Oregon EV News of the Week 2014 May 6

Your weekly digest of Oregon Electric Vehicle news, events, and

multimedia. Feel free to forward it. To get on (or off) the mailing 

list, just email me: patrick at oeva.org.

Stay current with us on twitter, facebook, google+, or paper.li.  

Top Stories ================================================

o We posted our 10,000th tweet this week. It was about the 200,000th PEV 

   sold in the US! We started this social media experiment almost 4 years 

   ago. Now we have over 3,000 followers. The EAA and Sac EV clubs are 

   looking to us as a model to spread the plug in word. Here is that tweet:

According to Plug In America estimates the US's 200,000th plug-in 

vehicle was sold on Cinco De Mayo! Celebration!

Upcoming Oregon EVents =====================================

o National Drive Electric Week Volunteer Sign-up http://buff.ly/1mjqwhi
o Largest Clean Fleet Conference in North America, May 6, 2014 http://buff.ly/1ipJaQK
o Alternative Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo, this Thur http://buff.ly/1iVV89N
o Spring Root Beer & Electric Vehicle Show: May 11, 2014 http://buff.ly/1fVpi6W
o Oregon Department of Energy public session for Alt Vehicles, May 15th http://buff.ly/QXBVtl
o EV Ownership: Expert Conversations  - May 18, 2014 http://buff.ly/1rNTebB
o Oregon EV Fest 2014, July 5th at Pioneer Courthouse Square http://buff.ly/1gHfXFO
o Tesla Motors Club's 2nd annual users’ conference, July 18 http://buff.ly/1geHPSf
o Energize Oregon Coalition Meeting, July 23 http://buff.ly/1gRJTuU
o EV Roadmap 7: Making Connections, July 24 http://buff.ly/1eqxd2j
o The 3rd annual BC2BC All Electric Vehicle Rally August 10, 2014 http://buff.ly/1aWgQoK
o Route 66 International Festival - EVs wanted, Aug 14 http://buff.ly/1ggx9Cs
o National Plug In Day Is Now National Drive Electric Week, September http://buff.ly/1nTY9dC
o The Battery Show, September 16-18, 2014 Novi, Michigan http://buff.ly/1cqo3M4 

Northwest EV News of Note ===================================

o Kaiser plugs into e-bike research http://buff.ly/1j4zAbg 

o Top 5 Reasons Portland is a Great City for eBiking http://buff.ly/1iVWMrV 

o Trailblazers LaMarcus Aldridge adds Tesla Model S to his Car Collection http://buff.ly/1mnevYb 

o Tillamook installs solar & batteries to power EV charging stations http://buff.ly/1mndijG 

o New tanker cars required in Oregon and NY for all crude oil trains http://buff.ly/1micBZ5 

o Eco-friendly house, Electrathon races in Riverside Tech’s future  http://buff.ly/1jm5S0E 

o Wave energy company opts out of Oregon http://buff.ly/1kplpuP 

o FIAT 500e is Coming to Oregon but It is Still a Compliance Car http://buff.ly/1ftAUEI 

o Spring is here. Looking for a new mower? Make sure to get one that is 

   "eLawn Musk" approved http://pic.twitter.com/lmYVY0VPF3

o Wash. Gov. Inslee Signs Executive Order On State Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions http://buff.ly/1kpjKoX 

Photos & Videos ============================================

o Which is cheaper to drive, an old gas car or a new Leaf? 

   Infographic http://pic.twitter.com/leO5VRnaMg

o Oregon EV Chief Ashley Horvat takes Blazer star Jerome Kersey & his wife 

   Teri on the Plug & Pinot tour #PlugAndPinot http://pic.twitter.com/qG0ZQT6ZRU

o Tesla's new titanium battery shield plate reviewed by Consumer Reports 

   YouTube http://buff.ly/1iVU9qf 

o Plug And Pinot http://pic.twitter.com/Rm2ReDmUaj

o Oregon manufacturing & EV companies gather to hear from manufacturing 

   experts http://pic.twitter.com/h0DU0O2XoD

o Laura & her 2014 Ford Focus Electric w/ \solar panels at Sokol Blosser 

   #PlugAndPinot http://pic.twitter.com/CEbIPgnAkh

o video: Don Garlits Takes EV Dragster To 184 MPH http://buff.ly/1j3bAVQ 

o George Takei's Take Electric Cars | Takei's Take Ep 12 

   YouTube http://buff.ly/1umWM8Q 

o Mini Tesla Supercharger for your phone http://pic.twitter.com/1kWm6qRSE0

o Nissan LEAF Late Night Race Through a Sleepy Village 

   YouTube http://buff.ly/1lLYaxR 

o Japanese Steampunk Style Mini Electric Car http://pic.twitter.com/eF2Y8sa9iR

o Volts for Oil | Fully Charged: How many kWh in a gallon? http://buff.ly/1rOltad 

o Electric motorcycle test ride - YouTube http://buff.ly/1lHPo43 

o What are you fighting for? http://pic.twitter.com/CK2gaGEZNf

o Tesla CEO 'We had to make electric cars a no-brainer' [video] http://buff.ly/1jm7vLQ 

o Times they are achangin' Nozzie - YouTube http://buff.ly/1mju5UP 

o Mt. Hood and the Columbia River, Oregon http://pic.twitter.com/TnMkqYG8Ch

Other EV News of Note =======================================

o The most efficient car in the US is the BMW i3 electric http://buff.ly/1j60iA8 

o Misleading Lexus ad trashes plug-in vehicles http://buff.ly/1kILo0j 

o Tesla Motors Fined $89,000 For 7 Safety Violations Linked To Fremont Factory Fire http://buff.ly/1rVZXjO 

o BMW Designworks Solar Carport and BMW i Wallbox Pro http://buff.ly/1j3aPw4 

o 700 Miles in an Electric Bus in One Day  http://buff.ly/1fJzxSv 

o Pulling Back the Veil on EV Charging Station Costs http://buff.ly/1fJz4Qr 

o Tesla Model S Rear Ended By Big Rig http://buff.ly/1j38Yr3 

o Worldwide EV market is forecasted to grow to more than 12 million vehicles in 2021 http://buff.ly/1kD3hxE 

o Mercedes teams with Tesla on $41K electric car http://buff.ly/1g0Uinf 

o Nissan Reaching Sales Records http://buff.ly/1kARAra 

o Chevrolet Volt Sales Improve In April http://buff.ly/1fGMnAZ 

o Fossil Fuel Subsidies Cost ~$2 Trillion Annually, According To IMF http://buff.ly/1kARj7A 

o Indigenous Amazonian People Threatened by Oil Drilling http://buff.ly/1iVSzEA 

o Elon Musk named World's Top Eco-Innovators in Furtune's top 25 list http://buff.ly/1mpnh85 

o Electric Mercedes-Benz B-Class priced to challenge the BMW i3 http://buff.ly/1lHOvIN 

o Big Daddy Don Garlits Pilots EV Dragster To 184.01 MPH In 1/4 Mile http://buff.ly/1iTYr1e 

o First US BMW i3 Delivery http://buff.ly/1rOpnzM 

o Vermont lawmaker wants to make EV tax credits larger and easier to access http://buff.ly/1n8FQyF 

o Electric E-Fan Aircraft Successfully Completes First Public Flight http://buff.ly/1krhf5M 

o First burnout by Electric Big Daddy http://buff.ly/1fvc4EL 

o BMW i8 Production Now Underway - Cars Coming to US in June http://buff.ly/1fu5YV4 

Toyota Fuel Cell Hype Video YouTube

Toyota Fuel Cell - YouTube:

Charging an EV with Solar Panels

How many solar panels do I need to charge an electric car?

Electric vehicles (EVs) and solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are a great combination

Electric vehicles have no tailpipe emissions and you can use solar panels to produce clean free electricity to 'fuel' an electric vehicle. That is a powerful combination. When you have both, you can drive on sun miles or "smiles" as they are sometimes called.

Your path can start by owning either of them. If you own an EV, you might want to find a way to power it without burning fossil fuels. If you own PV panels, you might be over-producing and looking for something to use this extra energy while saving yourself some money by not going to the gas station. Maybe you like cleantech and think both are cool. Whatever the reason, people that have the means and awareness to own one of them are often likely to own, or at least be interested in, the other.

If you are thinking about taking the EV + PV plunge, you might want to know how big of a PV system you'll need to fuel your EV miles. There are a lot of factors to consider. For the EV you'll need to consider: the vehicle, annual mileage, terrain, your driving style... For the PV you'll need to know the direction of your roof, shading, how sunny your area is... I've found some tools that can simplify much of this.

Going into all of that detail will be complex. If you are impatient, here is a quick rule of thumb:

• Each 1kW of PV will give you about 4,000 miles of EV driving

This is obviously a gross approximation since I have no idea where on the planet you are. Minnesota will get much less sun than Arizona, and those are both in the US. If you are still reading, I assume a simple rule of thumb is not enough for you. To get a better answer, you'll need to know how much energy your EV needs and how much energy solar panels on your roof can generate. Let's work through an example in detail to see how this works.

EV Energy Needs

How far do you drive annually? For this example, we'll use 10,000 miles, since this number is easily scalable.

How much energy does your EV use per mile? To check this, go to:
   http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

Look up the vehicle in question and note the "kWh per 100 miles" value. You can ignore the range and MPGe values for this exercise. 

• For the 2014 Nissan Leaf, this value is 30 kWh/100miles
• For the 2014 Tesla Model S, this value is 35 kWh/100miles

You can adjust these values based on your driving style. If you are lead-foot, add 3 or 4 kWh. If you are a hypermiler subtract a few. Similarly, where you drive matters, areas with steep hills use more energy (even with regenerative-braking) and flat areas will be more efficient (+/-1kWh). Similarly, your climate control use will impact your energy use too. If you usually drive with the climate control or defroster on, add 2 or 3 kWh. 

Since the EPA numbers are for 100 miles, it's a simple matter to multiply by 100 to get to 10,000 annual miles. So the 2014 Leaf will need 3000 kWh for 10,000 miles and the '14 Model S would need 3500 kWh.

If you drive a plug-in hybrid or range-extended EV, do this calculation only for the battery-powered electric miles that you drive.

PV Energy Generation 

Step 1 was figuring out how much energy your EV needed. Now on to step 2, how much energy can you generate.

How much energy solar panels produce depends on how much sun they get, their azimuth, tilt, shading, and regional weather. The hours of sunlight for a given region depends on the path of the sun and how cloudy it is in the area. These factors are all taken together to yield the Solar Local Production Capacity (LPC). Here are the LPC values for some cities in Oregon for example:

Oregon Solar Potential by Region 

City	Solar Local Production Capacity (LPC)
Astoria	1.02
Burns	1.40
Eugene	1.13
Medford	1.32
North Bend	1.25
Pendleton	1.30
Portland	1.08
Redmond	1.41
Salem	1.14

The LPC value is a good rough first pass approximation. We'll work through the math, but if you get lost in this, there is a link below to a tool that will do it all for you.

Q: Solar panel output is measured by kW, but how do you convert this into energy produced (kWh)?
A: LPC (assuming no tracking, optimal angle, and no shading)::
    PV Power (DC Watts) * LPC * 1000 = Annual Energy (in kWh)

A fixed roof mount 6 kW PV system in North Bend Oregon, for example, using the above equation will generate at most 7,500 kWh annually. Here is the math:

• PV Power (DC Watts) * LPC * 1000 = Annual Energy (in kWh)
• 6,000 (W)* 1.25 (LPC)* 1000 = 7,500 kWh annually

If you don't know (or cannot find) the LPC for your area, there are PV calculators online that can help. The one I like is at:

    http://pvwatts.nrel.gov/

Put in the size of the system, the angle, and few other data points then it will quickly run an hour-by-hour simulation for an entire year and show you what your PV's energy production is likely to be.

Let's do the same North Bend example with this simulator. Let's say we are putting a PV system on Gino's Pizza Inn at 1324 Virginia Ave. in North Bend, OR. Google Maps shows a roof that looks perfect for solar. Put in the address, then a small 6kW for the size, no tracking, south-facing (180 degrees), leave the other settings, like inverter efficiency, at their defaults and you get a result of 7,087 kWh annually.

The nice thing about this calculator is that it is specific to your region, you can put in your roof pitch, it compensates for how much sun and clouds you get, you can just click the back arrow and change things to quickly compare. For example, if Gino's Pizza Inn were to mount that 6kW system on a dual-axis tilt mount, they would get 9,450 kWh annually. As you can see tracking really helps; it increased the system output by 33%. Now if Gino wanted 9,450 kWh, he can compare the cost of adding tracking or adding 33% more panels on a stationary roof-mounted system.

Putting it all together (EV + PV)

BMW i8 EV under a solar carport

Now you know where to look up the energy that your EV will need (http://www.fueleconomy.gov/) and how to determine how much energy a PV system will generate on your roof (http://www.nrel.gov/rredc/pvwatts/). With these two tools, you can pair your EV driving to a PV system and start driving on smiles.

Let's complete the Leaf and Tesla Model S examples and see how big of a PV system it would take to power them with sunshine.

Nissan Leaf

The 2014 Nissan Leaf needed 3000 kWh for 10,000 miles. This time let's use a roof-mounted PV system in Portland OR in the PV simulator. A 3kW PV system generates 3,016 kWh annually.

How does this compare to the rule of thumb from the top of this article? The rule of thumb was each 1kW of PV will get you about 4,000 miles of driving. Portland is not known as a sunny spot, so (not surprisingly) did a little worse than the rule of thumb.

In Phoenix AZ, on the other hand, you only need a 2kW system to generate 3,138 kWh annually. This is more than 5,000 miles of EV driving for each kW of PV on your roof, so better than the rule of thumb.

Tesla Model S

The '14 Model S would need 3500 kWh to drive 10,000 miles.

Let's use two different locations this time. Seattle WA would need a 3.7kW PV system to power the Tesla for 10,000 miles. Whereas Miami FL would only need a 2.7kW system.

Driving on Sunshine - Wooah ♫

And don't it feel good!

I started driving an EV in February of 2007. Later that same year we installed our west-facing 4kW PV system. I hope these tools can help you to become more energy independent and start driving on sunshine.

SolarCity currently has deals to install solar where you pay zero out of pocket and then you buy the energy that the panels produce for less than your current electric bill. If you own a house and this sounds good to you, here is my referral link. 

Electric Vehicle Apps

The following mobile apps are designed to help residents in the northeastern United States locate and use electric vehicle charging stations.*
 

     

Plug Share

Plug Share is a free application that enables drivers to find electric vehicle charging stations near them.

App Type: Driving, Electric Vehicle
Cost: Free
Developer: Xatori, Inc.
Platforms Available: iPhone, Android

                    

     

ChargePoint

The ChargePoint app enables drivers to locate charging stations near them, get directions to charging stations, and see the real-time availability of those stations.

App Type: Driving, Electric Vehicle
Cost: Free
Developer: Coulomb Technologies Inc.
Platforms Available: iPhone, Android

                    

     

Recargo

Recargo is the EV community powered by you. Find charging stations nearby, plan trips, share photos, and stay connected with news from PlugInCars.com and the Recargo community. 

App Type: Driving, Electric Vehicle
Cost: Free
Developer: Recargo, Inc.
Platforms Available: iPhone, iPad Android

                    

     

CarStations

Find and help update electric car stations all over the world. CarStations works with manufacturers and drivers to help provide data, latest locations, and up-to-date information. 

App Type: Driving, Electric Vehicle
Cost: Free
Developer: CarStations
Platforms Available: iPhone, Android

                    

Anthony Weiner tells Elon Musk to Stop his Disruptive Innovation

In his inaugural article for the Business Insider, Anthony Weiner has decided that he needs to give Elon Musk some advice. That advice is to shut-up and get in line. That's right Tesla should just do things like every other car company has since the first Model T rolled off the line. Specifically, Weiner suggests that the ban on car direct sales that New Jersey and other states have is a good thing and Tesla should just go along to get along. Here is a snippet:

Reasonable people may think regulations that get in the way of tech companies are all just bad laws. In Tesla’s case, some might consider bans on direct auto sales to be part of a protectionist regime set up by a powerful lobby—neighborhood car dealers—and unchallenged by a lazy industry that didn’t want to antagonize its sales force. Still, dismissing all existing regulations out of hand without recognizing them as the product of reasoning and careful consideration isn’t the answer.

Tesla and these other tech disruptors might want to put more of their energy into finding ways to fit their innovations into existing regulations.

Cornelius from Pixar's A Bug's Life
says "They have been selling cars like
this ever since I was a pupa!"
Little known fact is that Anthony
Weiner actually voiced Cornelious for the
movie, but, alas, is uncredited. You can,
however, clearly see the resemblance
that the animators took great care to include. 

He suggests that innovators spend more of their energy trying to find ways to be like everyone else! Maybe he should look up the meaning of the word.

If the regulations are useful and important, as he contends, then they should be able to stand up to scrutiny. Weiner continues:

...why don’t these founders and tech executives focus on getting wider public support or convincing lawmakers their causes are just? Instead, they seem to show up expecting the world to be wowed by their shiny new companies and losing it when people don’t get out of the way. Gnashing of teeth via press release doesn’t make the case where it counts. If you want to be in the business of selling great cars, there may be more productive ways to spend your time than bitching about the laws that the majority have passed and reaffirmed from the time of the Model T.

Let me see If I understand what he is suggesting. If you want change, just say please and then if it does not happen just walk away and maybe, just maybe, someday, if you are lucky, things will just change on their own when the benevolent lawmakers deem it to be the right time. Don't gnash your teeth, or make press releases, or <gasp>bitch.

Getting active, being vocal, and yes maybe even getting mad are the only ways that change comes about.

Weiner is not an innovative leader. And, well, when he did try to adopt some new technology, look how that turned out; so I guess it is not too surprising that he would now be a luddite.

With our system of government, the states have the right to put sales restrictions on various industries. And businesses have a right, if not an obligation, to streamline their processes, including sales and distribution, to deliver the best customer experience that they can, in a profitable manner as their shareholders expect.

Specifically, in this case, New Jersey can prevent direct sales if that is what they think best serves their constituents. And if they do, Tesla has every right to "bitch about the laws". If NJ does prevent direct sales, then maybe Tesla will  give in and find a dealer partner, or maybe they'll just setup shops near the border and Pennsylvania and New York will have a few extra vehicle sales and the jobs and tax revenue associated with them.

2015 Toyota and Honda Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles Expected to Be Priced at $97,750 - Yikes!!!

2015 Toyota and Honda Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles Expected to Be Priced at $97,750 - Yikes!!!:

Nissan Proves That Free EV Charging Helps Sell Cars | PluginCars.com

Nissan Proves That Free EV Charging Helps Sell Cars | PluginCars.com: "The “No Charge to Charge” program—which launched October 1, 2013 and runs through March 31, 2014—gives those who buy or lease a LEAF in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston metro areas free access to NRG’s eVgo network of stations in those areas for 12 months."

kWh > Gallons

The number of kWh that I have used for EV driving has just surpassed the number of gallons of gasoline that I have purchased in my lifetime.

Before you say it, I know these are not comparable units. Yes, they are both units that can be used to "fuel" a vehicle but they are apples and oranges. A gallon of gas will get you tens of miles. A kWh will only get you 3 or 4 miles. A gallon of gas is $3 or $4. A kWh is only about a dime. Additionally, the two vehicle types are radically different. So now that we know these are different, let's compare them anyway.

kWh Usage

I picked up my Nissan Leaf in May 2011. When I got it, I qualified for "The EV Project" program. This meant that I received a free charging station in my garage. It was installed about a week before the car arrived. When it was installed, I also installed a simple analog wattmeter (pictured below). This allowed me to count every kWh that went to the charging station.

With all the fancy features my charging station has: WiFi, timers, data collection..., the charging station's standby power is not negligible. It can add up to about 100 miles worth energy each month, so not every kWh tracked by the meter was actually used to move the car down the road, but I did pay for these to fuel the car, so they are included in this "Wall-to-wheel" analysis.

One more note, I have charged my EV in many other places. Obviously, my home meter does not track these, but home charging (typically overnight) is my primary recharging method.

Without further ado, here is my meter reading:

6060 kWh EV charging meter

6060 kilowatt-hours or 6.06 megawatt-hours used for EV fueling. I should point-out that our solar panels have made more than twice that amount since our EV first plugged in. If we had paid the standard local rate for this, it would have cost ~$600. With the Time-of-use plan that we are on, this reduced the cost to ~$388. That is not bad for 24,600 miles of driving over three years.

Gasoline usage

Calculating my gasoline usage is pretty easy since I have only ever owned one gas vehicle. A 1997 Honda Passport. When I bought it, it had 6,000 miles on it and it now it has 102,000. My lifetime MPG for this vehicle is just over 16. This means that I have purchased 5900 gallons of gas.

Computing the cost for this is not as easy. I have detailed record for 2010 and later. So for dates before this, I'll use the below chart to estimate the costs.

When I bought the Passport, I was spending less than $500 a year on gasoline. My gas costs peaked in 2008 at nearly $1500. This is when I started to drive electric. Adding the years up, I've spent over $12,000 on gasoline.

Compared

Fuel Type	Consumption	Miles	Cost	Cost per 100 miles
Electric (Leaf)	6060 kWh	24,600	$388	$1.58
Gasoline (Passport)	5900 gallons	96,000	$12000	$12.50

So how much have I saved over these last three years? Assuming I would have driven the Passport for these 24,600 miles, I would have used more than 1500 gallons of fuel. At a price of $3.50 per gallon, that is $5,381. Subtract the electricity cost and I have saved about $5000. 

Electric car sales up

Electric car sales up in D.C. area: "Atlanta led the nation with more than 3,000 plug-in vehicle sales, a 52 percent increase, followed by Washington, D.C. Portland came in third, just ahead of Los Angeles, with San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Seattle, Miami and Detroit following close behind."

Yet Another Fast Charge Standard (YAFCS)

As if we didn't have enough confusion and infighting in the EV world already, now there is another charging option. As reported in GreenCarCongress, the Chinese joint venture between Daimler and BYD (called BDNT) is working with ABB to create DC fast chargers for their upcoming battery electric vehicle.

Rather than selecting the CHAdeMO standard used by Japanese auto manufacturers, or the Combined Charging Standard (CCS), aka SAE Combo, used by GM, BMW, and others, Daimler/BYD have decided to create yet another fast charge connector. And it has the very memorable name of GB/T 20234.

Various DC charging couplers. Via UNECE

Shouldn't there be a standard? The beautiful thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from.

Woman trying to plug in her non-Tesla car
to an incompatible Tesla charging station

Why does it matter?

I have no plans to drive my car to China, so you might ask why would I care what type of fast charge connector they use? I have no direct concern, they can use whatever they want. However, there are secondary effects to consider.

First, it complicates the landscape. There is already a lot for new EV owners to learn. As the photo to the right shows, when things are not compatible, there will be misunderstandings. I prefer the simple "it just works, plug-n-play" option when possible.

You Shouldn't Have To
Carry All This Around
Just To Plug-In

When you want to plug in and the connector doesn't fit, it is a frustrating experience and makes the entire EV experience less satisfying. If someone in China buys a Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, or Chevy Spark EV and they want to charge it, they have to know where the specific type of charger is or have the right type of adaptor.

If there is roadside signage for fast charging. How would you know which type it is directing you to?

Second, connectors are expensive. Today, EV charging equipment is expensive, in part, because items that are specific to the EV industry such as charging connectors are still low production volume items. China is potentially a huge EV market. If they would have selected an existing standard, it would have meant more volume and lower prices for everyone using these stations and connectors.

Don't Forget Tesla

Tesla Supercharger

This has been done before. Tesla went out on their own with a proprietary fast charge system they called Supercharger. They are building these Supercharger stations coast to coast in the US and in Europe.

Tesla owners are not limited to just Tesla's network. Tesla makes (or will soon make) adaptors to allow Tesla owners to use J1772 and CHAdeMO systems. The adaptors allow Tesla owners to use other networks, but the reverse is not possible. Again resulting in frustrated drivers.

History Repeated

During the second wave of EVs (in the 1990s, the GM EV1 era) there were several connector standards. GM and Toyota used induction charging and there were two different sized paddles. While Ford and others used the Avcon connector.

This made it difficult to deploy public infrastructure. Which vehicle(s) should you support? Should you deploy some of each? This greatly increased the cost of installing public EV infrastructure.

Now, in this generation of EVs, with fast charging, we are making a similar mistake.