A $1 billion plan proposed by Better Place for the San Francisco Bay Area has been endorsed by the Bay Area's big-city mayors, including San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and San Jose's Chuck Reed.
The mayors committed to a nine-point plan that will set regional standards, and seek regional incentives for people who buy electric cars. The deal covers plans to install charging stations in homes, businesses, parking lots and government buildings by 2012. The plan calls for some 100,000 charging stations, 50 battery exchange stations, and a control center to service electric vehicles in the Bay Area.
Better Place said it will also build mechanized battery swapping centers where robots will remove and replace the batteries in cars that are compatible with the system. These stations will allow electric car drivers to travel longer distances without recharging.
The mayors vowed to help streamline local permitting and regulations to hasten the installation of hookups in the region, and to provide incentives for local businesses to install charging outlets for employees.
"Our goal is to make the Bay Area—and eventually California—the electric-vehicle capital of the world," Newsom said.
The announcement took place at San Francisco’s city hall, and was attended by the mayors of the three cities, as well as governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Better Place’s founder, Shai Agassi. The mayors’ nine-point plan calls for:
- Expedited permitting and installation of electric vehicle charging outlets at homes, business, parking lots, and other buildings throughout the Bay Area;
- Incentives for employers to install EV charging systems in their workplace and provide similar incentives to parking facilities and other locations where EV charging stations can be installed;
- Harmonize local regulations and standards across the region that govern EV infrastructure to achieve regulatory consistency for EV companies as well as expanded range for EV consumers;
- Establish common government programs that promote the purchase of EVs;
- Link EV programs and infrastructure to regional transit and air quality programs;
- Establish programs for aggressive pooled-purchase orders for EVs in municipal, state government and private sector fleets and future commitment of purchasing preference for EV vehicles;
- Expedited permitting and approval for facilities that provide extended-range driving capability for EVs in the region through battery exchange locations or fast-charging;
- Identify and secure suitable standard (110V) electric outlets for charging low voltage EVs in every government building in 2009; and
- Identify roll-out plan for placement of 220V EV charging equipment throughout each city including city parking lots and curbside parking.
Better Place also unveiled a prototype electric Nissan Rogue SUV (photos below).
Links:
Bay Area's big-city mayors endorse $1 billion plan for electric cars - MercuryNews
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11032113
SF Bay leaders plan $1B for electric car stations - MercuryNews
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11033024
UPDATE 1-San Francisco plans to be electric car capital - Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssAutoTruckManufacturers/idUSN2042000120081120
VentureBeat - CleanTech
http://venturebeat.com/2008/11/20/california-to-set-up-a-1b-electric-car-network/
Related articles on Gather:
Cheap electric cars - by Sam Carana
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977170000
Cheap electric cars - part 2 - by Sam Carana
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977300674
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On the bottom picture (from left to right), Shai Agassi, Gavin Newsom, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., environmentalist and advisor to Silicon Valley’s VantagePoint Venture Partners - a Better Place investor.
At the L.A. Auto Show, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn announced a partnership with the Oregon Transportation Department and Portland General Electric to install charging stations around the state. The technology would - according to some reports - also allow parked electric cars to send power back to the grid. Nissan will provide a fleet of electric vehicles to the state, and Oregon will offer a tax credit to buyers of electric vehicles. Better Place hopes to have the first round of charging infrastructure in place in 2010 and Nissan-Renault would be releasing their first electric car for the US market in Oregon in 2010.
Note that some recharging points were already installed or planned in some places before this deal. Portland General Electric has already installed six EV charging stations in the Portland area and Salem, with plans for six more. Last July, the city of San Jose signed a 2-year contract with Coulomb Technologies to develop charging stations around the city. Coulomb Technologies has also inked deals with service stations throughout California to provide smart equipment for charging electric vehicles in the first quarter of 2009, and is installing charging stations at many locations along interstates 5, 99, and 101 through California. Solar panels will power some of Coulomb's networked equipment, which can provide electric cars about a 10-mile driving range after an hour of charging.
Many see recharging facilities as a crucial part of the picture, since many people -- apartment dwellers, for example -- don't have garages where an electric vehicle can be plugged in overnight to recharge the batteries. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom noted that 70% of San Franciscans are renters who may not have easy access to a recharging station. Also, few parking garages are equipped with charging stations that would enable commuters to recharge their vehicles while at work. San Francisco is already installing charging points at parking meters and light poles, he said.
The $1bn mentioned in the article is planned to be spent on building such infrastructure in the San Francisco Bay Area, encompassing more than 7.6m people in the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose and throughout Silicon Valley. Further money will have to be spent on electric cars and batteries, e.g. through agreements where people buy the car and lease the battery. There are further reports that Nissan Motor Co. will sell electric cars in the U.S. by 2010.
I knew it, BTW. Just to underline how pretty difficult is to change our way of thinking, doind, wasting, etc.
Sam, Colin has mentioned you. I am honored to see your post and learn more about all of this. My love and light to all who truly care, have the knowledge and wisdom and are doing something with it!!!
Portugal would offer tax incentives to make electric cars more attractive to buyers. The state will provide an income tax benefit for private buyers of about 800 euros ($1,000) and also tax incentives for companies that convert to electric-powered vehicles. These benefits will start in late 2010 and will last at least five years. Additional measures, such as reduced parking rates, preferential access and financing subsidies are being studied.
This will take place in a similar agreement with Better Place and Renault-Nissan. Carlos Tavares, executive vice president of Nissan Motor Co, said the car would be able to run 160 km on one charge and that, taking into account the total cost of buying, maintaining and running the electric car, the cost will be the same or lower compared to a conventional car." Renault-Nissan is preparing a range of cars fitting different market segments.
Coulomb plans to install several of these Smartlet charging stations in San Jose, Calif., by the end of this year. Standalone versions of the stations are a little larger than a parking meter, but smaller models can be mounted on a pole or wall, and be located on city streets.
GPS coordinates of recharging stations will be uploaded to Google maps, allowing subscribers to use Google maps — on their home computer, or on a Web-enabled phone — to locate the nearest Coulomb charging station. Beginning in January 2009, they'll also be able to log on to Coulomb's customer site, Mychargepoint.net, to manage their accounts, or to suggest a new charging station.
Ideas are ok I guess as long as you can find someone to pay for them, I'm curious how this money is going to appear.
I imagine that things will work as follows:
These Coulomb charging stations will - over time - be paid for by subscribers to the Coulomb ChargePoint Network. Subscribers will receive an RFID access key that allows them to charge their car at any Smartlet Charging Station, and they will then further pay for the electricity they use, each time they recharge their car batteries. Electricity is substantially cheaper than gasoline, so I expect that - apart from all-electric cars - there will also be plugin hybrids using such recharging stations frequently.
The Nissan cars will be paid for by their owners, i.e. people will buy cars as one commonly does, except for the batteries which will be leased from Better Place. Owners can recharge these batteries at charging points, and they can also swap batteries for full ones at battery swapping stations. The latter will be more expensive than recharging, yet it is attractive if you don't want to wait for your battery to be recharged.
The Nissan cars should be less expensive than comparable gasoline cars, since electric cars contain less parts, which also makes that electric cars need less servicing and maintenance. But this doesn't include the cost of the battery, which - as said - will be leased from Better Place. These Lithium-ion batteries are expected to become cheaper over time, and they will also last longer and be able to recharge quicker. The idea is that Better Place will replace batteries as better ones become available.
You can recharge the battery at home, at work, or at such charging spots on the roadside (at parking meters and light poles), in parking buildings and at parking lots. A full battery will allow you to drive for up to 100 miles (161 km). In case you want to make a longer trip and you don't want to wait for the battery to be recharged, you can turn to a battery switching station on the roadside and on highways. Such stations are automated, the driver pulls in, and the depleted battery is replaced with a fresh one, without anyone having to leave the vehicle. The process takes less time than it does to fill a tank with gasoline. In under three minutes, the car is back on the road.
As Carlos Tavares, executive vice president of Nissan Motor Co Portugal, says, when you take into account the total cost of buying, maintaining and running the electric car, the overall cost will be the same or lower, compared to a conventional (gasoline) car.
BTW, Better Place and Coulomb are still working things out between them. Better Place seeks to supervise the electric recharge grid and network of swapping station that works with cars such as the Nissan Rogue. This business model will lower the purchase cost, making these cars affordable, even free in some markets. Drivers will pay the balance by subscription and when accessing charging spots and battery exchange stations.
Lingle said the state doesn't expect to spend any money to facilitate the network. However, she said the state may need to offer tax breaks or other incentives to encourage people to buy electric vehicles when they are first offered.
Better Place will build the car recharging stations and provide recharged batteries for electric cars. The company will purchase renewable energy — such as wind power — from Hawaiian Electric Co., the state's largest utility.
Better Place plans to have the stations open for the mass market by 2011. It expects to build between 50,000 to 100,000 charge spots — in parking lots, downtown streets, and neighborhoods — across the state by early 2012.
Shai Agassi, Better Place's founder and chief executive officer, said the electric cars will cost the same as gasoline powered vehicles. Over time, however, they will be cheaper to make because they will use half as many parts as cars with internal combustion engines.
Better Place won't use oil, and aims to have a "zero carbon footprint." For example, Agassi said Better Place plans to recharge its batteries at night with power from Hawaii's wind farms. That power normally goes unused because of Hawaii's low nighttime energy needs.
Hawaii to be 1st state with electric car stations - AP