[EVDL] EVLN: Don’t forget to plug it in,will 6’2” daughter fit ina Smart EV?
http://thechronicleherald.ca/wheelsnews/1283365-lady-driven-living-with-the-2015-smart-fortwo-electric-drive-coup%C3%A9 Lady Driven: Living with the 2015 smart fortwo electric drive coupé Lisa Calvi | April 29, 2015 [images http://thechronicleherald.ca/sites/default/files/imagecache/ch_article_main_image/articles/B97450703Z.120150429094845000GG29C3P2.11.jpg The charger at Dalhousie University is just outside the Ocean Sciences Building. It requires a Dalhousie parking permit. (Lisa Calvi) http://thechronicleherald.ca/sites/default/files/u27129/Calvi3EVweb.jpg (thumbs-up) ] I did it. I survived a week with an electric vehicle. I didn’t blow the house up, electrocute myself or get stranded by the side of the highway with a dead battery. Life is good. Electrifying even. I pick up the 2015 smart fortwo electric drive coupé car on a blustery, rainy day. A caution sign on the MacKay bridge warns drivers to reduce speed because of extreme high winds. Great. The tiny two-seat smart car and I are going to be mercilessly flicked off the high bridge into the harbour below like a bug. This irrational fear momentarily dulls the thrill of thinking that my vehicle is not burning any fossil fuels. I make it across the bridge with surprisingly little buffeting by the wind. I’m a bit nervous about living with an electric vehicle. I hope it likes me, I joke to my husband, Garry Sowerby, who is waiting for me to drive him to the airport for a business trip. Don’t forget to plug it in, he jokes back. I never forget to charge my smartphone, tablet or laptop. Why would a plug-in vehicle be any different? It’s just another device, right? Don’t forget to plug it in, he repeats. I vow to only use the electric vehicle this week even though that means shuffling the two other vehicles crowding the driveway to get in and out and to get the smart car within reach of the life-giving power outlet inside the garage. I’m drenched by the sideways rain by the time I get the smart electric drive coupé into position and ready to be plugged in. A vague thought of electrocution passes through my mind but surely the manufacturer factored in driver dampness when working on the safety aspect of plugging a vehicle into an electrical outlet. My head is filled with questions. How long will this take? How far can I go? Can I drive Garry to the airport? It’s an 80-kilometre round trip. With the battery gauge registering only an 80 per cent charge and a published range of approximately 138 kilometres on a full charge, we don’t want to risk it. We take one of the other ‘old-fashioned’ vehicles, powered by an internal combustion engine, and leave the smart fortwo coupé tethered to the garage. If I owned only an electric vehicle, would the spontaneous road trip become a thing of the past? With this particular electric car, a road trip of 60 kilometres in one direction is certainly all my range anxiety could handle. There are other charging locations in Nova Scotia. I could drive 130 or so kilometres in one direction, stop to charge the vehicle, then hit the road again. Free as the wind. But with a common household outlet (120v system), it takes up to sixteen hours to go from zero to a full charge. With a Level II charger (240v), this process takes eight hours. Not exactly spontaneous but forward planning should eliminate any charging mishaps. Don’t forget to plug it in, are my husband’s parting words at the airport departures door. Yes, dear. I’ll take our 6’2” daughter, Layla, to get groceries. Will she fit? Will the groceries fit? We are obviously not going to buy furniture or bulk toilet paper but there is room for one order of groceries in the cargo area behind the seats. The cockpit of the smart fortwo coupé, with its high ceiling and tall seat backs, is actually spacious and quite comfortable, with lots of leg room. It’s cute, Layla claims. I have to agree, despite having to get used to that feeling of ‘where’s the rest of my car?’ on catching a glimpse of my reflection in shop windows. It’s raining and blowing again when I arrive home after our somewhat silly, self-imposed mission to find all the charging stations in Halifax’s downtown core. Between my smart electric drive car and the power outlet in the garage, there are two vehicles to move in and out of the driveway. I hear Garry’s voice: don’t forget to plug it in! But, I reason, I don’t have go out again today and there’s nothing on the schedule until 4 p.m. tomorrow that requires mobility. Plenty of time to plug it in tomorrow morning, I think, as I rush into the house out of the inclement weather. Could I really live with this vehicle? With a base price of $26,990 ($27,535 as tested), it’s reasonably priced but it would almost have to be a second vehicle for most households. Or you could work at a location, like the Halifax Central Library with three charging units in the underground car park or the Halifax Seaport Farmer’s Market with one charger out front.
[EVDL] EVLN: Audi wireless EV charging system
'Metamaterials enhances wireless power transfers' http://ecomento.com/2015/04/27/audi-wireless-electric-car-charging-system/ Audi working on wireless EV charging system April 27, 2015 | [image http://cdn.ecomento.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Audi-wireless-electric-car-charging-740x425.jpg video https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=80v=cdAmM9p58ps Audi CES 2015 Teaser: Those Dogs Audi USA Jan 5, 2015 Audi returns to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada to showcase the latest in innovative vehicle technologies ] Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Audi’s technical chief, says the company is working on a wireless charging system that he says is nearly ready for production. The system will be an option on the Audi Q7 e-tron 3.0 TDI Quattro. “It’s not so convenient today to take a cable and plug it in and [unplug it] repeatedly for some people,” Hackenberg says. “”n my own garage, I sometimes have to go around the car with the cable or over the car and around the tools to get to the plug-in point, so I know we have to hurry with inductive charging.” There are technical issues with wireless charging that have to be solved. In most cases, the rate of charge is substantially lower than it is for a charger connected by a cable. Also, the greater the distance between the charging plate mounted to the garage floor and the wireless receiver built into the underside of the car, the lower the charging rate will be. Audi says it is working on a system that will raise the charging plate once the car is in position to reduce the distance to the receiver, which will enable higher charging rates. “Our system will start with 3.6 kW of charging and it will go to 7.2 kW soon, and there are ideas to go higher,” says Hackenberg. Aligning the two components is also critical to getting the best performance. But with the coming of autonomous driving features that will allow cars to park themselves in precisely the correct spot, proper alignment won’t be that much of an issue in the future. Convenience will be an important factor when it comes to members of the public accepting electric and plug in hybrid vehicles. BMW has already noticed that not as many city dwellers are buying its i3 electric sedans as it expected, largely because finding a convenient place to charge them is fraught with difficulties and frustrations. A century ago, a simple innovation changed automobiles from being suitable only for use by rugged individuals to devices that anyone could drive. It was called the electric starter and it changed everything. It is amusing to think of someone like Ulrich Hackenberg tripping over trash barrels as he struggles to connect the latest Audi prototype to the charger in his garage. But if he finds it a hassle, what will ordinary people think? Wireless charging may prove to be the breakthrough that brings electric and plug in cars to the masses. [© ecomento.com] http://phys.org/news/2015-04-wireless-power-metamaterials.html Wireless power transfer enhanced by metamaterials [20150430] by Lisa Zyga feature [images / Q. Wu, et al. ©2015 EPLA http://cdn.phys.org/newman/csz/news/800/2015/wpt.jpg WPT Wireless power transfer between two coils. The metamaterial is the gray 3 x 3 square embedded into the coil on the right http://cdn.phys.org/newman/gfx/news/hires/2015/1-wpt.jpg WPT (a) A large increase in transfer efficiency (purple line) at a distance of 2 cm is measured when both the transmitting and receiving coils (T and R, respectively) are embedded with the metamaterial (yellow). (b) Measured efficiencies at different distances for the case where both coils are embedded with the metamaterial. Although the efficiency drops as transfer distance increases, the efficiency near 20% at 4 cm (blue line) is ideal for some medical devices, such as wireless charging for implanted heart pacemakers ] (Phys.org)—Over the past decade, research on wireless power transfer has led to the development of several commercial applications, such as wireless charging of mobile devices and electric toothbrushes, as well as wireless powering of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags. However, these applications are restricted by limitations on the distance and efficiency of current wireless power transfer technology. In a new study published in EPL, scientists at Tongji University in Shanghai, China, have experimentally demonstrated a way to improve the efficiency of wireless power transfer by using magnetic metamaterials. The new method improves the efficiency of the design from a few percent to nearly 20% at a distance of 4 cm, which could pave the way toward new applications, including wireless charging of implanted pacemakers and electric vehicles. The concept of wireless power transfer dates back to the 1890s, when Nikola Tesla began experimenting with wireless electricity with limited success. Now more than a century later, the idea has again attracted attention. In 2007, for example, MIT researchers demonstrated
[EVDL] EVLN: Making cities plugin-friendly installing EVSE
http://www.bendbulletin.com/business/3116579-151/making-cities-electric-friendly#
Making cities electric-friendly
By Jim Motavalli, NYT May 3, 2015
Jeremy McCool is convinced there is a better way to charge electric vehicles
in a crowded city than using a wired plug.
McCool is founder and chief executive of Hevo Power, a Brooklyn, New
York-based startup that is working to create a home for electric vehicles in
an environment that is inherently challenging to them.
First, he and his team developed a wireless charger designed to look like an
ordinary manhole cover and fit unobtrusively into the urban landscape. They
are also working on what he calls a “green loading zone.” Electric trucks
simply drive up and recharge wirelessly while they are parked. He plans to
test the technology by the fall at New York University, on a groundskeeping
vehicle.
That day will mark a long-awaited milestone for Hevo Power, which has been
working on its products for several years, McCool said.
“It has felt like an impossible journey,” he said. Hevo developed its
wireless charging platforms with the help of a $240,000 grant from New York
state.
With vast numbers of apartment dwellers, New York, along with cities like
Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco, represents the promise, and
the challenges, of what is a large, still untapped market for electric
vehicles.
“New York City has the highest percentage of apartment households in the
United States,” said Jim Lapides, a spokesman for the National Multifamily
Housing Council. That density, as well as government bureaucracy, cold
weather, the difficulty of curbside recharging on busy streets and the high
cost of owning a vehicle in a city in general, makes running an electric car
a challenge.
But government officials remain committed to trying to encourage electric
vehicle use, saying that even if only a small fraction of drivers switch to
a plug-in car, the reduction in carbon emissions could be significant.
For example, the Philadelphia Parking Authority has pursued a novel
strategy: It lets residents reserve public spaces for an annual fee and pay
for installation of chargers there. But only about 20 people have signed up,
according to Martin O’Rourke, a spokesman for the authority.
In California, the epicenter of electric vehicle deployment, NRG eVgo, a
charging provider, is offering a special deal for apartment and condominium
dwellers through the state’s Take Charge program. Property owners pay
nothing to have their parking wired for electric charging. Car owners then
pay $39 a month as well as the cost of electricity, which is rebated to the
property owner.
“It’s been very challenging for renters in California who want to buy an
EV,” said Terry O’Day, a vice president at NRG eVgo. The need is clearly
large. In Santa Monica, where he lives, O’Day said that 80 percent of
residents live in rental or condo properties.
There is the prospect of many more chargers to come in California, though.
Pacific Gas and Electric, a utility in the central and northern parts of the
state, is proposing to install 25,000 chargers in its coverage area. That
kind of density suits the region.
“We have a little more than 60,000 EVs registered, and that’s more than 20
percent of the total in the United States,” said Jonathan Marshall, a
spokesman for the utility.
But in New York, especially Manhattan and Brooklyn, the challenges remain
high. “Manhattan is so dense and vertical that traditional approaches to
charging don’t work,” said John Shipman, who runs electric vehicle programs
at Con Edison, the city’s main utility.
However, the obstacles have not stopped a multitude of agencies and
companies from trying to make it a reality, starting with the city itself.
Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office, said that city fleets
now have 825 plug-in vehicles of all types, and 203 charging stations, —
“still the largest single network in New York state.”
Spitalnick also pointed to a new city law that requires 20 percent of new
off-street parking to be built “charger-ready.” Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
administration, she said, “has been aggressively increasing the city
government’s use of electric vehicles, while continuing to partner with the
private sector to expand charging infrastructure for private vehicles.”
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[EVDL] Tesla's powerwall is already sold out through mid 2016
Whether we argue that it makes sense financially, people are jumping in the frey. http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/06/tesla-powerwall-earnings/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Fullutm_medium=feedutm_campaign=Engadget?ncid=rss_fullutm_content=gravity_organic_sitefeedcps=gravity_1677_-958258836264797270 Peri ___ 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)
[EVDL] EVLN: AVIS order creates largest fleet of e-NV200 Leaf EVs
http://www.fleetpoint.org/nissan/avis-order-creates-largest-fleet-of-nissan-evs/29867/ AVIS order creates largest fleet of Nissan EVs By Neil Thomason April 29, 2015 [image http://www.fleetpoint.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Nissan_Leaf.jpg LEAF ] AVIS Denmark orders 401 Nissan e-NV200 vans and 60 Nissan LEAF electric cars The order boosts AVIS order of 400 Nissan LEAF electric cars last year, bringing its total EV fleet to date to 861 vehicles. AVIS Denmark Managing Director, Kasper Gjedsted commented: “We had great success already with the Nissan LEAF in Denmark and we leased all of the units we purchased from Nissan very quickly, which has led to us ordering more. To follow up that success we have decided to add the e-NV200 vehicle to broaden our offering and appeal to new types of customers.” Director of Electric Vehicles for Nissan Europe, Jean-Pierre Diernaz believes the deal is a clear demonstration of the trust companies have in Nissan electric vehicles, commenting: “We are very happy to be working with AVIS again to create a lease offering for customers in Denmark. With big companies like AVIS in Denmark and DHL in Italy placing significant orders for Nissan electric vehicles.” Nissan is the world’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicles with the Nissan LEAF claiming its spot as the best-selling EV in Europe and globally in 2014. [© fleetpoint.org] http://www.just-auto.com/news/nissan-lands-big-order-for-e-nv200-electric-van_id158360.aspx DENMARK: Nissan lands big order for e-NV200 electric van By Dave Leggett | 29 April 2015 Nissan and Avis Denmark have signed a deal to create the largest fleet of Nissan electric vehicles anywhere in Europe, with a new order of 401 Nissan e-NV200 vans and a further 60 units of the Nissan Leaf. In 2014 Avis ordered 400 Nissan Leaf electric cars and after placing them through its leasing scheme has added the Nissan e-NV200 electric light commercial and passenger vehicle variants to its electric offering. In addition, to continue to meet demand in the Danish market, the company has ordered an additional 60 Nissan Leafs, bringing its total EV fleet to date to 861 vehicles. Avis Denmark Managing Director, Kasper Gjedsted commented: We had great success already with the Nissan Leaf in Denmark and we leased all of the units we purchased from Nissan very quickly, which has led to us ordering more. To follow up that success we have decided to add the e-NV200 vehicle to broaden our offering and appeal to new types of customers. Director of Electric Vehicles for Nissan Europe, Jean-Pierre Diernaz said the deal shows that there is a broadening market for big fleet EV customers in Europe. We are very happy to be working with Avis again to create a lease offering for customers in Denmark. With big companies like Avis in Denmark and DHL in Italy placing significant orders for Nissan electric vehicles we can see that more people are realising the unique combination of driving comfort, low running costs and zero emissions is very appealing. [© just-auto.com] https://3d-car-shows.com/avis-own-europes-largest-fleet-of-nissan-electric-vehicles/ AVIS OWN EUROPE’S LARGEST FLEET OF NISSAN ELECTRIC VEHICLES [image https://3d-car-shows.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/nissan-electric-cars.jpg ] AVIS ORDER CREATES EUROPE’S LARGEST FLEET OF NISSAN ELECTRIC VEHICLES AVIS Denmark orders 401 Nissan e-NV200 vans and 60 Nissan LEAF electric cars Combined with last year’s order of 400 LEAFs, Avis now has largest EV fleet in Europe Copenhagen, 8th May 2015 – Nissan and AVIS Denmark have signed a deal to create the largest fleet of Nissan electric vehicles anywhere in Europe, with a new order of 401 Nissan e-NV200 vans and a further 60 units of the 100 percent electric Nissan LEAF. In 2014 AVIS ordered 400 Nissan LEAF electric cars and after successfully placing them through its leasing scheme has added the Nissan e-NV200 electric light commercial and passenger vehicle variants to its offering. In addition, to continue to meet demand in the Danish market, the company has ordered an additional 60 Nissan LEAF, bringing its total EV fleet to date to 861 vehicles. AVIS Denmark Managing Director, Kasper Gjedsted commented: “We had great success already with the Nissan LEAF in Denmark and we leased all of the units we purchased from Nissan very quickly, which has led to us ordering more. To follow up that success we have decided to add the e-NV200 vehicle to broaden our offering and appeal to new types of customers.” Director of Electric Vehicles for Nissan Europe, Jean-Pierre Diernaz believes the deal is a clear demonstration of the trust companies have in Nissan electric vehicles , commenting: “We are very happy to be working with AVIS again to create a lease offering for customers in Denmark. With big companies like AVIS in Denmark and DHL in Italy placing significant orders for Nissan electric vehicles we can see that more people are realising the unique combination
Re: [EVDL] Inexpensive retiree-friendly EV?
Thanks for the links. Nice to have them copied to one place so I can send them to someone interested in a Leaf. -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Inexpensive-retiree-friendly-EV-tp4675387p4675412.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)
Re: [EVDL] Tesla's powerwall is already sold out through mid 2016
On May 7, 2015, at 1:08 PM, Peri Hartman via EV ev@lists.evdl.org wrote: Whether we argue that it makes sense financially, people are jumping in the frey. That is fantastic news for _everybody!_ If even the Gigafactory can't keep up, that tells you something huge about demand...and means that there will be lots of people inside and outside of Tesla scrambling to meet it b -- next part -- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: signature.asc Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 801 bytes Desc: Message signed with OpenPGP using GPGMail URL: http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20150507/ddc5f619/attachment.pgp ___ 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)
