ICEless in Seattle : Official Pacific NorthWest thread

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

Just a reminder for everyone in this forum. We are having our first local LEAF owner's meet up on Saturday at 1 PM down in Renton. There is another thread here with the details so confirm if you are coming there or on Facebook (url below).

Saturday, February 5th
Time: 1:00 PM

Location:

Liberty Cafe
926 South 3rd Street
Renton, WA 98057
(425) 235-1400

(owner knows we are coming)

Facebook event URL: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=170167309693154

The Saturday forecast is partly cloudy with some sun breaks (KING5).

Come check out the LEAFs, talk to owners that have their cars, share stories, etc.. everyone welcome.

 

[evnow]

Just got a mail from Prime Electric to install my Blink next week. Anyone else ?

Has anyone got their Blink installed yet ?

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

Just got a mail from Prime Electric to install my Blink next week. Anyone else ?

Has anyone got their Blink installed yet ?

Yes - first one in Washington State was just installed at my house.

Lou also mentioned that several more Blink EVSE units are on the way to be installed shortly.

full gallery: http://bit.ly/f8Znuc

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

nice! i have put over 60 miles on the Leaf today (dropping off Prius for recall work) and still have to go to dealership (Toyota) this evening. i will actually be on the bottom half of the pack for most of the day since i did not charge up last night.

oh well, still have plenty after a 3 hour boost at home

 

[DrPowell]

Nice indeed! Congratulations!

Looks like (1) the unit's clock wasn't set for these photos, and (2) the embedded OS is some UN*X since its zero hour epoch is midnight, 1/1/70.

Does the thing support NTP, or some other time protocol, so you don't have to manually set the clock in it? Anyone have a link to a Blink user manual PDF?

 

[evnow]

Yes - first one in Washington State was just installed at my house.

Lou also mentioned that several more Blink EVSE units are on the way to be installed shortly.

So, what kind of reporting does Blink give. For eg., does it show the kwh used to charge Leaf each day ? You can probably find out tomorrow.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

ya that would be great if you could track the amount of power from the wall on a daily basis

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

Yes - first one in Washington State was just installed at my house.

Lou also mentioned that several more Blink EVSE units are on the way to be installed shortly.

So, what kind of reporting does Blink give. For eg., does it show the kwh used to charge Leaf each day ? You can probably find out tomorrow.

So far not much. It is powering my car and I can open a web page to the Blink across my intranet by hitting it's IP address but their isn't much to play with yet. It is supposed to be "Activated" but is not yet. I am guessing once it is Activated, more data will start to flow and options will become available. I'll let you know.

 

[jlambeth]

I have a "date" ... of sorts! :mrgreen:

See signature. It beats the heck out of "pending".

 

[greener]

I have a "date" ... of sorts! :mrgreen:

See signature. It beats the heck out of "pending".

Right there with you.

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

KING5 piece today at Stadium where they borrowed my car and used some footage of the day we picked up the car.
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Pus...stations-in-Western-Washington-115920514.html

note that the comments section is once again filled with a bunch of dribble. It amazes me that there are so many people with nothing better to do than complain.

 

[sproqitman]

note that the comments section is once again filled with a bunch of dribble. It amazes me that there are so many people with nothing better to do than complain.

My New Year's resolution this year was to stop reading the comments section of any online story. I'm been sticking to it, for the most part, and have been much happier as a result.

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

I was told that the owner of Stadium Nissan had his LEAF show up yesterday morning on a truck. Curious if any other Seattle area folks have received some calls that cars are in? I don't see any additions to the spreadsheet or the "I got mine.. thread. I can't believe just one car showed up so more have to be getting delivered in the next few days.

Can't wait to see more LEAF's running around.

some nuggets of info to share.
* Sounds like April for EV Project to start public lvl2 charger installations.
* 4 level 2 chargers going into the North Lot of Qwest Field.
* Downtown Seattle Hilton getting chargers with a DC quick charger as well.

Sounds like the DC quick chargers are going to take until this summer to get deployed.

 

[evnow]

I was told that the owner of Stadium Nissan had his LEAF show up yesterday morning on a truck. Curious if any other Seattle area folks have received some calls that cars are in? I don't see any additions to the spreadsheet or the "I got mine.. thread. I can't believe just one car showed up so more have to be getting delivered in the next few days.

In the sheet, I've the only Feb/Mar delivery in WA. No news from the dealer - my dashboard says Feb 28th. Some CA people have next week as the delivery date. So, my Feb 28th looks about right.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

nice tv spot and yea, even in a progressive hybrid/EV area we still have a huge amount of ignorance. as far as new deliveries, i am ready.

i set up an Olympia Leafowners FB page. still waiting for new members!! even if u r just thinking about it, sign up!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_162442713806531

 

[LEAFguy]

note that the comments section is once again filled with a bunch of dribble. It amazes me that there are so many people with nothing better to do than complain.

In the comments, someone said that people will be burned with the acids in the EV battery. It shows that most people don't even research a topic, they just spout what they think they know. Another commented about the batteries going to landfills. Nissan already has a plan in place to recycle/reuse EV batteries.

 

[SteveInSeattle]

There is one interesting point in the comments.. 600 pounds of batteries holds the same energy as 3 or 4 gallons of gasoline.. clearly electric vehicles are not the long-term solution to the problem of finding an environmental solution for transportation. And, I AM buying a Leaf-- I just have to think something better needs to come along eventually, batteries with much more power density, or fuel cells.

I have stated that showing market viability for the interim products, like the Leaf, is an essential part of encouraging the R&D to get to a better solution. So, I am voting with my dollars-- as are many of my fellow Puget Sound Leafers-- some of whom I enjoyed meeting last week!

 

[LEAFfan]

I just have to think something better needs to come along eventually, batteries with much more power density, or fuel cells.

The problems with fuel cells is that you have to have a source of energy to run them and they are really expensive. I think the FCX costs around $600/mo. to lease for those few that have been able to get one. Right now, they use natural gas or hydrogen. If they use cng, then you are using one of our natural resources once again. If you use hydrogen, it's very expensive to make and once again, you would be at the mercy of the seller. I still believe that some kind of electrical storage device is the best using a renewable resource such as PVs to charge them. Eventually (when a really good storage device/battery exists), we can go off grid and then when the terrorists attack our grid system, we'll still have electricity.

 

[sproqitman]

I just have to think something better needs to come along eventually, batteries with much more power density, or fuel cells.

If you use hydrogen, it's very expensive to make and once again, you would be at the mercy of the seller. I still believe that some kind of electrical storage device is the best using a renewable resource such as PVs to charge them. Eventually (when a really good storage device/battery exists), we can go off grid and then when the terrorists attack our grid system, we'll still have electricity.

Hydrogen is a battery technology. You start with either water or a hydrocarbon, and add energy to liberate hydrogen. When you are ready to use the stored energy, you combine hydrogen with oxygen to release a percentage of the energy you put into the system initially to liberate the hydrogen. On the plus side, the energy density of hydrogen is much higher than Li-ion. On the minus side, hydrogen is extremely flammable and stored at very high pressures (10,000 psi?), making it both an ignition and explosion hazard.

My personal preference is to use Li-ion batteries until something better, like ultracapacitors is available.

 

[evnow]

There is one interesting point in the comments.. 600 pounds of batteries holds the same energy as 3 or 4 gallons of gasoline.. clearly electric vehicles are not the long-term solution to the problem of finding an environmental solution for transportation. And, I AM buying a Leaf-- I just have to think something better needs to come along eventually, batteries with much more power density, or fuel cells.

Yes, fossil fuels have been incredibly useful - and have driven the civilization in the last 100 years. There won't be an equivalent substitute.

Fuel cells are very inefficient - wall to wheels if the source is renewable electricity - electric cars will be 3 times more efficient as fuel cells.