Brace for Impact: the West Coast Anticipates Electric Vehicles
Posted by Amelia Timbers February 17th, 2010 
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It’s hard not to see the flurry of activity preceding Dec 2010’s slated electric vehicle launches as an expression of joyous excitement. A range of stakeholders are taking action, and coordinating to prepare for widespread electric vehicle ownership. But are they in fact preparing for a new Golden Age in transportation, for the most significant change since the highway? The New York Times reports that the West Coast will be the first to find out.
Infrastructure for the long haul
At the current rate of investment, even if electric vehicles flop, cities in Washington, Oregon and California will be forced to “make it work” to recoup sunk costs. Perhaps to prevent this outcome, businesses and governments are making long-term commitments that create a version of path dependence to lock in West Coast electric vehicle markets. On the other hand, the steps that communities are taking to commit to electric vehicles are also totally prudent, and are exactly what is required for systematic change. The infrastructure and policy improvements are necessary to foster a successful transition to a new automotive paradigm. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the governing body for electricity policy in California in San Francisco, is the convenient epicenter for this frenzy of planning, collaboration and deal-making.
EV Charging Infrastructure: the New VHS vs. BetaMax?
Posted by Steve Puma December 31st, 2009 View Comments
While Tesla Motors and other EV manufacturers have had recent successes and grabbed quite a few headlines, they still face a major hurdle: charging infrastructure. Without a fast and reliable way to re-fuel their vehicles, EV customers will be limited to those who drive less than 200 miles per day or those who can afford to keep the vehicle as a novelty. According to investment website the Motley Fool, 220-volt charging times are the Achilles heel of EVs, with the Tesla Roadsters’ current 200-volt unit taking approximately 4 hours to fully charge.
Automotive industry analyst Jim Motavalli (bnet.com) writes about Tesla’s dilemma in the context of the company’s rumored IPO, first reported by Reuters but denied by Tesla management. Motavalli points to one solution to the charging infrastructure, proposed by The Car Charging Group, Inc. (CCGI):
According to CEO Andy Kinard, Florida-based CCGI will not build its own charging technology, but will distribute chargers built by established player Coulomb. Its business model…is to sign contracts with businesses…that operate parking lots. The contract spells out revenue sharing between the parties, so parking slots will gain free EV infrastructure and lot managers will get cash from charging.
The article also goes on to say that CCGI will standardize on “J1772 charging hardware” and will go from 0 to 1,000 units by the end of 2010. While this would certainly be good news for Tesla, it is not entirely clear just how reliable CCGI’s predictions are.
However, what the article does not mention is that this is not the whole story for electric vehicle infrastructure. Some startups are focusing on an entirely different strategy. One such company is the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Network (EVIN), and its business model circumvents the “chicken-and-egg” problem altogether.
Money Talks: Cash Prizes Spur Innovation
Posted by Steve Puma December 7th, 2009 View Comments
In the glorious Past Before Television, adventurous men and women gained fame and fortune by testing their skills in competitions designed to expand the limits of human knowledge and innovation. Several organizations are bringing back this kind of “innovation prize” in a big way, with competitions designed to solve some of humanity’s greatest challenges, and expand its horizons beyond terrestrial limits.
One of the greatest scientific breakthroughs in history was the result of a prize offered by the British government in the 18th century. At that time, many ships were being lost due to the inaccuracies involved in calculating their longitude at sea. The previous method, dead reckoning, introduced greater errors the farther the ship got from a known point, usually ending in loss of life and heated discussions about the velocity of various types of swallows. The British Parliament offered the modern equivalent of $4.56 million for a solution to the Longitude Problem.
One of the potential solutions to the problem required invention of a marine chronometer of such high accuracy that even Sir Issac Newton doubted that it could be created. But, in 1730, clockmaker John Harrison set himself to the task, and effectively solved the multiple problems of corrosion, temperature, humidity and durability within five years, (although it took him another thirty to collect his prize) a task which has been compared to the landing of men on the moon in the 1960s.
Electric Vehicles: The News Keeps Coming
Posted by Steve Puma December 7th, 2009 View Comments
In years to come, we may look back on 2009 as the year that electric vehicles became mainstream–at least as far as the media is concerned. The past few weeks have been no different as a number of organizations from all over the automotive industry made EV-related announcements. One of these organizations, the Cleantech Group, seems to be bucking the trend with its prediction that so-called Smart Mobility will overtake EVs in 2010, although AutoBlogGreen’s Sebastian Blanco disagrees, and argues that, as far as the media is concerned, 2010 will be even bigger for EV news.
Fueling the Imagination
F
or example, just hearing the words “X-Prize” is bound to conjure up images of maverick entrepreneurs competing for millions of dollars of prize money to achieve new milestones in air and space flight. That’s exactly what the founders of the X-Prize Foundation want you to think about when you hear about the Progressive Automotive X-Prize, a new competition which focuses on environmentally-friendly automobiles instead of airplanes and rockets. As we reported in a previous article, the competition awards a $10 million dollar prize to the car that, in addition to being the winner in a series of speed and endurance trials, must achieve an effective 100 miles per gallon, have a 200 mile range, and adhere to a large number of very stringent design and safety criteria.
According to the New York Times, the new X-Prize is receiving a boost from the Federal government in the form of $5.5 million of stimulus money from the Department of Energy. This support of competition seems like a good way to promote fairness and innovation, especially since the DOE has been previously accused of stifling innovation in the automotive sector with its Advanced Technology Manufacturing Loan program.
Solar City, Tesla Building Fast Charge EV Stations Bridging SF and LA
Posted by BC Upham September 30th, 2009 View Comments
Leading solar power installer Solar City, Tesla Motors, and Rabobank have partnered to instal five fast-charge checkpoints for electric vehicles along Highway 101 between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The charge stations are at Rabobank branches in Salinas, Atascadero, Santa Maria and Goleta, with the fifth in a public parking garage in San Luis Obispo.
The network highlights both the increasing in-roads made by EV technology — and its major weaknesses.
The stations use ClipperCreek technology to provide a 240 volt charge, for free (that’s more than twice the volts of a standard 110 v wall socket). Right now the stations only work with Tesla vehicles, but a company spokesman said it was working with the Society of Automotive Engineers to add standardized plugs, at which point users will have to pay for a charge.
Who Will Lead the Electric Car Market?
Posted by Sarah Lozanova September 22nd, 2009 View Comments
The outlook for the electric car couldn’t have looked brighter when oil was priced at $140 a barrel, consumer confidence was high, and offers of credit were plentiful. Now that a variety of electric vehicles are nearly ready to hit the market in larger quantities, the world is a different place. The leading manufacturers of the electric car and its ability to compete with evolving hybrid technology have yet to be determined.
Electric vehicle sales will surely benefit from higher fossil fuel costs and governmental incentives. A large upfront investment must be made to produce the volume of vehicles needed to reduce manufacturing costs and create a vehicle-charging infrastructure. Geography and culture will impact which countries can accept the smaller range of most electric vehicles and who can afford to purchase one. Technology advancements will dictate the range of vehicles in the future and the speed at which they can charge.
Mission Motors Keeps Moving: All-Electric Bike Tops 150MPH
Posted by Tom Schueneman September 15th, 2009 View Comments
We first introduced TriplePundit readers to San Francisco-based Mission Motors back in February after the quintessential whiz-kid start-up unveiled the Mission One motorcycle at the TED conference in Long Beach (and followed-up this summer after it raced at the TTXGP carbon-free grand prix).
The Mission One is ostensibly a high-performance, all-electric motorcycle, but it really is more than that. Like any great entrepreneurial start-ups, it begins with a vision. As we said back in February, that vision for founders Forrest North, Edward West, and Mason Cabot is to show the world that high-performance and cutting edge design need not be mutually exclusive with sustainability. If you think that you need to putter about town on a scooter in order to have a clean machine, the Mission One is out to prove you wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, like the Tesla (for whom North once worked), it doesn’t come cheap. You’d likely not get a Mission One just to tool about town. But the idea is to push boundaries, break new ground, and blaze a path for others to follow.
And earlier this month the Mission One pushed another boundary on the salt flats of Utah.
Cleantech Group, Guardian Announce First Global Cleantech 100
Posted by BC Upham September 14th, 2009 View Comments
The Guardian newspaper, in partnership with the Cleantech Group, have announced the Global Cleantech 100, which they are calling “the first global, peer-reviewed look at the industry.”
The list is the result of a survey of hundreds of cleantech experts, and thousands of companies, looking for those with the best commercial potential. A panel of 35 experts then narrowed the list down to the top 100, which included some surprises.
It’s Over: Five Reasons Why the Electric Car Wins
Posted by BC Upham August 31st, 2009 View Comments
It could take ten years or more to become apparent, but I’ll call it now: the electric car will replace the internal combustion engine.
A caveat: I am not an automotive industry expert. Which is why I’m right. I’m not mired in the details, the past failures, the what ifs or the buts. All I see are the big, obvious things. When it comes to sea change in human behavior, though, obvious matters.
So, since no prediction is worth its salt without an accompanying list, the following are five overlapping reasons why our children will all be driving electric cars.
Tesla – Electric Car Manufacturer – Makes a Profit! But What Are the Greater Implications?
Posted by Sarah Harper August 13th, 2009 View Comments
This month, Tesla motors (a high-profile U.S. electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer) accomplished the incredibly difficult (for any auto maker nowadays): it made a profit! A $1 million profit, to be exact – a quick turnaround from Tesla’s near-collapse of last year. On top of being a sign of vitality for the auto industry, this profit is considered, by BusinessGreen.com anyway, to be a huge achievement for the sustainability movement: it could signal the commercial viability of the EV sector. While I agree Tesla’s profit is grounds for a big “woo hoo,” I wonder if such conclusions on its implications for the greater EV sector are a bit jumped-to. If I treated two leukemia-positive cats with the same medicine (one cat being prone to the disease and the other not), and the not-prone cat recovered, could I reasonably assume my medicine could conquer feline leukemia in both types?
Cleantech Investment Is Up. So Why Isn’t the Sun Shining on Solar?
Posted by Matthew Holtry August 6th, 2009 View Comments
Photo Source: treehugger.com
Cleantech investments have (mostly) rebounded according to a new joint study by Cleantech Group and Deloitte.
After two quarters of decline, 2Q09 cleantech VC investment hit $1.2 billion. The transportation sector was the clear winner—funding for biofuels, advanced batteries, and electric vehicles reached a new quarterly record of $607 million.
Meanwhile, investors cast a shadow over solar. It’s paltry $114 million is an order of magnitude less than the $1.2 billion it received at this point last year. What happened? An answer after the jump….
Hyundai Ponies Up $3.2 Billion to Go Green
Posted by Jeff Siegel August 3rd, 2009 View Comments
There was a time when embracing sustainability or “green” initiatives meant sacrificing the bottom line in an effort to “do the right thing.” Clearly this is no longer the case. In fact, as we’ve seen with solar and wind companies, organic retailers and eco-friendlier vehicle manufacturers, embracing eco-sensibilities has proven to be a recipe for success. This has certainly been the case for major automakers.
Although no major automaker has walked away from this economic downturn unscathed, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see which car manufacturers have struggled the most.
Tesla Recall: Setback for the EV Revolution?
Posted by Ashwin Seshagiri May 28th, 2009 View Comments
Tesla is recalling 345 of its roadsters that were manufactured between March 2008 and April 22, 2009. According to a Tesla press release, this is a significant number of the roadsters sold to date.
As Tesla vies to redefine the auto industry with its breakthrough roadsters (and now sedans) that look a whole lot more like Porsches than something out of The Jetsons, how will this news affect the car company? More importantly, will this prove to be a larger setback for electric and other alternative energy-driven cars?
Will China Lead the Electric Car Revolution?
Posted by Jeff Siegel April 16th, 2009 View Comments
At the bottom of a recent New York Times article about China’s burgeoning electric vehicle market, I found quite a few hostile comments. Most seemed to be nationalistic in tone, and questioned why we should rely on China for electric cars when GM, Chrysler and Ford are all developing their own electric cars right now.
GM, Chrysler and Ford are all expected to have new electric vehicles in the showrooms within the next 2 to 3 years. And the truth is, if they can keep costs under control, I’m optimistic that demand will be strong. But it is also understandable that some folks are threatened by a potential Chinese electric fleet.
Look at it like this…
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