evHawaii

2014-Apr-2 - Big Island’s FIRST DC Fast Charger

Exciting News!

Dave Bliss and Doug March of Charge Bliss, in cooperation with the Shops at Mauna Lani and Island Wide Solar announce the FIRST (of many… :-) ) DC Fast Charge Stations for Electric Vehicles on the Big Island!

Charge Bliss, Inc. is an energy management and smart grid technology company. In addition to helping companies lower their utility bills,  Charge Bliss, working in conjunction with Islandwide Solar, has installed a level 3 charger at The Mauna Lani shops.  This is a critical step to help advance clean transportation on the island.

Demonstrating their commitment to sustainability and the environment in Hawaii, The Shops at Mauna Lani elected to make their location the lead example in this project.  We are all excited because this charger is the first of its kind in the State of Hawaii as it is a dual CHAdeMO and  SAE J1772 combo charger. (It is capable of charging all EV vehicles.) 

We hope the installation of the first Direct Current Fast Charger (DCFC) on the Big Island, will signal the advent of a network of these devices that can charge electric cars to 80% battery capacity in thirty minutes. Hawaii has long been known for its beauty, aloha spirit, and environmental commitment. The build-out of a fast charging network for electric vehicles combined with smart technology to mitigate grid impact,  are offering us a route to a healthier, more sustainable future.

We will have a press event in late May or early June to formally announce the opening and availability of the charge station. PLEASE let’s show up in force like we did for National Plug In Day. There will be food, events, and LOTS of electric cars. Bring your EV to show, and offer rides/drives if you like. We would like to see lots of LEAFs, Volts, Mievs, Teslas, conversions, anything electric. Let’s show our appreciation to Charge Bliss for initiating the DC Fast Charge Station network, to the Shops at Mauna Lani for generously hosting the Charge Station, and Island Wide Solar for their support.

Dave Bliss and Doug March (Doug has moved to the Big Island!) are amazing people. Let’s show them our support. We all want a sensible EV charging infrastructure on the Big Island, so let’s band together to help make it happen. What we really need is able and willing host sites. it turns out the hardest thing to do is to find someone that will host the station. Please get out there, talk to businesses that are likely hosts, get names and numbers and forward them to Dave or Doug. We know where we need the Charge Stations, and many of us are business owners or know business owners, so please help out in identifying host sites.

Yahoo!
Doug

Please note that the Charger at the Shops at Mauna Lani will not be available for use until the formal announcement date.

2013-Dec-1 - Maui EVA Report

Here is a recent report Electric Vehical Paradise from Ethan Elkind and Anne Ku. Hey our pushpin map of where we need DC Fast Chargers is in it! Also chek out Bar charts below, this is our original placement.

2013-Sep-22 - Bar Charts

We had an idea a long time ago, near the founding of the association of "bar hopping" or doing Island bar charts… Meaning that we adorn a map of Hawaii with bar charts each direction all along travel routes. It takes experience to know that going down the hill from Waimea to Kawaihae generates 30KW * 20 min = 10KWHr of energy (half a bar?) and going up the hill takes 5 bars. If everyone wants to share their bar chart experiences I can add a map to http://evhawaii.org with bar charts. Ease that thrill of range fright!. Check it out here.

My 2011 LEAF consumes between  7.5 and 9.5 bars from Hilo to Volcano. The former is  very conservative driving; the latter is cruise control at the upper speed limit. (The LEAF's goodness meter--left of speedo--hates cruise control worse that AC, for good reason, I think: power jerks up and down excessively to precisely control speed.)  Volcano to Hilo consumes between 0.5 and 1.3 bars.

I don't have enough experience on any other significant hills of general interest. Caution: results affected by wind*, rain, tire pressure, and of course speed. 

* I was disappointed to find that my ride from Waimea to Hakalau (after charging at your place--thanks again) cost several bars, despite a drop in elevation of 2500 ft or so. 55 mph plus headwinds were the culprits.

For those inclined, I find that U = m g h / e provides a decent estimate of the effect of climbing a hill, where

U is the supplemental energy consumption from the change in elevation
m is the mass of the car (wet)
g is the acceleration of gravity
h is the increase in elevation
e is the efficiency of the batteries and drivetrain (I use 85%!!! Compare that to an ICE!!!)

Note: e is a decreasing function of power rate. Rapid charge or discharge will lower it. 85% applies no more than 3 dots lit up, my usual driving condition. No more than 2 dots: 90%. Four or five dots: 70-80%. 

I usually figure that I can recover about fU going down. 

where f = 
0.7 two dots or less both up and down
0.6 three dots or less
0.5 four dots or less
0.4 five dots or less

The Tesla does give me statistics on Watt Hours/ mile which I am steady at 293 or 3.4 miles/KwH. (The Tesla is way less affected by hills and heavy foot like the Leaf.)

This is an incredible statistic if one is designing a solar system. 

2013-Sep-20 - A Car is Just an iTunes App - Part-II

We'll start with the idea that there is no real need for physical switches or dials in a car. Physical entities are expensive to manufacture and impossible to change … until the next model year. But, the next model year may become the next OS release...

You may view your car dashboard as an extension of your desktop on your laptop or your iPhone. The great genius of the iPhone is a beautiful display, a solid software framework, and ... apps. Do you want a better battery level indicator, more accurate, more precise, a better more informative dial. Does your range predictor drive you crazy? Choose a better one, choose the best-rated app in the iTunes store. Do you want kilometers rather than miles, parsecs, no problem. Make it larger or smaller to your taste with the now well-known gestures. Do you want to add a better battery charge dial, visit the app store and see who does the best. If you don't need that battery temperature dial taking up space, delete it. Auto customization has a whole new meaning - software customization - who has the coolest instrument panel? Long ago, the mobile phone folks figured out how to do safe over-the-air phone updates without turning your phone (or your car) into a brick.

All with voice control too. The genius of Apple is that Siri has a name and can "get" far more than "Home" or "Navigation"… Restaurant locations, destinations, plotting your route by milestones along the way, answering questions about things you see as the trip progresses, all available and answered through Siri and the unbroken Internet connection.

When you rent a car, take your iPhone with you, plug it in and your rental car becomes the desktop of the car that you know and love.  The rental car morphs into your personal car, with all your personal settings, and dial and gauge preferences. All your favorite music and radio stations are already loaded. If you want to add some local flavor, dial in the mix. 

Your whole road trip travels with your smartphone, and instantly loads into the rental car. You want to add charge stations to your GPS maps, the locale-specific download begins. All your contacts are available, make calls through the vehicle heads up bluetooth connection, Skype if you want it. Voice recognition, well Siri already knows your voice. That great charge station app, already loaded. Transmit your GPS locations to your onboard GPS, done. No need for 2 GPS systems. Your car instrumentation is totally customizable and already loaded in your iPhone to iPad. Plug it in and the mobile Apps take their place. How many thousands of Apps will make up the car that you will drive? You want 3D GPS, because we all know the impact of altitude on our range, well use a range estimator that knows your terrain and correctly predicts your range. Siri notices when it would be a good time for a diversion to the closest available charge station.

Cruise control - touch the speed you want on the speedometer, or ask Siri - "Siri, please drive the speed limit to Costco in Kona and park at the Level-III charge station". OK, "the park at a Level-III charge station" is a bit of a stretch… And how to know the speed limit? Well, signs are posted all along the way. Forward/Side facing cameras with pattern recognition read the signs. And we are just a step (OK a huge leap for mankind) away from Autonomous Driving. Download the best Autonomous Driving App and off you go. The smarts are in the Apps that are being continually created by software developers. Your car gets "smarter" with over-the-air software updates.

When you step in to your car you no longer "enter the void" - you are always connected to the Internet. That sense of connection stays with you in your car (or your rental car - your identity travels with your smartphone device). It gives a whole new meaning to "Follow us on Facebook". A bit much when you are driving? Use the Autonomous driving app to do the driving so you can focus on your online interests.

Your car identity also travels with you on your smartphone when you leave the car. You can start the heater or air-conditioning. Lock/Unlock, request/check your charge, blink the lights/horn to find your car in the parking lot, open/close windows. Request that your car drive autonomously from the parking spot to pick you up in front of the store or restaurant...

...There's an app for that. Maybe not developed by Nissan, Tesla, Ford or GM, but a legion of professional software developers. You can download the apps over the data connection, whenever the next great (and truly) mobile App becomes a reality.

Doug

2013-Sep-19 - From Tom Burton Charging Challenges

(1) Store hours do not necessarily imply charging hours. I starting charging at Home Depot this morning at 4:45AM, whereas the store opens at 6:00AM.

(2) I was going to comment on the relatively slow speed of a HD charger, but I don't think it's 110V trickle. This morning I charged for over an hour to recover from driving in from Hakalau. Seems long, but I don't often top the battery off, and the last few % may come slowly. Later that morning, I charged about 2.6 bars in 70 minutes. Again a little slow compared to my house, but not as slow as trickle.  Also, the iPhone app says that I am charging at the standard (L2) rate, and unless a sensor is being fooled, that's what's happening. Another reason it might be slower is that the supply voltage might be closer to 208V than 240V at my off-grid supply.

From Mike Kane, Plug In America:

The HD chargers are probably more like 9% slower than your home charger.   That's going to be the case with many of the public chargers.  The reason is that most commercial building are fed with 3-phase power instead of the single phase you have at home.  The 3-phase power is regulated down to 208 volts in these buildings while your home power is 240 volts.  The Amps stay the same, so you actually get less watts into the batteries for a given amount of time vs. your home charger.

2013-Sep-15 - On THe Road

I traveled to Maui over the weekend and rented a Nissan LEAF. I did a panel discussion at Maui College on Thursday and a local Maui TV spot Friday. Lots of fun! Renting the LEAF was an experience. Apparently the first LEAF for rent on Maui, from Bio-Beetle. Handy, they come pick you up at the airport and and you can leave the car in the airport parking lot and they will pick it up. 

Usually we are used to our EVSE at home and pretty much follow the same routes that we know. Traveling is different. You don't know where the charge stations are, you have lost your local EV Association support structure, hills on the route are unknown.

The first night I stayed at the Grand Wailea. An understatement would be: nice hotel. I asked the concierge to plug me in the 110V outlet overnight. He didn't know how to do it, so you have to be very explicit with your instructions. How to get the charger out of the car, how to pop the lid, how to plug it in, and how to unplug it and put it away again. You also need to stress that it should be plugged in right away. Also another car had an issue - the charge port on the 2013 model has a lock with a switch on the steering wheel, which has to be switched off or you can't unplug it. Not explaining this cost a 40 minute delay.

Then I moved to a B&B. Turned out to be no problem. There was a convenient plug quite close to the parking spot. So the 12 hour charge where you are staying turns out to be not much of an issue. I actually didm;t use a Level-II or Level-III charger the whole trip. Now, if you are traveling to a destination, such as Hana, or a scenic spot, then you need the Level-II or better Level-III charge.

So, the fact is, electricity is ubiquitous at this point, and for the most part a charge is available wherever you go.

2013-Sep-14

An interview with Jim Motavalli and published in cartalk.

2013-Sep-12-13

From Maui EVA:

 Our new 36-page report has been mentioned in yesterday's Plug-in Cars article by Jim Motivalli: Bumps in the Road as Hawaii Plugs In and Legal Planet Blog by Ethan Elkind, co-author of the report. We are grateful to Marc Antosch, UHMC Edventure, for spectacular design and layout of this report, which honestly I must say, makes anyone want to read it. Several of the prominently featured photos were taken by Harvey Reed and his UHMC photography students.

Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit, Honolulu, after session on Maui

• 12 Sept, EV Forum, UHMC. Promoters - SLIM (Melanie Stephens, Jennifer Chirico)
  Speakers: John Gartner, Ethan Elkind, Doug Teeple (Big Island EV Association)
• 13 Sept, production of Maui EVA TV 14th episode - to be aired 21 & 22 Sept @ 5 & 11 pm HST on MCTV LIVE STREAM. 
  Director: Mike Albert. Film crew: Todd Mizomi, Jeremy Gray,  Deanna Kamakeeaina Reece. Guests: John Gartner, Ethan Elkind, Doug Teeple.

2013-Aug-28

Some interesting links from Emily Ebert.  Hawaii Energy report June 2013 by DBEDT and Climate Friendly Cars Report Final 

2013-Aug-28

A nice article by Benno Wang, a member, about his experiences with his 2013 LEAF.

2013-Aug-26

Noel Morin has started a FaceBook page for the Big Island EV Ass'n. Very cool, thanks Noel! Like us a lot OK?

2013-Aug-6

We now have our own Chapter of the Electric Auto Association - Big Island EVA. 

"The Electric Auto Association (EAA) was formed in 1967 by Walter Laski in San Jose, California. The EAA is a non-profit educational organization that promotes the advancement and widespread adoption of Electric Vehicles.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are a clean, quiet alternative to conventional automobiles, which are powered by petroleum derivatives that, when burned, emit noxious gases into the environment.

Electric Vehicles not only keep our Earth cleaner, their use preserves the earth's natural resources. EVs are a smart and efficient choice for personal transportation.

The EAA acts as a public source of information to communicate developments in electric vehicle technology, to encourage experimentation in the building of electric vehicles, and to organize public exhibits and events of electric vehicles, and to educate the public on the progress and benefits of electric vehicle technology."

Very active and organized. Membership is $35/yr if you would like to join.

2013-July-25

DBEDT Hawaii Charge Station locator on iTunes. Also PlugShare has a web site and an app. This is probably the most up to date information available.

2013-July-25

From Maui EVA Newsletter:

On 10 July 2013, the Hawaiian Electric Companies (HECO) released two new EV rates which make the cost of providing DC Fast Charging more transparent and affordable.  1) The Commercial Public Electric Vehicle Charging Facility Service rate, or Schedule EV-F, allows businesses to take advantage of the EV Time-of-Use (EV-TOU) rate without receiving a "demand charge". HECO defines "demand charge" as "the electric utility’s cost to maintain the capacity to meet a commercial customer’s highest demand for a fixed period."  2) The Commercial Public Electric Vehicle Charging Service, or Schedule EV-U will allow the Hawaiian Electric companies (HECO, HELCO, MECO) to install and operate up to a total of 25 new DC fast chargers and charge a fee for their use.

Demand charge was also called "ratcheting".

EV-F and EV-U are interesting. Especially, for us, I think, EV-U. The application by the utilities to the PUC requested that the utilities be able to establish their own public Level-II charge station network.

I participated in the process on behalf of the Big Island EV Association. The full text of the transmittal can be found here. My input to the process as files is here. In essence my input to the PUC stated that we approve of EV-F - it is good for us all, including commercial operators. The combined tariff report is interesting because it also gives the rates that will be charged for a DC Fast charge, around $10.

And also that we approve EV-F with the proviso:

• Approve Schedule EV-U and order the Companies to deploy a minimum of at least eight (8) or 25% of the total number of Level-III chargers deployed, whichever is more, to be installed in Hawaii County, in consultation with Electric Vehicle owners as represented by the Big Island Electric Vehicle Association. Furthermore, we request that the PUC order HECO to include Hawaii County Level-III charge installations in the first wave to be deployed.

Unfortunately the PUC took no action on this input, though I know that the utilities (HECO, MECO, HELCO) are aware of the input. The next step is to work with HELCO to make them (acutely?) aware of the interest and need for this infrastructure here.

I will work my contacts in HELCO, and input you might have is welcomed.

Doug

2013-July-23

Big Island County Council Meeting 

Today I spoke at the Country Council meeting at the West Hawaii Civic Center. The presentation is here. And super thanks to Anne Ku of the Maui EV Allaince for a letter of support and to Mike Kane of Plug In America for a letter of support. The presentation is about the lack of EV charging infrastructure here on the Big Island and a request for funds to establish the infrastructure. Margaret Willie kindly got me on the agenda and was very supportive.

On the whole though I got a pretty cold reception. Most of the comments centered around misconceptions, of the kind we all know. Most of my work is clearing up misconceptions that people have. So, I was able at least to perform an educational role. However the county council members did not know about the lack of infrastructure - they do now. And did not know that the federal money for infrastructure passed them by and went to Honolulu. Anything to do with EV infrastructure was stated to be of very low priority, by some council members.

Will Rolston spoke before me on hist departments efforts in energy. Will has done a lot of good work, but to date does not have plan for EV infrastructure. Most of the plans center around cost savings for the county by installing solar panels. If you read this report you will see that we need to let Will know that EVs are here but are hampered by lack of infrastructure.

So, please help me out here. Send emails to the County Council stating (nicely) that you support Electric Vehicles, and desire the county to take action with a plan for Level-III infrastructure on the Big Island.

Energy Coordinator at County of Hawaii 

Will Rolston,   wrolston@co.hawaii.hi.us

Council Members

Valerie Poindexter      DISTRICT 1 Portion of South Hilo, North Hilo, Hāmākua, Portion of Waimea vpoindexter@co.hawaii.hi.us
J Yoshimoto                DISTRICT 2 Portion of South Hilo jyoshimoto@co.hawaii.hi.us
Dennis “Fresh” Onishi DISTRICT 3 Portion of South Hilo, Portion of Kea‘au donishi@co.hawaii.hi.us
Greggor Ilagan            DISTRICT 4 Portion of Puna (Eastern) gilagan@co.hawaii.hi.us
Zendo Kern                 DISTRICT 5 Portion of Puna (Western) zkern@co.hawaii.hi.us
Brenda Ford                DISTRICT 6 Portion of North Kona,  South Kona,  Ka‘u,  and Greater Volcano Area bford@co.hawaii.hi.us
Dru Mamo Kanuha     DISTRICT 7 Portion of South Kona, Portion of North Kona dkanuha@co.hawaii.hi.us
Karen Eoff                  DISTRICT 8 North Kona keoff@co.hawaii.hi.us
Margaret Wille            DISTRICT 9 North and South Kohala mwille@co.hawaii.hi.us

Doug

2013-July-22

Big Island EV Association Plug In America Event. 

Please join us Sunday September 29, at Kona Commons, 10:00AM-2:00PM for National Plug In America Day! We are hosting this year's local event, bring your EV and join in the Fun, or if just curious, come and find out more about all that we are doing here on the Big Island to promote the growth of EV infrastructure and to experience the EV revolution! We'll be near the side of Sports Authority near the EV Charge Station, closest the Highway. Please visit the EVHAWAII.ORG website for updates: http://evhawaii.org If you would like to join EVHAWAII.ORG please send an email to our mailing list leaf@evhawaii.org and include your email address in the body of the message or visit the EVHAWAII.ORG website and use the signup form.

Doug Teeple
Founder and President 

Rick Castro
Vice President
Big Island EV Association

2013-July-10

A Car is Just an iTunes App

As I was doing my Electric Karmann Ghia conversion, Nissan was designing the LEAF and Elon Musk was designing the Tesla. To me it is amazing what the car has become. You don't start an electric car, you boot it like a computer. It is a computer. Or maybe with GPS mapping it is a search engine that actually goes there. Or maybe it is an iPod dock for music or a bluetooth connection becoming a mobile phone, or perhaps a mobile search engine.

If you look at all of these things that a car has become, it is really just an App in the iTunes store. When you establish connectivity with your iPhone or iPad, the car becomes an extension of that - and yes, there is an App for that. Let the car be the display and the brawn, the brains are the invention of that App. Siri, I want pizza, nearby, watch the construction on the way - guide me visually and with verbal directions. 

Siri please speak French now. Could you ask that local for directions and plot out the route? Siri, please take me to the nearest Pizzeria, thin crust style, 5 stars.

The crux of the next car is - what does that App or Apps look like? Software done by car companies has had it's day. Let the professionals at this. I always think of Steve Jobs, for him it was the experience of the device. What will the experience be like? Does the car light up when hearing your voice - and only your voice, or others authorized to drive - but not 'til he is 16… :-) Is your voice the key to the ignition? "Open the door Siri, Siri drive home".

Your appointments in your calendar are available and Siri speaks the appointments in time for you to drive there, the current traffic patterns are calculated, you are reminded of when you should leave. Converging on a meeting or even a meal, all other friends are on your radar map too. Siri, please call for the reservation... You are directed to a convenient charge station, and then takes over with GPS in your iPhone on foot to the restaurant.

That cross country road trip, reservations made and changed according to current route conditions. Route dynamically planned with construction delays in mind. Spots along the way duly noted and suggestions made. Snowstorm up ahead, rerouting… You are low on charge, slight diversion now to charge for the rest of the trip…

And why be disconnected from your email when driving? Have Siri read it to you and you reply with dictation. No need to leave your emails at home or the office. Dictate to twitter or face back or instant messaging if you want to. Take photos with your iPhone, share them on the web as soon as you get back to the car. Share them like signposts on the GPS map,posted as a shared map with those your wish to share. We definitely need better maps, much like the Google maps that show you a picture of what you are looking for. So your car becomes an extension of your online life, while on the road.

… and we definitely need 3D maps for estimating driving distances. That half mile up the Kawaihae road takes 5 bars! Draw out your route with your finger on the integrated iPhone/iPad on the map app, have the GPS maps clean it up, and direct you there. Or tap the end point (the start point is already known) and have the route entered into the GPS directions. Why do we need to type in addresses? "Tap and take me there". And it really doesn't change when you  get out of the car, you can draw your route on your iPhone while at lunch and have it automatically available as GPS directions in the car. It would also be nice if you could track your car on your iPhone in case it is stolen.

Of course iBooks works too, you can use the car audio to listen to audiobooks as you drive, bring the iPhone with you to lunch, and keep listening if you like. It would be nice if cruise control had "drive at posted speed limit". That would make ETA calculations possible….

What a perfect convergence of technologies. Americans love cars and mobility and technology. Now, we can be mobile, without pause -drive free, drive clean, and drive courtesy the Sun. An EV is a physical enabler of your online life. Think big, think different...

Doug

2013-July-09

People stop me in the street asking: "So how much power does a Level-II charge really draw?"

The answer is: It depends…

Abstracted from Wikipedia:

• The SAE J1772 (the Charge Station Plug /  EV Receptacle) signaling protocol steps are:
  • the charge station signals the availability of AC power
  • the EV detects the plug being plugged in via a proximity circuit 
  • (thus the vehicle can prevent driving away while connected)
  • the control pilot functions begin:
  • the charge station detects the electric vehicle
  • charge station indicates readiness to supply energy
  • EV ventilation requirements are determined
  • charge station current capacity is provided to EV (as explained below)
  • the EV requests energy flow
  • the EV and charge station continuously monitor continuity of a safety ground
  • the charge continues until the EV determines that adequate charge has been reached (80% or 100%)
  • the charge may be interrupted (and power in the plug turned off) by disconnecting the plug from the EV

The amount of current used to charge is determined both by the vehicle's maximum acceptable current (Amps) and by the charge station's maximum available current.

The charging station puts 12 volts on the Contact Pilot (CP) and the Proximity Pilot (PP). 

The charging station sends a 1000 Hz square wave on the contact pilot that is connected back to the protected earth on the side of the vehicle by means of a resistor and a diode (voltage range ±12 V ±0,4 V). The live wires of public charging stations are always dead if the CP-PP circuit is open. 

If the circuit is closed then the charging station can also test the protective ground to be functional. 

The vehicle can request a charging state by setting a resistor - using 2700 Ω a Mode 3 compatible vehicle is announced ("vehicle detected") which does not require charging. Switching to 880 Ω the vehicle is "ready" to be charged and switching to 240 Ω the vehicle requests "with ventilation" charging which does not have an effect outdoors but the charging current will be switched off indoors if no ventilation is available. 

The charging station signals the maximum current that is available via a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal: 

• a 16% PWM is a 10 Amps maximum, 
• a 25% PWM is a 16 Amps maximum, 
• a 50% PWM is a 32 Amps maximum and 
• a 90% PWM is a fast charge option.

And so, from the EV we get:

and from the Charge Station we get:

And from the combination of the needs and capacities of the EV and the capacity of the charge station we get a negotiated settlement on the Amps. The amount power is, of course, the current in Amps times the voltage (240).

So, for the sake of argument, a 5 hour charge at a conservative 30Amps would take 

       30*240*5=  36 KiloWattHours.

at 60 Amps we get:

      60*240*5 = 72 KiloWattHours

Driving on the flat highway takes between 10 and 20 KiloWatts (hills much more). If you drive for an hour, that becomes 10 to 20 KiloWattHours (KWHr). In the end the charge KiloWattHours must equal the used KiloWattHours.

Also means that the $7 charge at the Kona Airport is a bargain! (@ $.42/KWHr(retail) * 36KWHr = $15)

Doug
PS: Some of this data is a bit old, so your mileage may vary…

2013-June-28

Some interesting links from Ulrich Bonne:

Making batteries go further

Current research efforts to increase range include improved battery technologies such as IBM's lithium-air battery  that could lead to an EV with a 500-mile range and Phinergy's aluminum-air energy storage device  that could increase an EV's range to 1,000 miles. Another way to increase range is to lighten the vehicle.

From Mitsubishi's motor-inverter combo pack, which is half the size and significantly lighter than the company's existing motor and external
inverter, to RMI's work on carbon fiber composites, there are many ways people are working to lighten the weight of vehicles.

An IBM-spearheaded effort in Europe is likewise working to enable access to the continent's network of charging systems, regardless of the EV owner's home service or network, as the European Union in parallel approved a common charging standard  and plug, which should enable greater access to charging networks.

Rocky Mountain Institute: 

IS THE END OF EV RANGE ANXIETY IN SIGHT?
SUSTAINABILITY AT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
RMI Blog

2013-May-7

I Drove a Tesla S Model!

Headed over to Maui to take in the Eagles' Glenn Frey concert at the MACC last weekend. It was great! "You can't hide"...

While there I had the opportunity to drive a Tesla, thanks to the Maui EV Alliance for the introductions. What can I say? It is amazing. You get the 300 mile range that is really needed. It comes with an adapter so you can plug in to the Level-II stations if you want to. Has a huge display console, with much better software interface than the designed-by-a-car-company LEAF User Interface. Uses Google maps for the GPS maps. Has 3G connectivity. Acceleration is incredible. Doesn't have the "on" pushbutton like the LEAF, with the RFID dongle you just sit in and press the brake to turn it on. The charge port door opens when you bring the charger near it. You can raise and lower the ground clearance. The display shows your car with the correct color and options. Tesla has a roving service team, so you can get normal service no matter where you bought it. (It may have to be shipped for the big stuff). Every part of it is over the top… Really a pretty, slick car!

…"don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy".

2013-May-6

Elon Musk at the introduction of the Model X: 

"The world desperately needs sustainable transport. If we don't solve this problem this century, we are fracked."

2013-May-4

Charging at Kona Airport

1) There are no instructions.

2) There is a data station beside the charger. Put your parking ticket stub into the slot. There are a bunch of ways that it can go in the slot, and the last one you try will work… It will reprogram your parking ticket, setting the parking fee to zero and adding in the $7 flat charging fee.

3) Go to the charge station itself and press the arrow and select buttons until the charge port lights up. The  panel display are almost impossible to see. Keep pushing buttons...

4) Plug in.

5) Turn off charge timer in your car. (Important!)

6) Charge it! Brings a whole new meaning to "charge card".

Then when you leave the parking ticket will come up with just the $7 charge charge. It is illegal to resell electricity in Hawaii, so the charge is a "port charge", a connection fee. With free parking (which is more than $7 per day) it is a bargain!

2013-Mar-16

A call to arms… Our  mantra needs to be: The creation of a Level-III infrastructure for the Big Island of Hawaii. A simple statement, at the same time of huge value to our group. Our State government and agencies are following the "population" model. of dissemination for infrastructure. Well, there are more people in Honolulu than the Big Island… So they get everything. It makes no sense. We need charge stations at strategic locations, not hubs of population. As it stands, from hubs of population you can't drive anywhere. But it is not really about "us" and "them". The people of Hawaii currently spend upwards of $5billion per year on oil, all of which is imported. This money is slipping thourhg our hands, leaving our Island economy every year and into the hands of a few multi-nationals.That is $5billion on the table which we already spend - but in the wrong places. The cost of the handfull of Level-III charge stations is insigniticant in comparison. At the same time Hawaii has huge natural resources available right here - no need to import it. Solar, wind or geothermal, could easily power the charge stations, thus stopping the continual drain on our economy. At the same time, building out the infrastructure creates good jobs, right here in Hawaii. The money is being spent, slipping away from us. I doubt that anyone would disagree that sustainability and local energy sources are a bad thing. Now, the will to make it happen...

2013-Feb-28

Well, it was very interesting meeting Anne Ku and Ethan Elkind earlier this week. They did some great work for the Maui EV Alliance. The reports on the site are very nicely done. Anne mentioned to me that there is an RFP available for R&D funds related to EV infrastructure available here on the Big Island (closing soon -- April).

The RFP is for R&D. i.e. you can't buy charge stations. You have to be a non-profit organization, not an individual. And you have to find matching funds.  I don't know, I am just putting it out there. Some of you may have leads or be interested in running with it. Apparently the amount anywhere from $2500 to $50,000.

My thought is that there is a fair bit of leg work involved in chatting with people at various strategic places on the Big Island where we need Level-III or at least Level-II charge stations. We all know pretty much where that those places would be. But getting willing locations and educating them about what it means to host a charge station would be valuable to us and (I think) may fit within the bounds of the RFP.

Here are the links that Anne sent me:

Well, let's see what comes of it…

http://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/WebLink8/DocView.aspx?id=63872&dbid=1

http://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/Weblink8/Browse.aspx?startid=18411&dbid=1

Doug

2013-Feb-22

First Light! 

Welcome all to the new site evhawaii.org. Based on the Big Island of Hawaii, this site brings together members of the Electric Vehicle community here in Hawaii. Share the joys, the frustrations, the charge stations, the life of the Electric Vehicle community.

There is also a new mailing list to which everyone of leaf@eghia.com i subscribed: leaf@ evhawaii.org. I'll keep the old list going for a while, but please phase over to the new one.

This site augments our mailing list with a Blog, News, a place to retain information and to share links and stuff of all sorts generally too big for an email. My hope is also to link up with other similar sites to gain momentum.

Share the Joy!
Doug

2013-Feb-21

The Maui EVgroup seems to be very active. Check it out:  Maui EV Alliance 

There is a link in there to an interesting report written in late 2012 entitled EVs in Paradise: Planning for the Development of Electric Vehicle Infrastructure in Maui County. It echoes many of our experiences

2013-Feb-20

Electric vehicles in paradise: lessons learned from Maui.

 Shortly after being named the most innovative electric vehicle readiness project in the country (Green Tech Media, Dec 2012), some 30 stakeholders of Maui Electric Vehicle Alliance gathered to meet on a weekly basis for several months to discuss how to get Maui ready for EVs. Their 105-page report "EVs in Paradise: Planning for Developing Infrastructure in Maui County" examines the barriers, incentives, and a host of other issues that can serve as templates for other isolated grids and island communities with similar challenges. 

 Ann Ku and Ethan Elkind, of the Maui EV Alliance, will give the talk next Tuesday.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES:

Anne Ku, Ph.D., project director, Maui EVA, also lectures in mathematics and music (piano) at UH Maui College. Prior to moving to Maui in late 2010, she participated actively in the performing arts scene in the Netherlands, travelled widely as editor of two energy magazines from her base in London, and worked in the financial sector in Singapore. She has degrees in electrical engineering, operations research/decision sciences, and music. She writes a regular column for Maui Weekly, a free print & internet-based weekly newspaper, called "EV in Paradise," and directs the monthly cable television program "Maui EVA TV" which is also available on YouTube.

Ethan Elkind, J.D., Climate Policy Associate at the UC Berkeley School of Law, has organized and facilitated high-level stakeholder meetings on various energy-related topics in California, such as energy storage, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and electric vehicles.  Based on these discussions, he has written and published a number of well-read documents on energy-related matters for California policy makers. The latest, published in September 2012, "Electric Drive by '25: How California can Catalyze Mass Adoption of Electric Vehicles by 2025" is available for download at http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/ccelp/Electric_Drive_by_25-2.pdf and was written in consultation with the California Governor's Office.  He has also researched renewable energy issues on the island of Moloka'i and met with stakeholders there to further the community's renewable energy goals. Biography and background: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/6897.htm

Maui Electric Vehicle Alliance (Maui EVA) is the name given to an EV readiness project to UH Maui -- the only education institution to receive one of 16 planning grants awarded on 1st October 2011 by the Dept of Energy Clean Cities. We identified and organized relevant stakeholders on discussions through a year-long journey on EV adoption in Maui. Our subawardees and grant partners are the State Energy Office/DBEDT, Honolulu Clean Cities, and UC San Diego. More at http://www.mauieva.org  The grant and project both end on 30th June 2013.

2012-Dec-21

From the Plug-in America folks, who did a Nissan LEAF battery survey:

- Over 90% of survey participants have not lost a capacity bar.
- Over 75% believe they have lost no more than a few miles of range.
- Those who have lost capacity bars are almost all in hot climates.
- Not all cars in hot climates have lost capacity bars.
- Factors other than miles and climate don't have a big effect on capacity.
- In cool climates, a LEAF can go 60,000 miles before losing a capacity bar.

The full report with more detail, information on capacity loss in different climates, analysis of factors other than mileage and climate on battery capacity, and how to interpret Nissan's battery report is available here:

http://www.pluginamerica.org/surveys/batteries/leaf/Leaf-Battery-Survey.pdf

We're interested in continuing to track LEAF battery health. Please send in another report on your vehicle in six months, whenever you lose a capacity bar, or when you just want to show how many miles you've driven.

http://www.pluginamerica.org/surveys/batteries/leaf/

If you find this survey useful, please consider supporting Plug In America with your year-end donations. http://www.pluginamerica.com/donate
Thank you for contributing to the survey!
Tom Saxton
Vice President, Plug In America
We Drive Electric. You Can Too.

2012-Sep-19

Way to go with all these emails about new charge stations. Got me wondering if there was a good way to update them in the onboard charge station list. I note that if you do visit a charge station and charge then your own map is updated. But it would be nice to share. Here is an interesting article on how to do that:

How to Add a Charger (http://www.pluginrecharge.com/2012/04/how-to-get-your-ev-charger-on-nissan.html)

2012-Sep-8

All this energy sustainability stuff is fine and good, but do you know what? LEAFs are TOTALLY fun! Waimea is 1/2 mile up and at the bottom of the hill at sea level is Kawaihae. What a joy to cruise down the hill (I can generate up to 30KW!) to the Mauna Kea Resort or Hapuna Prince, plug in, turn on the A/C full blast, and have a wonderful buffet breakfast. When I'm done, fully full, and fully charged, then race back up the hill, full speed, A/C full on. What a riot! They never quite got down making highways straight here in Hawaii, and the cornering of the LEAF is awesome. The acceleration of the LEAF is great, and it is a steady push, no gears, no automatic transmission, just smooth acceleration - nothing like it. Fun, fun fun…

I heard an interesting comment when I gave my talk at the Waimea Events Salon the other day. Dealerships don't  like the LEAF because there is so little maintenance. Apparently they don't make much money from the sale, but do make money on the maintenance - you know you can't get it done for less than $400 on a regular car. So, the overall ownership cost over the life of an electric is much less. Interesting thought...

Oh, and please welcome Larry Adams, marketing director at Aloha Petroleum. They put some charge stations in Aloha gas outlets on Oahu. I am trying to get some of our tax money back here for some Level-III stations. I got 3 replies to my letters so far, which is nice. At least we shared information about where we need the stations. Still need to see actual action though - have to work with Margaret Larson…

Enjoy!
Doug

2012-Jan-07

Does everybody know about the LEAF Owners' Portal and the CARWINGS site?

From the owners portal you can see that there are two cool free apps available for iPhone, etc. The Nissan LEAF App lets you check charge, start charging, etc. The ChargePoint App shows you where nearby charge stations are and whether they are currently available to charge. It shows the two nearest charge stations are in Honolulu and Ewa Beach. A somewhat impractical drive…

Anyway, you can check the state of charge and start charging etc from the portal also.

From the Owner's Portal, by poking around at the bottom of the status page, you can get to the CARWINGS site. Apparently CARWINGS is free for 2 years. The site collects LEAF driving data from all over the world. (It is that annoying "Is it OK to connect" thing that pops up every time you start up.) It has cool stuff like your yearly/monthly driving history, distance, electricity consumption, etc. It lets you plan trip routes and have them downloaded to your car (via RSS). It has comparative rankings of all participating LEAF drivers around the world and rates your relative energy efficiency. I am "Gold".  Cool. 

There is also an interesting page "All Info Feeds" which allows you to enter URLs of RSS feeds. (Really Simple Syndication). You can google 'RSS feeds' to find feeds you like. I found a bunch of feeds like: Hawaii Surf Conditions, Big Island Road Reports, Big Island Weather, Volcano Update, and more…

The way it works is kind of interesting. After you type in your feeds (hint: use http: not feed:), when you get in your car, go to the CARWINGS page (from the menu button). Et voila, your feeds show up in your LEAF! RSS feeds are generally brief text messages (but can contain images, audio too - RSS format is XML). Since it is kind of hard to read text while driving, your clever LEAF will read the text to you aloud! What fun! Pronunciation of Hawaiian words like street names is particularly amusing.

I attached a (compressed) image to give you a feeling of what the CARWINGS site page looks like and some of the feeds I have. If you are interested in a particular feed, I can send you the URL.

Also check out this cool EVSE upgrade! http://evseupgrade.com/ It let's you do a level II charge at RV plugins.

So, I did the EVSE upgrade. Very cool. It transforms your trickle charger (voiding the charger warranty - but the upgrade has a 1 year warranty) to almost a full Level 2 charger - for MUCH less $$$. Most of the smarts in charging are onboard in the car. The charger only offers up proximity (i.e. connected, don't drive away) and "this is how much current (amps) I am willing to deliver". The upgrade converts the 120V plug to a 240V plug, and then they update the eprom to offer more current (amps). I got the 240V -> 120V compatibility cable so I could still charge at 120V.

BUT BEWARE! The 240V connector is NOT the clothes dryer plug that we all have. It is 240V, but not the dryer plug. In order to not have to install a special plug, you will need another adapter...

What fun!
Doug

2011-Dec-24

First leaf@eghia.com post!

I set up this mailing list so that we can communicate our experiences with the LEAF here on the Big Island. We face challenges here, of few LEAFs as yet and no infrastructure in place.

I got my LEAF in August 2011, purchasing from a dealership in Honolulu and shipping it here via Young Brothers. Start to finish was about 6 months. Be sure to sign up to get your State rebate of $5000 (a check!). Check here: evrebate@dcca.hawaii.gov

Cano Electric installed my charge station. And will be doing some of the commercial stations. Apparently by the end of January 2012, all the bi box stores with a parking lot of a certain size must install charge stations.

I have managed to get Costco to agree to install a charger by the end of this year, and have written to the manager of Target and the manager of Kona airport. Costco is the only one to answer as yet. Good on Costco!

I found that none of the Nissan dealerships here will do warranty service on the LEAF. Apparently it requires a clean room, costing around $50,000 so the dealerships are balking. I called Nissan customer service and said that shipping a car back to Honolulu every year just to stay in warranty was not really an option. So they responded by instituting a policy whereby every Nissan dealer must do LEAF warranty service by next year. My contact at Nissan USA is Emily.

I installed 10 solar panels to help with the charge. The plan is another 10 next year. I have NET metering for the solar panels and also a TOU (Time of Use meter) see here. You can use the LEAF onboard timer to charge after midnight and get a substantial reduction in rates. Amanda at Helco in Hilo handles this.

More later…
Doug