The surge in the installation of infrastructure for electric vehicles continues to grow in San Diego.  Charging stations are being installed in a variety of locations including those where multiple units are required.  To facilitate the process San Diego Gas & Electric is having monthly Multi-unit Vehicle Charging Workshops.  The next one is Tuesday August 23rd.  Here is their invitation:

Join us on August 23rd, from 9:30 AM to 11 AM (refreshments/registration at 9:15 AM) for this program at our brand new Energy Innovation Center (EIC) at 4760 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard.  This will be one of the first public programs to be held at EIC (prior to the official opening), so it gives you the opportunity to learn about the topic and you’ll also get a preview of our brand new EIC.

UCLA’s Luskin Center will be our special guests at this month’s workshop.  As always we invite residents, HOAs, property managers and contractors to share their experiences during the 2nd half of our program devoted to Q&A. We will also discuss the recently approved SB 209 in this session, signed by Governor Brown in July that relates to Multi-unit Dwellings.

Here is the link to the actual bill language:

Click here to link to SDG&E’s Electric Transportation website.

El Cajon-based Nuvve Corporation has chosen Denmark to launch a new technology allowing electric cars to sell energy from batteries back to the grid. A solution which helps solve peak hour demand, uses excess wind energy and financially compensates the car owner.

An Electric Vehicle (EV) is typically parked 95 percent of the time. The most expensive component in the car is the battery, so why not put it to work making EVs not just environmentally but also financially appealing? That’s the idea behind Nuvve’s new V2G (Vehicle to Grid) technology; a solution having gone through 10 years of development in the US and now ready to be commercially launched in Europe with Denmark as the first test market.

Electrical car batteries as energy storage solution
An increasing amount of EVs today come with bidirectional drive trains able to both charge and discharge power into the grid. Nuvve’s innovation is a server connecting the EVs to the grid operator, a technology unmatched in the market.

The EV owner makes the battery available to Nuvve during a given period and, depending on supply and demand in the grid, the company uses the car as a short time energy storage solution in order to help regulate the power frequency of the grid. The value of providing these regulation services is very high.
Nuvve’s calculations show their business model compensating each individual EV owner $10,000 over the life of a vehicle depending on market price and owner commitment.

Danish smart grid perfect for new technology
The US company is in the process of opening a head quarter in Denmark. Nuvve will start out by hiring eight Danish employees for departments in Horsens and Copenhagen, but is planning to quickly scale up both staffing and the scope of the pilot project targeted to start in September depending on project financing.
CEO of Nuvve, Gregory Poilasne, says that one of the reasons the company chose Denmark is due to the large amount of renewable energy in the Danish grid resulting in significant power fluctuations from sources such as wind.

“As opposed to countries like Sweden and France where the power supply is fairly constant as a result of large nuclear and hydropower production, the dynamic Danish grid is an optimal choice for our technology. We offer the most economic and ecologic solution to (more…)

ECOtality, Inc. a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies, today celebrated the company’s Blink® Pedestal charging station installations in the San Diego metro area. Elected officials, local stakeholders, EV drivers and company representatives gathered outside the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park, one of five in a series of events that celebrate installations of commercial and publicly available charging stations in EV Project markets. Located in the heart of San Diego, Balboa Park now hosts 10 Blink Pedestal chargers, and is now an easily accessible charging location for EV drivers throughout the entire San Diego region.

“San Diego has been a terrific project market for ECOtality, and its high levels of consumer and stakeholder interest make it an excellent proving ground for electric vehicles,” said Jonathan Read, CEO of ECOtality. “The Blink charging stations installed at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center and at the San Diego Air & Space Museum–as well as the commercial Blink charging stations appearing in EV Project markets nationwide–underscores our commitment to smart EV deployment and placing charging stations at locations that fit the lifestyle of EV drivers.”

“A well-planned charging network tears down a significant barrier to adopting electric vehicles,” Mayor Jerry Sanders said. “I’m proud San Diego will be one of the first cities in the nation to encourage residents to purchase EVs, and that we’ll serve as a model for other cities as they look to deploy their charging infrastructures.”

ECOtality began installations of its Blink Level 2 Residential charging stations in EV Project regions nationwide in December 2010, and since then has completed more than 1,400 installations. Over the last few months, ECOtality has been actively installing Blink Pedestal chargers at public and commercial sites. The company aims to (more…)

On Thursday June 9th CleanTECH San Diego’s Electric Vehicle Showcase will be the latest event focused on San Diego’s position at the front line of the largest transportation electrification project in history.  What’s so special about San Diego?

San Diego has a culture of technology early adapters.  San Diego has been one of the top markets for hybrid EVs like the Toyota Prius.  California ranks first in Prii sales and second only to Vermont in Prii Per Capita.  (Yes, the plural is Prii).  Hybrid EV owners are predisposed to consider plug-in EVs.

San Diego is one of 16 cities selected under a DOE grant headed by ECOtality to implement the largest-ever rollout of electric vehicle infrastructure.  Federal grants plus matching funds will total $230 million.

Because the ultimate utility of EVs is tied to the establishment of a charging infrastructure, Nissan, Chevy, Ford and others have focused on a limited number of metropolitan regions including San Diego.

San Diego is the #1 solar city in the #1 solar state.  40 percent of Leaf owners have solar panels according to the California Center for Sustainable Energy (Source North County Times). 

San Diego’s terrain and climate is less taxing on EV batteries than much of the U.S.

Successful integration of EVs to the grid is a task of great complexity.  For the past two years, San Diego Gas & Electric’s advancements in smart grid infrastructure has earned them recognition as the most intelligent utility in America by IDC Energy Insights and Intelligent Utility magazine. 

General Electric has partnered with the City of San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric, the University of California San Diego and CleanTECH San Diego in Smart City San Diego, a public-private collaboration that aims to improve the region’s energy independence, empower consumers to adopt electric vehicles, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and drive economic growth.

To boost use of electric vehicles, the General Services Administration is installing charging stations for government vehicles in San Diego and four other cities.

The University of California, San Diego has been at the center of several major initiatives which are contributing to the region’s growth as a clean energy center.  The EVs which will be used by students, faculty and staff will form a living laboratory of human behavior and technology.

Qualcomm and ECOtality have entered into an agreement to implement cellular connectivity into charging stations. The solution will allow ECOtality to use a commercial cellular network to manage its Blink brand charging station operations, transfer usage data, download firmware updates and publish availability to electric vehicle drivers in real time.

CleanTECH San Diego is an important nexus for regional clean technologies of all types.  You can click through to their website to learn about their crucial mission.  While you are there you can register for the CleanTECH San Diego Electric Vehicle Showcase.  Indy 500 legend and electric vehicle convert Danny Sullivan will be the keynote speaker.  UC San Diego’s Byron Washom will lead a panel including the CEO of Flux Power, Chris Anthony and General Electric’s Michelle Lesh.  Held on the LEED Silver certified Port Pavilion on the Broadway Pier, the Showcase will include a variety of demonstrations of EV technologies and cars. 

Show up on Thursday with a fistful of business cards to network harborside and kick the tires of the EVs that are in the poll position in the race for energy efficient transportation.  Register here today. 

CleanTECH San Diego’s Electric Vehicle Showcase

Date: Thursday June 9, 2011    4 PM to 7 PM

Port Pavillion on Broadway Pier
1000 North Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92101

Click here to view Danny Sullivan’s classic moment in Indy 500 history.

Forget about the Housewives of Wherever.  This is the ultimate reality show.  Tune in at 7:30 AM (San Diego time) on Wednesday September 16th to see if San Diego’s own Aptera Motors will be a winner of the $10,000,000 Automotive X Prize.  The Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE Winners Announcement will be broadcast live via streaming video at http://www.progressiveautoxprize.org/live.

Up to $10 million will be awarded to as many as three teams that proved their entry vehicle could meet the competition’s strictest requirements, including the ability to achieve 100 miles per gallon or the energy equivalent (MPGe) and to survive grueling real-world safety, efficiency, emissions, durability and range tests.

The finalists in the three year run for the big bucks include nine vehicles from seven teams out of an original 136 cars from 111 teams from around the world.  To make the cut each design had to be considered production-capable.

The National Geographic Channel will present “X PRIZE Cars: Accelerating the Future” at 9 PM on September 16th.  Click here for a great article from Autopia on WIRED.com and here for a link to the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE.

(Follow-up note posted September 16th.  Aptera ran out of the money.)

By GUEST AUTHOR Mariana Gerzanych CEO |  350Green

Last week the House and the Senate introduced separate but similar bills in support of Electric Cars.  Both are called “Electric Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010″, both have the same outcome but go about it a bit differently.  They will each allocate about (more…)

By GUEST AUTHOR Mariana Gerzanych CEO |  350Green

San Diego won a 1 in 30,000 jackpot when it became a city that both GM Volt and Nissan Leaf electric cars will be introduced in this fall.  Nissan dropped the price bomb last month, the war that promises to be fierce has begun.  Leaf ended up at $20,280 MSRP after a $7,500 Federal Tax break and $5,000 CA Rax rebate (or a $349/month lease).  The price astounded many, including competitors like Mitsubishi that immediately responded by dropping the price for their all-electric iMiev by $6,700. 

Even though the Leaf is priced unexpectedly low, Nissan is still making a profit.  The most expensive (more…)

By GUEST AUTHOR Mariana Gerzanych CEO |  350Green

Electricity providers and consumers have had a good marriage since the 1800s, small breakdowns here and there, sometimes scandals, regulation and deregulation but overall it’s been even keeled. That is until consumers decided they want more, demanding more electricity for their new toys: Electric Cars. Utilities ignored the whim for a decade but are starting to take notice. A study of EV impact on (more…)