Earlier today I attended an "Electic Vehicle Implementation Workshop" sponsored by the Greater Long Island Clean Cities Coalition. For those of you who don't regularly attend these sorts of things, "workshop" is codespeak for "company/product pitch presentation" - but that's fine because they are usually at least interesting and sometimes even informative! I took some notes of what I thought were interesting and some of it may be of interest for EV/Plugin supporters in general, so I'd like to share.
First up was representative from the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) which is the electric utility provider for Long Island, New York. For LI residents (and I know there's at least one out there!) There are two tidbits of info:
1) LIPA is considering, but not yet committed to, Time of Use tariffs. Something to keep an eye on.
2) LIPA offers a $500 rebate for the purchase of a plug-in electric vehicle. Not exactly a windfall but hey, $500! Both the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf currently qualify.
Second speaker was Carl Vogel from the Electric Auto Association. He really l didn't have much to say that you won't already know if you frequent these forums - The differences between L1, L2, L3 and Fast DC charging and how frequent fast charging can gradually damage the battery pack.
Everyone was quite clear to point out that the ChaDeMo is FastDC, NOT L3 charging, and that the L3 charging standard has not yet been finalized. The Rep from Clipper Creek (who spoke later) mentioned that ChaDeMo does not have any communications with the vehicle - I think he's mistaken but I wasn't about to butt in and try to correct him.
Third speaker was a representative from a company called ElectroMotive Designs. They specialize in bolt-on truck hybridization technologies. For the most part, they bold some battery packs and controllers to the chassis and either cut the driveshaft to insert a gen/motor, attach a gen/motor set to the vehicle's PTO if it has one, or install a gen/motor directly to the engine. They claim to be able to retrofit Class 3 through Class 8 vehicles and can supply various options such as plug-in recharging. Their system connects to the vehicle's ODBII port or directly to the CAN bus to monitor and alter the vehicle's engine parameters and seamlessly add regen and launch assist. Seems like a decent way to go for an easy upgrade to an existing fleet.
Fourth in line was from General Motors, who spent a fair amount of time pitching the Chevy Volt. He also covered a lot of things about the charging standards but acknowledged it was already covered and rushed through that part. In my opinion he didn't really provide satisfactory answers to some of the questions - one guy asked him about the whole fiasco regarding if the engine ever directly powers the wheels or not, so he described the "four driving modes" but mumbled his way through the part where the ICE will clutch mechanically to the drivetrain under certain conditions. (He seemed a bit irritated when the guy asked again.)
What I did learn, though, is that there are four circumstances in which the Volt will burn gasoline:
1) Charge Sustain mode - while driving with a low battery the ICE will kick in to keep it at a minimum level of charge.
2) Engine Maintenance Mode - if the ICE isn't used at all for "about 3 months," it'll run "long enough to circulate the oil and get up to temp," adding that in this mode it will burn "about a gallon" of gasoline.
3) Fuel Maintenance Mode - the Volt will try to empty the gas tank at least once a year to prevent the fuel from going stale.
4) Warming the battery - GM apparently figured that if it was cold enough out ("20 degrees or less") it was more efficient to run the engine to produce heat and save the battery for driving than to use an electric heater and end up in charge sustain mode sooner. Supposedly the engine will run just long enough to get everything warmed up and shut off again for awhile.
He also talked about very briefly about public charging infrastructure, so I asked him if he had any advice on persuading builders and property owners to at least install provisions for EVSEs. He mentioned that he wanted to see better coverage for EVSE equipment under LEED certification - I agree, but that's not exactly what I asked :/
Fifth speaker was a guy from Odyne, which also designs truck hybridization systems but focuses more on utility vehicles that use their main engine for on-site power (bucket trucks, pole setters etc). Their system is a plugin electric hybrid that connects to the PTO on these vehicles and can be tuned on-the-fly to optimize for better fuel economy 9regen + launch assist duty) or on-site power in place of the vehicle's engine. They offer 14kWh and 18kWh Li-Ion pack options along with plug-in support, hydraulic/pneumatic output or up to 7KW electrical output, and electric cabin heating/cooling (since the engine isn't running). Not a bad setup when you consider those truck engines would normally be running full tilt.
In seventh place was a representative from Clipper Creek. He explained a little more in detail about the different charging levels:
L1 = 120VAC up to 16A continuous.
L2 = 240VAC up ton 80A continuous.
L3 = 240VAC over 100A continuous (not finalized)
FastDC: 400-480VDC, 100A continuous
He mentioned that there are forty-something EVSE manufacturers out there and you should be wary of any product that doesn't have UL labeling for or equivalent for the entire unit as a system (rather than UL listings for each part).
He also mentioned that you can have a 240V plug-in EVSE only if it is used indoors, since outdoor use is a violation of the NEC. For this reason, few manufacturers build a pluggable L2 EVSE - but Clipper Creek does sell L2 EVSEs without any wall-side connection, and "if someone wants to put a plug on it, that's their business."
Lastly was a representative from Leviton. His presentation was mostly about his company's history and the diversity of their product line so it wasn't very interesting. They do provide sub-metering modules (Leviton makes damn near everythingfor residential/commercial electric) and that they are working on an EVSE that integrates closely with solar panels (possibly an EVSE+Inverter in one box?) which piqued my interest, but he didn't elaborate.
So that's my sad story of how I got out of the office for half a day. :lol: Wasn't a total loss at least.
=Smidge=
First up was representative from the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) which is the electric utility provider for Long Island, New York. For LI residents (and I know there's at least one out there!) There are two tidbits of info:
1) LIPA is considering, but not yet committed to, Time of Use tariffs. Something to keep an eye on.
2) LIPA offers a $500 rebate for the purchase of a plug-in electric vehicle. Not exactly a windfall but hey, $500! Both the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf currently qualify.
Second speaker was Carl Vogel from the Electric Auto Association. He really l didn't have much to say that you won't already know if you frequent these forums - The differences between L1, L2, L3 and Fast DC charging and how frequent fast charging can gradually damage the battery pack.
Everyone was quite clear to point out that the ChaDeMo is FastDC, NOT L3 charging, and that the L3 charging standard has not yet been finalized. The Rep from Clipper Creek (who spoke later) mentioned that ChaDeMo does not have any communications with the vehicle - I think he's mistaken but I wasn't about to butt in and try to correct him.
Third speaker was a representative from a company called ElectroMotive Designs. They specialize in bolt-on truck hybridization technologies. For the most part, they bold some battery packs and controllers to the chassis and either cut the driveshaft to insert a gen/motor, attach a gen/motor set to the vehicle's PTO if it has one, or install a gen/motor directly to the engine. They claim to be able to retrofit Class 3 through Class 8 vehicles and can supply various options such as plug-in recharging. Their system connects to the vehicle's ODBII port or directly to the CAN bus to monitor and alter the vehicle's engine parameters and seamlessly add regen and launch assist. Seems like a decent way to go for an easy upgrade to an existing fleet.
Fourth in line was from General Motors, who spent a fair amount of time pitching the Chevy Volt. He also covered a lot of things about the charging standards but acknowledged it was already covered and rushed through that part. In my opinion he didn't really provide satisfactory answers to some of the questions - one guy asked him about the whole fiasco regarding if the engine ever directly powers the wheels or not, so he described the "four driving modes" but mumbled his way through the part where the ICE will clutch mechanically to the drivetrain under certain conditions. (He seemed a bit irritated when the guy asked again.)
What I did learn, though, is that there are four circumstances in which the Volt will burn gasoline:
1) Charge Sustain mode - while driving with a low battery the ICE will kick in to keep it at a minimum level of charge.
2) Engine Maintenance Mode - if the ICE isn't used at all for "about 3 months," it'll run "long enough to circulate the oil and get up to temp," adding that in this mode it will burn "about a gallon" of gasoline.
3) Fuel Maintenance Mode - the Volt will try to empty the gas tank at least once a year to prevent the fuel from going stale.
4) Warming the battery - GM apparently figured that if it was cold enough out ("20 degrees or less") it was more efficient to run the engine to produce heat and save the battery for driving than to use an electric heater and end up in charge sustain mode sooner. Supposedly the engine will run just long enough to get everything warmed up and shut off again for awhile.
He also talked about very briefly about public charging infrastructure, so I asked him if he had any advice on persuading builders and property owners to at least install provisions for EVSEs. He mentioned that he wanted to see better coverage for EVSE equipment under LEED certification - I agree, but that's not exactly what I asked :/
Fifth speaker was a guy from Odyne, which also designs truck hybridization systems but focuses more on utility vehicles that use their main engine for on-site power (bucket trucks, pole setters etc). Their system is a plugin electric hybrid that connects to the PTO on these vehicles and can be tuned on-the-fly to optimize for better fuel economy 9regen + launch assist duty) or on-site power in place of the vehicle's engine. They offer 14kWh and 18kWh Li-Ion pack options along with plug-in support, hydraulic/pneumatic output or up to 7KW electrical output, and electric cabin heating/cooling (since the engine isn't running). Not a bad setup when you consider those truck engines would normally be running full tilt.
In seventh place was a representative from Clipper Creek. He explained a little more in detail about the different charging levels:
L1 = 120VAC up to 16A continuous.
L2 = 240VAC up ton 80A continuous.
L3 = 240VAC over 100A continuous (not finalized)
FastDC: 400-480VDC, 100A continuous
He mentioned that there are forty-something EVSE manufacturers out there and you should be wary of any product that doesn't have UL labeling for or equivalent for the entire unit as a system (rather than UL listings for each part).
He also mentioned that you can have a 240V plug-in EVSE only if it is used indoors, since outdoor use is a violation of the NEC. For this reason, few manufacturers build a pluggable L2 EVSE - but Clipper Creek does sell L2 EVSEs without any wall-side connection, and "if someone wants to put a plug on it, that's their business."
Lastly was a representative from Leviton. His presentation was mostly about his company's history and the diversity of their product line so it wasn't very interesting. They do provide sub-metering modules (Leviton makes damn near everythingfor residential/commercial electric) and that they are working on an EVSE that integrates closely with solar panels (possibly an EVSE+Inverter in one box?) which piqued my interest, but he didn't elaborate.
So that's my sad story of how I got out of the office for half a day. :lol: Wasn't a total loss at least.
=Smidge=
