http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/30/9075007/bmw-i3-electric-car-rebate-san-francisco BMW i3 owners in the Bay Area are getting $1,000 not to charge at peak hours By Sean O'Kane July 30, 2015
[image https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ccUSnY1VADSaH-eznAQkbzu-fx4=/0x0:3499x2333/800x536/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46868260/P90136109.0.0.jpg (i3 EV) ] Up to 100 BMW i3 owners in the San Francisco area are being offered $1,000 to hold off on charging during hours when the electricity grid is stressed the most. The 18-month trial, which is being run by BMW and Pacific Gas & Electric Company, started this week. It was originally announced at this year's CES [ https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/usa/pressDetail.html?title=the-bmw-group-together-with-pacific-gas-electric-company-announces-the-bmw-i-chargeforward-program&outputChannelId=9&id=T0199502EN_US&left_menu_item=node__5236 ]. The process sounds simple, according to a customer who spoke to Bloomberg. "My understanding is that we’ll get a text message that says, 'Hey, you’re charging your car right now, can you back off for an hour?’" BMW customer Peter Berman told the publication. "Incentives abound for electric car owners" The chosen customers will also be eligible for an additional bonus of up to $540 at the end of the program, but that amount "will be determined by individual participation levels throughout the 18-month program," according to BMW. (Drivers have the ability to opt out of participation for one day at a time, which would presumably lower the amount they're eligible for.) About 400 people have applied and the last few spots are still being filled, according to BMW. Applications can be submitted at the BMW i ChargeForward website [ http://www.bmwichargeforward.com/ ]. The deal is another in a long line of incentives offered to buyers of electric vehicles. The United States government offers tax rebates on more than a dozen different models [ https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/taxevb.shtml ] of electric cars. Power companies have also made a habit of incentivizing customers not to use power during peak hours by offering time-of-use pricing and a number of other rebates. The i ChargeForward program is unlikely to spark sales of the i3 specifically, but by piloting the new program BMW is helping make the idea of purchasing an electric vehicle even more attractive. [© theverge.com] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/culture/technology/california-bmw-drivers-get-paid-1000-to-delay-charging-cars/article25780592/ California BMW drivers get paid $1,000 to delay charging cars Dana Hull Bloomberg News Jul. 30, 2015 In a new pilot program, a California utility is paying drivers of BMW electric cars to delay charging their vehicles when the power grid is under pressure. One hundred owners of BMW AG’s i3 hatchback receive $1,000 upfront to participate in Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s 18-month trial, which starts this week and is confined to the San Francisco Bay Area. Peter Berman, a 70-year-old, semi-retired Los Altos psychologist, was selected from about 400 applicants ... “My understanding is that we’ll get a text message that says ‘Hey, you’re charging your car right now, can you back off for an hour?’” said Berman, who began leasing his $40,000-plus i3 in October. “This is the wave of the future. We can’t continue to be dependent on gas and oil and coal for our energy use. I’m really curious as to how this is all going to unfold.” The PG&E-BMW pilot is one of myriad experiments under way worldwide as utilities try to anticipate what will happen if (or when) millions of electric vehicles pour onto city streets and highways. Power companies see both challenge and promise. Yes, electric cars could put more pressure on the grid if everyone plugs them in at the same time. But utilities could also tap batteries for backup power when the grid is under strain or temporarily knocked out in an emergency, paying drivers for the electricity harvested from their parked cars. PG&E estimates that there are 65,000 electric vehicles in its vast northern California service territory, more than any other utility in the U.S. The iChargeForward pilot with BMW is an extension of PG&E’s so-called demand response program: asking industrial customers and large building owners to cut back on electricity use when demand exceeds available supply. MINI Batteries The utility is also repurposing used MINI E batteries as stationary storage for a solar-powered system at BMW’s Technology Office in Mountain View. “We are quite committed to the adoption of electric vehicles in California,” said Jana Corey, PG&E’s director of electrification and alternative fuels. “The BMW pilot is an effort to demonstrate that we can manage the load on these vehicles in a very reliable way.” PG&E is also testing technology that will turn customers’ electric vehicles into mini power plants when there’s high demand on the grid. In Japan, people have been using Nissan Motor Co. Leafs for emergency backup power since the country took several nuclear reactors off line in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. Thirteen Nissan Leafs are among 36 vehicles being tested at the Los Angeles Air Force Base, currently the largest vehicle- to-grid demonstration project in the world. When connected to the grid with special charging stations, the vehicles can provide enough juice to power about 140 homes. The Air Force has expanded the pilot to other bases, including Fort Hood in Texas and Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. School Buses PJM, the grid operator for 13 mid-Atlantic states, is using 20 electric vehicles to balance short-term variations between supply and demand. PJM also aims to tap power from electric school buses, typically idle in the hot summer months. The holy grail is V2G, or “vehicle to grid,” which allows electrons to flow both ways between car and grid. Getting there will require buy-in from the auto industry, which is currently pouring more resources into autonomous vehicles and worries that sending electricity from cars to the grid will add wear and tear to the batteries, the most expensive part of an electric car. Still, the potential is immense, researchers say. “There’s a huge amount of electrical power in these vehicle fleets that represents an amazing resource,” said Tim Lipman, co-director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at the University of California at Berkeley. “Everyone is talking about the need to add storage to accommodate all of the renewable energy. If we had grid-enabled vehicles, it would make everything a lot cheaper.” [© 2015 The Globe and Mail] For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ http://gas2.org/2015/07/31/eu-sends-eee-to-netherlands-for-ev-charging/ EU Sends €€€ To Netherlands For EV Charging http://www.westernslopenow.com/story/d/story/first-247-ev-charging-station-in-grand-junction/97495/GeyfDYPQ5USGyud6N947fA Free 4hr L2 EVSE installed @Grand_Junction-CO http://www.nbc11news.com/home/headlines/First-free-electric-vehicle-charging-station-comes-to-Grand-Junction-319054951.html + EVLN: $14–30k Hi-Perf DIY theswitchlab.com EV Can Be Built in a Week {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-SF-CA-area-i3-owners-get-1k-to-non-peak-charge-in-18mo-trial-tp4677053.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
