USA EDTA Promotes Action Plan to Fast Track Electric Drive Future

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EDTA Promotes Action Plan to Fast Track Electric Drive Future
jaanuar 29, 2010 · Lisa kommentaar

The Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA) outlined an action plan for Congress and the Obama Administration to build on their commitment to electric vehicle technology and accelerate the growth of hybrid, plug-in, battery and fuel cell vehicles in the US.

In its 2010 Electric Drive Action Plan for Energy Security, EDTA details a five-point strategy for achieving a national fleet of electric vehicles. The Action Plan explains how key government policies will speed the growth of the electric drive market and achieve the many benefits of electric drive transportation. Primary elements of the strategy include:

1. Reduce Market Hurdles for Vehicles and Infrastructure. Refining tax incentives for electric drive vehicles (EV, PHEV and FCEV); advancing public and private fleet penetration and regional deployment efforts; and promoting electric drive in transit and commercial applications are three major areas of effort with this. In addition to the focus on the electric drive vehicles themselves, EDTA also suggests providing incentive for non-propulsion applications for transportation energy storage system (e.g., batteries and hydrogen/fuel cell systems).
2. Expand US Manufacturing Capacity. Addressing this should include promoting federal support for the expansion of electric drive transportation-related manufacturing and strengthening and expanding the upstream supply chain.
3. Establish Coherent Regulatory Policies for Electric Drive Vehicles and Infrastructure. Already, multiple regulatory and standard-setting bodies are developing policies regarding electric drive, including vehicle efficiency metrics, charging and refueling equipment standards and metering and information management protocols, the EDTA notes. Federal and state regulatory requirements must advance coherent goals for safe, efficient, clean and ubiquitous electric drive transportation.

Work in this area should include acknowledgement of the importance of vehicle electrification and ensuring the appropriate valuation and recognition of electric drive benefits within emerging carbon-constraint regimes; and coordinating grid-connected transportation with smart grid development and deployment.
4. Accelerate Technology Breakthroughs. This should include support for annual appropriations and long-term authorizations for electric drive research, demonstration and deployment.

Among the specific suggestions, EDTA proposes the refining of the DOE Fuel Cell Program goals with a focused effort to overcome remaining barriers to commercializing fuel cell technology for electric drive, including increased funding for research, development and infrastructure deployment programs in priority areas, and extension and full funding for authorized fuel cell vehicle market transformation programs.
5. Promote Public and Private Outreach and Education to Increase Consumer Awareness.Commercial-scale adoption of electric drive technologies will also require the acceptance of the public, EDTA notes. Credible information about the benefits, safety and requirements of electric drive is crucial and must be widely available to consumers, businesses and state and local governments.

EDTA is calling upon Congress and the Administration to ‘push the pedal’ to keep the US on the electric drive fast track. Targeted government policies can build the US electric drive industry and get more vehicles on the road that will reduce our dependence on oil, establish sustainable transportation options and build the green jobs economy.
—EDTA President Brian Wynne

Resources

* 2010 Electric Drive Action Plan for Energy Security

Green Car Congress

=> EDTA Promotes Action Plan to Fast Track Electric Drive Future.

Rubriigid: Poliitika
Sildistatud: USA
New York City early adopter demand to far outstrip electric vehicle supply
jaanuar 25, 2010 · Lisa kommentaar


How much does learning about an electric vehicle (EV) change the chance that someone will want to buy an EV? According to a study conducted for the City of New York’s comprehensive sustainability plan calledPlaNYC, by 21 percent. Of course, they also found that 18 percent of the population wanted an EV less after learning more about them. Besides EVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), PlaNYC looked at how moving more people onto the city’s money-saving public transportation and bicycles and getting more people to walk affect the city’s air quality. The city wants to understand these calculations because there is a goal in place to drop NYC’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from 2005 levels in 2030. Since transportation accounts for so much of these emissions, figuring out the impact of plug-in vehicles – and all of the other options people have to get around – is a huge and important task. Here’s how plug-in vehicles might play a role:

For those New Yorkers that will continue to rely on the automobile for their mobility needs, these electric vehicles can offer an improvement over gasoline vehicles in reducing both urban pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, helping to meet the City’s PlaNYC targets. And, although they are currently more expensive to purchase than gasoline-powered vehicles, electric vehicles offer the potential to save drivers significant sums of money over time, in fuel and maintenance savings – by some estimates, electric vehicles may be 40% to 70% cheaper to operate, depending on gasoline prices and how far a driver travels each year.

Also, this:

Most New Yorkers do not own a car, and those who do may not drive them as far, or as frequently, as in other parts of the country. In addition, many New Yorkers park their cars on the street or in commercial garages. As a result, it is unclear who the target market for the first EVs would be in New York City, how many EVs would be purchased, what the key factors and barriers would be for early adoption, and how EV usage would impact our electrical grid. It is also not clear what incentives – infrastructure investments, subsi- dies, or other actions – may be needed to promote EVs.

Finally:

There is a potentially large group of early adopters willing to change behavior to accommodate electric vehicles. A distinct population of “early adopters” is very positive about electric vehicles and willing to change habits to adapt to the requirements of electric vehicles. This may include, for example, switching from an on-street parking space to one in a local parking garage to access necessary charging infrastructure. The research also has found that New Yorkers’ attitudes, rather than their driving or parking behaviors, are strong indications of their willingness to adopt electric vehicles. … The research projects that, by 2015, up to 14-16% of all new vehicles purchased by New Yorkers could be electric vehicles. Despite this strong interest from early adopters, only limited numbers and types of electric vehicles are expected to be offered in the New York region to meet projected demand.

So, automakers, get thee some EVs to NYC. More details can be had by downloading the PDF. Thanks to lne937s for the tip!

AutoblogGreen

=> New York City early adopter demand to far outstrip electric vehicle supply.

Rubriigid: Analüüsid
Sildistatud: USA
Electric Car Solar Charging Stations by TVA and EPRI
jaanuar 24, 2010 · Lisa kommentaar

Nissan Leaf EV6 300x199 Electric Car Solar Charging Stations by TVA and EPRI

The smart grid charging of electric cars with renewable energy advances. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Friday (ORNL) announced that they will deploy solar-assisted charging stations for electric vehicles across the state of Tennessee as part of one of the largest electric transportation projects in U.S. history.

via http://www.cleanfleetreport.com/electric-vehicles/electric-car-solar-charging-stations-tva-epri/

Rubriigid: Laadimissüsteemid
Sildistatud: solar charging, USA
Gaining a Toehold for the E-Bike
jaanuar 22, 2010 · Lisa kommentaar

Electric bicycles — a regular pedal-driven bike with a motor for steeper slopes and an optional extra boost — is an idea that has been around for more than a century. But while e-bikes have caught on in certain parts of the world, particularly China, where tens of millions are sold each year, they have never quite captured the imagination of auto-obsessed Americans.

That may be about to change. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month, Sanyo, the Japanese electronics maker and a major producer of car batteries, showed off a sleek, lightweight e-bike called the Eneloop Hybrid Bicycle.

The Eneloop, priced at $2,300, came to stores in the United States late last year. It operates like any normal bike and, save for the black lithium-ion battery strapped to the frame beneath the seat, looks exactly like one as well. But when you press a button on the left handlebar, a 250-watt motor gently kicks in, providing about twice the power as your own pedaling — and making you feel like Lance Armstrong on even the steepest slopes.

“The average auto trip in the U.S. is five miles or less,” said David Cabanban, bicycle business manager at Sanyo North America. “At the end of the day, how do you lower pollution and get people healthy? We’ve got to get people back to riding bikes.”

For years, e-bike proponents have argued that these machines can get people to abandon their cars and cut down on pollution, all without working up the unsightly sweat acquired when biking to work. But early e-bikes were never very good.

In the 1990s, people like Lee Iacocca and Malcolm Currie, the former chief executive of Hughes Aircraft, got into the e-bike business. Their bikes had heavy steel frames and the same lead acid batteries used in automobiles, which themselves could weigh 80 pounds. The entire Eneloop weights about 50 pounds.

Those older e-bikes (many were more like electric mopeds) often needed repairs and service. And their regulatory status was ambiguous — were they motorcycles? bikes? — so many retailers were afraid to sell them. The federal government resolved the legal obstacle with legislation in 2002, classifying any two-wheel, pedal-driven bike with a maximum speed of 20 miles an hour as a bike, which does not need turn signals or licensed riders.

New technology has addressed the other obstacles. Lead acid batteries have given way to efficient and lighter lithium-ion batteries.

The earliest e-bikes of the 1990s got about 15 miles on a single charge. The Eneloop’s battery can power the bike about 46 miles before it needs to be plugged into an outlet and recharged for around three hours; it also partially recharges when the rider brakes or coasts downhill.

Other e-bike makers brag about similar performance.

“If it wasn’t for the lithium battery I wouldn’t be in this business. It’s made this category possible,” said Marcus Hays, founder of Pi Mobility, a company in Sausalito, Calif., whose red, angular bikes cost $2,500 and can operate as a bike, a moped or both at the same time.

E-bike makers in the United States saw something of a mini-boom in 2008, when gasoline prices spiked and people started looking for eco-friendly alternatives to the automobile.

Some basic e-bike models, like the Ezip Trailz by Currie Technologies, now sell for as low as $500. Trek and Schwinn, traditional bike makers, both began selling e-bikes last year, the latter in conjunction with Toshiba.

E-bike makers say that some of the stigma surrounding the bikes — critics see them as a tool to avoid actual exercise — has faded.

“Four years ago, we encountered many people saying, ‘Oh wow, we are so lazy, we need motors on our bikes’ ” said Scott Shaw, president of EcoBike USA, an e-bike maker in Southern California. “Now people are understanding and saying, this is more a utilitarian vehicle for commuting and getting outside on two wheels rather than four.”

RETAILERS have also sensed the growing opportunity. Big-box stores like Wal-Mart, Sears and Costco have dabbled in the category for about a decade. Last year, Best Buystarted selling e-bikes experimentally in three test markets: Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland, Ore.

E-bikes, like regular bikes, still face plenty of challenges. In many parts of the world, biking is an important form of transportation; in the United States it is seen primarily as recreation. Many major cities still do not have bike lanes, and the most important sales channel in the industry — independent bike shops — has been shrinking for more than a decade.

But there may be a greater challenge for companies like Sanyo and other e-bike makers. People tend to think of their transportation, like their clothes or cellphones, as an expression of their identity.

In China, riding an electric bike conveys professional achievement, even a certain degree of wealth. People in the United States, said Ed Benjamin, an independent consultant in the bike business, don’t quite know whether these bikes are fashionable. The e-bike is “an ambiguous statement,” Mr. Benjamin said.

The next few years, he said, could bring higher prices for gasoline and airline tickets. “We have to make some fundamental changes, and e-bikes can be a part of that,” he said.

via NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/business/17ping.html

Rubriigid: E-rattad | Rollerid | Motikad
Sildistatud: USA
Report: 16% of NYC new car sales to be EVs by 2015 – Cleantech Group
jaanuar 17, 2010 · Lisa kommentaar

Management consulting firmMcKinsey & Co. came out with new research today that suggests electric vehicles, including battery-electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars, could make up as much as 16 percent of new car sales in New York City come 2015, or as many as 70,000 cars.

electric (car or vehicle) – Google News

via Report: 16% of NYC new car sales to be EVs by 2015 – Cleantech Group.

Rubriigid: Analüüsid
Sildistatud: USA
A New Space Race? Hiina vs USA
märts 26, 2009 · Lisa kommentaar

Alles sai president Obama teatada oma $2,4 mlrd e-autode stiimulite paketist, kui peaminister Wen Jiabao ja president Hu Jintao lõid lauale $2,2 mlrd Hiina e-autode arenduseks järgmise 3 aasta jooksul. Kas tegemist on uue “kosmose võidujooksu” algusega?

Osade vaatlejate arvates on üks suuremaid Hiina e-autode arendajaid BYD pea 2 aastat tehnoloogia arenduses Toyota’st ees. Lähiaastad näitavad, kas hiinlaste tehnoloogiline edumaa ja kahtlemata hea finantspositsioon suudavad tagada läbimurde tarbijaturgudel läänes.

Allikas: Telegraph.co.uk ja Gas 2.0

Summary: Chinese government responds to Obama’s EV and battery technology stimulus package with almost the same same amount of investment to EV-tech. A beginning of a new space race?

Rubriigid: Poliitika
Sildistatud: BYD, Hiina, USA
Obama: 2015 – miljon laetavat autot
veebruar 23, 2009 · Lisa kommentaar

obama1President Obama majandusstiimulite paketis leidub 2 miljardit dollarit ka elektriautonduse arendamiseks USAs. President ise on selge sõnaga öelnud, et 2015. aastaks peaks USA teedel-tänavatel surisema miljon e-autot.

Muuhulgas näeb pakett ette ka kuni 7500$ maksusoodustust uue elektriauto ostmisel. See on kindlasti abiks tasalülitama elektriautode veidi kõrgemat hinda.

“Eelkõige tahame me luua uusi ärivõimalusi ja töökohti,” kaitses seaduste paketti ettekande teinud senaator Cantwell.

Uudis California Progress Reportilt.

Rubriigid: Poliitika
Sildistatud: Obama, USA