SAN FRANCISCO - Yesterday, Gas 2.0 (gas2.org) launched ElectricCarRace.org, a site challenging cities across the nation to be first to develop city-wide electric vehicle infrastructure. A two-minute video featuring the Mayors of Portland and San Francisco kicked off the competition, along with posts written by Mayor Newsom, Portland General Electric, and the CEO of Coulomb Technologies Richard Lowenthal.

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Editor’s Note: This is a guest contribution by Richard Lowenthal, CEO of electric vehicle ChargePoint manufacturer Coulomb Technologies. See his last post here: Henrik Fisker Debuts Karma Plug-in Hybrid in San Jose. This is part of our ongoing series on EV Charging Infrastructure, which was initiated by Mayors Gavin Newsom and Sam Adams.

This week, Coulomb Technologies announced that Walnut Creek, California has become the third Bay Area city (along with San Jose and San Francisco) to deploy Coulomb’s ChargePoint™ Networked Charging Stations for electric vehicles.

Coulomb’s charging stations were officially welcomed in a ribbon cutting ceremony in downtown Walnut Creek.  We were joined by the city managers of Walnut Creek and Orinda as well as Walnut Creek city officials.  As many California readers know, Walnut Creek is considered one of the top destinations in the Bay Area, known for its outdoor festivals, performing arts scene and superb shopping and dining.  EV owners across the Bay Area now have a premier destination where they can recharge while enjoying downtown Walnut Creek.

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Imagine cars with no tailpipes and no direct carbon emissions into our atmosphere — powered by an electrical energy system getting cleaner by the year through Renewable Portfolio Standards in effect in California and across the nation.

More than a decade ago, I was one of the original owners of the EV1, an electric vehicle produced by General Motors (GM). When GM discontinued the series and reclaimed all of the EV1s, it was a major setback for the American car industry. Instead of leading the charge to create a new generation of vehicles - America fell behind.

Last year we woke up. Four dollar a gallon gas was the catalyst. The price has gone down since the spike, but I think most Americans understand we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and one of the keys is more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Today, San Francisco took an important first step toward creating the electric vehicle infrastructure of the future. This morning I unveiled the installation of electric vehicle charging stations in front of San Francisco City Hall. These stations - called Smartlets - are on loan to the city from Coulomb Technologies.

>>Read the rest of Mayor Newsom’s post at gas2.0

Image: Tim Hurst
Many people believe that when they bring their EV home from the dealership simply plugging their vehicle into an outlet will suffice.  Some issues remain.  For example, if you have a Tesla Roadster with a dead battery and you charge it at home by plugging it into a household electric outlet, it will take three days to charge.

The Chevy Volt will take nine to 10 hours to charge at 110 Volts.  For most people that’s too slow and they will want to charge at higher power.  In the US, that will mean having a J1772™ connector-equipped charging station at home. That station will provide for higher power charging, and will charge as much as 20 times faster than what you can from household electricity.

The basic home charging station will do just that, provide a higher power charging interface for the car.

Coulomb believes that home charging should be “smart” and that the benefits of smart home charging are important to the car owner, and the homeowner.  Smart home charging is designed to save time, energy and money.

The major aspects of smart home charging are:

• A standardized SAE J1772 connector for 240V charging
• A utility grade meter to measure energy flow/consumed by the vehicle
• The ability to communicate back to the grid and participate in:

- Time Of Use (TOU) rates – for example, the PUC Schedule E-9 cites about 5 cents / kWh rate for EV  charging at late at night versus higher daytime charging rates
- The ability to participate in Demand Response programs. This allows utilities to shed grid load and incentivize consumers by providing cheaper electricity rates. Today, this is done often with air conditioning units (called SmartAC programs).

• A communication interface that ensures very high reliability and availability through remote monitoring and control
• Notification services that tell a driver when a car is fully charged, reminds the driver to plug in, and tells the driver when anything comes up that might prevent a car from being fully charged when the driver needs it
• Audit services that tell the driver and homeowner how much it costs to fuel their car and how they can manage that cost

As electric vehicles rollout in the coming months, we will be hearing much more about the need for smart charging infrastructure for both home and public use.  Coulomb is here today with solutions for these needs.

Photos Courtesy of Richard Lowenthal.

It seems like new plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) are being announced every day. If Coulomb Technologies has its way, you’ll be powering your next PHEV with the help of “Smartlet Charging Stations”— curbside plug-in charging machines that activate with “ChargePoint Smart Cards”.

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Germany’s Daimler has teamed up with Essen-based utility RWE on a pilot project in the country’s capital. The project will see more than 100 electric cars on the road and a network of 500 charging stations.  Daimler currently has a pilot project in London, where a test fleet of about 100 first-generation Smart Fortwo electric cars are being used by corporate groups and municipal authorities, including the London Police.

Eva Wiese, a spokeswoman for Daimler, told the Cleantech Group that the new Smart cars in Berlin will have a greater range.

“The London one has 115 kilometers, and we think that with the new battery technology it will be a little better, but we haven’t specified it yet.”

Recent reports have pegged San Carlos, Calif.-based Tesla Motors, maker of the high-speed electric Tesla Roadster, as a battery supplier for Daimler, but the Germany automaker is keeping tight-lipped about its power plans.

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