Ten Thoughts on Advanced Vehicles: Electric Vehicles and Beyond

The new 2014 Cadillac ELR (Extended Range Electric Vehicle) will tangle with the Tesla Model S at a price point of $75,995.

Great strides being made in EV infrastructure and a huge solar plant with energy storage capabilities connects to the grid.

1. Phoenix residents will continue to soak up the sun and so will the Solana solar plant, located in nearby Gila Bend. This new plant went online today and offers a large parabolic solar array "trough", while also using molten salt and generators to provide six hours of energy storage capabilities. Solar power and storage seems to be hitting its practical stride this year and the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy in Nevada is due to come online this year. [Update: it looks like 2014 the unveiling\

2. File this under marketing sophistication. Dell announced today that Elon Musk will be speaking at DellWorld 2013 in Austin, Tex., in December. So speaking at this event will create a lot of buzz, good media coverage in a state where Tesla Motors can't sell cars via its stores and a bunch of IT tech people that will find out more about the company. The dude is shrewd with the advertising "budget" for Tesla.

3. GM releases the price for the 2014 Cadillac ELR, today. Wait. For. it. Comes in at $75,995 when it goes on sale in 2014. Production starts in December 2013 and it qualifies for the $7,500 tax credit. With this pricing, they are leveraging the Cadillac brand at the Tesla Model S price point. Bad strategy, does the Cadillac ELR have a 17-in. IPad for its main dashboard and provide 275 electric miles at quarter the price of gas miles? It makes you wonder if they want a big electric car sales success? 

4. The City of Chicago is “all in” on electric fleets for the right applications, according to Samantha Bingham, environment policy analyst, Chicago Dept. of Transportation. At the High Efficiency Truck Users Forum (HTUF), held in Chicago this week, she added, “We see economics there for natural gas and propane, but we really see the economics for electric.”

5. Battery maker A123 named a new CEO this week, Jason Forcier, and he is looking to leverage its China ties and sell more batteries to Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC). SAIC is a state-owned automotive company. 

6. Speaking of Chinese automotive market, Ford and GM are continuing their sales success there with the Ford Focus being the best-selling sedan and GM setting a China car sales record in September. Car sales are up in 2013 and Edmunds.com predicts U.S. Auto sales will reach 16.4 million units in 2014. 

7. Vermont is finding creative ways to fund charging infrastructure in designated downtowns. Looking toward the state, one initiative uses funds from the Agency of Natural Resources and provides matching grants to build a statewide network of municipal charging stations within Vermont's 24 designated downtowns. According to driveelectricvt.com, “the program with fund 75% of the cost of installing electric vehicle charging stations.” Smart policies.

8. In late September, CALSTART (www.calstart.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to clean transportation technologies, released a workplace charging best practices document that provides “information on the most cost effective ways to install and use EV chargers at the workplace.” This is an extension of the Dept. of Energy's strategy to build-out more EV infrastructure via businesses. A smart strategy, but one that will need state and local support in terms of tax incentives. In terms of tipping points for EVs, I'm warming up to the idea that workplace charging could be the key.  

9. One of the sessions at the High Efficiency Truck Users Forum (HTUF) event in Chicago centered on new alternative fuels for fleets and Volvo Trucks is promoting its venture with dimethyl-ether from biogas. Ed Saxman, from Volvo Trucks, also mentioned DME can be made from pipeline gas, but Volvo is partnering with Oberon Fuels in the central valley region of California (the breadbasket of America), where the focus will be on regional feedstocks—bio focused.

10. Speaking of Volvo Trucks and alternatives, Gothenburg-Sweden based Powercell (www.powercell.se) is developing a new fuel-cell technology that used diesel as its source fuel, instead of hydrogen or methanol. This company originally started in the Volvo Group in the early 2000s and is now targeting long-haul tractor trailer trucks in the U.S with its fuel-cell technology, similar to a stop/start technology in the hybrid vehicle area. Powercell is targeting commercialization by 2015. For more on this technology, click here.

Voucher Incentives for Advanced Vehicle Fleets Are Working, Panel Says

CNG and LNG advancehd vehicle headlines dominate fleet media sites these days as natural gas drilling is back to the same level of a couple of years ago. Earlier this year, BNSF Railway Company announced a pilot program involving a LNG locomotive conversion and UPS already runs LNG trucks in the western U.S. but also will be building four new LNG refueling stations in the U.S. by 2014—these LNG stations can cost anywhere from $1 to 7 million.

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Formula Hybrid Competition: Engineering-on-the-Go

Earlier this year, I documented two teams—Dartmouth and Yale, respectively—that won the electric and hybrid category at Dartmouth's 2013 International Formula Hybrid Competition. The teams start with a basic kit for the hybrid and all-electric cars and build the cars from there, aiming to pass inspection in order to race. Just two made it for the electric category, a big undertaking.

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Chicago Plug-In Day 2013: EV Interest Increasing?

Interest in electric vehicles seems to be on the rise in 2013 and, luckily, just in time. At the Battery/Hybrid/Electric Show in Novi (Detroit suburb), Michigan in September, Dave Hurst, principal research analyst, Navigant Research (www.navigantresearch.com), reminded the audience that EV interest dropped to 32% in 2012, down 8% from (at 40%) 2011.

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Solid Power LLC Advances Toward Commercialization

As reported last month, ARPA-E announced the Robust Affordable Next Generation Energy Storage (RANGE) program and Louisville, Colo.-based Solid Power was one of the recepients of DoE money. It seems momentum is growing for this company with Colorado University agreeing to a technology transfer to Solid Power, a private company, for eventual commercialization.

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Infrastructure Track at the 2013 Battery Show, Part 1

The moderator of this track was Desmond Wheatley, Pres and CEO, Envision Solar, a enthusiastic and well-informed advocate of all-things-electric and an expert on infrastructure issues. He had his own presentation on his company's off-the-grid solar EV charing canopy with Li-Ion storage technology.

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Always Sunny in the EV world

Booming September sun is upon us here in the greater Chicago area and EV action is filling the air. Next week, I'll be attending the three-day, Battery Show/Electric Vehicle Conference held in nearby Novi, Michigan, Tesla just opened its Rockford Superchaging station on Thurs., Sept 12 and National Plug In day is later this month. 

Rockford Tesla Supercharging:

WREX.com – Rockford’s News Leader

Originally, I had heard this supercharging station in Rockford would be equipped with "battery swapping," but Dustin Krause, Regional Manager, Tesla Motors, on Tuesday said, "No, not at this time. Just the 120kW supercharging stations."

The Rockford station can charge up to 8 Models S's at a time, however, with multiple cars charging the time can increase to 30 to 45 minutes for 250+ miles. My experience with the Normal, Il supercharging station clocked in around 28 minutes for 218 miles earlier this summer.  

According to reports, 23 Model S owners were on hand at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. 

See the video below from the local Rockford station (Courtesy of WREX).