Electric Vehicles

New York City recently took its first step in developing a public infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs) as officials from the Department of Transportation (DOT), Consolidated Edison (Con Ed) and Flo Energy unveiled a new EV pilot program and the first of 100 charging stations to be installed across the five boroughs between now and October.

 

A press conference announcing the milestone was held on Thursday, June 24, at the southeastern corner of Putnam Place and East Gun Hill Road in Norwood, where the new state-of-the-art, curbside EV charging port is now located. Two customers at a time can charge their vehicles at Putnam Place while four vehicles can charge up at the newly installed charging station at 5935 Broadway in Riverdale.

 

DOT Commissioner Hank Gutman told invited guests, “Welcome to a beautiful and historical day here in the Bronx. The survival of our city and indeed our entire planet depends upon our ability to reduce our carbon footprint and to do it now. This is why the [De Blasio] administration is so focused on promoting bikes, buses, mass transit and other alternatives to the use of a private vehicle.”

 

Gutman continued, “It doesn’t take up excessive sidewalk, it doesn’t interfere with any of the other uses that we make of the City streets and sidewalks, well designed, well executed, and we’re looking forward to having the next, I guess, 99 installed, and seeing how the public enjoys using [them].”

 

According to Gutman, the pilot program will consist of 100 “Level 2” charging stations which will be located in 20 neighborhoods across the five boroughs by EV owners, and an additional 20 charging stations that will be built for New York City’s own fleet of vehicles.

 

Ben Furnas, director of the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Sustainability, told those in attendance, “In the fight against climate change, and for cities, action on climate means transforming our streets to support walking and biking and transit, and it also means making sure that every car on the road is an electric.” Furnas added, “Con Ed and DOT are doing just that, from bike lanes to bus lanes to open streets.”

Meanwhile, Lenny Singh, senior VP of Con Edison’s Customer Energy Solution unit, said, “Curbside charging makes adopting EVs more convenient for our customers. Not having to run a drop-cord three stories down certainly is convenient.”

 

He added, “It makes EV ownership even easier, especially [for] those who live in apartment buildings like the ones we’re standing next to today and those without access to their own charging stations.”

According to Singh, the long-term plan is to install 21,000 Level 2 charging stations and 525 “fast chargers” across the city. Singh added that Con Edison was investing $1.5 billion in three transmission projects that will deliver renewable energy that will eventually charge the EV charging stations from offshore wind turbines.

 

Singh concluded, “The future of the energy supply in New York is renewables, things like offshore wind and solar. EVs will increasingly be charged by those renewable sources and we’re ensuring that our grid and the grid of New York City is equipped for that transition.” According to City officials, the goal is for New York to be powered by 100 percent renewable energy by 2040.

 

Charles Miller, an Allerton resident and the proud owner of a 2012 Nissan Leaf EV, was delighted with the new charging station as it means he no longer has to pay for a parking space outside his apartment building and run several extension cords out his third floor window in order to charge his car.

 

As he charged his car at the new station, Miller described the advantages of the new charging stations, saying if his battery was low, he could stop in the neighborhood, park, charge the car and maybe visit the Oval Park or do some shopping and then come back in an hour and have 25 miles of additional mileage on the clock.

 

“If you’re in this area, it’s going to give you about an hour to chill.” He added that the new chargers were going to be convenient in the sense that no EV owner would be left stranded due to not being able to charge up. “That’s the best part about it,” he said.

 

A one-hour charge will cost $2.50 for more than 6 kilowatt hours, and an EV will cover about 25 miles from that charge.

The global electric vehicle market is expected to grow up to about 34,756 thousand units by the end of the decade. However, the popularity of electric cars is not matched by the infrastructure so the required charging stations aren’t as widespread to instigate a larger fan base to adapt the new form of eco-friendly transportation. The increasing government involvement globally is however working as an incentive for OEMs that are creating opportunities and devising ways to expand EV charging options so they can jump onto the revenue scheme.

Alongside them are the designers that fathom the possibility of making the concept of EV charging portable, so individuals can ride without worrying about where and how to charge their vehicles. Portable EV chargers have caught pace in the last few years, and the A-monite, a concept for a portable electric vehicle fast charger is one fine example of how the intention is altering and is revolutionizing the way people think of electric vehicle ownership. A portable charger like the A-monite removes the question of where, when, and how out of actually charging the electric vehicle. It taps into the lack of charging infrastructure so that a vehicle does not have to towed to a charging station – if it’s stranded on the highway. Instead, it can be powered up, right there and then with a portable charger in the boot of the car. It is an interesting alternative to the fixed stands installed in the parking lots, buildings, and in outdoors.

A-monite can be used for public or personal use and is more efficient than other portable EV charging battery solutions in that it has the charger and cable built-in, and that it comes with its own adjustable handle as opposed to batteries that have to be carried on cart systems. The conceptual charging solution does propose fast charge but it doesn’t reveal the output; however, it takes into account the wire management issue and lets one measure electricity usage through an RFID card.

Inspired by the shape of an ammonite and the functionality of a cable reel, this portable electric vehicle fast charger is delivered in the roundish form factor with the cable coiled up within the body. When you want to charge, just pull out the cable from the A-monite, fasten it to a power socket and you’re good to juice up your vehicle anywhere, anytime. And when you’re done, simply lift up the built-in handle and roll off the charger back to storage. It can be used in a public space, on-call during emergencies, or can be carried in the boot no matter where the road takes you. The possibilities with the A-monite are endless!

Designer: ChangJoong LEE

LOVELAND — Speaking from one of the historic homes of high-tech innovation in Colorado, Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado, waxed on about the impact of innovation on changing the culture of the nation.

Hickenlooper visited Loveland Thursday and specifically Lightning eMotors Inc. (NYSE: ZEV), which is located on the Forge campus, the former Hewlett-Packard facility in Loveland — HP’s first location outside of California.

“If you were going to look at who are some of the great innovators, [you see here] one of the greatest innovators ever [Hewlett-Packard] and now one of the new great innovators [Lightning.] It does make you feel that karma is still at play,” he said.

Lightning CEO Tim Reeser gave Hickenlooper and a gaggle of reporters, city, county and industry officials a tour of Lightning, an e-vehicle manufacturer that recently went public on the New York Stock Exchange.

Hickenlooper, a geologist by training, appeared to be fully engaged in the details as Reeser explained how traditional gasoline-powered vehicles are converted to electric drive drains. No detail seemed too small, from Hickenlooper’s questions about the color coding used to define high-voltage wiring to how steel parts are fabricated in-house instead of farmed out to a third-party vendor. The senator even created a part in the welding and fabrication lab.

“It’s not a surprise that the largest producer of e-vehicles is in Colorado. We were just talking about how prices of batteries have come down 50% in a year,” he said. He seemed to be impressed — because he mentioned it multiple times — when Reeser told him that a traditional gas-powered vehicle might get 13 miles per gallon, and when converted it gets the equivalent of 66 mpg, five times more efficient.

He drove one of Lightning’s converted delivery trucks and rode in an electric-powered shuttle bus; he remarked on the acceleration and performance.

“Lightning very wisely has created a niche for itself. Ford is going to make the pickup trucks but not the big trucks,” he said.

Reeser, noting that the company was in Building A at the Forge complex and is now retrofitting Building B for its use as well, said that the company this year will produce 500 vehicles and has orders for 3,000 vehicles next year. It’s the largest commercial zero-emission fleet manufacturing facility in the U.S. and expects to produce more than 20,000 vehicles by 2025, according to literature distributed at the event.

“We in the Senate, we’re agnostic. We don’t favor one company over another. We don’t even favor our own state. [When] we allocate these expenditures, it has to be what’s the best for the greatest number of people; it’s got to be the highest quality at the lowest cost.”

He seemed pleased with the part that electric delivery vehicles will play in combating climate change.

“We’re not always dealing with doom and gloom about climate. This is good news. … Not only are we getting something more efficient, but prices are coming down; they’re dropping like a stone. At the same time, we’re addressing climate change.”

Fleets are a way “to accelerate the transition to a new world where everything is electric. We have to recognize that climate change is real. We need to go right away into fleets,” he said, which helps to make consumers more familiar with the technology when they see it all around them.

“To have a place like this that can deliver those electric vehicles at a competitive cost that are less costly to run, we’re in the process right now of changing our culture.”

© 2021 BizWest Media LLC

Filed in August 2020, the tariff allows Ameren Illinois to support the development of a network of charging infrastructure, and implement special time-based delivery service rates and other incentives to encourage greater adoption of electric vehicles.

Richard Mark, Chairman and President, Ameren Illinois, said there are fewer than 60 publicly available charging stations across Ameren Illinois’ 44,000-square-mile service territory.

“A common barrier that people identify when considering EV ownership is range anxiety, the concern that a charging station will not be available during extended road travel,” he said. “This tariff will help address this concern by providing rate incentives and supplemental line extension allowances that will improve accessibility to in-home and on-the-road charging infrastructure.

“The plan also includes additional supplemental line extension allowances for charging station installations that serve customers in low income areas, to help support electric transportation for these customers,” he said.

There are six components to Ameren Illinois’ Electric Vehicle Charging Program:

• Single Family Residential Charging. Includes a special delivery service rate to encourage at-home charging during non-peak hours.

• Multi-Family Residential Charging. Designed to encourage electric vehicle ownership among those living in multi-family facilities, while also giving those residents an option to charge at home. Also provides a special delivery service rate and supplemental line extension allowance for property owners who install charging facilities at their properties, with additional allowances for installations in low income areas.

• Education Facility Charging. Offers special delivery service rates and incentives for electric school bus operators. Will support clean transportation for school children in the Ameren Illinois territory.

• Transit Facility Charging. Offers special delivery service rates and incentives for those customers who operate public electric transit buses. Will support Ameren Illinois’ low-to-moderate income customer base by providing a means for those who don’t own a vehicle to participate in the electrification of the transportation sector.

• Corridor Charging. Incentive for property owners and third-party entities to install publicly-accessible fast charging stations in predetermined areas along transportation corridors.

• Non-Corridor Fast DC Charging. Rate incentives to encourage installation of public fast charging throughout the territory.

Customers will be able to begin enrolling in the new rate options this fall. For more information on electric vehicles visit AmerenIllinois.com/EV.

On a test track in Germany last month, the Dutch solar car Lightyear One broke the record for the distance driven by an electric vehicle on a single battery charge. At a speed of 85 kilometres per hour, Lightyear One drove almost nine hours straight, covering 710 kilometres!

Meet Lightyear One, the Dutch solar car

Founded in 2016 by Wind Solar Challenge racing champions from the Eindhoven University of Technology, Lightyear is working to develop an electric car that can cover long distances on only one charge. Lightyear One is designed with five solar panels, so ideally the driver can travel for months at a time without having to charge their vehicle.

Anyone interested in finding a greener and more efficient way of travelling can reserve their very own Lightyear One now. The website lists the purchase price at 150.000 euros (excluding taxes), and says the first vehicles will be delivered in the first half of 2022.

Lightyear One sets new record for electric vehicles

The first prototype of Lightyear One was presented only two years ago and now, as part of the vehicle’s first validation test, it managed to set an impressive record for the distance travelled on a single battery charge. The brains behind the project say even the most efficient electric vehicles on the market today consume around 50 percent more energy than Lightyear One, even at the relatively low speed of 85 kilometres per hour.

“Lowering the energy consumption per mile (km) of an EV ensures that you can provide a lot of range on a small battery,” Lightyear explains. “Because batteries are the most expensive part of an electric vehicle, it means that, in the future, we can scale up towards affordable electric cars with a big range.”

Thumb via Lightyear.

To the editor:

Gasoline-powered vehicles always will be around, even though gas prices go up and down.

Most of the time you don’t have to wait in line to get gasoline or oil. Now, you take electric vehicles — they will cost so much, who will be able to afford them? They are building charging stations all over, but the problem there is that it takes a couple of hours to charge your electric vehicles.

If you are so low on your battery that you can’t make it to another charging station because there are a lot of people there ahead of you, it could be a long wait. Battery problems are common. For instance, sometimes the charging system won’t hold a charge, or the connections are corroded. Sometimes the wiring gets heated and melts the wire coating, causing a short.

There are a lot of faults with batteries. What if you are in a bad electric storm — your batteries could explode or the wiring could cause a fire.

So, if you buy an electric vehicle, be sure you have a big bank account.

Ron Fullerton

Toronto

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• Jeep released the video below as part of its parent company’s Stellantis EV Day. It shows a two-door Wrangler EV, which looks similar to this year’s Magneto concept, and a four-door model that appears related to the 2017 Safari concept.
• Part of the video events are dated 2025 and show a two-door Wrangler EV using biometric recognition, peer-to-peer charging, and drone pairing.
• Later the video shifts to 2030, where the four-door Wrangler EV is seen driving autonomously off-road while the owners lie in the vehicle watching the stars through a panoramic sunroof.

On Thursday, at parent company Stellantis’s EV Day event, Jeep declared that it will have an electrified model in every segment it competes in by 2025. Jeep already builds a plug-in-hybrid version of the Wrangler called the 4xe. But according to the company’s statement, the Wrangler will need to morph into an electric vehicle if it is to survive beyond this decade. While Jeep didn’t explicitly debut a Wrangler EV at the event, this detailed video released by the company clearly promises one, along with drone pairing and autonomous off-roading capability.

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The video starts in 2021, following a seemingly always happy couple and their incredibly cute dog as they park and plug in a Wrangler 4xe at a charging station in the wilderness. The timeline then fast-forwards to 2025—now the man is seen proposing while the couple are submerged in a darkened pool and what appears to be an electric Wrangler lurks in the background. This two-door model is painted white with the word “Freedom” emblazoned on the side of the hood. Since Jeep’s new slogan is “Zero Emission Freedom,” the implication is that the vehicle has an electric powertrain. Jeep seems to confirm that with the text “Concept BEV model shown” at the bottom of the screen. This two-door looks strikingly similar to the Magneto, an electric Wrangler concept released at the 2021 Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah, and it may just be the Magneto with new hood graphics.



Jeep

The “2025” portion of the video reveals some interesting upcoming features. First, this future Wrangler is equipped with biometric recognition—in the video, the car recognizes the man’s face, unlocking and starting the Wrangler in advance. The video also shows peer-to-peer charging, with the woman plugging the white Wrangler into a blue model for some extra juice. This segment ends by displaying the future Wrangler’s drone pairing capabilities, with the couple’s drone flying just in front of their Wrangler, providing extra light as they traverse an off-road trail through the night.



Jeep

The video then jumps ahead five years to 2030. Now the couple is seen camping next to a four-door model, which looks similar to the 2017 Safari concept from Moab, with transparent doors and a three-section roof rack. This model is clearly intended to indicate it’s an EV, with “Zero Emission” printed along the side sill. Jeep then shows the Wrangler piloting itself around the off-road trails, much to the surprise of another Jeep owner driving in the other direction, suggesting that the Wrangler will be capable of driving autonomously off-road by 2030. Jeep then promotes flat-seat stargazing, showing the couple lying in the Wrangler watching the skies above as the Jeep drives them to their destination.

Jeep notes at the bottom of the screen that “future models and features may vary,” meaning that the timelines for the Wrangler EV and futuristic technologies seen throughout the video are not promises. Still, the video shows that Jeep is plotting a Wrangler EV, gives us a taste of what it may look like, and previews some neat features that will enhance off-roading in the future.

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ROCHELLE – The City of Rochelle and Rochelle Municipal Utilities announced the addition of two electric vehicle charging stations in the downtown parking lots in the 400 Block of North Main Street in a press release Friday.

“The new chargers are just another way RMU is embracing new technology and acting as a leader in the utility industry,” Blake Toliver, RMU superintendent of electric operations, said in the release.

The charging stations were installed at a cost of $20,000, funded by the electric department.  The charge to use the stations will range from $1-$5 per hour. The chargers are universal and will connect with any make of electric vehicle.

“Kudos to our electric department for having the foresight to plan for the charging stations while the lot was under construction,” Rochelle City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh said in the press release. “Visitors to our community have the perfect place to charge vehicles while they visit our downtown shops and restaurants.”