or if you're planning a cross-continent trip, here's a chance to show support for charging stations in unlikely areas.

Petro-Canada gas station, Crossfields, Alberta, with electric-car charging station

Petro-Canada vs 'greenwashing'

Oil conglomerates around the world generally and in the oil sands specifically have a somewhat mixed record on issues from emissions to climate change.

That may lead some readers to have mixed feelings about the idea of gas stations offering electric-car charging stations. Or of oil companies sponsoring such events as Sun Country Highway's E-Mazing Race, which Petro-Canada did.

Sun Country CEO Kent Rathwell addressed the "greenwashing" question head-on at the recentEV2014VE conference in Vancouver.

He commented that he would've vetoed Petro-Canada's sponsorship, if he thought that accusations of greenwashing would become a factor in coverage of the event.

Petro-Canada gas station, Crossfields, Alberta, with electric-car charging station

He related his experience working to help Suncor reduce its environmental footprint.

He emphasized that individuals he worked with obviously cared deeply and sincerely about sustainability and stewardship.

They did their utmost to make a positive difference, he suggested, within the constraints of the industry they found themselves in.

The broader lesson may be that if the world were black and white, we would all be moral zebras of one stripe or other.

Petro-Canada gas station, Crossfields, Alberta, with electric-car charging station

California To Require All New Homes Be EV Capable

In its continuing efforts to promote electric car ownership, California is considering adopting building codes that require all new homes and apartment buildings be “EV Capable” to allow residents to easily install home charging stations, reports The Long Tailpipe.

Starting in 2015 or 2015, California building codes won’t require builders to install EV charging stations, as even in the Golden State plug-in car sales represent a small fraction of new vehicle sales. Rather, the law requires the running of a wire conduit carrying the high-voltage wires to the house, specifically the garage, and also requires an upgrade to the service panel. This means adding an EV charging station will be much easier and less costly for future owners, should they decide to eventually add a home charger of their own. This follows the recent passage of six other EV-friendly laws aimed at putting 1.5 million plug-in cars on California’s roads by 2025.

Right now many older homes need to be retrofitted in order to support EV charging stations, often at the cost of thousands of dollars to the homeowner. The added cost of installing the conduit and wiring during construction is estimated to be just $50 per home, so the construction companies don’t have much incentive to fight the effort.

But how does this affect say, apartment buildings? In scenarios where there are 17 or more parking spots, just 3% of those spots have to be wired for an EV charger. This realistic approach acknowledges that for years to come, EV sales will likely remain a small slice of total new car sales. As electric cars become more popular though, new home buyers will be spared the expense of re-wiring their homes for EV chargers, which could be the determining factor in their final purchase.

Anything that makes owning an electric car easier can only help speed the adoption of these zero emissions vehicles.

Source: Gas 2.

Charging-station payment convenience is key to EV adoption

The proverbial velvet rope may do wonders for trendy nightclubs, but it's apparently hurting the plug-in vehicle industry. While the lack of available public charging stations is largely viewed as a hurdle to broader EV adoption, research firm Frost & Sullivan says membership-based payment systems a big hindrance.

While the membership model, in which drivers are required to "join" a network to use a particular type of charging station, is great for the folks who build and deploy the stations, it's inconvenient for people who simply want to pull in and "fill up" just as they do at gas stations.

One solution is the broadened use of so-called near field communication (NFC), which would allow drivers to simply use their smartphones to get their payment sources authenticated. Frost & Sullivan calls NFC a "game changer" for plug-in adoption.

While not ditching the membership model altogether, ECOtality, maker of Blink charging systems, and ChargePoint (formerly Coulomb Technologies) in March formed a joint-venture called Collaboratev LLC that allowed a cross-membership of sorts, giving the two sets of "members" access to both types of charging stations.

Read Frost & Sullivan's press release below.

Show full PR text

To Sell Electric Cars In Northeast, Is More Charging Needed? Some Thoughts

California is a largely temperate state with a longstanding history of working to curb vehicle emissions.

That makes it a perfect place for plug-in electric cars.

The Northeastern states, on the other hand, are in the Snow Belt, meaning electric cars can lose as much as one third of their battery range in the coldest winter months.

So what will it take to boost plug-in sales in the Northeast, where less than 10 percent of last year's 53,000 plug-in electric cars were sold?

According to a report cited in The New York Times, the answer is more prevalent public charging infrastructure.

Only 1,000 NE charging stations

The report, Siting and Design Guidelines for Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment, was prepared last November for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

It notes that at the time, almost 1,000 public charging stations existed among the Northeast states, but that only three-quarters of them were publicly accessible.

And some were only 110-Volt Level 1 stations, which can take 20 hours or more to refill a completely depleted battery pack in a Nissan Leaf, for example.

The report offers a sort of blueprint for rolling out more charging stations, including siting guidelines, policy changes, and many other parts of the process.

Such reports are a necessary part of the gradual increase in plug-in cars that will take place over the next couple of decades.

But two issues need to be kept in mind while pushing for vast increases in charging stations before the cars are actually on the roads.

Charging needed, but not used

First is what many analysts call "the TEPCO Paradox," named after the Tokyo Electric Power Company (now better known as the operator of the failed Fukushima nuclear reactor).

Polar Charging Post and Nissan Leaf

In an early test several years ago of battery-electric cars operated by volunteers in Tokyo, TEPCO found that drivers would only use plug-in cars only to perhaps half their range.

Asked why, they predictably cited range anxiety--the fear of not being able to make it back home.

What would alleviate that? Why, publicly available charging stations, of course--so they could recharge en route, or if they had to make unexpected detours.

TEPCO duly installed a network of charging stations--and, indeed, the cars were used to a greater degree.

Most of the increased mileage, however, did not come from use of those charging stations, which was far lower than projected.

It came simply from driver confidence that a fallback was available--even though the drivers rarely used it.

The moral of the story: Install just enough charging stations to deliver that confidence--but no more.

Cars far more crucial?

Second, many analysts argue that it's far more important to get plug-in cars on the road before worrying about charging infrastructure, even if most must be recharged overnight in garages.

ChargePoint charging station at Zen Dog Cafe, Rhinebeck, NY

Writing last fall in Wired, electric-car advocate Chelsea Sexton argues that battles over charging technologystandards simply distract from the primary challenge: getting more plug-in electric cars on the road.

Providing electricity isn’t the problem, Sexton says: it’s ubiquitous, simple to use, and an ideal vehicle fuel. And charging stations are relatively cheap to install when demand is there.

In this vision, not just government-funded entities but private businesses will step up provide charging.

In a few years, electric-car charging will be like WiFi access is today: free in places that want to draw customers, paid in other places that view it as a profit-making amenity.

Either way, expect to see more charging stations in the Northeast over the next couple of years.

But not nearly as many as in California or the Pacific Northwest.

Source: Green Car Reports