New York City contracts with New Flyer for 15 low-floor 60' Xcelsior CHARGE battery-electric transit buses

New York City Transit (NYCT), part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“MTA”), has awarded New Flyer with a contract for 15 low floor sixty-foot Xcelsior CHARGE battery-electric, heavy-duty transit buses (or a total of 30 equivalent units or “EUs”).

The order supports NYCT’s efforts to develop a cleaner, greener public transportation footprint, which focuses on building greater environmental sustainability, reducing emissions, and modernizing the MTA’s bus fleet. Each bus will leverage New Flyer’s CONNECT 360 business analytics and reporting tool to optimize performance and operations.

The 60-foot New Flyer Xcelsior CHARGE buses feature long-range, heavy-duty lithium-ion batteries. New Flyer batteries are designed specifically for the 24/7/365 transit demands of New York City, utilizing American-based battery technology and American-based manufacturing supplied by XALT Energy.

The award includes New Flyer providing sixteen (16) Siemens 150 kW direct current interoperable chargers with installation, testing and commissioning to be performed by the recently announced New Flyer Infrastructure Solutions.

NYCT and the MTA Bus Company constitute the largest transit agency in North America. Together, they serve an estimated 8.5 million citizens and supports more than 60 million visitors annually.

More Tesla Charging Stations Than Gas Stations In NYC Soon

The New York Post reports that Tesla Motors has embarked on a plan to expand its network of Manhattan charging stations to 105 by March 31. At present, there are only 40 gas stations in Manhattan and drivers of conventional cars are finding it can take longer to fill their tanks than Tesla owners need to recharge their batteries.

Most of those Tesla charge points will be what the company calls destination chargers. Less powerful than the company’s SuperCharger stations, they are intended for use when a car will be parked for at least an hour or more. Equivalent to a DC fast charger, they can add about 60 miles of range for every hour they are connected. A full charge usually takes less than 4 hours even if the battery is fully depleted.

As of this last week, Tesla had finished installing destination chargers in 68 private garages in the city. By this September, there will be a Tesla charging point roughly every three blocks in Manhattan, the company says. Until last year, Tesla had mainly installed its destination chargers at hotels and restaurants, spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson told The Post. “However, in an effort to tackle the need for urban charging, we expanded the program and partnered with public garages that offer parking both by the hour or the month,” she said.

“The garages have a better sense of what’s going on now,” says Paul Gardi, an Upper West Side resident who takes his Model S P85D to the office downtown a few times a week. “A year ago, the garages were saying, ‘Whoa, what’s this thing?’ But now, they know what to do — you can just leave it and say, ‘Plug it in,’ and come back in an hour.”

Another Tesla owner told The Post, “I can look at the Tesla app on my phone and see how many miles I’ve got. If it says I’m low, I call my garage and say, ‘Plug it in for me.’ ” That makes driving an electric car even more convenient than driving a gasoline powered vehicle, at least in New York City, where finding a gas station and getting a tank of gas can take as much as 40 minutes. There is no app for putting gas in your car.

Earlier this week, Tesla opened a 40,000-square-foot showroom and service garage in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Tesla also operates a showroom in the Chelsea area of Manhattan.

Photo Credit: John Engates/Flickr/Creative Commons

Vintage Electric Cars Could Replace Central Park’s Horse Carriages

New York City is a world-class metropolis with such famous landmarks as Broadway, Times Square, and of course Central Park, where couples can catch a romantic horse-drawn carriage across the city. But those horses and their drivers may soon be out of a job, as newly-elected Mayor Bill de Blasio may replace the carriages with alternatives, like classic electric cars.

This is good news for animal rights activists, who claim that making the horses walk New York’s streets is dangerous and inhumane, as well as electric car advocates who would love to see more EVs in the Big Apple. But for tourists eager for a ride in the famous horse-drawn carriages, it has meant a rush to Central Park before the carriages potentially disappear forever.

As far as vintage electric cars, there are plenty to choose from, as once upon a time electricity was the preferred method of propulsion for automobiles. Around 1,900, 38% of America’s nearly 34,000 automobiles were powered by electricity, outpaced only by steam; gasoline-powered cars accounted for just 22% of automobile sales. Of course these early electric vehicles are neither cheap to come by nor comfortable to ride in, given the archaic technology used, leading me to believe that replica antique electric cars would be the better way to go.

As much as I love old vehicles and electric cars, however, I never found the horse-drawn carriages to be either inhumane or dangerous. Accidents involving the carriages are fairly uncommon (a website devoted to fighting horse-drawn carriages lists just six accidents since 2006), and horses have been used to pull everything from cannons to carriages for thousands of years now. I’m not saying whether they enjoy it or not, and I can’t attest to the welfare or conditions of the animals, but what happens to a draft horse when there’s no work to be done? Probably not a nice retirement in a heated stall somewhere, I’ll tell you that much.

Complicated issue, this one, and I’m just not sure what side of the argument I fall on. What say you?

Source: The New York Daily News

Judge Nixes Nissan’s Taxi Of Tomorrow

New York City’s May Bloomberg has long been a controversial figure, from his ban on oversized soft drinks and smoking to his insistence on a uniform taxi fleet. But Bloomberg and Nissan have been dealt a severe setback, with a high court judge striking down the provision that legally obligates cabbies to buy the NV200 “Taxi of Tomorrow.”

The NV200 was the winner of a contest held by New York City, which up until a few years ago had left taxi operators to use whatever vehicles they felt like. This allowed for a variety of vehicles, including hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape, to make their way on the scene. But by and large most cabbies used the tried-and-true Ford Crown Victoria, with some companies stockpiling whole replacement fleets before the law went into effect at the end of October.

The law would have made it so all non-hybrid taxi purchases had to be a Nissan NV200, but cabbies fought back with a multitude of lawsuits. Unsurprisingly, the taxi and limo associations won, with New York Justice Hagler stating that there are no provisions in the city charter giving the mayor the authority to dictate what taxi cabs must be used.

While some companies will no doubt still opt to buy the NV200, which Nissan has spent plenty of time and money designing and researching for the New York market, they are no longer obligated to do so. Nissan’s captive consumer base has been set free, which could delay plans for an eventual fleet of all-electric taxis that is still being tested in the streets of the Big Apple.

Whose side are you on?

 Source: Wall St. Journal

Over half of all EVs in America are in these five cities

If someone were to tell you that electric vehicles are popular in Los Angeles, there's no reason to be surprised. Same thing with San Francisco and New York City. But if someone were to tell you she had collected a list of the top five EV cities in the US, which would round out the list? The picture above is a hint, if you recognize the skyline.

We'll string out the answer just a little bit by first telling you that the data comes from R.L. Polk, according toEV World, and it was Anthony Pratt, R.L. Polk's director of forecasting-Americas, that shared the data earlier this month up at the annual Management Briefing Seminars, in Traverse City, MI. If you add up the plug-in vehicles sold or leased in the five cities, you find that they make up 52 percent of all the EVs in the US. The reasons, Pratt said, are good charging infrastructure and local EV incentives like HOV lane access and tax credits.

Okay, fine, we've made you wait too long. Here's the list: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, and Atlanta.

News Source: EV World

New York City: No Electric Bikes Allowed

The fine for riding an electric bike in New York City has increased from $500 to $1,000, preventing New Yorkers from adopting these bike/scooter hybrids. The increased fee was announced by city council member Jessica Lappin, who called these bikes a “scourge.” Tell us how you really feel, Jess.

Electric bikes have been illegal in the entire state of New York since 2004. The reason that NYC is stepping up the fine is due to supposed numerous complaints of pedestrians nearly being hit on the congested NYC streets, and bike lanes, by delivery men using electric bikes which can reach speeds up to 30 miles per hour. David Pollack from the Committee for Taxi Safety went so far to say the bikes “a menace to little children” and a “menace to society”.

New York City is not the only major city to ban electric bikes. The Chinese city of Shenzhen has banned electric bikes in downtown areas to reduce related traffic accidents. The problem is that these bikes utilize bike-only lanes, despite being more akin to scooters. While plenty of other cities have found ways to handle the problem, New York’s outright ban is short-sighted at least; electric bicycle sales are set to skyrocket in the next few years.

Electric bike riders in NYC are, as expected, not very pleased with this increased fee and plan to find ways around it. The easiest loop hole is to simply turn the electric engine off and ride the bike normally around law enforcement. Other options include buying certain electric bikes with “stealth” engines on the frame.

If any readers live in NYC we would love to hear if you have had any electric bike encounters and what you think of the current NYC situation. 

Source: electricbike.com

NYC launches electric taxi 'fleet' with six Nissan Leaf EVs

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg drove up to the news conference in Rockefeller Center that introduced the first-ever all-electric NYC taxi in the back seat of - you guessed it – an EV taxi. Nissan and NYC chose Earth Day, today, to launch a zerNYC launches electric taxi 'fleet' with six Nissan Leaf EVso-emission taxi fleet.

The six donated vehicles begin a year-long pilot program as soon as next week, after installation of recharging units is completed. That includes charging units in the homes or garages of participating owner-operated taxis and fleets, and several fast-chargers in strategic spots around Manhattan, which can provide 80-percent battery power in around 30 minutes.

Taxis average 70-100 miles a day in NYC. The 2013 Nissan Leaf has an official EPA range of 75 miles (aka 84 miles), and probably more in the stop-and-go of urban traffic, thanks to regenerative braking, so drivers might not have to recharge at all during their shift. "We want to demonstrate that drivers can integrate the technology without losing business," said David Yassky, the city's taxi and limousine commissioner.

The first Nissan Leaf taxi driver, London-born Uppkar Thind, told me his 12-year-old son thinks the EV taxi is "cool," and that the vehicle is stable and sturdy. Thind was one of more than 100 owner-drivers and fleets who applied for one of six pilot program Leaf vehicles, which requires drivers to provide feedback to Nissan, the city and other governmental agencies and utilities. But that's a small price in return for avoiding the time and expense of gas pumps.

All participating drivers received training from Nissan on adapting their driving style for electric, including feathering both gas and brake to get full advantage from EV torque. All the pilot Leaf taxis are production models, to which meters and the taxi TV screens have been added.


Source: Autoblog Green

Hybrid taxi drivers find fuel efficiency paying off after Sandy

One of the major side effects of the power outrages in New York and New Jersey following hurricane Sandyis gas stations' difficulty getting fuel to customers. Shortages have led to seemingly endless gas lines, and in all of this, hybrids have shown their inherent value.

Business Insider says that hybrids are proving to be advantageous for many New York City taxi drivers. The NYC cab fleet is currently a mix of hybrid vehicles and comparatively fuel-hungry Ford Crown Victoriasedans. According to the report, at many taxi companies, cars are assigned to drivers first-come, first-serve, so what they're driving on a given day comes down to the luck of the draw.

One cab driver said that refueling a the V8-powered Ford costs about $45 a day, while the the hybrid taxis can go a couple days before needing to gas up. It's suspected that the Crown Vic drivers, forced to go to great lengths to refuel, will not be reimbursed for their efforts.

Source: Autoblog Green