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Friday, November 4, 2011 |
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| Battery, Hybrid & Electric Transportation | Carbon Emissions & Climate Change |
Toyota Confirms $999 Installed Home EV Charger Offer (Ind. Report) Toyota reports that its official 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid charging station will cost just $999, including installation.
While there are several home charging solutions now available for under $1000, installation is normally extra, prompting many EV owners to forgo level 2 home charging stations altogether, or skip official routes and use alternative solutions to charge their car.
The one-size-fits all pricing plan from Toyota is a breath of fresh air in an industry where electric car owners are regularly being charged anything up to $1,818 for an 'easy' installation of an official charging station -- with more complex installations costing thousands more. (Source: Consumer Reports, Toyota, November, 2, 2011)
Chrysler Provides CenterPoint with Test PHEVs (Ind. Report) Chrysler Group LLC, working in partnership with the U.S. DOE, will deliver five demonstration Ram 1500 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) pickup trucks to CenterPoint Energy's electric utility in Houston.
The PHEV pickups are part of a national demonstration fleet of 140 vehicles that will be used during the next three years to evaluate customer usage, drive cycles, charging, thermal management, fuel economy, emissions and impact on the region's electric grid. In addition to CenterPoint Energy, seven other partners across the U.S. are slated to receive vehicles for demonstration and testing purposes.
CenterPoint Energy currently has six charging stations and plans to install an additional 10 stations at company facilities throughout its 5,000 square-mile electric service territory.
Cities and states were selected to evaluate temperature extremes, urban traffic cycles and diverse climates and geographies. Urban use will be tracked to measure battery performance and overall hybrid efficiency.
Funding for the program in part is provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through the Transportation Electrification Initiative sponsored by the DOE. The grant totals $48 million from DOE and $49.4 million from Chrysler Group LLC.
The Ram 1500 PHEV includes a liquid-cooled 12.9 kWh lithium-ion battery pack and a 6.6 kW on-board charger. Strictly a demonstration program, there are no plans for a production version of the PHEV Ram 1500 truck at this time, according to Chrysler. (Source: Chrysler Group LLC, November, 3, 2011)
Ford Taking Orders for $40,000 Focus EV (New Prod. & Tech.)
Ford has begun accepting orders for its new Focus Electric. Priced at $39,995, exactly the same as the Chevrolet Volt, the Focus EV costs almost $4,000 more than its closest direct competitor, the Nissan Leaf. All three EV are eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit and various state incentives available toward the purchase of EVs.
Ford has yet to announce the Focus EVs' range, but has indicated that it will be competitive with the all-electric Leaf, which has an EPA rating of 73 miles per charge. The 23 kWh battery pack in the Focus takes up to 20 hours to recharge with a 120-volt outlet, but under four hours when plugged into a 240-volt fast charger, twice as fast as the Leaf.
The Focus Electric is based on the standard five-door version of the Focus, which has a starting price of $19,095. Aside from a large intrusion in the cargo area to accommodate the battery, it offers the same sized accommodations as the standard car.
Ford is not requiring a deposit to reserve one, but for now orders are only being taken by dealers in California, New York and New Jersey. (Source: Fox News, Ford, November, 3, 2011) Tesla Planning California "Super Charging" Station (Ind. Report) Tesla is planning to build a "super charger" station somewhere between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The proposed station would use fast 90 kW chargers that could add 150 miles of charge to Tesla cars in 30 minutes.
The alternative to fast charging stations is battery swapping stations, which can take out a used battery and pop in a fully charged battery. Tesla has said the Model S will have a swappable battery just in case battery-swapping becomes popular. The startup leading the charge on battery swapping for EVs is Better Place, which has a business model to build battery swapping and charging stations in regions or countries and then sell electric miles driven as a service, with low cost and subsidized EVs.(Source: Tesla, November, 2, 2011)
Elektromotive Wins Irish Charging Station Contract (Ind. Report) Elektromotive has won a contract from the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) to supply a network of EV charging stations across the Republic of Ireland.
Beginning this December and continuing into early 2012, the roll-out forms part of an ambitious plan to make EVs a major part of Ireland's green transport strategy.
The UK-based EV recharging point manufacturer will supply 200 highly advanced twin-head Elektrobay charging stations as part of the €1.2 million deal, with the installations carried out by the company's partner, Carra Ireland. Each Elektrobay can charge two EVs simultaneously and will add to the burgeoning network of chargers that Elektromotive has supplied to the Republic of Ireland over the past two years.
Delivery and installation of the first batch of 21kwh three-phase Elektrobay chargers is scheduled to begin in December, with each charger featuring 62196-2 standard sockets and Mode 3 connectivity. The Elektrobays will operate on the ESB "ecars" charging station network, with plans to expand the network to around 1,500 public charging sockets.
Since launching its first Elektrobay charging station, Elektromotive has developed a full range of recharging products for all types of plug-in EVs, including its Home Charger, Fast Charger (rated at 400 Volts AC) and a DC-DC 50KV Rapid Charger, which is capable of charging compatible EVs to 80 per cent of their charge in just 20 minutes. (Source: Electricity Supply Board, November, 2, 2011)
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