ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Richard230 on September 07, 2010, 08:22:52 AM
-
A long article in the business “technology†section of the Monday issue of the San Jose Mercury News by Dana Hull, titled “All charged up and ready to go?â€, was quite interesting. The article is about the infrastructure needed to keep electric vehicles moving.
A sidebar titled “Are you EV ready†states: “If you plan to buy an electric car, here are a few questions to consider: What kind of home charging system does the automaker advise you to get? Do you have a garage? How many miles do you expect to drive each day? Have you called your utility company and told them of your plans to get an electric vehicle?â€
The article says that Nissan recommends a Level 2, 240 V, 40 amp, charging system for their vehicles. The charging dock will need to be hard-wired directly to the breaker box by a certified electrician and will require an electrical permit from the local building department. This permit may take between 30 and 45 days to issue. (Last year I obtained a permit from my city to install a 3†pipe through my 6†high street curb and it took 3 months to issue the permit and the fee was $400 for $100 worth of work.) Nissan has chosen Aero-Vironment, a SoCal company best known for its work on battery-powered planes, to install “home charging docks†specifically for their Leaf. The estimated cost for this installation is $2,200.
GM has yet to announce a company authorized to install its charging dock.
The article goes on to say that anyone who doesn’t have a garage to park their vehicle in while it is charging has a problem.
Pacific Gas and Electric expects to see 219,000 to 845,000 electric vehicles on the road within Northern California by the end of 2020. The utility company says that the SF Bay Area will be “ground zero†for electric vehicles. However, they are worried that too many EVs charging within the same neighborhood will fry their local transformers and they want to be notified of each customer who has an EV so that they can inspect their facilites and upgrade them if necessary. “Home charging is a shared responsibility†said Saul Zambrano of PG&E. “Our responsibility is to make sure the grid is safe.†(Apparently he didn’t say exactly what the customer is supposed to do to share this responsibility – no doubt that will come later.)
The article finishes up with a discussion of PG&E’s E-9 rate, which it says is mandatory for residential customers who plan to refuel an EV at their home. The charge is as little as 5 cents a kWh for charging after midnight. Customers need to contact PG&E to arrange to be on the E-9 rate schedule. That rate could change however, as the California PUC is examining EV rates and is expected to make a decision about them by the end of December.