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Entries in DC Fast Charging (12)

Monday
Sep292014

EV Intersection | Porsche First to Market with Luxury Plug-in Electric Vehicle

EV intersection for Sept. 29 travels the back roads this week to find electric vehicle and infrastructure articles you need to read. Includes Porsche's SUV/Crossover hitting dealers, BMW's DC fast charging strategy and the secret police in Iowa go after Tesla ride-and-drives. 

The plug-in hybrid from Porsche Cayenne to be available starting in November 2014.

1.The Porsche Cayenne SUV beats Tesla Motors's Model X to the punch by releasing its SUV S-E Hybrid plug-in at the Paris auto show this week and then to dealers in early November, reports The Detroit Bureau. The article does not address U.S. deliveries, but this model is priced around $76,400...right in the same spot for the Model X and it's 260 miles to a charge (assuming). Rumors say the Porsche will be able to deliver 11-22 miles on a charge. Mileage improves somewhat with the plug-in component and Porsche says:

"So far, battery-based vehicles haven’t exactly charged up the global automotive market, but Porsche notes that 9% of the Panameras it sold worldwide so far this year were S E-Hybrids. And that figure jumped to 16% in the U.S."

Click to read more ...

Wednesday
Sep102014

Throwback Thursday: Video | Tesla's Electric Superhighway

The English get involved in this video overview from early 2014, as Nick Rufford, Sunday Times Driving editor, tries out Tesla's electric superhighway on California's west coast to see if electric cars with good performance, quick charging and a decent range might actually be the future after all.

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Related Content:

BMW i3 Test Drive, I Want More Electric!
Video | Electric Race Car Conquers Pike's Peak 

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Wednesday
Sep032014

KIA EV Soul Targets Fast-Charging 'Animals'

ABB's Terra 53 charger wrapped in Greenlots' SKY network, charging the new Soul EV, based on Kia's best selling Soul model;

As electric vehicles appears on more roads and drivers put more miles on these cars, the need for more DC fast-charging stations emerges pretty clearly. Today, KIA Motors announces a new program to install ABB's Terra 53 50kW fast-charging stations in its dealerships across the country, starting on the west coast in the "first wave."

Kia's electric vehicles use a CHAdeMO fast charging interface and is capable of charging the EV Soul—began selling in the U.S this month—vehicle in 15-30 minutes.

According to the press release, Soul EV owners will be provided an RFID card, giving them access to the DC fast chargers via Greenlots SKY network system. Drivers will be able to easily find these charging stations via Kia's smartphone app or the touchscreen inside the vehicle.

Other fast-charging stations have different interface standards, such as the SAE combo and Tesla Motor's DC fast-charging network. KIA did not mention whether it has adapters for those other interfaces.

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Jul292014

EV Roadmap: Fast-Charging Lessons Learned in Oregon

Last week, I was at the EV Roadmap Conference, edition #7, in Portland, Oregon and ran across a lot of interesting presentations, including Daniel Schmidlkofer's "Fast Charging lessons learned" on Friday, July 25. The video, above, includes thoughts on how fast-charging has worked in Oregon and how private business stuck its neck out to provide DC fast-charging...and why.

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Related Content:

Automakers Offer Thoughts On Electric Vehicle Market In 2017 – EV Roadmap Conference
Video | When will Automakers Start Marketing Electric Cars?  

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Fast charging is vital for electric vehicle adoption in the U.S.—once you enjoy it, you want the convenience—at this stage and, sure enough, Oregon is living the day-in and day-out challenges of fast charging.

At the bottom of this post are images from the conference track, "Fast Charging: Lesson Learned and New Developments."

Click to read more ...

Wednesday
Jul232014

Podcast | Tesla's Superchargers Spur Summer Road Trips

 

I was hoping for an interview with Model S owner David Zygmont while he was on Tesla's supercharger highway, but caught up with him last week in this podcast episode 1. The second podcast will be hosted on Teslarati.com in the coming days.

Topics includes a deep dive into his charging routine while on this two-week odyssey. Just click the play button to listen or download!

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Related Content:

StoryMap | Tesla Motor's Dominance in the Luxury Hybrid Car Segment
Podcast | Workforce Skills Needed to Service Electric Vehicles 

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Friday
Mar072014

StoryMap | Tesla Motors Superchargers Point West

StoryMap Update, Friday, March 7th:

The growing craft beer brewer, Two Brothers Brewing company (www.twobrothersbrewing.com), recently welcomed electric car supercharging stations at its Aurora roundhouse restaurant/cafe/brewery parking lot. The Aurora location hosts four Tesla Motor supercharging stations—they provide a 150 mile charge in about 20 minutes—and Jason and Jim Ebel of Two Brothers are electric car owners (Model S owners). The adjacent parking lot—Commuter train—area also has two level II charging for other electric cars. 

I contacted Two Brothers for more information on how supercharging stations came about, see Q&A below:

Q: How did the charging stations come about, did Two Brothers find Tesla? Or Vice versa? And, who were some of the players from both company?
A: Tesla contacted Two Brothers while they were searching through a number of different locations for their next charging station. The Ebel brothers interviewed with Tesla in November, and Tesla selected the Roundhouse location shortly after.

Q: Any ideas why Tesla choose Aurora?
It has not been explained why Tesla chose to install the stations at Two Brothers Roundhouse, but I think the fact that the brothers owning Model S helped and the location of the Roundhouse. Aurora is centrally located in the state and the Roundhouse is adjacent to the Metra.

Q: Have the Ebel Brothers of Two Brothers tested out the Fast Charging stations, yet?

A: The charging station at the Two Brothers Roundhouse was officially charged last week (March 1&2) and it charged its first “test” car that day. Since then there have been a couple of Tesla’s spotted using the station in the Two Brothers Roundhouse parking lot throughout the week and weekend.

Q: What kind of Model S cars do the Ebel brothers own?
A: Both Brothers have Model S 85 Signatures

Q: When did the charging stations arrive or how long did it take for Tesla's contractors to install the charging stations?
A: The stations arrived about a month ago and due to the weather it took about 3 weeks to install and the Tesla team had wait for the ground to thaw.

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Original post from Monday, March 3:

"I left my home in Norfolk Virginia
California on my mind."~ Chuck Berry, Promised Land

A recent update on Tesla Motor's Supercharger page shows that the Fremont, Calif.-based automaker is pointing west with its first station that will connect to I-80, the gateway road to the west from Chicago. The automaker unveiled four supercharging stations at Two Brothers Brewing Company (www.twobrothersbrewing.com) parking lot this weekend, located inA Tesla Model S sits next to the new Tesla supercharging stations, located in the Two Brothers Brewing Company's parking lot. The building was originally a train "roundhouse" that was transformed to a craft brewing restaurant and facility. Aurora, Illinois (35 miles west of Chicago). Interstate 88 runs through Aurora, Ill. and feeds into I-80 as you move west toward Iowa.

Illinois has history with western roads, namely Route 66 that starts in Chicago proper and winds its way to Los Angeles. That road was symbolic for Americans' growing love of the road and freedom associated with the more technically-advanced autos.

From the supercharging map, Tesla plans to build out the I-80 route after I-70 is finished later this year. The I-70 route starts in St. Louis for Tesla Motors and will connect to Denver. From there, it seems the company is targeting a route through Colorado to Las Vegas, and eventually to the promised land of California for 2014. 

Full disclosure: I'm a fan of Two Brothers' many beer offerings and, of course, Tesla. 

Related Content:

Update | Cross-Country Tesla Drive, Guinness Record?
DC Fast Charging Needed, says EV Survey

Saturday
Feb012014

Update | Cross-Country Tesla Drive, Guinness Record?

The Tesla DriveFree cross country drive ran into some snow on Thurs afternoon and now are heading into Chicagoland right now. Follow on Twitter, via #RidFree. Still on time for a Guinness World Record in NYC, just in time for the Super Bowl.

Click to read more ...