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Plugged In Newsletter | Buying insights and guides for prospective EV drivers
Tuesday, December 10, 2013 at 5:48PM Grant Gerke My good friends over at InsidEVs.com posted a video (via a Chevy Volt board) about the story of Bloomington-Normal's move toward electric vehicles and the infrastructure to support it. See movie, above (it has three sections within it).
Wednesday, November 13, 2013 at 6:42PM Grant Gerke I recently wrote an article on Auburn Hill's 2011 electric vehicle ordinance, called "EV Infrastructure: Inside The Belly of the Beast” that appeared on Inside EVs last week and included below is an audio excerpt of that interview that did not make the article.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013 at 9:53AM Grant Gerke This is on the heels of a recent International Business Times article that Germany recorded "tepid" vehicle numbers for the first two months that Tesla has delivered cars to Europe. According to the IBT article, buyers only registered 98 Model S cars in Germany while the Netherlands recorded 348 Model S registrations and Norway received 801 Teslas in the first two months of delivery for Tesla—August and September 2013.
Monday, October 21, 2013 at 6:25PM Grant Gerke Earlier this year, a sales manager for ECOtality blammed poor sales for the slow build out of public charging stations in the Seattle area. The DoE charging station rollout--half funded with private financing--was to provide a charging infrastructure for early adopters of EVs, it didn't hinge on electric car sales (this sales manager might be working for Ford Motors, now).
Friday, October 11, 2013 at 12:16PM Grant Gerke 
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.
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\
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.
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?
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Friday, September 13, 2013 at 1:33PM Grant Gerke 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).
Wednesday, September 11, 2013 at 12:01PM Grant Gerke EVs, alternative fuels, advanced vehicles and renewable energy news is coming fast and furious since Labor Day and John Voelcker projects a possible 100,000 plug-in vehicles for 2013. For more on these stories, click on the live links in the copy. When I think of charging infrastructures I was surprised to see that Orlando, Fla. is home to more than 300 electric charging stations. So with conducive weather electric vehicles and a charging infrastructure in place, Drive Electric Orlando, a public/private partnership, was born. The partnership announced that Enterprise Car Rentals will now be offering Nissan Leafs as rental car options for visitors and business travelers. After some research, the rental price comes to $95, approximately, for three days (see image, right).