Tag: EV charging

For Today: Electric Vehicle Charging Association reports on how charging has grown since 2011, EVs beat diesel in new study

EV charging report:  Electric vehicle charging outlets have grown tenfold in the U.S. since 2011, according to a new report from the Electric Vehicle Charging Association – from 5,070 in 2011 to 50,991 this year. As a business sector, the EV charging infrastructure increased 576% in revenue between 2011 and 2016 – from $27 million in 2011 to $182 million in 2016. Revenue could grow to the $276 million by 2020, and the association also forecasts that the industry globally could produce $45.59 million by 2025. As with electric vehicle sales, California has led the way in charging stations. The state’s infrastructure has grown 67% since the association’s first report in October 2015. California now about 15,930 charging outlets in place, not including residential outlets, according to the “State of the Charge” report.

Diesel seeing more clean fuel competition:  ExxonMobil and Renewable Energy Group (REG) have conducted research finding feasibility in biodiesel converted from a variety of biomass sources. The two companies were able to validate the feasibility of the REG Life Sciences fermentation technology across multiple cellulosic sugar compositions produced from a few non-edible biomass sources. The study confirmed REG Life Sciences technology is capable of achieving substantial reductions of full-lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional diesel fuel. “Biofuels today are made largely from food sources, such as corn and sugar cane,” said Vijay Swarup, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. “ExxonMobil is challenging that paradigm by exploring a portfolio of large-scale biofuels solutions that do not compete with food and water.”

Electric beats diesel in study:  A new study has looked into how clean electric vehicles can be based on what goes into generating the power and the impact of mining raw materials. The study finds that even when the power is generated by coal power, it still emits fewer emissions that diesel cars. Those findings are especially relevant to the European market, where automakers are gradually reducing the volume of diesel passenger cars. Conducted by VUB university in Brussels for NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) the study analyzed data from several European markets. Dr. Maarten Messagie wrote in the study that there is room for improvement on the battery manufacturing side to reduce the environmental impact, but clean energy sources have the greater impact. As in the U.S. and other countries, those emissions improvements are expected to increase as utilities add more renewable energy generation.

For Today: New Leaf make its debut, New EV incentives in California gone for now

New Leaf launched:  The 2018 Nissan Leaf made its debut in Tokyo with its 150-mile per charge range and starting price of $29,990. It will be going on sale in the U.S. in early 2018, powered by a 40 kWh battery and an 80-kilowatt electric motor. The Japanese automaker promised to release a faster, more powerful version with longer range in 2019. The new Leaf is not meeting the 200-mile electric vehicle standard that’s becoming the norm, but it is going about 40 miles further than the current Leaf and costs a bit less; and it can deliver 147 horsepower, 38% more than the previous version. It’s got a new sharp-edged aerodynamic look and a few tech features. That includes the ProPILOT advanced driver assistance system, ProPILOT Park, and the e-Pedal that allows for accelerating, decelerating and stopping the car by using the accelerator pedal alone.

Automotive-Electrification Index:  Global consulting firm AlixPartners just released its Automotive-Electrification Index that tracks vehicle electrification advances by automaker and by country. It combines the number of plug-in hybrid, battery electric, and fuel cell vehicles sold with other measures. These include the “e-range,” a combined percentage of the total ranges of all cars and trucks sold by each automaker; the “e-share” by automaker; and the combined e-ranges and e-shares by country and by major regions of the world. The new product was designed as a more meaningful tool supporting companies and countries striding toward bringing more electrified vehicles to market.

$3B EV incentives goes away:  California’s AB 1184 was amended late Friday, having its $3 billion taken out for future electric vehicle rebates. It now directs the California Air Resources Board to conduct studies on the best ways to write and implement EV rebate legislation. The report won’t be due until Sept. 1, 2019. Language was also removed from AB 1184 that offered a formula for providing higher rebate amounts. The full legislature will consider the amended bill. The $3 billion originally in AB 1184 would have offered rebates until 2030. It would have been six times higher than the nearly $500 million spent on EV rebates so far in the state.

This Week’s Top 10: China ramping up new energy vehicle production, EV charging had a strong week

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market 

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

  1. China new energyChina ramps up EV production: As part of the Chinese government’s “new energy vehicles” mandate to reduce air pollution, automakers are ramping up production of plug-in electric vehicles. According to statistics published by the Ministry of Industry, vehicle manufacturers produced 25,000 new-energy vehicles in June. The growth rate is exceeding what’s being produced in Japan and the U.S. In June,10,500 battery-electric and 6,663 plug-in hybrid passenger cars were manufactured, along with 6,218 battery-electric and 1,645 plug-in hybrid commercial vehicles. That production figure has shot up in recent months, with June seeing about one-third of the total 78,500 plug-in EVs built in China for the first half of 2015. The Chinese government’s data also includes low-speed, neighborhood electric vehicles. The question becomes: Will consumers and fleets buy them? Incentives have been strong in China, but purchasing new energy vehicles has not yet made it to the level the Chinese government and auto industry has hoped for.
  2. EV charging had an interesting week with three announcements: One was from Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. technical center, which is teaming up with Mojo Mobility Inc. to develop a high-speed wireless charging system. That is being supported by a $6 million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to complete the project, which will be tested on the 2015 Kia Soul EV. On the open standards side of charging, Greenlots is working with Kia Motors to expand public-access DC fast chargers in California, Texas, Georgia, Oregon, and Washington. This second rollout brings over 30 additional DC charging stations to 21 Soul EV-certified Kia dealers, Greenlots said. And being open sourced, the site host can choose the hardware that’s perfectly suited to his or her application. For those interested in studying pricing on chargers, ChargePoint Home is rolling out a new home charger that will be available later this summer via Amazon for prices ranging from $499 to $749.
  3. Westport adding propane to F-150s: Westport Innovations announced that it has added a dedicated propane autogas system for the 2016 Ford F-150 powered by the 5.0L V-8 engine. The propane-powered pickup joins the compressed natural gas package as part of the Westport Wing Power System. The company expects both systems to receive certification by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board.
  4. LAcarGUY selling Toyota Mirai: For anyone who’s been to Los Angeles-area green car events like AltCar Expo, you’ve probably met Mike Sullivan, president of the LAcarGUY dealer network in Santa Monica. Sullivan was championing the Fisker Karma and Toyota Prius for several years, and now the dealership has been chosen by Toyota to sell its Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car. Sullivan says he isn’t making any extra efforts to sell that car. His dealership will be one of only eight stores in California chosen by Toyota to sell the hydrogen-powered car with its 312-mile range. Toyota is taking a slow and careful approach, expecting to only sell 3,000 of them nationally by the end of 2017. Having access to dealers like LAcarGUY gives Toyota an opportunity to reach consumers who have interest but little experience with the technology. “These are trailblazers, early-adopter-type customers,” Ed LaRocque, Toyota’s national marketing manager for the Mirai, told Automotive News. “They’re going to come in educated, and the customer experience for this product is very important to the dealers and Toyota. We have to get it right the first time.”
  5. BorgWarner buying Remy: Tier One automotive supplier BorWarner Inc. is investing nearly a billion dollars to acquire another supplier, Remy International Inc. The $951 million in cash acquisition highlights the increasing importance of the electrification of the powertrain, which has not been a strength for BorgWarner, CEO James Verrier said. Remy is well known in the industry as a maker of electric hybrid motors, turbochargers, and transmission parts. While hybrid sales are down this year, not all of the major automakers and suppliers are pulling out of that market.
  6. Navy leasing EVs: The U.S. Department of the Navy will be leasing somewhere between 300 to 600 passenger electric vehicles (EVs), with an initial focus on its sedan fleet; these will be used at various Navy and Marine Corps installations within California. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command is holding a forum for discussion with industry partners. The event will be held on July 21 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the California Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters building in Sacramento. Topics to be discussed will include EV leasing, warranties, maintenance, liabilities, charging infrastructure support and other issues.
  7. Waze offering carpooling mobile app: Waze, a popular driving direction mobile application owned by Google, has launched a new mobile app called RideWith for those interested in carpooling. It’s getting a trial run in Israel near Tel Aviv. RideWith pairs commuters looking for a ride from home to work, or vice versa, with drivers using Waze going in the same direction. This new product brings up the topic of ridesharing, where riders using Uber and Lyft can save money sharing that technology, and that ride, with another passenger.
  8. EVs and the Grid Summit: 2GreenEnergy Editor Craig Shields attended the EVs and the Grid Summit in Los Angeles last week. The symposium on V2G (vehicle to grid) analyzes what electric vehicle (EV) charging means for a grid within a certain region during peak periods and all that goes with it – such as potentially discharging EVs that have extra charge to spare. Shields says that these questions have been coming up since he first started attending similar events in the 2008-timeframe – but there’s no clear answer yet. He does make a good point on the benefits of having a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle as a backup power source for five-to-six days in the event of a power outage.
  9. Golf TDI gets high mileage: For those interested in considering an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle instead of an alternative powertrain to reduce fuel consumption, you might want to consider the 2015 Volkswagen Golf TDI clean-diesel car. It got 81.17 mpg during a road test across 48 states that set a Guinness World Records achievement for non-hybrid fuel economy. Drivers traveled 8,233.5 miles in 16 days during the trip. The previous record in this test program for a clean diesel was 77.99 mpg, and the hybrid record is 74.34 mpg.
  10. Eco-benefits of driverless electric taxis: Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in California see real environmental benefits coming from driverless cars. If a fleet of autonomous electric taxis were to replace everyone’s gas-powered, personal cars, we could see more than a 90% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions and almost 100% decrease in oil consumption from cars. Given that highly lofty goal won’t be happening anytime soon, what about more realistic transportation alternatives? A fleet of driverless electric vehicles (EVs) about 15% of the size of all private cars could service the same population, if scheduled correctly, estimated Jeff Greenblatt, co-author of the study. The cost savings would be there – even if an EV were to cost $150,000 up front, the study researchers say that an autonomous EV that could drive 24/7, not require a salary, and uses no gasoline would pay for itself in less than five years.
  11. Plus in this week’s Green Auto Market Extended Edition: Three companies have been added to the list of Clean Transportation Publicly Traded Companies that’s featured monthly in the Extended Edition…… Plug Power: Best known for manufacturing hydrogen fuel-cell forklifts, Plug Power is prominent in the fuel cell market with its strategic alliances. Indoor forklifts was the company’s first viable market with customers such as BMW, Mercedes, WalMart, Kroger, and Whole Foods. Renewable Energy Group: A leading North American producer, REG converts natural fats, oils, and greases into advanced biofuels (primarily biomass-based diesel) and converts diverse feedstocks into renewable chemicals. Vivint Solar: Part of the Vivint holding company best known for home security and smart control panels, Vivint Solar went public in 2014 and is No. 2 in the US solar energy market behind SolarCity. For those interested in subscribing to Extended Edition, read all about it.

Meeting the Multi-unit PEV Charger Challenge

multi-unit dwellingsBy Joel R. Pointon

Editor’s Note:  With plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging station operator ChargePoint announcing its multi-unit dwelling charger for apartments and condominiums, I contacted an industry expert on this topic. Joel Pointon, former PEV Program Manager at San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and Principal at JRPCharge Consulting, serves as co-chair of the California Plug-in Electric Vehicle Working Group for Multi-unit and Workplace Vehicle Charging. Pointon and colleagues see the vast opportunity of bringing more multi-unit chargers to PEV owners – along with several challenges that must be addressed.

Since the introduction of truly commercial plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) in late 2010, we have firmly established that drivers do more than 80% of their charging at home.  It makes perfect sense…… if you live in a single family home and control your parking area.  But in reality a significant portion of our population lives in multi-unit dwelling communities (owners and renters) and do not have control over their parking their vehicles – sometimes without any assigned parking. Over 50% of San Diego and 66% of San Francisco residents live in these communities, and future land use planning only points to increasing numbers for both urban and near urban neighborhoods.  Although electric-powered vehicles are often a perfect fit for this population, most give up considering it because of the challenges of getting the cooperation of property management and other residents. There’s also the challenge of addressing infrastructure limitations that never considered supplying electricity to parking areas.

After working with the stakeholders in these communities for over five years via workshops and lectures, it has become obvious that there is a real need for education and outreach. The challenge is reaching municipalities, utilities, property management companies, and residents for creating the awareness base – and for better understanding the confusing spectrum of options available to meet this presently unmet need.

Legislative solutions, while well intentioned, have not advanced the cause as of yet.  Presently in California, SB 880 and AB 2565 for HOA and rental properties respectively, have attempted to assist individuals that wanted to go it alone and try to install their own charging units in these communities.  Unfortunately, both cite a liability insurance provision of $1 million dollars naming the community; that is something the insurance industry has largely not been willing to offer to their customers in these communities.  In the past year, the slow pace of progress has prompted all three of the California investor-owned utilities to offer rate-based pilot projects to the California Public Utilities

Commission (CPUC) to consider for multi-unit (and workplace) charging.  These range in scope from “make ready” wiring to basically turnkey offerings for charging in these residential environments (applications are available at the CPUC website).

Private offerings have included the NRG eVgo – CPUC settlement offering of “free installation” for charging units where residents pay a monthly fee for access and power; and the recent ChargePoint press release announcing a “packaged” market focus for multi-units.  The good news is that gradually the spectrum of charging offerings will continue to expand for this underserved market.  Focus in the future will need to stress flexible, cost effective, and innovative approaches in order to become truly successful.

So where to start? What’s the vocabulary? What’s the technology spectrum?  This may be a bit overwhelming for someone just approaching the topic.  As co-chair of the California Plug-in Electric Vehicle Working Group for Multi-unit and Workplace Vehicle Charging, let me suggest the free downloadable guides available on their resources page as a primer (PEVCollaborative.org) ….and also the free survey available for property managers to “take the temperature” of electric drive appetite within their communities.

When will we know that we have reached the tipping point for making electric fuel an option in these communities?  When we finally see PEV charging listed as a standard amenity to attract residents, just as they do a pool or clubhouse today.  Until then, we have much work ahead of us.

Joel Pointon, former PEV Program Manager at SDG&E and Principal at JRPCharge Consulting, can be reached by email at JRPCharge@gmail.com.