Plugin...Recharge!

Future Nissan Leaf owners are not happy about the price of Charger Installations

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:00:00 +0000

AutoBlogGreen recently published a scathing article on how pissed off future Nissan Leaf customers are with AeroVironment's quotes for home charger installations. See Future Leaf owners revolt over AeroVironment's outrageous charger installation quotes. Given that I am one of those future Nissan Leaf owners...and an installer of EVSE,,,I thought I'd weigh in on this.

I've read most the comments about charging on the "My Nissan Leaf" and the negative comments are mostly about the estimates, not the AVI product...since it hasn't been released yet. No one seems to have a big problem with AVI's $800 price for the charger (which is cheap when you consider the J1772 plug is about $400 now)...but they have a hard time being roped into one vendor to install a simple device.

The higher price is likely because of two reasons:

Every installation is custom. Because of this, it always comes down to the Estimator to estimate the job properly...and s/he's influenced by their own experience, margin requirements, complexity of job, and unknowns of what's behind the wall or in the circuits that they don't know about (no one tells us about the grow lights! :-).
Two additional vendors in the supply chain that might be marking up the installation - AVI and Nissan. Nothing weird here, but the more middlemen you have in the value chain, the higher the price.

Most of the readers love the Leviton product since they can have any electrician install an outlet...and then just plug in the Leviton Level II into the outlet once they get it. This puts the customer back in the driver's seat on price...and I can certainly respect that.

I just went through the long vetting process for being an AeroVironment Installer for the Electrical Contractor I work for (www.Palmer-Electric.com). They asked a lot of questions and had us price out several scenarios to ensure we quoted correctly - they even pushed back on some prices we had for certain materials. In the end, we got the contract...but we turned it down. Mostly because of their strict non-compete clause and that the product has not seen the light-of-day yet. I'm sure they'll deliver, but I'd much rather bet on Coulomb since they've got a very well engineered product that has an installed base.

Coulomb's CT500 product is targeted for OEMs, Light Commercial, and Homes. For many people buying an EVSE for home, it may be overkill, as they won't benefit by a Smart Charger that is aware of Time Of Use rates or care about features like getting a Text message when charging is done. The CT500 is more like the iPhone from a design perspective...and the basic Level II chargers are more like your standard cell phone: both get the job done, but one offers more features.

Everyone in this space is a pioneer. From what I saw of AeroVironment, they attempted to control their pricing of installs, but they are building a brand new business and mistakes will be made. I'm glad that websites like My Nissan Leaf are around to shed some light on the problems and solutions.

Personally, I'm waiting on a company to deliver an EVSE that I can install in the ceiling of my garage...so I can pull it down like a drop light. That gets rid of the worst thing about charging an EV...the cord. PS: yes, I know about wireless charging.

Evoscape: Cleanly Cutting Grass in Winter Park

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:06:00 +0000

One of my favorite fun facts to tell people about EVs is that if you must have a car, switching to an EV is the most significant way for you to reduce your personal greenhouse gas emissions.

So if that's true, then dumping my gas mower is an awesome idea. Why? Two Big Reasons...

Small gas engines under 25 hp contribute about 16 percent of HC emissions and 21 percent of CO emissions from mobile sources nationwide! April 2003 EPA Program Update Report
Because one hour of lawn mowing with a gas-powered lawn mower produces as much pollution as driving your car for four hours.

Amazing eh? That's BIG pollution from a lot of small engines.

So what's a better alternative?

If you can't get rid of your lawn, then switching to cleaner lawn equipment is the next best thing. Since this an EV inspired blog, wouldn't it be smart if there was a lawn service that used an EV to drive their clean lawn equipment around?

There is...and I just met them today.

The company is called Evoscape from Winter Park, FL. It was dreamed up by two brothers (Jarrett and Ardis Phillips) that have owned other lawn service companies in the past. The company has only been alive for a few months, which included 3 months for buying and configuring their equipment.

These guys did their homework.

Their "rig" caught my eye on my walk back from lunch today and I stopped to learn more about them. After giving me their "reused" business card...which was a cut up Morning Star Farms box of veggie burgers with their stamp and phone number on it...they gave me a tour of their VERY well thought out rig...

The Truck: A Chrysler GEM eL XD. They love this thing. They can get 40 miles of range with it empty, but only 25 miles with it pulling the trailer. The range isn't a big deal since their growing client base is just a few miles away.
The Trailer: This is where the magic is...

Positioned for visibility and functionality, it has three solar panels right up front. They plan to put more on top of the trailer, but having them up front is a great marketing tool...once people stop looking at the GEM.
Inside, they have a battery backed up power supply that charges the batteries used in their electric power tools (18V & 36V).

The Tools:

The mower is a converted gas mower that runs on propane (Heritage Propane did their conversion). While I don't know how clean their mower is, a mower designed with propane in mind spews 26 percent less greenhouse gases and 60 percent less carbon monoxide than a gasoline model.
The backpack Blower and Edger are also fueled by propane. These were made by a California company.
The power tools (hedge clippers, small blower, string trimmer, etc) were made by Black & Decker and Ryobi and they used Lithium Ion 18V and 36V Batteries. They keep a few battery spares in the solar powered battery chargers inside for ready use.
A small Kegerator that keeps a pony keg of organic beer ice cold to make up for the lack of air conditioning in the GEM. OK, I'm kidding about the Kegerator, but it does sound like a good idea!

Their goal is to go all electric with their rig, but until battery prices come down (and energy density goes up) enough to power energy hungry devices like mowers, edgers, and blowers...they'll be using propane.

That said, I'm thinking that in 5 years, we'll see mowers competing with cars to recharge their equipment at Charging Stations. I hope by then, the guys who started Evoscape with a dream to do lawn maintenance with a Low Carbon Footprint will be running a large operation by then.

Good luck guys, you've got a great idea!

Finally, a Commercial Charger that Captures the Cord...Thanks GE!

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:27:00 +0000

Today, one of the oldest companies in the world jumped into one of the newest "industries" - General Electric formally announced a commercial EVSE...The WattStation. GE partnered with Plug Smart (a.k.a. Juice Technologies) for the charger's "Smart Grid" intelligence.

The product is beautiful...it looks like it was designed by some ultra-creative, swiss guy...and it was! His name is Yves Behar and his firm has designed several innovative products (see video below).

Although the design is unique and looks very functional, the best part is that it captures and stores the cord in it's base. No other EVSE on the market that I know of does this...but every EVSE manufacturer I've talked to recognizes cord management to be significant issue.

Why?

Level 2 EVSE Cords are...

Long: up to 25 feet (7.62 m) long by NEC Standards. Most I've seen are about 15-18ft.
Heavy: the diameter of the cord is about 1/2 inches (12.7 mm) - you could tow a boat with these!
Dirty: after dragging the cord around your car a few times, the cord will not be something you want to touch.

After reliability, the biggest challenge to using an automated reel system to store the cord is how to address a twisted cable. If the user stores the J1772 connector into it's holster and tries to retract the cord, it would be nearly impossible for the mechanism to retract the twisted cord.

GE's approach to cord management is a vertical reel which pulls in the cord after use. This seems like a good plan since the reel is visible and minor cord tangling issues can be fixed by the user or "host" of the charging station.

Anyway, I'm surprised and impressed that one of the oldest electrical supply companies in the world came up with a design so functional and elegant. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a production version soon.

Charging for Charges, the Economics of Charging EVs

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:08:00 +0000

To charge EVs, or not to charge...that is the question for many governments and businesses today.

To answer that question requires a good understanding of the business case of charging cars. As I see it, the Benefits and Cost of charging EVs comes down to these key variables...

Benefits

Financial Benefits: Revenue from charging, Tax Credits, Rebates
Marketing Benefits: New customers, Green marketing, Employee Satisfaction
Environmental Benefits: GHG Reduction, Oil use reduction, Help with LEED Points

Cost

Capital Expenses: Chargers, Installation
O&M Expenses: Energy, Dedication of Parking Space, Maintenance, Insurance (Vandalism)

For this article, I'll focus on the 2nd most popular question customers ask me:

How much can you make from charging cars?
This depends on a few key variables, like...

How will you charge for X minutes of power?
How many charging stations do you plan to deploy?
How often will people use them?
What are the transaction rates associated with an eCommerce transaction?
How much does it cost for electricity?
Are there any subscription charges per charging station?
How fast do you plan to charge? Level 1 or Level 2 - You can find out how many miles an EV can go on an hour of charge here.

Charge Calculator
To make calculating all these variables simple, I created the spreadsheet below. You can press the "Click to Edit" and enter your own assumptions in the YELLOW CELLS. As you will soon see, you can earn some good income from charging vehicles, once the EV market matures and you have a good location.

BTW, the number one question I'm asked is: How much will it cost?...which I'll cover in future articles.

Orlando is ChargePoint America's First City to Formally Announce - 6/17/10 at 2pm

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:45:00 +0000

Orlando has the distinction of being the first city in ChargePoint America's grant roll-out to formally announce the plan to its citizens. Here's the agenda...please RSVP if you plan on coming...I'll be there!

More announcements to come...Central Florida is getting hot about EVs!

Electric Vehicle Charging Station Announcement & Ribbon Cutting

June 17 2 p.m. · Orlando City Hall Plaza

Please join us for the launch of the ChargePoint America program in Central Florida! ChargePoint America is an ambitious plan to bring necessary and needed public and home charging infrastructure for electric vehicles across the United States. Orlando will unveil the first installed charging station as a part of this program. Please join our electric vehicle friends, government officials and executives at Orlando City Hall Plaza as we officially plug in and charge up.

· City of Orlando, Mayor Buddy Dyer
· Orange County Government, Florida, Mayor Richard T. Crotty
· OUC-The Reliable One Board President, Katie Porta· Coulomb Technologies Executive Vice President, Bret Sewell· NovaCharge President, Helda Rodriguez
Featuring: Coulomb Technologies' ChargePoint® Networked Charging Station for Electric Vehicles / The smart fortwo electric drive

RSVP by Wednesday, June 16

Click to RSVP now:

Yes, I plan to attend.

About ChargePoint America

The $37 million ChargePoint America program is made possible by a $15 million grant funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the Transportation Electrification Initiative administered by the Department of Energy. ChargePoint America will provide 4,600 public and home ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations by October 2011. For more program information, visit www.chargepointamerica.com.

EVSE and LEED, Two Acronyms That Work Well Together

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 02:09:00 +0000

How can installing Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE...a.k.a. Charging Station) help a building get LEED certified?

The answer depends on whether you're talking about installing about installing at New Construction or an Existing Building.

EVSE in New Construction
In the 2009 LEED Reference Guide for New Construction, EVSE is addressed in Sustainable Sites Credit 4.3 Option 2. You can get 3 points for satisfying the requirement is to provide Alternative Fueling Stations for 3% of the parking capacity (or 3 spaces for every 100). If you would like to see a nice overview of this Credit, checkout this video from www.LEEDForContractors.com.

EVSE in Existing Buildings
In the 2009 LEED Reference Guide for Green Building Operations and Maintenance, EVSE is addressed in Sustainable Sites Credit 4.0. You can get 3-15 points for satisfying the requirement to reduce the number of commuting trips by your occupants using conventionally powered vehicles by 10-75%. This requirement requires you to survey your building's occupants to understand how much your actions have reduced commuting trips. Installing EVSE is one of the incentives the guide suggests to reduce the use of conventionally powered vehicles.

The riddle is: Why have two different requirements? Seems to me that both of these credits could be used in New AND Existing Buildings. Anyone got an answer?

EVs will Fail in the Marketplace!

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:26:00 +0000

I recently read a great article on BNET from Jim Motavalli that covers a negative view of the success of EVs. I think it's great to read and consider the dissenting opinion as it helps those of us trying to make EVs succeed...besides, no one really knows what will happen...we just have educated guesses. You can read Jim's article below...and make sure to check out the linked article.

I ultimately think EVs will take over most of the light duty vehicles because of their efficiency (esp. less waste due to heat), fuel prices (only going up), and their superior management of energy (regen braking, idle). Batteries are just on Version 1 and they will get better due to the immense amount of R&D they are getting and the ultimate upside potential of the killer chemistry.

An announcement that gave me LOTS of hope about EVs was the Nissan Leaf's price...and the assumptions that they were able to get the price of their battery pack to less than $400/KWH big bright spot on EVs biggest announcement. Previously, the conventional wisdom was that new generation Lithium Ion EV batteries were going to cost $900/KWH+. The fact that Nissan/NEC has figured out how to make their Lithium Ion Spinel batteries this cheap is a huge accomplishment and stake in the ground for EV batteries.

I think the EVs growth is tied to gas prices...the more they go up, the more EVs will be sold. For each event that causes petroleum prices to spike (hurricanes, wars, spills, mid-east troubles, etc.), we'll see short term growth spurts like we saw with Prius adoption in the 2000s. I graphed this relationship back in September 09: http://www.pluginrecharge.com/2009/09/gas-prices-key-incentive-to-go-electric.html

There has been some false starts with EVs, but I think the battery technology is finally good enough so that drivers don't have to give up much to switch.

EVs Will Fail in the Marketplace, Says a Battery Insider
By Jim Motavalli | May 12, 2010

http://industry.bnet.com/auto/10004948/a-battery-car-insider-offers-negative-prospects/

The debate about battery cars should be a big tent, with room for plenty of contrary opinions. I believe in giving these folks a say, even if think they’re off base. My own views are sharply different, and much more sanguine about the plug-in future. Yesterday, I looked at some very negative conclusions from Janney Capital Markets. Today, I’ve got some fresh perspective from Menahem Anderman of Advanced Automotive Batteries, a longtime insider who’s even more critical, and very specific about EVs not being ready for prime time.

I’m willing to meet the critics halfway: Yes, EVs remain expensive and give consumers range anxiety with 100 miles between charges. But the confluence of global warming and peak oil means these clean cars are already on a glide path to replace the storied gasoline engine, though there will be slow, halting progress.
The skeptics have a useful role in calming irrational exuberance at this early stage. I’ve had advocates tell me that internal-combustion will be gone from the world’s roads by 2020, and believe me, that isn’t going to happen.

I’m also a bit dubious about some of the more outlandish claims for EV’s economic benefits. The Electrification Coalition said in a recent report that EVs could create 1.9 million jobs by 2030, at which time the average household would spend $3,687 less on energy for transportation. That’s a big conclusion for a technology that right now is much more expensive than internal combustion.
Sometimes skepticism arises in unlikely places. Anderman is a respected figure in the electric vehicle space. He’s been a consultant to the industry for 27 years, testifies in Congress, publishes regular multi-client assessment reports and organizes an annual auto battery conference, which happens to be in Orlando this year, from May 17 to 21.

One might expect such an insider to be a cheerleader for EVs, but in fact he’s been a longtime skeptic of their prospects. For at least 10 years, he’s expressed doubts about plug-in hybrids and anything else with advanced batteries under the hood. In 2003, he expressed a low opinion of then-evolving battery technology to California’s Air Resources Board, and in 2007 he told the Society of Automotive Engineers, “The reliability of lithium-ion technology for automotive applications is not proven.”

He’s particularly negative about the viability of EV batteries, expressing doubt that costs will come down below $400 a kilowatt hour anytime soon. In an interview Monday, Anderman compared the fuel savings of the forthcoming Nissan Leaf with an off-the-shelf Toyota Prius and found the plug-in car wanting.
The Leaf’s battery, he said, will cost $16,000 to $20,000. Even if the Leaf is produced in volumes of 200,000 or more, Anderman concludes, the battery will still cost $9,000. All this, he said, to produce a car that, when the different power sources are compared, only saves $400 in fuel costs annually over the Prius. “In five years, you save $1,500, which isn’t even enough to pay for the charger, let alone the $20,000 battery,” he said.

Anderman recently visited China’s ambitious BYD (which seeks to be the world’s largest automaker, and has a Warren Buffett investment to give it credibility). He took a look at the company’s E6, which is a battery car allegedly headed for the U.S. market. “This is not a car U.S. consumers would buy,” he said. He also encountered the company’s F3DM, the first plug-in hybrid on the world market, and found that noisy and not up to western standards.

The forthcoming gas-electric Chevy Volt is better than the Leaf in terms of utility, Anderman said, but “the main compromise is that the Volt is a very, very expensive car. The annual fuel savings compared to the Prius are in the range of $200 a year, and you still have a $9,000 battery. But because the government is willing to pay to build the plant and build the battery pack, as well as subsidizing purchases by $7,500 [an income tax credit], the consumer gets a vehicle they can drive. But financially it doesn’t make sense.”

Anderman’s point, much like Janney Capital’s, is that early EVs will be expensive and not a good bet for consumers. That’s true as far as it goes, but it’s also true that many will be subsidized (a Leaf will be a very affordable $20,000 in California). And continuing battery research and development seems a much better bet than toasting the planet with the smoke from hundreds of millions of tailpipes.

Photo: Advanced Automotive Batteries

Jim Motavalli is the author of Forward Drive: The Race to Build Clean Cars for the Future, among other books. He has been covering the environmental side of the auto industry for more than a decade, and writes regularly on those topics for the New York Times.

Electric sex on wheels: The Fisker Karma

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Mon, 31 May 2010 23:28:00 +0000

On May 17th, the Fisker Karma made it's way to Orlando on it's nationwide tour. The car was at Fields BMW in Winter Park for 2 hours to let people have a look at this gorgeous EV.

Spectators were able to get in and around the car without limit, kinda nice considering this prototype is two of a kind in the world. However, it was at a posh BMW dealership, everyone was dressed up, and there was champagne flowing...so the biggest risk was a spilled drink..

The car was beautiful...inside and out. Here are some noteworthy tidbits that I learned...

The trim and leatherwork are very well done...lots of attention to detail! Beautiful!
It has two fuel filler doors on each side of the car on the rear quarter panels...electrons on the left and gas on the right.
The car was driven into the showroom before the event, but we didn't see it move or run.
The exhaust pipe seems to be behind the diamond shaped ports on the lower bumper.
The legroom in the back seat is a bit tight for me (kinda like a flight on Delta), but I'm 6'2". Up front there's lots of room.
You can tell where they put the batteries...there's quite a wall down the center of the car.
The trunk holds two golf bags
The analog looking "gauges" are actually LCD screens
There are two flapper switches on the steering wheel...one sez "Sport" and one sez "Hill". I'm guessing the Hill switch is like the Volt's Mountain setting?
The center console information panel was in demo mode...showing that you could control climate, radio, GPS and get info.
I still don't know what the solar panels on the roof do...help with A/C or charge batteries?

I expected to see more enthusiast at the event. While there were people checking the car out, several of the people I talked to were checking out their $1.5M investment into Fisker. While this was surprising, the clincher was that the majority of these people were over 65...making it very cool that people in their conservative age would put down that much cash on a new type of car from a new car company.

One of the investors was a elderly lady that was asking salesperson good questions on every detail of the car...it was impressive...and she was impressed with her investment.

Overall, I was also very impressed with the look and feel of the car. It's by far one of the best looking cars I've seen. The best part is that it's built upon one of the smartest hybrid platforms in development (series hybrid). If it drives and handles as good as it looks, these investors should be quite happy.

EV Automakers: Can you standardize on where we'll plug-in your cars?

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Mon, 31 May 2010 22:07:00 +0000

Dear EV Automakers,

Thanks so much for standardizing on the plugset for charging the new electric vehicles...but now could you standardize on WHERE you put the charge receptacle on the car?

Why? Because it will make it easier to standardize on where we install the chargers (EVSE). This might sound like a trivial gripe, but people will likely be charging their car EVERY day...so a small inconvenience will become a big one over time....kinda like pulling up to the gas pump on the wrong side because you drove someone elses car.

Of the EVs that will be released this year, they all have different places where you plug them in. For instance...

The Nissan Leaf's receptacles (J1772 and JERI) is directly in front of the car. (first picture)
The Mitsubishi iMEV's receptacles are located on the right (JERI) and left (J1772) side quarter panels near the back of the car. (which is 3 feet from the front :-) (second picture)
The Chevy Volt's charge receptacle is located on the right front quarter panel below the mirror. (third picture)
The Fisker Karma's charge receptacle is located on the back of the left quarter panel. (forth picture)
The Ford Escape's charge receptacle is located on the right front quarter panel below the mirror. (fifth picture)
...and the Tesla Roadster is located amidships on the left.

Crazy eh?

If I were king, I'd follow the Nissan Leaf's up front placement since it's close to the front of the car...and near a curb mounted or front-of-the-garage mounted EVSE.

Without standardization of the charge receptacle to a convenient location on the car, here's what we're facing...

Tripping hazards! The farther the distance, the greater the chance.
The convenient location you installed the expensive Level 2 charger in your garage will likely be in the wrong place when you buy a new car.
People (in nice clothes) will be uncoiling/coiling/dragging around 15+' of cable every time they plug in.
Cordsets will get more wear for EVs that have mid and rear mounted charge receptacles...requiring more frequent replacement.

While I can understand why petrol filler doors are not standardized (few places to route big hoses carrying explosive fuel), but this isn't the case with electricity...you can place these almost anywhere that looks good.

Can you guys get together and figure out a good placement that makes plugging in easy and convenient?

Thanks,
Mark

UCF's New Solar Powered Charging Station is a "Test Mule" in Disguise

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Sun, 16 May 2010 23:50:00 +0000

Update: This project was featured in the cover story in the Electrical Construction & Maintenance (EC&M) Trade Magazine - Click here to read.

I recently finished a Case Study for Palmer Electric in Winter Park, Florida on the largest Solar Powered EV Charging Station in Central Florida...and it might the largest in the Florida. But this station is much more than it appears, as it's actually a "test mule" to allow the University to test new technology that will make the process of charging EVs from Solar more efficient.

The University of Central Florida's College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (my alma mater) is working on new technology to increase the efficiency of power conversions...specifically DC-DC power conversions. The big idea is to make the conversion from photons (sunlight) to EV powering electrons much more efficient...like 2x more efficient.

Today, the normal process is to convert the Direct Current (DC) from Solar Panels to Alternating Current (AC) using an inverter, which loses about 5% in the process. Then this AC is converted by your EV back to DC to charge the batteries...again losing about 5% in the process.

Drs. Issa Batarseh and John Shen believe they can reduce this 10% conversion loss to about 5% percent with their DC-DC conversion technology...and to facilitate Vehicle to Grid (V2G) power swaps in the future.

This technology relies on using a DC charge port like the JARI connector that is installed on Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) like the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi iMEV. Once the SAE decides on a standardized receptacle for DC charging (like the J1772 for AC charging), we'll see more usage of DC charge ports on cars...since fast charging these vehicles will be increasingly important going forward.

You can find the entire case study here: http://www.palmer-electric.com/services/sfa-grn-ev.html

Nissan Leaf...Reserved! Now for a dose of Range Reality

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:00:00 +0000

I did it...for $99, I reserved my place in history.

We're at T-Minus 7 Months before electric Leafs start to fall in Orlando, Florida...and one of them will be mine.

It took me 5 minutes to complete the reservation process...which started with an overview video describing the process...and ending with my Visa card number. The only thing I missed was getting a receipt mailed to me, but I suspect that's a glitch.

As someone who is in the EV infrastructure business, it will be a good test to live with range anxiety first-hand. This way, I can understand what it's like living with a car that only has a 100 mile range in city that isn't exactly what you would call "compact".

From my home in Lake Mary, FL, it's 40 miles to the airport, 45 miles to Disney, 25 miles to downtown, and 21 miles to the University of Central Florida...so the scary trips are to the Airport and Disney since I'd only have a 15-20 mile range margin if I could not get a charge at my destination.

I've already talked to the Facilities director at the Orlando Airport and they are interested in being ready for EVs this year (I present my formal plan to them on 4/30). Since a trip to the airport for a flight lasts a minimum of 12 hours, it is more than enough time for a full charge at Level 1...so I'm not too worried about trips to the Airport at this point.

Trips to the Disney area might be more challenging since I don't know their EVSE plan (yet!)...but they ARE Disney (usually progressive)...which means they probably will install EVSE before the end of the year. Given that the 45 mile trip would use half my range, I would need access to a Level 2 EVSE for an hour to get me home with a comfortable margin of range. This would add approx 27 miles to my range (using the EV Charge Calculator that I built) which would leave me with 40 miles of range when I arrived home.

Since I have no clue how much battery life the A/C, lights, and wipers will use on a typical Florida afternoon thunderstorm, more leftover range is better until the unknowns are known. But I suspect that I'll start shaving that overage down as I get used to owning an EV...I can't wait!

Nissan Leaf Website: http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car
Nissan Leaf Press release with prices and options: http://www.insideline.com/nissan/leaf/2011/2011-nissan-leaf-pricing-purchase-options-released.html

28 Minutes with Felix Kramer

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:00:00 +0000

To me, Felix Kramer is the Yoda of the modern day push for Electric Vehicles...and I mean this in a good way. While he's not 3ft tall and doesn't have big ears, he is a bit nerdy and has been a passionate and rational champion of EVs throughout the 2000s since he started CalCars in 2002.

CalCars created the first Prius Plugin conversion in 2004 and with that he became the "world's first non-technical consumer owner" of a PHEV. Since then, he's been advising and speaking about EVs...pushing their adoption as a viable path to energy independence, cheaper transportation, and especially a big way forward to curbing climate change.

In this 28 minute interview from BigThink, Felix addresses topics like...

How will a cleaner electric grid make cars cleaner?
How can business and government work together to allow for this to happen?
How efficient is the electrical production of energy?
Are there any fears that the lithium used to create so many batteries is an unsustainable resource?
Do you think America can lead the transition to electric cars?
Which countries are currently leading in this field?
How can we overcome the huge costs of creating sustainable energy is America?

To read more about Felix Kramer and Calcars, visit these links:

Black & Veatch Survey on the state of the US Electric Industry

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:26:00 +0000

Have you wondered how US Electric Utilities feel about Cap & Trade, where they need to invest, and what keeps them up at night? Wonder no more...

Black & Veatch, a 95 year old Energy Consulting Group, recently released their 4th annual Strategic Directions in the Electric Utility Industry Survey. To get the data, they surveyed 329 utility industry representatives from public (78 respondents) and investor-owned (147 respondents) utilities as well as 104 architects, builders, engineers, non-regulated generators, financial institutions, attorneys and others affiliated with the industry.

I've included some of the findings of the report below, but it only scratches the surface of the full report that you can download free from their website: http://www.bv.com/energysurvey.- it's worth the read.

Here are the top 10 Insights from the report...

Energy industry participants rate their top three concerns as reliability (old equipment and workforce), regulation (how will the carbon be regulated) and long-term investment (economic climate preventing rate increases).
Many utilities rate their generation assets as near, at or passed planned service life.
Survey respondents believe there remains a future for coal in U.S. power generation.
Utilities perceive nuclear technology as the best technology for meeting environmental standards.
Utilities expect nuclear power will play a larger role in the U.S. electricity mix by 2050.
Utilities are investing in renewable energy with wind and solar leading the way.
Carbon legislation and water supply are the most pressing environmental concerns for utilities.
Most utilities believe that some type of carbon legislation will be approved at the national level by no later than 2012.
Survey participants do not favor the cap-and-trade approach as specified in current legislation.
If cap-and-trade legislation approved by the U.S. House in June 2009 is enacted, a plurality of survey respondents believe it will add between $500 and $1000 to the average homeowner’s annual energy expense by 2015.

Here's a concise list of insights into other forces that are influencing the industry (page 18)...

Consistent with trends in general public opinion (as reported by respected public opinion polls), the respondents seemed a bit more reserved this year than last on whether global warming is man-made, and if carbon legislation would be passed anytime soon. Fifty-two percent of the respondents believed that the country can ill afford carbon legislation, while only 28% felt otherwise.
Just less than two thirds of our respondents expect cap and trade legislation to result in increases in annual residential electricity bills of over $500; 25% expect the impact to exceed $1,000. This is roughly consistent with recent Department of Energy projections.
Thirty percent regarded generation as the asset class most in need of replacement. However, running a very close second place – at 28% - was information technology (IT), no doubt reflecting the priorities created by the Smart Grid and the need for improved cyber security.
Computers and networks were regarded as the asset classes most at risk of harm by outside forces, such as acts of terrorism and cyber attack, up from last place in 2006, the first year of our survey.
No doubt reflecting concerns about the security of assets, respondents expect the cost of complying with Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) security standards to increase significantly. Approximately 60% of the IOU and public power respondents expect cost increases of over 10%; over 30% of respondents expect increases greater than 20%. By contrast, in 2006 – the first year of our survey – only 34% were concerned about cost increases greater than 10%.
Respondents believe that regulation is by far the strongest driver of new technology implementation. IOUs think government incentives – inspired no doubt by the federal stimulus program in the Smart Grid and renewable supply arenas - are the second most important driver, while public power systems see customer-focused initiatives as number two. Ironically, IOUs –which in many cases have open retail access – rank customer-focused initiatives as the fourth most important driver. Industry R&D ranks last for both IOUs and public power systems.
DSM and Energy Efficiency programs continued to grow in size and scope. More than 50% of our respondents indicated they were spending 2% or more of gross revenues on such programs. This equates to IOU expenditures of between $5 billion to $6 billion annually - roughly 15% to 20% of before-tax-earnings. DSM and Energy Efficiency spending by public power entities is up as well. New expenditures for Smart Grid applications by both IOUs and public power systems would be in addition to this.
Respondents expect load and revenue growth to recover as the Great Recession unwinds, but at rates below pre-recession levels.
Renewables appear promising. We know that while still somewhat expensive, the costs of renewables are declining and beginning to close the gap with the costs of more traditional generation. However, the respondents identified two major challenges: (1) the cost of wholesale power and other competitive options relative to the present cost of renewable technology; and (2) interconnection and transmission capacity issues, including the management of intermittent power.
As in 2008, ALL respondents ranked carbon emissions and water supply as the first and second top environmental concerns. This year, mercury replaced nitrogen oxides as number three.
Respondents continue to believe that the industry should place its emphasis on nuclear power as the most environmentally friendly technology for the future.
A large majority of respondents do not buy into the notion that the future of the industry is a highly dispersed generation model. They see, instead, an evolution towards a hybrid of central and dispersed electricity production systems by 2015.

Link to the full report: http://www.bv.com/energysurvey

Wanna buy an Electric Vehicle with 100 mile range, battery swap ready, and just $1000?

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:04:00 +0000

Wanna buy an Electric Vehicle with 100 mile range, battery swap ready, and just $1000?

You're 90 years too late.

I had the opportunity to ride in (and drive!) Tom Henry's 1920 Milburn, one of the first vehicles that women could drive because you didn't have to start your car using a hand crank. While it may seem so foriegn to us now, most cars didn't have an engine that you could start electrically until 1926 (that's when the Model T got electric start as standard equipment). If you didn't start a hand cranked car correctly, it might cause a "kick back" which can make a mess out of you. If you've ever started an old Huskavarna motorcycle, you might know the pain.

The Milburn is simple, pragmatic, and humble looking...it was all about utility...

The interior is open...I mean WIDE open...like there's NOTHING in the middle of the interior except for the petals for the parking and standard brake right in front of the bench seat in the back of the car. The seating arraingement is 2 people in the back (including the driver on the left) and two in fold down jump seats in the front. It's very easy to get around inside, but not too safe given the driver is could be surrounded by passengers,
Swappable Batteries. Under the hood and trunk lid, there are battery trays in the front and bank of the car which can be slid out to swap the batteries. If you want to charge the car, there was also a DC charge port on the back of the car...but that's not used anymore since someone installed an onboard AC charger.

100 Mile range. A rack of lead acid batteries would get the car 100 miles down the road. At a top speed of 20mph, that would be a 5 hour trip. Does it seem odd that 100miles was the range of electric vehicle then...and now? 100 miles is the range of the new Nissan Leaf EV and Ford Focus EV.
Less Maintenance. There's not much to the car...suspension, brakes, motor, batteries, lights, and a dry place to sit. No gas powered motors, radiators, oil changes, belt changes, tune ups...all the maintenance stuff that sucks about owning a car. EVs were a good idea then and a better idea now for many of the same reasons...and now there's the added benefits of aiding climate change and easing our reliance on foreign oil.

The funkiest thing about the Milburn is how you drive it...it doesn't have a steering wheel! Instead, there are two bars you lower over your lap that control the direction (right hand) and speed (left hand). On the floor are two petals for the parking brake (left) and standard brake (right). If you watch the video, you can see how it works.

Even back then, Electric Vehicles came at a premium price because of their low volumes...with the Milburn setting you back $1,000+ when Model Ts sold for $250. Oddly enough, General Motors ended up killing the electric Milburn once they bought the company after 1923...which means that they killed two electric cars in their history once you include the EV1 in 1999. If you want to learn more about the Milburn and find out who owns one near you, check out the Milburn fan site.

The owner this very well preserved Milburn is Tom Henry. Tom is a 72 year old electrician-turned-educator who owns Tom Henry's Code Electrical Classes which has taught over 28,000 people since he opened in 1982. Over the years, he's owned several vintage cars, including 16 Model T's he recently parted with to expand his business into teaching solar courses. Tom kept the Milburn since, in his own words: I'm an electrician, I figured I needed to have an electric car!

Frost & Sullivan offers new research into the mind of an early adopter of Electric Vehicles

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:33:00 +0000

In Q4 last year, Frost & Sullivan interviewed 1770 people across the United States about their interest in Electric Vehicles. Today, the analyst company released the findings of the survey in a presentation called...

Automakers Braving to Launch Electric Vehicles to Skeptic U.S. Consumers -Who will be the Early Adopters, and will their Needs and Expectations be Met?

It was presented by...

Veerender Kaul, Research Director, Automotive & Transportation, North America
Michael Coury, Vice President, Customer Research, North America

The 45 minute briefing covered some highlights from the insights they gained from the survey. If you haven't attended a Frost & Sullivan briefing, you should...they're always insightful. Here's a link to the briefing: http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/analyst-briefing-detail.pag?mode=open&sid=191240672

Here's some highlights from their highlights of the report...

Demographics, needs, and wants

The Target "Very Interested" Early Adopter (12% of respondents): 18-45 male with a college degree in the suburbs that owns a single family home, makes $80K+ and has kids. However, most broad categories of potential buyers are likely to be 36-45 year old females living in the suburbs and are environmentally conscious.
97% of owners park their car in same location everyday, of which 74% live in homes, 10% in apartments, and 16% in condominium or town homes. Average parking time during weekday is: 12.8 hrs. at home, 4.9 hrs. at work and 2.7 hrs. at other places.
Average weekday driving distance is 43.5 mi and weekend distance 57.5 mi.
The more people learned about EVs during the taking of the Frost & Sullivan survey, the more they liked them...from 25% to 50%. This might show that don't understand the benefits of EVs today. However, this number reversed when they were presented with the costs.
Range anxiety is a serious impediment to the adoption of EVs. E-REVS and PHEVs will be overwhelmingly favored.
Customers are more likely to purchase Hybrid, then Range Extended (Volt), then PHEV, then EV (smallest niche)
Development of a public charging infrastructure is critical -mitigates range anxiety, enable optimization of driving range, and reduce vehicle cost.

Vehicle characteristics

Acceptable price for an EV: $33K
2015 demand for EVs based on performance criteria ~2.3M...but analyst said that he thinks that it's more likely that 750K-1M will be actually purchased.
Charging time didn't seem to make a big difference to the respondent (30m to 8h)...but 4 hours was preferred. I'm thinking that customers didn't understand the impact of the question.
Roadside Assistance and Telematics and LBS services are “a must have” feature for EVs. Must be provided standard.
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. Interesting idea given that most automakers have existing relationships with rental car companies.

Information like this helps us target our efforts this year as we Get Ready for EVs in Central Florida.

Comparing the Energy Efficiency of a Gas Powered Vehicle to an EV

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:43:00 +0000

The goal of transportation is get something from Point A to Point B as efficiently as possible. If you take your car as an example, all you really want it to do is get you from your home to work...comfortably. If you had a choice, you probably wouldn't choose to waste money heating the engine up to 220F degrees or to keep the engine quiet while it silences the millions of explosions your car makes. You also probably would pass on the hundreds of pounds of cooling equipment to keep the engine from overheating either..that's all waste when your goal is just to move something.

I thought it would be interesting to find a report comparing the difference between the efficiency of a vehicle powered by an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and an Electric Motor...but I couldn't find one.

I've known from DOEs site that ICE engines only get about 15% of the power down to the wheels...while EV's convert about 75% of the battery's energy to the wheels. This is a HUGE difference, but I was wanting to see a breakdown of how they got this number.

Then I found the above graphic on DOEs site under the Energy Requirements menu. This breaks things down nicely, but there's no comparison to EVs...so I made a SWAG at from other data I could find and filled in the table below.

	Internal Combustion Engine Losses	Electric Drive Losses	Notes
Energy In	100%	100%	Fuel or Electricity
Engine Losses (friction, heat, charge)	-62.4%	-15%	10% for motor and 5% for power management.
Standby/Idle	-17.2%	0%	Electric Motors use nothing at 0mph
Accessories (A/C, Heater, etc.)	-2.2%	-3%	I assumed higher because of cabin heat is more expensive in an Electric Vehicle
Driveline Losses	-5.6%	-2%	Most EVs that I know of have no transmission which makes driveline losses much less
Aerodynamic/ Tire/Weight Losses	-5.8%	-5.8%	Kept it same because of battery weight offset, but EVs should be lighter in future.
Total Available Energy for Acceleration	6.8%	74.2%	EVs have 67.4% more energy available to move the vehicle than ICE powered vehicles...that's a HUGE difference in Efficiency!

So there you are, an unvalidated breakdown of how EVs are much more efficient than ICE vehicles...it's really all about wasted heat. Once the new EVs hit the street later this year, maybe someone will actually compare two similar cars (like a Nissan Versa and a Nissan Leaf) and we can see how close these guesses are to reality.

Given the fact that petroleum is only going to become more scarce in the future, it's only sensible to use this resource more efficiently as time goes on...and using it in ICE powered vehicles is a waste compared to EVs!

Get Ready Central Florida! Orlando is officially an early adopter of EVs

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:50:00 +0000

It's official, the Central Florida area (Orlando) will be an Early Adopter of EVs!

On February 2nd, we had a double header event which was officiated by the Mayor of Orange County, Richard Crotty, the Mayor of Orlando, Buddy Dyer, Nissan's Tracy Woodard, OUC's Byron Knibbs, and Progress Energy's Rob Caldwell. Here's what was announced...

Orlando becomes a Partner City for RMI's Project Get Ready. We join 6 other cities that have been working with the Rocky Mountain Institute to get ready for electric vehicles. You can think of RMI's Project Get Ready as a recipe for how to rollout EV infrastructure in a given metro area. This recipe was created by RMI by talking to Govs, Vendors, Utilities, and Auto Manufactures and learning from past mistakes of prior EV launches in the 90s. This relationship also gets us access to all of this experience when we want too. Here's the website for "Get Ready Central Florida".
Orlando becomes one of the Early Adopter cities for the Nissan Leaf. We join just 20 other cities that will be selling the Nissan Leaf this year. Together with the Project Get Ready initiative, we'll be working with Nissan to prepare Central Florida for the Leaf. You can read the details of this relationship below in the press release below.

The ceremony was at the Jefferson Street Parking Garage in Downtown Orlando...and although it's not the swankest place to have a ceremony, it worked out good because it was raining that day and no one had to get out in the weather to attend. The other reason to have it there was that the test cars are not street legal.

Centerstage was the "pretty" Nissan Leaf...the one that looks close to the final production version. There's only 2 of these on Earth now. The Leaf is very smart looking both inside and out and has a good amount of room inside. The instrument cluster is clean, easy to see, and "space age" - it reminds me of the bridge on Star Trek, The Next Generation. As a Carrot to get you to drive efficiently, you'll get little Tree icons when you drive sanely...and you'll hear a sawmill if you drive aggressively...just kidding about the sawmill.

After the ceremony, we were offered to drive the Leaf's ugly brother...the "mule". This version of the car is a Nissan Versa with the powertrain and battery which is close to the final production version. For my quick lap around the garage, the car accelerated great and I didn't notice any weirdness in the transition between regenerative and real breaking. The powertrain was very responsive and "snappy"...I'm looking forward to the real deal.

A couple of tidbits that I picked up from the Leaf's handlers are...

Nissan will NOT be offering to lease the batteries if you buy the car...and Mitsubishi announced the same a few days ago. I think this is a good move as you can lease the whole car anyway...which is what I would do if I were worried about battery life.
For the longest battery life, you should let the batteries deplete until a 30% State Of Charge and then charge them up to 80% SOC. You can program the car to only charge it up to 80% if you want...and this upper limit is preset when you use the Level 3 Fast Charger to manage the intense heat that is created during fast charging. Now we just need some time on the batteries to know HOW much longer the life will be if you follow different charge patterns. I'm thinking most people will just charge it 100% and charge it again when they get home no matter what the SOC.

I've been on the Steering Committee with "Get Ready Central Florida" since October 09 and I'm really excited about the future of EVs in Orlando. We've got the commitment from several key stakeholder groups (Gov't, Utilities, & Car Companies) and the group works well together. We're gearing up now to fill out our working groups with stakeholders in the community and we're planning some new events with other automakers...this will be fun!

As a Floridian, I've always been jealous of the progressive EV initiatives on the West Coast. However, after today, I don't have to be so jealous anymore.

If you would like a presentation made to your group on the topic of EV infrastructure, just shoot me an email via my About page.

See the Nissan-Orlando press release below...

Renault-Nissan Alliance Forms Zero-Emission Vehicle Partnership with City of Orlando

Download image

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The Renault-Nissan Alliance today announced that Nissan is entering into an agreement with the City of Orlando and the Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) to advance zero-emission mobility in the Orlando area by promoting the development of an electric-vehicle charging network and policies to support widespread adoptions of electric cars. The announcement, made at the Orlando stop of the Nissan LEAF Zero Emissions Tour, helps pave the way for the 2010 introduction of Nissan LEAF, the industry's first all-electric, zero-emission car designed for the mass market.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080506/NISSANWORDMARKLOGO )
"The Renault-Nissan Alliance has committed to becoming a global leader in zero emissions," said Carlos Tavares, Chairman, Nissan Americas. "Nissan and the City of Orlando share the vision that zero-emissions mobility is the ultimate solution for addressing questions of climate change and energy independence. We are looking forward to bringing the Nissan LEAF, the only mass-marketed, all-electric zero-emission car, to Orlando."

As part of the agreement, Nissan and the City of Orlando, along with OUC, will develop plans to promote a charging infrastructure for electric cars that encourages home and workplace charging, as well as a public charging infrastructure. The partners will work to coordinate the establishment of policies and help streamline charging infrastructure deployment. Nissan also has agreed to make available a supply of electric vehicles to the City of Orlando and in and around the metropolitan area and Orange County, Fla. The City of Orlando has a goal to foster electrification as part of its Green Works Orlando Initiative.

"This partnership is a continuation of the City of Orlando's commitment to cleaner, more sustainable transportation options – building on the recent approval of the commuter rail and high-speed rail funding, plans to expand the downtown bus system, expanded bicycle infrastructure throughout the city and converting the city fleet to more efficient models," said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.

OUC has been working towards helping Central Florida become plug-in ready, and recently installed two charging stations in downtown Orlando, one of which is solar powered. OUC has committed to the purchase of up to 10 Nissan LEAF units to be used in its fleet for service calls and educational purposes.
"OUC is dedicated to embracing fuel efficient technology like the Nissan LEAF and helping develop the infrastructure necessary to support it," said Byron Knibbs, OUC Vice President of Sustainable Services. "We are proud to be part of this community-wide effort to stay ahead of the curve."

Nissan, along with alliance partner Renault, is the only automaker committed to making all-electric vehicles available to the mass market on a global scale. Nissan LEAF, a five-passenger all-electric car, will be available for private and fleet customers. It is being launched in the U.S., Japan and Europe in late 2010.
Nissan has spearheaded a holistic approach to zero-emission mobility by working with states, municipalities, utility companies and other partners, to prepare markets and infrastructure. Nissan has formed more than a dozen partnerships in the United States, in areas including State of Tennessee, the State of Oregon, Sonoma County, San Diego and San Francisco in California, Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., Washington D.C., Seattle, with Progress Energy in Raleigh, N.C., and with Houston-based Reliant Energy. Nissan also is working with AeroVironment for the supply and installation of home charging stations, creating a one-stop shop for the Nissan LEAF and its charging equipment.

Through the 24-city Nissan LEAF Zero-Emission Tour, which stopped in Orlando today, Nissan has been showcasing the electric vehicle and battery technology as well as the company's zero-emission mobility objectives.

Nissan North America
In North America, Nissan's operations include automotive design, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program 2010, whose key priorities are reducing CO2 emissions, cutting other emissions and increasing recycling. More information on the Nissan LEAF and zero-emission mobility can be found at www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car.

Renault-Nissan Alliance
The Renault-Nissan Alliance has begun zero-emission vehicle initiatives in Kanagawa Prefecture and Yokohama in Japan, as well as in Mexico, Israel, Denmark, Portugal, Monaco, the UK, France, Switzerland, Ireland, China and Hong Kong. The Renault-Nissan Alliance, founded in 1999, sold 6,090,304 vehicles in 2008. The objective of the Alliance is to rank among the world's top three vehicle manufacturers in terms of quality, technology and profitability.

Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/renault-nissan-alliance-forms-zero-emission-vehicle-partnership-with-city-of-orlando-83360822.html
www.nissannews.com

AeroVironment gearing up for Nissan Leaf charger installs via certified electrician program

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:19:00 +0000

AeroVironment recently partnered with Nissan to supply and install home chargers for customers that purchase the Leaf. To install these things on a nationwide basis, AeroVironment plans to partner, train, and certify with electrical contractors so they know how to properly install and maintain them. From looking at their careers page, they are preparing for this program now. Electrical contracting companies wanting to enter the EV charge market should probably contact them soon to see about entering this program.

AeroVironment recently posted an impressive video on their website which walks you through a customer experience on getting a charger installed. It's worth a watch...

AeroVironment GoEV Website

Image and Video Source: AeroVironment

A Quick Look at Fast Charging for Electric Vehicles

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:42:00 +0000

The smartest and cheapest way to charge your electric vehicle is at night and "slowly" (>4 hours), but when you need to travel cross country, you NEED to charge up FAST (<15 min).

Fast charging is also known as Level 3 charging, and the NEC defines it as 480V AC Input at 400 Amps...or 192KW. Since most U.S. Homes only have a 200 Amp service to power the whole home, you won't be finding these in average homes.

In the near future (2011), you'll start to find Level 3 chargers in three primary places...

On or near Interstates, Turnpikes, and other major roads
In the service depots for organizations that have fleets of Electric Vehicles
On the backs of trailers that will come to your car in case you "ran dry"...or to charge the cars of evacuees as they flee a city in case of emergency (hurricanes!)

So why wouldn't you want to charge at Level 3 all the time? Two reasons...

Heat: The act of charging or discharging a battery creates heat. The faster you charge/discharge, the faster you create heat. Typically, the higher the temperature in the battery, the faster the battery will "wear out" or become damaged. That said, it's better to charge slower to get the greatest life out of your battery.
Energy Cost: Over the next decade, we will see more use of "Time of Use" (TOU) rates from our utility companies. TOU ratings adjust the price of electricity during the day...which can vary from 8 cents/hour at night to 30 cents/hour during the day if you're in some parts of California. TOU rates will incent us from charging during the day when electricity is most expensive and in the highest demand.

Unlike Level 1 or 2 charging, Level 3 chargers will use Direct Current (DC) to charge the batteries...which store electricity as DC anyway. Why? Given the high currents that the Level 3 chargers operate at (400 amps), the inverter (the device that converts AC to DC) must be large and heavy...and you don't want excess weight in your car.

So, who makes Level 3 Chargers?

AeroVironment has been making fast chargers for electric vehicles and fork lifts for years...along with HUGE chargers for the military...like this 800V 999A fast charger: http://gas2.org/2009/08/04/aerovironment-unveils-800kw-ev-charger/
eTec also has a long history of making chargers for EVs and industry. As part of their DOE Grant financed partnership with Nissan, they will be installing 260 Level 3 chargers in 5 states starting 2010.
Aker Wade recently announced a partnership with Coulomb to build Level 3 chargers for them. This allows Level 3 charging to be packaged up for sale on Coulomb's subscription based network of chargers.

The big challenges for Level 3 chargers are...

No Charging Standard: The closest thing out there being adopted by several automakers is the JARI Level 3 DC Connector that is being used in the TEPCO Level 3 Charging Spec.

TEPCO Level III Specs

Switching type, constant current power supply
Input: 3-phase 200V (200~430V)
Output power: 50 kW (10~100kW)
Max DC output Voltage: 500V
Output current: 125A (20~200A)
JARI Level 3 DC Connector
EV ECU determines optimal current; charger supplies current based on order from EV ECU

Unknown effect on Battery Life: Batteries used in the new cars haven't had enough miles on them to know how charging will affect battery life...and long battery life is critical to the success of EVs.
Cost: Level 3 chargers...and especially the electrical service to power them, will not be cheap. The estimated prices I've seen range from $30K-160K. These costs will be passed on to you...just like you've been paying at petrol gas station pumps.
Grid Impacts: The second you hit the GO button on a Level 3 charger, a massive amount of power moves from the grid to your battery very quickly...thereby creating a short term peak in demand for 15-30 min and then it turns off. The impact to the utility is that they have to manage these peaks when potentially several Level 3 chargers are working in a cluster. Stakeholders and utilities are starting to discuss how to manage this demand (and risk to local grid reliability) by considering regulation.

Finally, the long waited "filler hose" for Electric Vehicles has been approved by SAE

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:42:00 +0000

The "filler hose" thingy (see picture at right) that will be on the end of most charging stations was finally approved by the Society of Automobile Engineers (SAE)! This device will make it simple and especially safer for you to charge your new electric vehicle.

This is a very important step the evolution of Electric Vehicles as this will be the standard connector that new vehicles will use. Today, each manufacturer uses the plug system that they think is best, but that is not best for us (the user). Just think if you had to search for a gas station that supported your car!

The J1772 standard was developed by the SAE Hybrid J1772 Task Force in cooperation with major automotive OEMs and suppliers, charging equipment manufacturers, national labs, utility companies, universities and standards organizations from North America, Europe and Asia, so it's been vetted by stakeholders worldwide.

Now, if we could get the makers of cell phones, laptops, and other gadgets to decide on a standard for all of their products...

See the press release after the break...

http://www.sae.org/servlets/pressRoom?OBJECT_TYPE=PressReleases&PAGE=showRelease&RELEASE_ID=1141

New SAE International Standard Defines Electric-Vehicle Charging Coupler

WARRENDALE, Pa., Jan. 15, 2010 - SAE International has released a standard that provides a standard interface between plug-in hybrid and battery-electric vehicles, and electrical charging systems.

Standard J1772™, “SAE Electric Vehicle Conductive Charge Coupler,” spells out the general physical, electrical and performance requirements for the coupler, which consists of a connector and vehicle inlet. The purpose of the standard is to define a common electric-vehicle charging network, thereby reducing costs and increasing convenience for owners of electric vehicles.

“SAE International has long been at the forefront of standards development for the automotive industry. This important new standard continues that tradition,” David L. Schutt, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of SAE International said. “I applaud the work of the industry leaders from around the world who developed this standard, helping to ensure that today’s and tomorrow’s vehicles are ready to meet the needs of the consumer and the marketplace, and helping to positively shape the future of transportation.”

SAE International is a leading standards organization identified in the NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards for Interoperability Standards to Support Plug-In Electric Vehicles and as collaborators for Energy Storage Interconnection guidelines.

Gery Kissel is Chair of the SAE Hybrid Task Force. He explained that consistency and reliability are key goals of the new standard. “By standardizing, you’re reducing costs and allowing everyone to use the same connector. All of the charging equipment you would pull up to in public would have identical connectors, so any vehicle could use one. It will be a consistent, reliable interface,” Kissel said.

In the process of SAE J1772™ development, a production tooled coupler has passed testing by Underwriters Laboratories for safety and durability.

SAE J1772™ standard was developed by the SAE Hybrid J1772 Task Force in cooperation with major automotive OEMs and suppliers, charging equipment manufacturers, national labs, utility companies, universities and standards organizations from North America, Europe and Asia.

The document is published and can be purchased at http://www.sae.org/technical/standards/J1772_201001 .

SAE International is a global association of more than 121,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries. SAE International's core competencies are life-long learning and voluntary consensus standards development. SAE International's charitable arm is the SAE Foundation, which supports many programs, including A World In Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series.

Charge Calculator for Electric Vehicles

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:16:00 +0000

Here's a spreadsheet that I created to do some rough calculations on Electric Vehicle charging, like finding the cost to charge, watts per mile, and the range per hour of charge. Simply enter the Range (miles) and Battery Capacity (kW/h) of the car you want to solve for in the Yellow cells and see the resulting calcs. Feel free to change the assumptions such as energy cost, charge voltage and charge amperage too.

What this calculator doesn't do is account for the capacity that an automaker might be guarding to protect the battery. For instance, even though a battery has a given capacity, the automaker may not allow the entire capacity to be used in order to protect the batteries from damage via over-discharge.

If you find errors or have suggestions, please let me know! If you save the spreadsheet as an Excel Spreadsheet, you will be able to see the formulas that I used.

BTW: The Nissan Leaf only charges at 3.3kW/h at Level 2 (220V), so you need to enter 15A for the charging current to see more accurate estimates.

Test Driving a Tesla Roadster

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:29:00 +0000

Do you...

Love the acceleration of a very quick roller coaster launch, like Polterguiest or The Increadable Hulk?
Like a car that listens intently for your actions and responds instantly to them?
Appreciate ultra-light cutting edge materials and being able to lift your hood with your pinky?
Like the idea of a no maintenance car? Except for feeding it sticky tires...:-)
Love the idea of filling up your car with clean electricity vs. dirty petroleum?

Then you'll LOVE the Tesla Roadster...I certainly did!

I had a chance to drive a Roadster on my visit to the new Tesla Dealership in Dania, FL near Miami at the beginning of January. Here is a short list of things I liked and disliked about the car...

Pros

It's electric (clean!!!)
More than 200 miles on a charge!
Instant, smooth, silent, linear, and strong power...simply breathtaking!
Lifting the accelerator slows the car quickly...like you are in a lower gear. The best part is that the braking energy goes back into your batteries vs. wasted as heat...and this means less brake maintenance! Regenerative braking rocks!
Go-cart like handling. If this car had power-steering, one good sneeze could equal a lane change.
Hand-built and unique feeling to the car. The cockpit was well laid out and had good "character"

Cons

Not easy to get into or out of if you're tall. Although I was comfortable when I got in, it's not easy getting my long legs into the car (I'm 6"2"). Your "significant other" probably won't like being a copilot often since it's work to get in it "gracefully".
Since the Roadster doesn't have power steering, you have to use some elbow grease to get it to turn...but you get used to it quickly.
The heated seats needed a turbo button. Heating your body with the seats is more efficient than heating the cockpit...and easier on the battery life.
Not impressed with the user interface for the onboard computer, but Tesla probably knows this based on the improvements they're putting in the "S".

Charging the Roadster

Slow Charge: The base Tesla only ships with a 110v charge cable, which will fully charge the car in about 24h. You could probably get away with primarily using this if you just used the car daily for short drives (<50m) and only had to top off the Roadster's charge each night.
Medium Charge: If you wanted to fully charge the Roadster in about 8 hours, you could purchase their Mobile Charger for $1000 and plug it into a 240v Dryer outlet. This is the charging method of choice for cross country travel with your Roadster.

Fast Charge: If you want to fully charge your Roadster in 3.5 hours, then you'll need to pony up for the $3,000 fast charger from Tesla and then pay an electrician to plumb it a 240V/100A circuit to feed it...which could be expensive ($500+) since that's a lot of electrons and most homes only have a 200A service to start with.

Driving the Roadster
Here's a video of what it's like to be in the Roadster during a drive...including what it sounds like. In addition to a 0-60 run, I got to overtake other cars twice, so you can get an idea of how quickly it accelerates...and how quickly it slows down.

Thanks to the crew at Tesla South Florida for the hospitality and test drive!

Tesla South Florida
1949 Tigertail Boulevard
Dania Beach, FL 33004
1.754.816.3069

Nissan selects AeroVironment for Home Charging Stations for the Leaf

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:28:00 +0000

Nissan selected AeroVironment as their supplier for home charging stations and installation services for the Nissan Leaf.

This is big news!

Why? The Nissan Leaf will likely be the first high production electric vehicle offered this century. Going with AeroVironment, it means that Nissan chose to go with a large established company vs. a smaller company that just makes EV chargers (like ClipperCreek). This is similar to other decisions by large auto manufacturers that chose to go with big companies (Volt=LG, Leaf=NEC) for their battery technology vs. smaller ones like A123.

No pricing has been set, but the charger will be 220v with a J1772 connector. It's also unclear whether AeroVironment will be doing all the installations themselves, or if they will be using local electrical contractors. I'm thinking that they'll use local labor to do the wiring.

Given that there is no display on the charger...and the Leaf will have a satellite communications system like OnStar, the AeroVironment charger is probably "smart charger" like the Tesla's...with no direct network connection. The Leaf communicates with it's mothership (Nissan) for a variety of info...charge level, accident awareness, charging stations, etc.. You can read all about the Nissan Leaf's communication methods at Technology Review.

See the press release after the break...
http://www.avinc.com/resources/press_release/nissan_north_america_selects_aerovironment_to_install_home-charging_station

January 11 2010
For Immediate Release

NISSAN® NORTH AMERICA SELECTS AEROVIRONMENT TO INSTALL
HOME-CHARGING STATIONS FOR NISSAN LEAF™
Agreement part of one-stop shop experience for EV purchase process

DETROIT (Jan. 11, 2010) – Nissan North America (NNA) today announced its selection of AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) (AV) to supply electric vehicle home-charging stations and installation services supporting the introduction of the zero-emission, all-electric Nissan LEAF later this year.

The Nissan LEAF five-passenger electric car will be powered by an advanced, lithium-ion battery pack that will provide a drive range of 100 miles on a full charge, as measured by the LA4 test cycle. AV’s Nissan-branded charging stations will be available at the sale of each Nissan LEAF as part of the vehicle’s total driving system. The home-charging stations are designed to provide a safe and reliable charge when installed with a connection to a 220-volt line. It will take eight hours to fully charge the Nissan LEAF from a fully discharged state.

Home charging will represent a highly convenient charging method for the Nissan LEAF customer. AV’s nationwide network of qualified, licensed electricians will offer pre-installation home assessment services prior to vehicle delivery, and will install the charging stations.

“Nissan is committed to bringing zero-emission mobility to the United States, and around the world,” said Carlos Tavares, Chairman, Nissan Americas. “A part of that commitment is delivering a one-stop shop experience for the new car owner, which is why we chose AeroVironment. As a result of our selection, drivers of the Nissan LEAF will be able to charge their vehicles safely overnight at their own homes.”

“By introducing a practical electric passenger and fleet vehicle, Nissan is moving boldly to link driving with zero emissions and energy independence,” said Tim Conver, AV’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Our selection as Nissan’s preferred charging equipment and service provider, for what we believe will be the largest adoption of battery electric cars in history, represents a great opportunity to apply our nationwide EV charging infrastructure solutions to the successful introduction of the Nissan LEAF. We are committed to making those who purchase a Nissan LEAF and our universal home charging system successful in the use of clean, electric vehicles.”
Nissan announced this supply agreement at the North American International Auto Show, where the Nissan LEAF was being displayed for international media Jan. 11-12. Nissan, along with its alliance partner Renault, is the only automaker committed to making all-electric vehicles available to the mass market on a global scale. The Nissan LEAF will go on sale in select markets in the United States in December.

In North America, Nissan's operations include automotive design, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program 2010, whose key priorities are reducing CO2 emissions, cutting other emissions and increasing recycling. More information on the Nissan LEAF and zero emissions can be found at www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car.

About AeroVironment (AV)
Building on a history of technological innovation, AV designs, develops, produces, and supports an advanced portfolio of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and efficient electric energy systems. Agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense and allied military services use the company’s battery-powered, hand-launched UAS to provide situational awareness to tactical operating units through real-time, airborne reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition. AV’s clean transportation solutions include power cycling and test systems and industrial electric vehicle charging systems for commercial and institutional customers, as well as EV home chargers and EV fast chargers for consumers. More information about AV is available at www.avinc.com.

# # #

Contact:

Katherine Zachary
Nissan North America, Inc.
katherine.zachary@nissan-usa.com
615-725-1447
www.nissan-zeroemission.com

AeroVironment, Inc.
Steven Gitlin
626-357-9983
pr@avinc.com

Mark Boyer
For AeroVironment
310-229-5956
mark@boyersyn.com

# # #

About AeroVironment, Inc. (AV)
Building on a history of technological innovation, AV designs, develops, produces, and supports an advanced portfolio of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and efficient electric energy systems. Agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense and allied military services use the company's hand-launched UAS to provide situational awareness to tactical operating units through real-time, airborne reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition. Commercial and government entities use AV's clean transportation solutions such as electric vehicle test systems and electric vehicle fast charge systems, as well as its clean energy solutions. More information about AV is available at www.avinc.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are made on the basis of current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors outside of our control, that may cause our business, strategy or actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our ability to perform under existing contracts and obtain additional contracts; changes in the regulatory environment; the activities of competitors; failure of the markets in which we operate to grow; failure to expand into new markets; failure to develop new products or integrate new technology with current products; and general economic and business conditions in the United States and elsewhere in the world. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not intend, and undertake no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

###

Additional AV News: http://www.avinc.com/resources/news
AV Media Gallery: http://www.avinc.com/media_gallery

Contact:
AeroVironment, Inc.
Steven Gitlin
+1 (626) 357-9983
pr@avinc.com

Mark Boyer
For AeroVironment, Inc.
+1 (310) 229-5956
mark@boyersyn.com

Happy New Year!

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:57:00 +0000

Much has happened over the past two months since I presented at the Renewable Energy Expo. In addition to presenting to other groups, consulting with business to help them create their GTM strategy on Infrastructure, and networking with other experts, I am also a proud member of the steering committee for "Get Ready Central Florida", a soon-to-be partner city of RMI's Project Get Ready.

Our "Get Ready" team consist of people from Orange County government, City of Orlando, OUC, Progress Energy, and yours truly. Over the next few months, we'll be educating Central Florida businesses and governments on what EV Infrastructure is, where it's going, and how they can participate. We've got our goals done, working groups defined, and our kick off event roughed out. We're also meeting with auto manufacturers that will be the first to bring their EV/PHEV's to Central Florida. Our first event will be when Nissan brings the Leaf to Orlando on Feb 1-2...it's all very exciting stuff and the team is focused and engaged.

This week, I'll be in Miami meeting with Charles Whalen, who is the Director of EV Infrastructure for the Florida Electric Auto Association and visiting Ted Scholz, the G.M. for the new Tesla dealership that just opened on 12/18/09. I simply can't wait to get behind the wheel of such a cutting edge car...assuming I can fit inside it. I've driven a Lotus Elise before and I needed a shoe-horn to get my 6'2" body in the drivers seat.

I have a feeling that this year is going to be fun!

Florida Renewable Energy Expo: Results!

mark.thomason@palmer-electric.com (Mark Thomason) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:25:00 +0000

My presentations went GREAT! I had over 60 people in my sessions and I got some good market research back from them on the questions I asked during the presentation. I also got a request to present to a group in Boca Raton, FL and I was invited to be on the "Get Ready" Central Florida team. It was fun!

The attendees actively participated in the presentation (I like to get their reaction to things) and asked some good questions back. In both sessions, people asked about battery swaps (Smarter Planet) and whether the grid could handle the extra load. The weird thing is that I created slides that addressed these issues, but I hid them because I was worried about time (the presentation took an hour with questions).

Throughout the presentation, the three central points that I kept reiterating were Cheaper, Cleaner, and Energy Independence. From talking to people after , they got the message...my work was done. If you would like me to present to your group, just let me know.

The State of Charge

View more presentations from Mark Thomason.