Hawaii is working to change from the most fossil fuel dependent state to the nation’s leading example of clean energy deployment. As part of this transition, Hawaii is committing to support electric vehicles.

Transportation Energy Diversification Project: Hawaii EV Ready Rebate and Grant Program

The purpose of the Transportation Energy Diversification Project is to transform Hawaii’s transportation sector to become less dependent on liquid petroleum fuels by accelerating the adoption of electric drive vehicles and related charging equipment in Hawaii.  Only commercially available technologies are eligible for funding.

Contact:

Watch webcast here.

Download the pdf here.

Read more here.

Also, download here a press release, which explains Oregon’s Building Code Division’s permitting process for home charging units.

Download the pdf here

Virginia companies make batteries, motors, charging stations, and design and deploy electric vehicles and convert hybrid vehicles to plug-in hybrid vehicles and battery electric vehicles.  Northern Virginia is connected within the 70 mile radius of the DC ChargePoint America deployment and early adoption vehicle enthusiasts.  Charlottesville Virginia is involved in a robust smart grid and vehicle conversion deployment program and has a high number of early Prius adoptions.  Richmond Virginia has a large fleet presence and a local electric vehicle initiative.  Hampton Roads includes large federal fleets in close proximity that are likely to benefit from electric improvements.  Virginia fleets currently have 35 electric vehicles and there are numerous charging stations available, including modern units and EV1 deployment units from the late 1990′s.

State and local government entities, fleets, universities, utilities, civic organizations, vehicle manufacturers, and businesses are represented and stakeholder numbers are growing in the Virginia electrification effort.

Government representation includes the Virginia Secretary of Transportation, the state Department of Mines Minerals and Energy, the Department of General Services, the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Motor Vehicle Dealer Board, the US Department of Energy and Clean Cities program, Virginia Clean Cities, Fairfax Virginia, Arlington Virginia, Richmond Virginia, Henrico Virginia, Chesterfield Virginia, James Madison University, and the University of Virginia.

Utility representation includes Dominion Power and Old Dominion Electric Cooperative. Civic involvement includes Electric Vehicle Association of Washington DC, Richmond STIR, the Virginia Automobile Association, and Virginia Clean Cities. Business representation includes Nissan, Ford, Smith Electric Vehicles, the Advanced Vehicle Research Center, Richmond Segway, Evatran, Plugless Power, Aker Wade, Kollmorgen, Coulomb, and Encell.

The initial goals and milestones for the effort will be to outlay 5,000 electric vehicles in Virginia by 2013, and a total of 15,000 electric vehicles by 2015.  While charger targets will be refined, the initial goal is a 1:1 charging availability where each vehicle is garaged, with an effort for one additional public/private charger for every 4th vehicle.  For 2013, the goal is then 6,250 total chargers (1,250 public), and nearly 18,750 total chargers in 2015 (3,750 public). These chargers will range from accessible level 1 and level 2 outlets to level 3 high voltage units.

Based on likely adoption predictions, infrastructure and vehicle efforts will be initially targeted for the specific regions of Northern Virginia, Charlottesville, Richmond, and Hampton Roads.  By October 2010, the Virginia Get Ready Roundtable will identify five key incentives as well as present and begin enacting an achievable education and outreach program.

This plan will be refined over the summer of 2010 and presented to public and private stakeholders in October 2010 at the Commonwealth of Virginia Energy Symposium.  The Virginia effort will be based on the four working groups of the neighboring efforts in Raleigh, North Carolina.  The Virginia Get Ready Roundtable subcommittee groups will include: 1) Standards and Readiness, 2) Education and Outreach, 3) Incentives, and 4) Sites and Installation.

The Regional Champion for the Virginia effort will be Virginia Clean Cities in conjunction with specific regional organizations in targeted localities of Northern Virginia, Richmond, Charlottesville, Hampton Roads.

For more information, contact Alleyn Harned at aharned@hrccc.org

A recent conducted poll by the Electrification Coalition shows strong support for electric vehicles and legislation that will facilitate their deployment. Read more here.

The Electrification Coalition has created a presentation, which covers the results of the poll. You can find that in our resources page or download the pdf here.

Get Ready Tampa Bay will help identify potential challenges and develop solutions to make this goal a reality. The use of electric transportation will reduce our regions dependence on foreign oil, improve air quality, and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Get Ready Tampa Bay’s charter (pdf)

For more information, contact Avera Wynn at avera@tbrpc.org

May 13, 2010

Attendees:

McCaffrey, Ryan – AmeriCenters

Flavin, Andy – Dominion

Patterson, Dave – Mitsubishi

Wynne, Avera – Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council

Kawai, Hiroko – Rocky Mountain Institute

Crotty, Fran – State of Minnesota

Schey, Stephen – ETEC

Dessanti, Daniel – National Grid

Oney, Emory – EDTA

Del Monaco, John – Public Service Enterprise Group

Castro, Joe – City of Boulder

Davis, Peter – City of Austin

Sharp, Korin – DTE

Groll, Stephanie – City of Cambridge, MA

James, Art – Oregon Department of Transportation

Parker, John – Get Ready Central Florida

Gilbert, Marty – Walmart

Rosinski, Bob – EV Charge America

Daniels, Nelson – City of Raleigh, NC

Gilbert, Kelly – Kansas City Metropolitan Energy Center

Kramer, Felix – CalCars

Dahlberg, Al – Brown University

Fernandes, John – Constellation Energy

Detjen, Chris – NextEnergy

Scott, Paul – Plug In America

Penney, Terry – NREL

Hamman, Jeff – Portland General Electric

Schewel, Laura – US Berkeley

Barghout, Jeff – Advanced Energy

Gabel, Dan – EDTA

Bjork, Thor – Xcel

Clapper, Mark – General Electric

Sikes, Dean – Cleco Power

Waters, Michael – Progress Energy

MacArthur, John – Portland State University

Echols, Ben – Georgia Power Company

Gale, Allan – Ford

Coley, Bryan – Georgia Power Company

Markel, Tony – NREL

Wilson, Zach – CM2 Limited

Potts, Sarah – Clinton Foundation

RMI: Matt Mattila, Tripp Hyde, Hiroko Kawai



===Agenda overview and Updates (Matt Mattila)===

Kansas City and Vancouver, CANADA signed MOU for PGR.

EDTA and other NGOs: RMI is coordinating efforts among NGOs so that Cities don’t get inundated by different NGO’s approaching with similar topics.

A heads up on Plug-in 2010 Conference in July

PGR may have an informal lunchtime meeting, please let us know if you are interested



===Main Discussion==

Garage Orphans

ETEC- potential for charging valet and more workplace charging

Level III Charging: Does it help accelerate the EV market penetration?

ETEC- rolling out ~1 Level III for every 30 Level II and running evaluations on usage

[Dave Patterson: Mitsubishi Motors - david.patterson@na.mitsubishi-motors.com ]

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and Mitsubishi Motor, Nissan are working together to address the issue of “garage orphans”.  Most people in Japan don’t have garage to install charging device.  TEPCO and Mitsubishi Motors are preparing “fast” charging stations at LAWSON convenience store locations, apartment complex valet services, Mitsubishi car dealership locations, and the Japanese government also is trying to help install charging stations.

186 Stations will be built within the Tokyo-Kanagawa area.

U.S.-Japan Joint Program to develop charging stations is work-in-progress.

GE – current ratio for Level III to Level II is low- no current US standard for Level III

ETEC to provide Level III charging stations in partner cities

Will collect and share data

Who owns charging stations?

[Minnesota]

Initially city-owned, then, hoping that private sector will own for profit making opportunities.

RI – initial ~50 stations owned by private entities, some discussions/interest from municipality and utilities for future options

NC – currently costs covered by entity owning it, but some may rate base a portion of it which affects all rate payers

Houston – currently all stations are on Houston property or right of way. City does not want to be in charging station “business”. Hope to see private enterprises and utilities join in soon

In Amsterdam the 100 stations are operated by the local utility but owned by the city

[Steve Schey, ETEC]

Charging stations to proliferate to generate revenues for business owners.  Currently tasked to test out revenue generating options.

Quick charging—does it potentially deteriorate batteries?

[Dave Patterson, Mitsubishi Motors]

No, it won’t.  Intelligence on the vehicle will monitor and regulate to ensure the battery’s longevity.

• There are two sides of “Intelligence” to monitor: battery management system and the grid monitoring.

• SAE Evaluating the charging standards for the U.S. market.  CHΛdeMO[1] (Charging station standards developed by Japanese automakers and TEPCO)[2]

(moderator’s note) Studies are being conducted and anecdotal evidence suggests no significant reduction in battery longevity based on limited V2G testing http://www.magicconsortium.org/

Where does intelligence live?

EVSE providers prefer it to be in the station because it would be easier to meter/monitor

Utility Waiting Period- not accurate and unlikely to be enforceable if it were accurate

(moderator’s note)- question stemmed from an article stating a utility executive claimed there will be a waiting period

[Kelly Gilbert, Kansas City]

Q: Battery warranty: Compatible with State’s inspection safety regulations?

[Dave Patterson, Mitsubishi]

A: 24,000 miles/2 year warranty is set by the Federal gov.

Kelly to look into more detailed information about this topic.

Signage to identify EV Charging, EV Parking,

Arizona Legislature statute for EV parking enforcement (http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/28/00876.htm&Title=28&DocType=ARS)

Oregon

• ICE vehicles to be out of EV Spot
• To guide EV drivers to identify where EV charging is available.
• Additional signage examples from Cambridge, MA
• Amsterdam will tow diesel vehicles parked in EV spaces
• For some cities enforcement depends on who has jurisdiction over spaces (public vs private)

[2] Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru and TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) developed the standards for LEVEL III Charging Stations for EV.

Rocky Mountain Institute’s Project Get Ready Adds Two New Cities: Kansas City and Tampa Bay!

Initiative gains momentum as diverse communities bring new challenges and opportunities for widespread electric vehicle adoption

05.13.2010 – Snowmass, CO – Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) today announced the addition of two metropolitan areas—Kansas City and Tampa Bay—to Project Get Ready, a national non-profit initiative helping cities prepare for plug-in electric vehicles (EVs).

Kansas City and Tampa Bay represent a growing number of North American metropolitan areas that are collaborating through Project Get Ready (PGR) to share lessons-learned and best practices for EV readiness. They also reveal a promising trend in the increasing geographic diversity of cities that aim to be leaders in the shift to low-carbon transportation.

“Tampa Bay and Kansas City are significant additions to PGR because along with partners like Houston, Raleigh, and Indianapolis, they are debunking the myth that EVs will be ushered in only by west coast cities that are synonymous with the green movement, like San Francisco or Portland,” commented Matt Mattila, RMI transportation consultant and PGR project manager.

While dense city centers have been the focus of many EV rollout efforts and studies, Project Get Ready officials point out that these accomplishments, while important, are not sufficient.

Planning and execution in Kansas City and Tampa Bay (which includes not only EV integration but also mass transit improvements) will have broad implications for transportation planning for all Project Get Ready partners, and other cities pursuing EV initiatives because they face challenges that are familiar to a large proportion of metropolitan areas in North America.

“While they acknowledge that public transportation is important, the car is, and will likely remain the predominant transportation option for commuters in these areas,” said Mattila. “They have been extremely proactive because they see the need to provide their community with cleaner transportation and energy options, without disrupting their lives. Rather than asking people to make sacrifices, they are offering a better option—the freedom of a personal car without the oil consumption, noise, and emissions of a traditional vehicle.”

Given the high reliance on the automobile, a conversion to EVs in these areas may generate larger societal benefits than technology adoption in areas with lower car ownership, more access to transit, and fewer vehicle miles traveled. The two large metro areas both have populations of more than two million but less than half the population density of a city in the Northeast. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Tampa and Kansas City rank 69th and 71st, respectively, on transit trips per capita. It’s no surprise they have relatively high car ownership and freeway miles traveled.

The leaders in these regions have decided to challenge the notion that lots of cars and miles traveled equates to foreign oil and highway emissions.

“As regional planners, we continually ask ourselves what opportunities exist to reduce our dependence on oil and fossil fuels,” said Avera Wynne, planning director of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. “Project Get Ready gives us a way to work towards that goal. People are biting off different pieces of the apple at different times, and this gives cities with unique regional challenges a way to learn from cities that have already built a framework for their energy policy.”

Tampa Bay in particular will also serve as a case study for many of the challenges associated with regional EV charging and range anxiety. According to Wynne, four area utilities are serving as partners on the project.

“The number of utilities involved, and opportunities for coordination make this region an interesting example that can help our other cities,” said Mattila. “A major challenge is the difficulty associated with the management and communication needed with a utility and vehicle charging. What if you work in one utility district, but live in another? Where would your bill come from? Do they all offer the same special EV rates? Working with cities that have multiple utilities can really drive forward innovative and replicable programs.”

Get Ready Tampa Bay will have a public outreach event on June 22nd at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

For more information on PGR and Kansas City, visit www.marc.org/newsreleases/marc050610.htm.

For more information on Get Ready Tampa Bay, visit http://getreadytampabay.org/.

Minutes from Steering Committee and Subteam meetings:

What we’ve accomplished together so far:

• We’ve defined our mission, approach, and structure, and have become a Project Get Ready member.
• We’ve created a set of charters and objectives.
• We’ve held a broader stakeholder conference that confirmed the direction we are on and provided additional suggestions.
• Subteams are setting tasks and outlining plans

Our next steps:

• Please see the attached minutes from June and July.
• It’s now time to identify the most important objectives and flesh out the plans for each.
• It’s also time to create an achievable timeline.
• Now comes the hard work. There is more work identified in the subteams plans than we have resources to accomplish. We therefore must select the most important objectives, identify the work necessary to accomplish those objectives, and must create an achievable schedule that balances time, needs, and resources.
• The Steering Committee is asking each subteam to identify the critical objectives that must be met and create detailed task level plans to achieve those objectives.
• As part of this effort, we are asking each subteam to carefully review Project Get Ready’s Menu of Actions to make sure we have all the “must-have” actions covered.
• The steering committee will review these plans at the August 6^th and Sept 3^rd Steering Committee meetings, which are open meetings.
• At that time we will review the objectives/task plans and our available resources, and propose an achievable schedule.
• We are working to identify funding and resources necessary to support this effort

Summary of the July 9^th Steering Committee Meeting:

• We reviewed the objectives and work plans for most of the subteams.   A couple subteams had time constraints, which didn’t allow them to bring prioritized objectives.
• We determined that there is more work identified in the subteams plans than we have resources to accomplish. We therefore must select the most important objectives, identify the work necessary to accomplish those objectives, and must create an achievable schedule that balances time, needs, and resources.
• This task force can be most effective when established as the primary community voice for plug in readiness in the area. To this end, a letter will be drafted that can be presented to various community leaders seeking their endorsement.
• Grants will be sought to provide funding for both planning work and implementation work.
• Attendees:

o   Kelly Gilbert – Metropolitan Energy Center

o   Tim Gelvin – Johnson County Community College

o   Larry Kinder – LilyPad EV

o   Mark Dehner – KD Equities

o   Roland Maliwat – KCP&L

o   Ron Achelpohl – MARC

Action Items for Subteams:

• Leads, please convene your subteam as necessary to prepare for the next steering committee meeting. Let us know if other time commitments are causing conflicts.
• Each subteam needs to select only their critical objectives necessary for plug-in readiness and create work plans necessary to achieve those objectives.
• Please send this to the steering committee by Aug 4, if complete, and September 1, at the latest. We will review those completed by Aug 4 at the Aug 6 steering committee meeting and those completed by Sept 1 at the Sept 3 meeting.

Next Steering Committee Meetings (open to Task Force):

• First Fridays at 1 p.m. at KCPL Energy Center, 1200 Main, KCMO

o   Aug 6

o   Sept 3

o   Oct 1

• Tentative Agenda, Aug 6:

o   Subteam Status Update

o   Review critical objectives and work plan

o   Identify resources available

o   Identify gaps and potential resources to fill the gaps

o   Create achievable schedule

Website:   http://www.kcenergy.org/transp-PlugInTaskForce.html

Contacts
Kelly Gilbert
Kansas City Regional Clean Cities Coalition
Metropolitan Energy Center
(816) 561-1625
kgilbert@kcenergy.org

Ron Achelpohl
Assistant Director of Transportation
Mid-America Regional Council
(816) 701-8327

Read more and download the study here.

Additionally, this RFI can be used as a template for any region to submit an RFI to manufacturers for their own local initiatives.

Whether or not you agree with that prediction, one thing seems clear: American consumers are far less dubious of electric vehicles than they have been made out to be. Still, a number of educational barriers may stand in the way of widespread adoption. Read more about those, and the rest of the survey’s findings here.

The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards are in the Code of Federal Regulations. Go to http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html

Scroll down to title 49, Transportation and select the Oct 2008 volume.

Then select the 500 – 599 subpart, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and then select part 571.

FMVSS 305 is the standard specific to shock prevention, battery retention and electrolyte spillage. It references some of the other standards as well.

NHTSA was petitioned by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers to amend this standard to accommodate fuel cell vehicles, and you can read about that in the docket. Some of these changes would also effect battery EV’s. Go to www.regulations.gov and in the box, “Enter a Key word or ID”, type in NHTSA-2007-28517. Then click on “open docket folder”. The notice of proposed rulemaking is on page 3. Go to this docket to see the progress of this rulemaking action.

The EMS division worked several years ago on some first responder training with DOE, but if so the materials would be very old. We generally just ask the manufacturers for their guides. They are available at http://www.extrication.com/ERG.htm.

NHTSA crash tests online at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/menuitem.8027fe7cfb6e727568d07a30343c44cc/.

If for any reason you want to look up crash test results/video/reports on any hybrids you can find them there. We have some very old reports on EV’s, for example, the EV1 is test 2898. The easiest way to query the database is “Query by vehicle parameters such as make, model, and year.”

Also, we received this additional safety information from NREL…

Seems like the details of safety would have to be addressed by the OEMs – for example, Prius has emergency response guidelines: https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/staticcontent/en/techinfo/html/prelogin/docs/2ndprius.pdf

Emergency Response Guides for Hybrid Vehicles: http://www.ct.gov/cfpc/cwp/view.asp?Q=445610&A=832&cfpcPNavCtr=|30654|

GM Emergency Responder Hybrid Resources: http://www.extrication.com/ERG.htm#GM_Emergency_Responder_Hybrid_Resources

GM probably doesn’t have any EV emergency response manuals out yet but there are things like this: http://gm-volt.com/2009/08/25/chevy-volt-underwater-testing/

Introduction

“The arrival of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) to the North American light vehicle market marks the first time since the earliest days of the automotive industry that electricity could be considered a major transportation fuel. The introduction of PEVs also marks a major point of departure for the management of the North American electricity grid with the introduction of a significant new charging load.

While PEVs present a significant new load, they also represent an opportunity to develop existing and potentially new products and services for grid management. In the near term, managed charging of PEVs, coordinated among megawatts of charging load, could help provide ancillary services or emergency reliability services. By using the PEVs’ capability to support two-way power transfers (charging and discharging to the grid), PEVs will serve as a large distributed energy source.”

Introduction

The Project Get Ready team attended the recent Globe 2010 Conference, in Vancouver and participated in the Auto Future Tech discussion.

The topics of this panel included:
• Case studies of municipalities getting ready infrastructure-wise
• EV market readiness.
• Tax incentives
• “Timing”
• Life cycle analysis
• Comparing extraction of lithium ion from Bolivia to oil from Middle East.

Additional conferences are coming up as well: the Electrification Coalition meeting in Washington, D.C., “Alternative Fuels and Vehicles” on May 9-12 and “Business of Plugging In” October 12 – 14, 2010.

Website Updates

We have updated the PGR website. Our Total Cost of Ownership calculator has been improved to include state-specific electricity and fuel prices. The user can also input 2008 or 2009 prices, or use current prices

The Oregon EV guidelines have been briefly taken off the website, but they will be back on when the final and approved versions are completed.

We recently added Federal Highway signage to the website, as well as a new study by Friends of the Earth. This study surveys infrastructure and permitting guidelines in bay area of California.

New Technical Advisers
• Michael Mahan – Product Manager at GE industrial services; Michael works on electrical distribution-switchboards, panels, etc. He’s signing on to help answer any infrastructure questions
• Intertek – National Standards Testing Lab
• Possible future adviser: eTech

Other Notes

Jeff at Advanced Energy is working with PGR to create a Request For Information (RFI) for stakeholders to understand options, technology, and pricing for EVSE.

Charging Station Locator
• National Renewable Energy Laboratories has an Alternative Fueling Station Locator.
• Any updates to the site will be shared with PGR partners
• NREL has a subcontractor that takes care of researching new stations and adds new ones to database once a month.

Cities Updates

Denver: Matthew Marshall
• A parking enforcement vehicle is being converted to full battery electric.
• This should be a good EV application because of slow stop and go, few miles.
• In process of getting a charging station installed from Go-smart, in one of the parking garages. Conduit and data line are installed.
• Pleased to see KB Homes will be offering pre-wiring for EV charging. They are doing 11 different developments in Denver.
• 53 Tesla owners in Denver/Boulder Area.
• PGR Note: Denver did a great job in bringing together different actors in the space. Local charging station providers were in the area. Some of their first successes have been in the purchase of local vehicles and stations. Some truth behind economic development argument.

Rhode Island: Al Dahlberg
• Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) students are working on designing manual for EVSE.
• Goal is to have 25-30 EV installations by 2011.
• Area has been receptive.
• Exploring incentives in tax credits and PR
• Moving forward on guide and assembling information for companies interested installing charging stations. Release date will likely be in June.

Raleigh: Rob Underhill and Jeff Barghout (Advanced Energy)
• Continuing contractor and inspector workshops.
• With regard to sites, we have been solidifying site selection criteria.
• Looking at Macro scale: which properties; Micro: where on the property.
• Outreach activities: working on plans to encourage commitments.
• Outlining several large workshops across the state.
• Raleigh’s Earth Day celebration is coming up. Planning on integrating EVs.
• Moving closer towards having Clean Cities grant available.
• Advanced Energy: “We’re expecting to help install 80 charging stations in area for clean cities initiative.“; This has expanded into other cities in Triangle area. Exciting to work with cities on road mapping; We’re putting together RFI for charging infrastructure – nearly 20 different manufacturers. Information that we received back, we will make publicly available to all PGR teams; Expecting everything to come in by may 10th (target), but will continue to post if more come on; Cities need to have this information as they make EVSE choices.

Central Florida: John Parker
• Streamlining Permit process.
• Actively working with building inspectors to get up to speed.
• Hoping to mimic Houston/Raleigh models.
• Converting Hybrids to Plug in Hybrids. These demonstration vehicles will go to hotels, theme parks and area businesses to promote EV transportation.
• Grant funds from DOE to make a solar charging station. There’s currently one at the University of Central Florida and Orlando Utilities Commission. Progress Energy has a grid connected charging station.
• Working with “SunRail” planners who are putting in train stations throughout metropolitan Orlando. Planning charging infrastructure so commuters can park and charge.
• PGR: We’d love to hear more about the economics of solar charging and train station progress, challenges.

Kansas City: Kelly Gilbert
• Launched the Plug in Readiness initiative Jan.
• Holding first stakeholder conference April 23rd.
• After strategy is completed in January, implementation process begins.

Toronto: Ban Marans
• Presented at Globe 2010.
• Conference highlighted municipalities leading the way.
• Toronto has been active in EV working group. Addressing infrastructure at plug level and utility level.
• Toronto is tweaking Total Cost of Ownership calculator with Canadian data.
• Looking at policy level: right of ways, street charging, waterways.
• Gaining traction with OEMs. Toyota plug in hybrid is going to be tested in Toronto.
• Hoping to use smaller pilots for informing process for EV300 initiative.
• Toronto Airport Authority has 180 charging spots. Looking to add to their highway ready vehicle fleet.
• Looking to form relationships with other munis around Toronto.
• Exploring opportunities to develop a Canadian PGR-type network.
• Issues with selling electricity, access to electricity. Electricity reseller or service provider – these are questions Toronto is interested in.
• PGR: we’ve been working with charging station providers to see what regs. are in place. We can pull together best practices. In U.S., individual PUCs control certain areas, but we will dive deeper into emerging issues in Canada.
• GE: One of the features designed into charging stations is ability to do remote diagnostics of station and chargers themselves. Let people know when unit needs to be repaired.
• CT: Resale issues around private parking management companies. There is a formation within National Parking Association trying to create a LEED “tent”. EV Charging is an element of this. They don’t see it as a resale or significant revenue enhancement. They see it as a way to move their parking projects through LEED certification process quicker. They don’t see significant increase in kilowatts. LEED is a big incentive. Recently in Florida, saw a company that was looking at reselling in a highrise in Pompano Beach.

Tampa Bay: Avera Wynne, Greg Miller
• 4 counties: Tampa, St. Pete, Clear Water
• Three large utilities: Progress, Florida power and light, Tampa Electric
• Meeting with Hillsboro County to start talking about education of electricians and establishing curricula for educating them.
• We have a lot of KB Homes in our region, so we’ll be looking into them for support.
• Suburban homes are good because 80% of charging will be done at home. Production homes players will be huge players.
• Planning a big role out event. Orlando helped a lot in getting started.
• Light rail program underway – TBRTA. Connecting regions- “super region”
• Airports and rail stations are both interested in doing charging stations.
• Light rail people and airports are interested in serving rental car market.

General Discussion

Paul Scott (Plug-In America) asked Orlando about charging levels for long term parking, noting that it might be a good cost saving measure to use level 1. Orlando, as of yet, hasn’t considered charge level. Focus has been on conduit and wiring.

DMV Registration Issues
• No box to indicate EV.
• PGR: we’re going to try to answer this state by state. As each of you has experiences or best practices, please let us know. We’ll add to website and update going forward.

Signage
• Standardization is important. We have put some examples online. Opened design contest.
• Success stories in making interesting signage

EV Maintenance
• Partners have found difficulty in servicing hybrids. Vehicles like the Prius often have to go in dealership because no one is trained to do work.
• How wills this affect EVs?
• Are EV manufacturers planning on doing training programs for mechanics?
• PGR: There are a few such programs through tech-schools and associations. We’ll publicize this info and reach out to OEMs.

Final note

If there are any additional questions, don’t hesitate to ask the PGR team. Our Technical Advisers are a valuable resource and are eager to share their knowledge with you.

Finally, if you find any interesting reports or resources, feel free to forward them to us. We’ll make sure they go on the website and share them with the rest of the partners.

In addition, Plug In America has created a great, easy-to-read, incentive chart.

1. Adopt specific permitting policy for EV chargers and train staff
2. Ensure public access to comprehensive EV-related information
   1. Post EV charger specific website pages
   2. Develop a comprehensive EV charger guide
3. Streamline permit access
   1. Reduce the number of government office visits
   2. Reduce the number of home visits
      1. Allow self-certification for simple installations
      2. Condense compliance review inspections for more complicated installations
   3. Establish set fees for simple installations
   4. Process EV charger permits on a priority basis
   5. Discontinue plan requirements for simple installations
   6. Establish 24-hour inspections request systems
4. Other policies to reduce the cost of electric charger installations
   1. Require new construction to include EV chargers, or at minimum wiring components for later EV charger installation

Additionally, there is specific information on permitting in many of the Bay Area cities, a flowchart for common residential installations, and a sample EV charger installation guide.

Amsterdam is currently working to put together a broader EV initiative and will be installing more charging stations. They have also developed a recognizable electric vehicle logo. There is more information on the initiative’s website.

LA itself is part of California’s EV readiness plan and has recently announced its own Southern California Electric Vehicle Readiness Plan.

Since then New York has been more seriously investigating how EVs will fit into PlaNYC – an initiative to improve NYC’s urban environment and reduce emissions by 30% in 2030 from 2005 levels. Transportation emissions make up 22% of total emissions and a goal has been set to reduce them by 44% by 2030. The Mayor’s office released a report in January 2010 that documents how EVs can help in this reduction.

To read more about the paper, click here.

But isn’t this the case for all car buyers?

Click here for more information.

The automaker is one of five companies working with the postal service to create an electric version of the classic Grumman LLV. Quantum Technologies Inc., Zap!, EDAG Inc., AC Propulsion and Auto Port Inc. will work with the USPS to test the feasibility of an electrified fleet.

Bright Automotive, working with AC Propulsion, will supply an electrified mail truck in July, when it will undergo testing in Washington D.C. for a full year.

Click here to read more.

• 2015 demand for EVs based on performance criteria ~2.3M
• Demand will drop further when cost criteria is applied. Hence EV will be a small niche in the near-term.
• Range anxiety is a serious impediment to the adoption of EVs. E-REVS and PHEVs will be overwhelmingly favored.
• Roadside Assistance and Telematics and LBS services are “a must have” feature for EVs. Must be provided standard.
• Development of a public charging infrastructure is critical -mitigates range anxiety, enable optimization of driving range, and reduce vehicle cost.
• Business models need to be reinvented – should maximizes revenue streams and provides value added services to reduce the cost burden on electric vehicle owners.
• A vehicle with a driving range of 100mi is unlikely to be seen by most Americans as their primary vehicle. A range of 150mi is more likely to merit that consideration.
• Vehicle manufacturers could consider offering BEV with a package of some free rental car days to position a BEV as a primary vehicle.

To learn more about this partnership and others, click here.

Read more: Avis to Offer Cars with Cords

Read more here.

Meeting Minutes 2/17/10

RMI intro and updates (15 minutes)
* EDTA recap – NPVI section, had lots of PGR partners involved – looking to link in with team and PGR data, rapid response plan proposed- more to come on the relationship soon

* Challenges with registration:
- RI couldn’t get vehicle registered given vehicle had 0 cylinders, no regular checklist for regular combustion engine vehicles
- Portland had some initial challenges – smog check – fined for no tailpipe – just a process, no certificate, not in our book that way
- work through with DMV every time
- Clipper Creek – happens on east coast – outsourced – no ability to make exception – conversions and 90s vehicles

* PGR readiness certification – possible publicizing of ratings

Read the study: Technology Improvement Pathways to Cost-Effective Vehicle Electrification.

Read more here.

Read more about Ford’s electric vehicle here.

This information follows the great news that SAE J1772 has finally been approved!

Read more here.

Read more here.

To see what products have been UL certified. Go the UL Online Certifications Directory. Here, search by “UL Category Code” to see the EV-related products: use “ffvi2″ for EV connectors and inlets, “fftg” for EV chargers, and “ffwa” for EV supply equipment.

The results as of 5/20/2010 are as follows:

EV Connectors and Inlets

• Avcon Corp
• BMW of North America LLC
• ITT Corp BIW Connector Systems
• Yazaki Parts Co LTD

EV Chargers

• Aerovironment Inc
• EBus Inc
• ETEC
• Panasonic
• Toyota

EV Supply Equipment

• Avcon
• ClipperCreek
• Panasonic

UL 2202: Standard for Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging System Equipment
This standard covers both on-board and off-board chargers, where a charger is a device that supplies charging current to a battery. The products may be used indoors or outdoors unless considered on-board, in which case they are considered outdoor use. These products include all charging levels, including Level 3.

UL 2231-1: Standard for Personnel Protection Systems for Electric Vehicle (EV) Supply Circuits; Part 1: General Requirements
UL 2231-2: Standard for Personnel Protection Systems for Electric Vehicle (EV) Supply Circuits; Part 2: Particular Requirements for Protection Devices for Use In Charging Systems
These standards are used to cover the particular Personnel Protection System that is required by the National Electrical Code under Article 625 (paragraph 625.22).

UL 2251: Standard for Plugs, Receptacles, and Couplers for Electric Vehicles
This standard is used to cover the actual EV connector and EV inlet provided to connect a vehicle to the power source. If the parts on the vehicle side of the cable, they are considered to be connectors and inlets (the combination of which is a coupler), or if on the power source side of the cable, a receptacle and plug. These particular components are not intended for direct connection to a normal receptacle in the wall, and NEMA type receptacles are not included in the scope of this standard.

UL Subject 2580: Outline of Investigation for Batteries for Use In Electric Vehicles
This outline covers batteries for use in electric vehicles. Specifically, Nickel, Lithium Ion, Lithium Ion Polymer cells, cell modules, and battery packs, for use in EVs.

UL Subject 2594: Outline of Investigation for Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment
This outline covers supply equipment, which is defined as a device that delivers power to an on-board charger. These products include portable or stationary cord sets, charging stations, and power outlets. The differences in these products are as follows: EV cord sets consist of a power cord for connection to the typical NEMA receptacle in the owner’s garage, an electrical enclosure in the middle to house personnel protection components and other control type components, up to 25 feet of EV cable and the EV connector. This product may be transported from place to place (portable) or hung in a dedicated space for use in one location (stationary). Charging stations are products that are provided with a cable or a means to connect a cable, and the personnel protection equipment components required by the National Electrical Code are housed in the device. Power outlets are similar to charging stations, but they are not provided with personnel protection equipment, as they rely on the portable cord set to be brought to the charging location and the personnel protection is provided by the cord set.

UL 62: Standard for Flexible Cords and Cables
This standard is used to cover the cable types EV, EVJ, EVE, EVJE, EVT, and EVJT, which are the six cable types defined in the National Electrical Code as a suitable cable type for use with electric vehicles. See 625.17 of the National Electrical Code.

UL Subject 2733: Outline of Investigation for Surface Vehicle On Board Cable
This outline covers the cable and wiring harnesses used on board an EV for interconnection of the different components within the charging path.

UL Subject 2734: Outline of Investigation for Connectors for Use With On Board Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Systems
This outline covers the actual connectors at the end of the cables covered under UL Subject 2733 above and these connectors are used to provide an electrical connection between the components in the charging path.

UL 1004-1: Standard for Rotating Electrical Machines: General Requirements
UL 1004-2: Standard for Impedance Protected Motors
UL 1004-3: Standard for Thermally Protected Motors
UL 1004-4: Standard for Electric Generators
UL 1004-5: Standard for Fire Pump Motors
UL 1004-6: Standard for Servo and Stepper Motors
UL 1004-7: Standard for Electronically Protected Motors
UL 1004-8: Standard for Inverter Duty Motors
This series of standards covers the motor construction, tests and protection means by combining the general requirements with the appropriate part of the series. Not all of these are relevant for EV’s, for example Fire Pump Motors does not apply, but i included all the titles for the sake of clarity so you would not wonder where the missing part numbers were. If you have a thermally protected motor, you would combine part 1 and part 3 together to cover the motor. These motors would be considered suitable for use on board a vehicle.

UL Subject 2735: Outline of Investigation for Utility Metering Equipment
This outline will cover the utility meter for smart grid applications.

This covers the standards currently in place. Please note, UL Subject 2733, UL Subject 2734 and UL Subject 2735 are not yet published, but will be soon as they are already in the process.

Abstract: This paper is concerned with batteries for use in plug-in electric vehicles.  These vehicles use batteries that store a significant amount (kWh) of energy and thus will offer the possibilities for second-use in utility related applications such as residential and commercial backup systems and solar and wind generation systems.  Cell test data are presented for the performance of lithium-ion batteries of several chemistries suitable for use in plug-in vehicles.  The energy density of cells using NiCo (nickelate) in the positive electrode have the highest energy density being in the range of 100-170 Wh/kg.  Cells using iron phosphate in the positive have energy density between 80-110 Wh/kg and those using lithium titanate oxide in the negative electrode can have energy density between 60-70 Wh/kg.  Tests were performed for charging rates between 1C and 6C.  The test results indicate that both iron phosphate and titanate oxide battery chemistries can be fast charged.   However, the fast charge capability of the titanate oxide chemistry is superior to that of the iron phosphate chemistry both with respect to temperature rise during charging and the Ah capacity retention for charging up to the maximum voltage without taper.

There are a number of possible second-use applications.  Some of these applications are closely linked to utility operations and others are connected to commercial and residential end-users. Since the energy storage and power requirements for the end-user applications are comparable to those of the original vehicle applications and would require only minor reconfiguring of the packs, these applications are well suited for second-use.   The applications closely related to utility operations do not seem well suited for second-use.  Those applications require MW power and MWh of energy storage which are orders of magnitude larger than that of the vehicle applications.  The primary barrier to implementation of the second-use is demonstrating the economic viability of the reuse of the batteries in terms of the cost of the batteries to the second owners and a guarantee that the used batteries would have satisfactory calendar and cycle life.

Abstract: The technical and economic feasibility of applying used electric vehicle (EV) batteries in stationary applications was evaluated in this study.  In addition to identifying possible barriers to EV battery reuse, steps needed to prepare the used EV batteries for a second application were also considered.  Costs of acquiring, testing, and reconfiguring the used EV batteries were estimated.  Eight potential stationary applications were identified and described in terms of power, energy, and duty cycle requirements.  Costs for assembly and operation of battery energy storage systems to meet the requirements of these stationary applications were also estimated by extrapolating available data on existing systems.  The calculated life cycle cost of a battery energy storage system designed for each application was then compared to the expected economic benefit to determine the economic feasibility.  Four of the eight applications were found to be at least possible candidates for economically viable reuse of EV batteries.  These were transmission support, light commercial load following, residential load following, and distributed node telecommunications backup power.  There were no major technical barriers found, however further study is recommended to better characterize the performance and life of used EV batteries before design and testing of prototype battery systems.

While most charging will likely be done at private (at home or private office parking) locations, public charging stations will play a critical role in a successful plug in vehicle ecosystem. As new innovations are introduced including faster charging stations or even battery swapping, public stations will become increasingly important.  PGR cities are among the first to purchase and install stations.  Below is the beginning of a list on how partner cities strategically deployed their charging stations.

Denver Area
Denver and the local Clean Cities Coalition identified 100 sites as good locations for charging stations as part of a grant proposal.

Selection process:
1) We only considered off-street parking, and only parking lots/structures that are own/controlled by the City—we decided that we wanted to start as simple as possible, so initially we’re focusing sites that were easy to look after and didn’t involve any private partners (not that we would discourage installations on private lots—I think we have two hotels in the area that offer EV parking spaces).   This wasn’t too difficult, as we own a lot of public facilities and parking lots, so we don’t have any shortage of good sites to keep us busy.

2) Some of the sites identified were fleet-only (the main areas where our City vehicles park).  For the public locations, we went through our list of parking lots/structures, and winnowed the list:

3) Major venues with a lot of parking where people park for long periods (and/or offer monthly parking)—cultural complex, Perfoming arts complex, zoo, central/lower downtown public parking, etc.

4) Then we worked with our Library and Parks and Rec Dept and went through the list of libraries and parks/rec centers to select the best potentials based on:

a) Enough parking to reserve a space or two if we decided to make them EV-only at some point (our Libraries and rec centers are pretty popular, so often have full lots—initially we would probably start with “leave this space for EVs unless no other space is available” until there was reasonable demand).

b) Geographically distributed in as many neighborhoods/City council districts as possible.

c) Tried to find sites that had could be conveniently be used by City Fleet vehicles (areas park maintenance might park, or very close do other City gov offices) so that we could get double duty out of them.

d) Site that were near other private attractions—libraries that were situated in popular shopping/dinning districts.

e) Also took into consideration the Library and Rec folks’ general knowledge of where made sense—ruling out areas with vandalism issues, sites with typical customers that would be more-likely early-adopters (like lots of young professionals).

f) availability of power on the existing panels in the parking structures (although we focused on Level I charging stations as they are the least expensive and still provide access and visibility)

g) the electricity price schedule for each facility—out utility has a flat $/kWh charge for lower-consuming sites, but at larger sites it is combo of  a small $/kWh charge plus a high $/peak-kW ( We want to be mind full that we don’t end up bumping a facility into the next rate structure or otherwise don’t adequately plan for potential increases in utility cost from a jump in demand charges from level 2 charging.  Obviously the strategy for managing cost would vary depending on the type of unit installed and the model of service provided to users and if there is flexibility in recovering costs if needed. )

The biggest piece of the effort was just talking to and getting buy in from all the different folks that manage these sites—not just several different departments, but most of the cultural facilities, airports, and the library operate basically as independent entities.  It is nice to have all the sites aware and “on board” so we are ready to move ahead as we are able without having to introduce everyone to the concept.

Blue is fleet only, red is public

WHAT: On February 2, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orange County Mayor Richard Crotty, OUC–The Reliable One, Progress Energy and Nissan North America will announce plans to move Central Florida’s environmental agenda forward – by promoting electric vehicle transportation.

The City of Orlando with Nissan North America will launch the Zero Emission Mobility Project, an initiative to promote the development of electric-vehicle infrastructure and adoption of electric cars. Nissan will be the first automaker to mass-market all-electric vehicles, beginning with the Nissan LEAF.  Orlando is one of the first markets in the world where the Nissan LEAF will be available when it goes on sale later this year.

This project is further supported by the Get Ready Central Florida initiative – a coalition comprised of Orange County Government, the City of Orlando, OUC–The Reliable One, and Progress Energy—with the goal of expediting Central Florida’s progress in preparing the infrastructure for EV transportation.

VISUALS: Mayor Dyer and Mayor Crotty will test drive the Nissan LEAF, the industry’s first all-electric, zero-emission car designed for the mass market.

WHEN: Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: Jefferson Street Parking Garage – Downtown Orlando, 62 W. Jefferson St. (Between Orange Ave. and Garland Ave.)

WHO: Orange County Mayor Richard Crotty, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Nissan North America, OUC–The Reliable One, Progress Energy

DOWNLOAD BROCHURE

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Attendees on Call

Executive Summary

• RMI updates on recent developments
  • New partners, recent meetings, and website developments
• City updates on charging infrastructure installation, vehicle procurement, and utility integration
• Overview of freight electrification opportunities
• Questions for technical advisers including ADA compliance
• Next steps

RMI Update

• Discussing opportunities to work with EDTA as a resource for information
  • NPVI- new site as data aggregator
• Meeting with Electrification Coalition
  • Seeking feedback on PEV supporting legislation
• Meeting with Clinton Climate Initiative
  • Looking to share information and improve collaboration
• How can we benefit from the above potential relationships?

New Partnerships

• Underwriter Laboratories
  • Providing certifications for products within industry (whole scope of EVSE and standards developments)

City Updates

Denver

·       Potential for Toyota to put 15 plug-ins in Boulder. 10 in Denver. Portion will be given to homeowners to test how they will interact with and affect the grid

·       Go Smart Technologies (Denver start-up) manufacturing a residential charging unit. Models are coming off the line this month

·       QM – Drive Train – working with Coda Automotive. Bought $7.5 million facility to expand production

·       Denver is beginning to budget level 1 charge points across city. Many will be existing outlets but with signage to raise profile

·       As demand increases, sites may be upgraded to level 2

Rhode Island

·       Launching program Jan 20. Went through strategy process last summer, finalized in Sept

·       Reaching out to large organizations across state to encourage installation of charge points. Emphasis on workplace charging and free charging for employees

·       Planning to release list of leading companies before Memorial Day

·       Interested in EVSE, expediting permitting for charge spots

·       Working with National Grid

Houston

·       New Mayor is supporter of EVs

·       Working with major grocery chains and parking garages

·       Putting a plan together for 400 locations of level 3 stations

·       Nissan leaf is coming February 5^th

·       Deploying charging stations signs

·       48 hour turnover for charging station application and approval

·       Looking into establishing preferred, certified electricians for installation

Toronto

·       Mayor represented city and C-40 and EV network in Copenhagen

·       City of Toronto council passed Sustainability plan. – continue work on activities to facilitate uptake of EVs in corp. and govt fleets

·       Formally launched EV 300 initiative – aimed at getting 300 EVs on the road in Toronto by 2012. Working with multiple stakeholders

·       Create buyers club, bringing together public/private fleet managers. Peer to peer, technical support

·       Bringing together Province of Ontario, city of Toronto,  Toronto hydro fleets.

·       Looking at how EVs operate in fleets, real on the road numbers

·       Performing analyses – how weather affects performance of vehicle and battery

·       Toronto Hydro – v2g studies. Smart meters deployed with TOU pricing. Getting a good understanding of grid interaction

·       Province of Ontario is launching plug in incentive of $10,000  desire buyers club in place

working with public/private fleets to work on education
receiving excellent media attention.

Portland

·       EV Roadmap concept to assess current state and create plan to move forward

·       ETEC Nissan initiative moving forward

·       2010 action plan developing

·       Working with public opinion research firm. Public and political research.

-Have begun to track what citizens know and think about EVs.

-Very high enthusiasm but gaps between what people know and should know. Helpful knowledge for public information campaign

·       No performance measures yet, work in progress. Plan to have this in place, to track milestones

·       Concentrate efforts around broad applications of EVs. Previous attention has been given to 4-5 person vehicle. Pay more attention to bikes and trucks

·       evroadmap.com – proceedings from workshop. Willing to chat with anyone in PGR community

Indianapolis

·         Secured additional OEM partners Think and Smart. Think will begin North American production of their EV in Elkhart Indiana and contribute 50-100 vehicles to Project Plug-IN in Summer of 2010. Smart has selected Indianapolis as a launch market for their ForTwo EV and will provide 50 per-production vehicles to Project Plug-IN late Summer 2010.

·         Utility partners Duke Energy and Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) hosted a workshop for the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission regarding Project Plug-IN. Nissan, Smart, and RMI spoke at the workshop which focused on the utilities plans to provide charging infrastructure (approx 200-300 sites)for the Project Plug-IN demonstration as well as develop an ongoing pilot program to provide charging infrastructure to utility customers who purchase plug-in vehicles.

·         Project Plug-IN has added ITOCHU Corporation (Japan) as a corporate partner and they will provide battery management systems and DC to DC charging stations.  Additionally, Project Plug-IN will become a sister project to a similar pilot led by ITOCHU in Tskuba Japan involving Mazda, Tokyo Power and Electric Company, and others.

Raleigh

·        Have developed Permit Application Process for Electrical Vehicle Service Equipment (EVSE) Installation; Residential and Commercial

·        Working on Prequalifying Guidelines for Potential EVSE Locations

·        Raleigh is on the Nissan Leaf  Promotion Tour – January 29, 2010

·        Developing in-house training for electrical inspectors on potential installation scenarios

·        Developing  an Incentives Plan for Potential EVSE Locations

·        Developing a City Sustainable Mapping Program to include locations of EVSE

·        PGR Task Force meeting bi-weekly to discuss updates (task force to include City of Raleigh Sustainability, Inspections, Fleet Managers, City Planning; Advanced Energy and Progress Energy)

Freight Electrification Opportunities

·       Freight trucks use a lot of fuel and can save quite a bit of it with electric power systems.

·       Many technologies that make use of battery technology are currently available and market ready

·       Charging stations can benefit freight trucks in the same way as passenger vehicles with common infrastructure

Updates from Technical Advisers

San Diego Gas and Electric

·       Working with groups relative to permit situation – statistics about time that took to install. Southern Cal. Edison

·       San Diego is testing ground for infrastructure

·       Talking to electrical inspectors

·       One of aspects of ETEC is training program for inspectors

·       Chair person for clean cities coalition. and manager for SDG&E

·       ETEC will provide data before summary from DOE comes out

·       Looking for real time information.

·       Instituting rule making from California PUCub. Affects PG&E, SoCal Edison, SDG&E

·       Hands are tied on infrastructure until rules are put in place

·       Putting together experimental rates – see what consumer behavior is relative to different rate structures/ charging behavior

·       Real-time roll-out in tandem with Nissan rolllout

·       Meeting on Jan 22nd with all utilities, CARB, CEC, OEMs, Coulomb, Better Place

Questions for Tech Advisers

How is Houston managing charging station installations at multiple levels?

·       Most charging will be at home, as opposed to on the street. though there will be on the street. Chargers had some issues as they were chipped for Europe

·       Houston wants to be early adopters but not to be first in charging world. The 400 charging stations is a conceptual business plan

Trucking/Freight Question: is it feasible to make existing electric truck stations personal vehicle chargers?

·       It is likely feasible, but right now they are for trucking
ADA Compliance and Infrastructure Questions

·       BC Hydro – addressed compliance. Recommendations for parking stalls. Attached document

·       Have you done any work to site and identify locations for infrastructure? How do you locate?

·       Already have an installed infrastructure. Some people felt burned by EVs not coming true

·       What has changed from 10 years ago? Back then car makers were mandated to produce cars. Now they want to

·      London is partnering with grocery chain to test neighborhood deployment.

·       Success in Japan with convenience stores.

For the full press release, click here.

Read More:

Better Place adds $350 million toward its electric car goals.

Goodbye Miles Per Gallon, Hello Monthly Fuel Cost is the title of a new article by the leading vehicle research guide. As is noted in the article, various new technologies coming on board will dramatically alter the way we perceive the energy use of our vehicles.

For more information, click here.

Rhode Island is getting ready. With a goal of preparing for and welcoming 10,000 plug-in electric vehicles to Rhode Island by 2015, “PGR RI” is working hard to make purchasing electric vehicles a “one-stop shopping experience” for local drivers. With its high population density and small size, Rhode Island will become the New England proving ground for the electric vehicle.

By joining Denver, CO, Houston, TX, Indianapolis, IN, Portland, OR, and Toronto, Ontario, Rhode Island becomes the first Project Get Ready state and Providence the first community in the northeast to pioneer the adoption of efficient, low-carbon vehicles.

PGR RI is coordinating with its partnering utility National Grid to develop a plan for electrifying 2% of Rhode Island’s cars without significantly increasing peak grid load, and while simultaneously decreasing transportations costs and carbon emissions.

PGR RI has also enlisted Environment Northeast (ENE) as a partner. The non-profit organization has provided vital research and guidance for development of Rhode Island’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. ENE will continue to inform the coalition’s efforts to integrate electric vehicles.

Project Get Ready RI includes representatives from the following organizations: Brown University, City of Providence, Conservation Law Foundation, DK Power, Environment Northeast, EleCar, EmPower CES, FleetMaster, National Grid, New England Institute of Technology, Ocean State Clean Cities, Providence Water Supply Board, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Rhode Island State House of Representatives, Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council, Save The Bay, University of Rhode Island Energy Center, and VCharge.

For more information, contact PGR RI Coordinator Al Dahlberg at albert_dahlberg@yahoo.com or 401-524-1151.

1/21/2010: PGR RI Press Release

1/11/2010: Push on for plug-ins on Rhode Island’s roads, Providence Business News (subscription required)

Environment Northeast’s Transportation initiatives

ENE Low Carbon Fuel Standard Primer (pdf)

Summary of Electric Drive and Alternative Fuel-Related Provisions(pdf)

Emissions Benefits of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (pdf)

Plug-in America’s list of plug-ins in the pipeline Pretty much every car company in business has now come out with plans for a plug-in vehicle, and in many cases a totally electric vehicle.

Cost of ownership calculator The National PGR calculator that compares a variety of plug-in electric vehicles with standard internal combustion vehicles in terms of lifetime cost and carbon footprint.

The paper adds that, while many consumers will prefer extended range electric vehicles like the Volt, smaller neighborhood electric vehicles (NEV) may thrive as well. The logic behind this is that many early adopters will purchase EVs as second cars and use them for the specific purpose of commuting within these urban areas. Smaller cars will likely carry smaller batteries, meaning greater maneuverability in dense areas and a cheaper price tag.

The McKinsey study is an interesting look at the relationship electric vehicles will have with the urban environment. In many ways it reinforces PGR’s findings, but it also focuses primarily on the world’s largest cities-New York, Paris and Shanghai.

Project Get Ready, however, is finding opportunities for the EV in less dense cities, as well. Electric vehicles, we’ve found, could play an important role in cities that lack strong public transportation systems and whose working population largely resides outside the city.

Check out more information on the McKinsey and Co. study here and here.

Remember range anxiety, the fear that electric vehicles would leave drivers stranded on the road with a depleted battery?  Well, everyone’s favorite EV critique just got a bit less relevant. Yesterday, Coulomb Technologies and Aker Wade  announced plans for the worldwide deployment of level III charging stations. The deal will add substantial muscle to Coulomb’s ChargePoint network and  enable drivers to charge their cars in less than one hour.

Once again, innovative businesses are finding answers to supposedly impossible problems.

Time will tell, but one thing is for certain–leaders in the electric vehicle industry are not anticipating failure. Innovation will drive the future of battery technology far faster than a white paper.

For more information on Boston Consulting Group’s report, click here.

Study: Battery electric vehicles unlikely to be cost competitive

The arrival of Think further emphasizes Indiana’s leadership in the vehicle electrification industry. For more information on related work in the area, check out PGR’s Indianapolis page.

Wall Street Journal’s recent article on Think’s EV plans: Think Electric Car Will Be Built in Indiana

The City of London has announced an audacious plan to have 25,000 charging points throughout the city–essentially, a charging station within a mile of every citizen. These charge points will be found in public, residential and commercial zones.

London’s goal to take the lead in vehicle electrification is aggressive, to be sure. However, it is important to carefully weigh the case for each charging station. Their costs and use will likely vary from location to location. Moreover, added charging infrastructure is an important step to a plug-in ready city, but it is not a panacea.

Consumer demand is capable of changing swiftly. Visible charging infrastructure could send an important message to consumers that EVs are on the way. But if those charge points are poorly selected, idle and unused stations could send an equally negative message.

For more information, please refer to our Stakeholder Investment Guide for Public Electric-Vehicle Charging Infrastructure. Also, please see our page on Houston’s real costs of installation.

Download the pdf

For additional information, see CalCar’s Felix Kramer response. The Electrification Coalition also issued a response of their own.

The piece closes by stating the importance of a educated decision making, linking to PGR’s Total Cost of Ownership Calculator.

More information on these commitments can be found in our resources page, where we have added EEI’s full list of “Industry-Wide Plug-In Electric Vehicle Market Readiness Initiatives.”

Take a look.

Globe 2010 – Vancouver, Canada (March 24-26, 2010)

Matt Mattila will speak at the Auto FutureTech portion of this conference and discuss the role of municipalities in “Recharging Infrastructure.”

Past events featuring Project Get Ready

Alternative Fuels and Vehicles Conference and Expo – Orlando, FL (April 20, 2009)

Matt Mattila participated in the panel discussion, “Wheels in Motion: The promise of plug-in hybrid and extended range vehicles.”

Business of Plugging In – Detroit, MI (October 19, 2009)

Matt Mattila joined leaders in electrification for the ‘Infrastructure Track’ panel – “Plug-in Ready Cities”

E.V. Road Map-  Portland, OR (November 9, 2009)

Tripp Hyde and Matt Mattila both attended this discussion on Portland’s advances in vehicle electrification.

EUCI: Impact, Opportunities and Challenges for a Smart Grid – Denver CO (May 18, 2009)

Presentation by Matt Mattila: Smart Cars Need Smart Garages: Get Your Municipality Ready.

Electrifying Transportation – Raleigh, NC (May 27, 2009)

This conference, attended by Matt Mattila, covered advancements in vehicles, batteries, and the electric grid.

Request a speaker

Interested in having a representative of PGR at your event? Please direct all inquiries here.

For more information on the city’s efforts, check out our recent Gas 2.0 blog, Portland Oregon Works to Develop Best Practices for Electric Vehicle Adoption.

It’s an important point to make and one that pertains to all forms of transportation. Consumers can save money and energy by using the right tool for the right job.

Houston budgeted for the project by assuming $10,000 for the first station and then $1,000 for each additional station.

Please email Tripp Hyde to submit additional charging station installation cost data.

Read More: Mitsubishi Launches Smart Chargers for Apartments

Get the details here.

Check it out!

Read more here.

Check it out!

• Business of Plugging In – recap

• Response to Charging Infrastructure Paper
  • How to estimate infrastructure wiring costs? – talk to some installers and get your feedback
  • lots of hits, more evse companies reaching out , more city interest- talk about fast vs slow charging

• Portland meeting for infrastructure deployment
  • people, focus, sponsors, freight, and cons survey, and deployment

• Esource Webinar

• City Updates
  • Update to city rating and tracking

Questions for Tech Advisers

• Standards – similar Nissan and GM and Mitsubishi
  • Why is J1772 taking so long? What will change when it is approved?
  • Can we just use UL approval?
    • need to do both – UL does permitting – city officials and inspectors don’t need to do an engineering analysis
    • makes approval process easier
  • UL models need full evaluation of the system – if j1772 needs full compliant connector – January approval then connector manufacturer will tool up those components by Q2 of 2010 – then testing, some already starting
  • charging infrastructure is an issue – create cord sets for outlets – NEMA 1450 plug – RV parks for decades, NEC doesnt allow for advertising – plug for electric car – NEC looks at it, not from OEM viewpoint – early adopters are taking matters into their own hands with the 1450 plug
  • can charging companies compete with this? clipper creek $1k
  • safety of plugging in and out – how can u do this without the handshake of j1772 – J1772 required intelligent handshake for greater than 120V 15/20A

• What do our first responders need to know? – some discussion at biz of plugging in, programs in detroit in local areas, some of our cities are starting to look into it – evs in fleet like houston
• Still no signage standards
  • Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is not helping, making it more difficult to create a standard sign

• Procurement
  • What can we do to attract vehicles – Mitsubishi and Nissan rollout and availability – call them
    • looking at success in japan – infrastructure, incentives, plan for education; want them to be successful
    • opportunity now to bring Japanese vehicles for demo program – good programs to educate decisions on how to launch successfully and how to site chargers – start this year to get some indication on success – OEM side needs to know now – works in Japan – but not the US…what does it take to be successful?
  • How can we avoid ICEing (ICE vehicles parking in EV spots)?
    • ticket tow early and often, no solution yet, vandalism a big issue, expensive and dont want to have lots of vandalism
  • OEMs are going to use the PGR city rating system to see what cities are most ready and then send cars there

• Alternative lease models; OEM plug-in financing plans – open, proprietary
  • Nissan- pricing first, studying all options, together, depends on regions, different options to different areas, want to go to mass market – we want to reach out to all, one of our challenges we hear is the ability to claim tax credit – can Nissan claim the credit and pass it on to them?
  • Where can we find updated lists of rollout plans for your vehicles by city – open to group – Mitsubishi
    • no announcement yet – no info online
  • Encouraging off peak charging
    • Critical peak pricing plans – most practical and easy – basic intelligence to encourage vehicle to charge at particular times, allow them to charge at specific times not AMI, but also have EV only rates or TOU rates – AMI will happen but this is the near term answer
  • Should cities install more Level 1 chargers or less Level 2 chargers?
    • recommend level 2 – level one fine for PHEV, but pure BEV, especially with long range, push level 2 everywhere
    • once they have EV they want level 2, level 1 not practical – can’t go very far – those who have studied issue want upgradeable units
    • level 2 the way to go
    • we found testing in japan – DC quick charge – can use this in garage and commute
    • valet quick charge in parking garage – one charger services 50 vehicles a night
      • eliminates icing – like a gas station – Tokyo area
    • cities don’t want to double dip and do 2 sign ups and roll outs – so do an upgradeable – start with level 1 and upgrade
  • What other events should we be aware of or encouraging?
  • biggest part is the team and you need team members – fleet managers are nuts and bolts – vs policy, get the central contact
  • business development departments have regular meetings to discuss – have a department that can track down the right people

Want to emblazon your ride with Ontario’s new “environmentally friendly vehicles” license plate? There are two hurdles you’ll have to jump. First, wait until next year when the plate actually becomes available on July 1. Second, you’ll need to get a car with a plug. According to the Toronto Star, the new green vehicle plates are for plug-in hybrids and battery-powered cars only.

Like the Clean Access stickers that were so popular in California, the special plates will allow the cars to drive in high occupancy vehicle highway lanes through 2015 no matter how many people are in the car. Drivers will also get to pull up to recharging facilities at GO Transit and some government-operated parking lots, and will be allowed to park in special spots at some Wal-Marts and at the University of Toronto. The provincial government is offering the benefits as a way to reach Ontario’s Electric Vehicle initiative goal of getting EVs to make up five percent of the fleet mix in Ontario by 2020.

Additionally Vancouver has made great strides to incorporate EV charging into its newest building codes. This includes specific guidelines for multi-family dwellings where 20% of parking stalls must have a charging receptacle and the electrical rooms must have enough space for the charging hardware required for 100% of these receptacles.

For any questions, contact Brian Beck at brian.beck@vancouver.ca. Also, be sure to check out http://www.vancouver.ca/sustainability.

Download the full Excel tool

Download the full Excel tool (alternate version for older versions of Excel)

Read the instructions

Also, be sure to read the full report.

Finally, have a look at Pacific Gas & Electric’s charging station information where their most recent report details EV installation, codes, and rate structure issues and solutions.

Download the full report or click through the pages below.

Access the Excel model that goes along with the report.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary: A Look at Charging Station Investment………………..3
List of Terms and Definitions………………..4
Summary of Costs and Benefits of Charging Stations………………..6
Analyzing Scenarios Using the Investment Tool………………..12
Exploration of Other Stakeholder Discussions………………..14
Concluding Thoughts………………..15
Appendix A: Menu of Hardware Options………………..17
Appendix B: Assumptions for Investment Tool Runs………………..21
Appendix C: Federal and State Incentives for Charge Station Investment………………..22
Contact Information………………..26