By Richard Lowenthal •
August 24, 2009
Scanning the week’s news of the leading fleet magazine, more than half the headlines are focused on automotive manufacturers including Toyota, Ford, Nissan and their commitment to greening of their fleets by moving to electric vehicle technologies.
For example, Nissan plans to use a $1.6 billion U.S. loan to rework a Tennessee factory so that battery-powered cars can be manufactured there. Ford Motor Company said it has developed an intelligent vehicle-to-grid communications and control system for its plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that “talks” with the nation’s electric grid.
Indeed it is exciting to read on a daily basis how much closer we are to the reality of EV’s for consumers and fleets. Fleets will be the first mass adopters of EVs and PHEVs. We are already seeing businesses, government agencies, cities and countries across the world that are making significant and meaningful steps to reducing their fuel costs, our nation’s dependence on imported fuel, and our carbon footprint by converting their gas guzzling and polluting fleets to eco friendly EV’s…but what about the infrastructure needed to support such vehicles? Is there different technology needed to support EV fleets vs. consumer EVs? Just what are the needs of fleet managers when it comes to EV fleets?
When you pull up to your hotel in your electric vehicle after a long day on the road, you will no longer need to worry about charging your battery. Today, Carbon Day Automotive announced a partnership with Element Hotels to install a ChargePoint Charging Station at the Element Lexington. The “Element” brand is Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide’s new eco-chic branded hotel chain. The Element Lexington is located in a suburb of Boston and opened in July 2008 and the charging station will be “unveiled” tomorrow.
The Element hotels are the testing ground for green design, practices and operations, and all hotels are LEED certified (the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design is a certification offered by the U.S. Green Building Council). In addition, the Element Lexington has preferred parking for those driving hybrids or all electric vehicles and also offers guests the ability to use bikes to get around town.
In its self proclaimed quest to become “the world’s greenest city” Vancouver is considering adopting legislation that would require any new multi-family dwellings (condos) to have electric vehicle charging stations. Should this pass, Vancouver would be the first city in Canada to have such a policy. Vancouver already requires one and two dwelling homes to have plug-in infrastructure.
In a city press release issued yesterday, Mayor Gregor Robertson commented, “Electric vehicles are being increasingly adopted around the world, and we need to be leaders in supporting them.”
Robertson also noted, “Making our city friendly for electric vehicle infrastrucure is a major step towards becoming the world’s greenest city.”
Coulomb Technologies was founded in 2007 with the mission to ensure that anyone who is considering the choice to buy an electric vehicle will have adequate access to fuel for the cars.
In the US there are 247 million cars but only 53 million home garages, meaning that a lot of electric vehicles will need to be fueled outside the home garage. Exacerbating the situation, according to studies at UC Davis, 80% of owners of electric vehicles will want to charge more than once a day.
It comes to this: we need charging opportunities where our cars are parked when we sleep and when we work. Since Coulomb’s founding, much as been written regarding the “chicken and egg problem” with infrastructure and vehicles. Will people buy electric vehicles if they don’t have a place to charge them, and conversely, will anyone buy infrastructure if they don’t see cars?
“Our city is progressive and aggressive in implementing sustainable solutions to environmental and economic challenges.”
–David Robinson, director of Facilities and Fleet, City of Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro, Oregon, the 5th largest city in the state and known as “Silicon Forest” is joining the growing electric community with the announcement that it will be the first in the state to install public ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations for both plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles. The city will install 16 charging stations downtown, one as part of its “green” intermodal transit facility due to be constructed this year.
It’s not surprising that this announcement comes from the environmentally progressive Northwest. Robinson noted that the community has a, “large forward-thinking population ready to embrace electric vehicle technology,” and that the City is committed to providing the facilities that its community needs.
Diepenbeek, Belgium - On June 2, 2009, 365-Energy announced that the Katholieke High School of Limburg (KHLim) will begin deploying ChargePoint(TM) Network charging stations from the infrastructure manufacturer Coulomb Technologies as part of the first European Clean Mobility Center in Belgium.
Coulomb’s international partner 365-Energy will provide the charging stations and manage the ChargePoint Network for subscribers.
KHLim produces its own green energy through wind, heat and solar as part of its CO2 neutral area. The ChargePoint charge stations will be connected to KHLim’s own power grid, which will supply the necessary energy.
The Rampart Casino in Summerlin, Nevada, has taken the first steps toward a more Electric Vehicle (EV) friendly community. With the installation of an EV charging station, the Rampart became the first casino property to accommodate EVs, whose charge station was acquired in a business deal with Coulomb Technolgies.
If you build it, they will come…or not. Since the addition of the EV charge station, the Rampart Casino has seen limited numbers of Electric Vehicles. Very limited.
“We only have one patron with an electric car, that I know of,” said John Shaughnessy, a casino security guard. “Actually, I’ve never seen it.”
David Garth, a valet for the casino since 1999, confirmed Shaughnessy’s statement, saying that he’s never seen an EV pull up. “But,” he said, “we get plenty of hybrids.”
Amsterdam - On May 27, 2009, 365-Energy Group announced a pilot-program that could make Amsterdam the leader an Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure in Europe.
By 2012, the city of Amsterdam plans to be home to 200 electric vehicle charging stations. These 200 stations, courtesy of US-based Coulomb Technologies, are expected to serve 10,000 cars by the year 2015.
Excitement is high over the two-year public demonstration program, which will use 45 Coulomb Technologies‘ ChargePoint(TM) Networked Charging Stations as their source of fuel. Richard Lowenthall, CEO of the California-based company, announced that “the city of Amsterdam will have the largest network of smart charging stations in Europe for fleet and consumer charging.” He went on to say that, “Coulomb is providing an inclusive open architecture so that all electric vehicle owners in Amsterdam can easily make the switch from gasoline to electricity as a fuel.”
Editor’s Note: This is a guest contribution by Richard Lowenthal, CEO of electric vehicle ChargePoint manufacturer Coulomb Technologies. See his last post here: Being Smart About Your Electric Vehicle Infrastructure. This is part of our ongoing series on EV Charging Infrastructure, which was initiated by Mayors Gavin Newsom and Sam Adams.
Today at Santana Row, in the heart of Silicon Valley, The City of San Jose, Coulomb Technologies, Fisker Automotive and Fisker Silicon Valley have partnered on the Silicon Valley debut of Fisker vehicles. Come see these incredible vehicles, unveiled here today.
Early last year, on a tour of automakers, we met with Fisker Automotive, the developer of the Fisker Karma. The Karma is an Extended Range Electric Vehicle capable of traveling 50 miles purely on electricity before switching to gasoline for those times when you need the extended range. Since the average person drives less than 30 miles a day, you won’t need to use gasoline for the most part. But that’s not the whole story of Fisker’s vehicles. These cars are stunning in their beauty, performance, and comfort.
AUDIO FROM THIS EVENT:
On hand for the Monday announcement will be world-renowned Danish-born auto designer Henrik Fisker, who was responsible for the design of the BMW Z8 roadster and the Aston Martin Vantage, and was formerly director of Ford’s Global Advanced Design Studio. Fisker is now focusing his design efforts on premium green sports cars. By showcasing their new vehicles and promoting their availability through Fisker Silicon Valley, the company is fulfilling demand for no-compromise alternative fuel transportation. In addition, civic leaders from the City of San Jose and the new General Manager of Fisker Silicon Valley, Adam Simms, will speak.
If you missed the discussion last week, we had the Mayors of two major cities—San Francisco and Portland—weighing in on electric vehicle charging infrastructure. In the coming weeks, we’re looking forward to hearing from other cities about their plans for EV infrastructure, but we also wanted to make sure the private sector had a chance to chime in.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
March 25, 2009
Falcon-cams and electric-car chargers on streetlights may sound like things out of the future, but for the city of San Jose, California, the future is now.
