Posted Wednesday, Jun. 23, 2010

By BOB COX

rcox@star-telegram.com

IRVING — Electric vehicles are coming to Texas soon, and along with them a vastly different experience in buying, owning and driving a new car.

With two automakers preparing to roll out the first mass-market, plug-in electric autos this year, the auto industry, retail electricity providers and government agencies are moving to make it easier for consumers to embrace the environmentally friendly technology.

Speakers at an electric-vehicle conference here said the looming introductions of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf, which their manufacturers say will be delivered this year, are the vanguard of a movement that has enormous promise for Texas drivers living in pollution-plagued urban areas.

The basic technology to make electric vehicles practical “is already here today,” and Texas is the perfect market for it, said Robert Nelms, director of the Institute for Intelligent Energy Systems at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Chevrolet says it will begin delivering the Volt, an electric car with a backup gasoline-powered generator, to buyers around December. Nissan plans to begin deliveries of its all-electric, 100-mile-range hatchback to the first U.S. buyers by year’s end.

“We could see a significant [market] penetration of all-electric vehicles over the next decade,” especially as the technology improves and consumers learn about it and become comfortable with the concepts, Nelms said.

The state is well-suited for electric cars, speakers said, because of its enormous wind-power capacity that primarily generates power at night when most people would be recharging their cars.

Nissan has a lengthy list of people who have paid $99 to reserve a place in line to order the Leaf, said Keiichi Kitahara, Nissan’s senior manager of corporate planning. “We’ll tell them at the end of the month when they can order a vehicle and when sales will begin.”

Kitahara said the automaker will initially be able to produce only about 50,000 Leafs a year in Japan for the first couple of years, until it can build and ramp up production at other locations, including its plant in Smyrna, Tenn.

But buying such a vehicle won’t be as simple as going to the dealership and writing a check. The cars are going to come with battery charging systems. Nelms and others said they expect the bulk of charging to be done at home, requiring further investment by consumers and planning by electricity providers.

The Volt, the Leaf and other electric vehicles in the planning stages will require a dedicated 220-volt line connected to a power inverter that converts household alternate current to direct current for the battery charging systems, Kitahara said.

Nissan’s Leaf has a starting price tag of $32,780, plus $2,200 for the power inverter system. Then there will be the cost to buyers of adding an electric line to the house or garage for the charging system.

The Leaf and Volt will qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit, and the charging system can be offset by an additional $2,000 tax credit.

While the overall electric grid in Texas shouldn’t be overtaxed by car charging, especially if it’s done at night as most experts expect, there could be “cul de sac” problems if several households in the same area rapidly adopt electric vehicles.

In Houston, NRG Energy, parent of retail provider Reliant Energy, is working with Nissan to address the delivery issues.

Mike Harrigan, NRG’s vice president of electric vehicle services, said the company wants to create a one-stop solution where a consumer can buy an electric car and secure long-term contracts for electricity at fixed prices, home electric system upgrades and even access to public charging stations.

“We’re trying to integrate the three pieces of the puzzle that we don’t see together right now,” Harrigan said.

Retail electric providers would notify their transmission operators, such as Oncor, of new electric vehicle buyers so they could upgrade wiring and transformers when necessary.

Brian Tulloh, vice president of public affairs for TXU Energy, said the company is planning a similar approach. “We know the customers will want it to be simple.”

BOB COX, 817-390-7723

By JOSH MITCHELL

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration on Tuesday backed a proposal to spend up to $6 billion more on subsidies for electric vehicles, amid renewed interest on Capitol Hill in measures to cut petroleum consumption in response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The proposals include more spending for research and development of car-battery technology, aid to utilities and homeowners to build recharging outlets, and consumer tax credits to offset the higher costs of battery-electric vehicles.

A bill drafted by Sens. Byron Dorgan (D., N.D.), Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) and Jeff Alan Merkley (D., Ore.) calls for the additional spending, and includes a provision that would establish up to 15 “development” communities to receive funds for infrastructure and other programs for plug-ins.

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Bloomberg NewsThe auto industry has sought more federal spending for electric cars, such as the coming Chevrolet Volt.

“The rest of the world is moving up quickly on this technology,” David Sandalow, the Energy Department’s assistant secretary for policy and international affairs, told a Senate hearing Tuesday. “The question before us is whether the United States will lead in this technology.”

The proposal has drawn criticism from auto makers, which worry that it focuses on electric vehicles at the expense of other alternative technologies, and from Republicans who cite the need to cut government spending.

Democrats may seek to attach the legislation to an energy bill that could be taken up later this year, Sen. Dorgan said in an interview.

The federal government has already spent billions of dollars to spur the development of plug-in cars, including funds from a $25 billion program to help auto makers retool plants, $2.4 billion in stimulus money for battery development and other projects, and a $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-car purchases.

The auto industry has lobbied for more programs out of concern that consumers will balk at the high prices of plug-ins and lack of charging stations. Some big corporations, including delivery giant FedEx Corp., back spending on electric vehicles to help them save money on fuel costs.

FedEx Chief Executive Fred Smith, who also serves as co-chairman of the Energy Security Leadership Council, told the panel that the government should help auto makers sell enough electric vehicles to bring down their price. He said companies such as his are heavily reliant on foreign oil, and vulnerable to wide swings in petroleum prices. “The environmental catastrophe unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico is making clear once again yet another aspect of the danger posed by our dependence,” he said.

But the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the car makers’ main lobbying group, criticized the bill from Sens. Dorgan, Alexander and Merkley for leaving out potentially promising technologies such as fuel cells.

The group also criticized a provision that would establish five to 15 communities that would receive much of the funding to build an electric-car infrastructure, saying a nationwide approach is needed.

Some senators on the panel said the bill would fall short of ensuring the success of plug-ins, contending much more spending is needed if plug-ins are to avoid the fate of other technologies that have challenged petroleum-fueled internal combustion engines, which enjoy significant advantages in cost, reliability and range compared to the available alternatives.

Others, including Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Energy Committee’s ranking Republican, questioned why the bill was tailored to favor one type of technology. She said that the Clinton administration had programs to promote diesel hybrids and the Bush administration encouraged fuel-cell vehicles.

“I’m as hopeful as anyone that electric vehicles are here to stay. But the truth is that Washington has a dismal record of picking winners and losers,” she said.

Write to Josh Mitchell at joshua.mitchell@dowjones.com

Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Now Available and Shipping: ChargePoint UL Listed EV Charging Stations

CAMPBELL, Calif., June 9, 2010 – Coulomb Technologies today announced that its ChargePoint® CT2100 charging station has been certified to Underwriters Laboratories’ new requirements UL Subject 2594. UL Subject 2594 is the safety requirement covering Electric Vehicle (EV) supply equipment, and Coulomb’s ChargePoint CT2100 product family is one of the first charging stations to be evaluated to this standard. In addition, the CT2100 is certified to UL 1998, UL 991, UL 2231-1 and UL 2231-2 standards. The CT2100 family of charging stations supports both Level II 208/240V, 30A charging (via the SAE J1772™ connector) and Level I 120V, 16A charging via a standard NEMA 5-20 outlet thereby offering the ability to charge almost any EV. UL evaluates representative products, components, materials and systems for compliance to specific requirements, and authorizes manufacturers of compliant products to display the UL Mark on those products.

“Being able to display the UL Mark on our product is significant for many reasons,” said Richard Lowenthal, CEO of Coulomb Technologies. “UL is a world leader in product safety testing and certification and adherence to their safety standards is required by many municipalities, utilities and businesses. Coulomb’s ChargePoint CT2100 is in high demand in part because it is the only charging station that has a Level I/II UL Listing that is shipping today. This technology is proven, certified and available.”

The CT2100 product family and all ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations are network-enabled, capable of reporting energy usage and communicating over the network with Software Application Services and Network Support Services to activate capabilities such as:

• Providing open access for all drivers using any standards-based RFID card
• Generating revenue for station owners to offset electricity and maintenance costs
• Sending SMS or Email notifications to drivers for charging complete or interruptions in charging
• Controlling access to eliminate energy theft and to enhance safety
• Integrating with the utility Smart Grid for demand side management and preferred pricing

“In 2009 UL led the development of a new set of safety requirements in anticipation of a growing market for electric vehicles, infrastructure and accompanying products,” said Gary Savin, UL’s Vice President and General Manager for Global Power and Controls business. “Coulomb is one of the early pioneers in having their product listed to UL Subject 2594. This is a significant milestone for UL, Coulomb and the industry as a whole as it paves the way for new EV infrastructure in the United States.”

About Coulomb Technologies, Inc.

Coulomb Technologies is the leader in electric vehicle charging station infrastructure with networked charging stations installed in municipalities and organizations worldwide. Coulomb provides a vehicle-charging infrastructure, with an open system driver network: the ChargePoint Network provides multiple web-based portals for Hosts, Fleet managers, Drivers, and Utilities, and ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations ranging in capability from 120 Volt to 240 Volt AC charging and up to 500 Volt DC charging. For more information, follow Coulomb on Twitter at twitter.com/coulombevi. To request a charging station in your area, visit http://www.mychargepoint.net/request-station.php. To download the ChargePoint iPhone App, click here.

By Danny King, Contributor

Annual global hybrid-electric (HEV) and battery-electric vehicle (BEV) production will more than triple over the next six years as Toyota extends its lead in the HEV market while automaker partnerships such as the one between Renault and Nissan help double BEV production every year by lowering the cost of batteries, according to a report released this week.

Additionally, battery-electrics may actually account for a larger percentage of cars made by relatively smaller-volume companies such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz than for Nissan or Toyota within the next few years as those German automakers increase their investment in their MINI and Smart brands, respectively, in an effort to meet tightening emissions and gas-mileage standards, according to the report by Boston-based Strategy Analytics.

As a result, annual hybrid production will jump to 4.6 million vehicles in 2016 from 1.4 million this year, while BEV shipments, which will be in the 20,000 range this year as Nissan introduces its battery-electric Leaf in late 2010, will surge to about a half-million vehicles, Strategy Analytics said, citing what it called its “moderate” scenario.

Such expansion of HEVs and BEVs will be key if automakers are to meet U.S. and overseas regulators’ tightened emissions and gas-mileage standards because automakers can only improve gas mileage so much with improvements on gas-powered vehicles such as stop-start systems and smaller engines, according to the report.

By 2020, the European Union is looking to cut automotive emissions by about 33 percent from the 1998 standard, while the U.S. has set a 2016 deadline to hit gas-mileage standards that represent about a 30 percent improvement from today.

Despite expected cost reductions to battery packs as volume grows, most of the EV growth will be in wealthier regions such as the U.S. and Europe, according to Kevin Mak, industry analyst in the Strategy Analytics automotive electronics service and author of the report.

“Examples include the MINI E and the Smart ForTwo,” wrote Mak. “Because of the higher costs from the batteries, these EVs are more likely to be sold in mature markets.”

Still, even with such demand from economically mature regions, Strategy Analytics’ numbers may be optimistic, according to other analysts. Pike Research and HybridCars.com said in a December report that automakers in 2015 will sell about 3.2 million hybrid-electric and battery-electric vehicles, with about half of the BEVs being sold in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Battery costs will be reduced significantly but I don’t know if that will happen quite this rapidly,” David Cole, chairman for Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Center for Automotive Research, said in an interview. Cole added that the price of gas, which could be anywhere between $1.50 and $5 a gallon, “will be a huge factor in the market.”

For some, though, the forecast may be conservative. Nissan and Renault earlier this week said they expect global production of electric cars to reach 500,000 vehicles by 2012. Renault and Nissan will be the leader in the BEV market because of their relatively early commitment to the technology as well as an expected volume of BEV sales that will likely lower the cost of battery packs, according to Strategy Analytics.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance, which was started in 1999, has reached agreements with dozens of municipalities around the world to expand electric-vehicle-charging networks globally as Nissan prepares to start selling the Leaf.

Conversely, Volkswagen Group, which includes Audi, will lag behind because of what Strategy Analytics called “its relatively late enthusiasm for hybrid and electric vehicle technologies.” While the automaker will have a 10 percent share of the global light vehicle market in 2016, its share of the hybrid and battery-electric market will be about half that.

Regardless, much of the numbers depend on how vehicles such as Chrysler’s GEM neighborhood electric vehicles – or “glorified golf carts,” as some call them – are classified, according to Brett Smith, director of the automotive analysis group at the Center for Automotive Research.

“In some scenarios, these may account for a relatively large market,” said Smith. “The definition of vehicle class is important. But 5 million is still very optimistic.”

Link to Original Article

Coulomb Technologies to Create Electric Vehicle Infrastructure in Nine Regions by Offering No Cost Home and Public Charging Stations as Part of a $37 Million Project

Coulomb’s ChargePoint America Program Expands the Largest Networked Infrastructure for EVs in the World: Immediate Installation in Nine US Regions

Campbell, Calif., June 2, 2010 – Coulomb Technologies today announced it will deliver free home and public ChargePoint® Networked Charging Stations for electric vehicles throughout the United States. The ChargePoint America program will provide nearly 5000 charging stations to program participants in nine regions in the United States: Austin, Texas, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Fla., Sacramento, Calif., the San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area, Redmond, Wash., and Washington DC and is a strategic partnership with three leading automobile brands including, Ford, Chevrolet and smart USA. Coulomb currently has the largest established base of networked charging stations worldwide with more than 700 units shipped to more than 130 customers in 2009. Installation of the ChargePoint charging stations for electric vehicles will begin immediately.

The $37 million ChargePoint America program is made possible by a $15M grant funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the Transportation Electrification Initiative administered by the Department of Energy. ChargePoint charging stations are available now for installation in all nine designated regional metropolitan areas of the US. More than 1000 new public charging stations will be installed by December 2010, adding to the existing ChargePoint Network. The remaining stations will be installed by September 2011.

In support of the ChargePoint America program, three automakers have committed to deliver electric vehicles in designated US regions. The Chevrolet Volt, the Ford Transit Connect Electric and Ford Focus Electric through the “Ford Blue Oval ChargePoint Program”, and the smart fortwo electric drive will be introduced along with this program.

“The Obama Administration has set significant and considerable goals for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles in the coming years,” said Richard Lowenthal, CEO of Coulomb Technologies. “This grant will bring thousands of networked charging stations to nine US regions that are slated to receive the first electric vehicles from our automobile partners. These charging stations will build upon our already growing and established network of infrastructure and will accelerate the deployment of public and private charging infrastructure which will in turn encourage consumers to buy electric vehicles. Our Department of Energy grant, also known as the stimulus bill, was funded to provide jobs for Americans. Our products are built and installed with American labor. Every time we ship a ChargePoint charging station, three Americans go to work for a day.”

ChargePoint America will offer both home and public charging stations to individuals and businesses. Businesses interested in receiving public charging stations should visit the ChargePoint America web site and sign up by completing the application form. Individuals interested in purchasing an EV can sign up at www.chargepointamerica.com to receive more information about qualifying to receive a home charging station. Additionally, the ChargePoint America web site provides a way to suggest public locations for charging stations.

ChargePoint Network stations are network-enabled, capable of reporting energy usage and communicating over the network with Software Application Services and Network Support Services to activate capabilities such as:

• Providing open access for all drivers using any standards-based RFID card
• Generating revenue for station owners to offset electricity and maintenance costs
• Sending SMS or Email notifications to drivers for charging complete or interruptions in charging
• Controlling access to eliminate energy theft and to enhance safety
• Integrating with the utility Smart Grid for demand side management and preferred pricing

Charging stations owners can set their own prices for charging through the Flex Billing™ system. The Flex Billing system enables station owners to set pricing as a function of time of day, calendar date, and driver – much like a parking meter. Those same stations can also be configured to provide “free” access to EV drivers.

Coulomb’s ChargePoint® Network, is open to all drivers of plug-in vehicles and provides authentication, management, and real-time control for the networked electric vehicle charging stations. The network of electric vehicle charging stations is accessible to all plug-in drivers by making a toll free call to the 24/7 number on each charging station, or signing up for a ChargePoint Network monthly access plan and obtaining a ChargePass™ smart card. Other future payment options include using any smart (RFID) credit/debit card to authorize a session or using a standard credit or debit card at a remote payment station (RPS) to pay for charging sessions. To locate available charging stations, visit mychargepoint.net and click “Find Stations”.

About ChargePoint America

ChargePoint America will provide 4,600 public and private ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations by October 2011. Coulomb will work together with its distribution and industry partners to evaluate the demand from the respective geographic regions and allocate charging stations based on this and other factors. The ChargePoint America project will collect data characterizing vehicle use and charging patterns, and Purdue University and Idaho National Labs will analyze the data. For more program information visit www.chargepointamerica.com.

About Coulomb Technologies, Inc.

Coulomb Technologies is the leader in electric vehicle charging station infrastructure with networked charging stations installed in municipalities and organizations worldwide. Coulomb provides a vehicle-charging infrastructure, with an open system driver network: the ChargePoint Network provides multiple web-based portals for Hosts, Fleet managers, Drivers, and Utilities, and ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations ranging in capability from 120 Volt to 240 Volt AC charging and up to 500 Volt DC charging. For more information, follow Coulomb on Twitter at twitter.com/coulombevi. To request a charging station in your area, visit http://www.mychargepoint.net/request-station.php. To download the ChargePoint iPhone App, click here.

Ford Motor Company is partnering with Coulomb Technologies to provide free in-home ChargePoint® Networked Charging Stations for some of the automaker’s first electric vehicle customers under the Ford Blue Oval ChargePoint Program.
The Ford Blue Oval ChargePoint Program is part of Coulomb Technologies’ $37 million ChargePoint America charging station infrastructure project made possible by a grant funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the Transportation Electrification Initiative administered by the Department of Energy.
Coulomb Technologies will begin installing nearly 5,000 home and public ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations under this program in Austin, Texas, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Fla., Sacramento, Calif., the San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area, Redmond, Wash., and Washington D.C.
DEARBORN, Mich., June 2, 2010 – Ford Motor Company will partner with Coulomb Technologies to provide nearly 5,000 free in-home charging stations for some of the automaker’s first electric vehicle customers.
Under the Ford Blue Oval ChargePoint Program, residents in nine designated markets could receive a free ChargePoint® Networked Charging Station with the purchase of a Ford Transit Connect Electric vehicle. The nine markets designated by Coulomb Technologies include Austin, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Sacramento, the San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area, Redmond, Wash., and Washington D.C. The installation of ChargePoint charging stations will begin immediately.
The Ford Blue Oval ChargePoint Program is part of Coulomb Technologies’ $37 million ChargePoint America charging station infrastructure project made possible by a $15 million grant funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the Transportation Electrification Initiative administered by the Department of Energy.
“Both the ChargePoint America and Ford Blue Oval ChargePoint Programs help build the necessary infrastructure to make the electric vehicle a more viable option for American consumers,” said Sue Cischke, global vice president, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering, Ford Motor Company. “Ford’s electrification strategy focuses on providing real world value to customers with a range of driving behaviors and conditions. These programs and charging stations help us deliver an added value to our future electric vehicle owners.”
Ford plans to introduce five new electrified vehicles in North America by 2012, providing a range of products to meet a variety of customer needs. These include:
A Transit Connect Electric small commercial van debuting later this year
A Ford Focus Electric passenger car debuting in 2011,
Two next-generation lithium-ion battery hybrid-electric vehicles and a plug-in hybrid by 2012.
ChargePoint America will offer home and public charging stations to individuals and businesses. Businesses interested in applying for free public charging stations or consumers exploring an electric vehicle purchase can visit www.chargepointamerica.com for more information.
“ChargePoint America builds upon our established and growing network of charging stations and will in turn encourage consumers to buy electric vehicles,” said Richard Lowenthal, CEO of Coulomb Technologies. “Our Department of Energy grant was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the stimulus bill, to provide jobs for Americans. Our products are built and installed with American labor. Every time we ship a ChargePoint charging station, three Americans go to work for a day.”
Coulomb’s ChargePoint® Network, is open to all plug-in electric vehicle drivers and provides authentication, management and real-time control for the networked electric vehicle charging stations. The network of electric vehicle charging stations is accessible to all plug-in drivers by making a toll-free call to the 24/7 number on each charging station, or signing up for a ChargePoint Network monthly access plan and obtaining a ChargePass™ smart card. Other future payment options include using any smart (RFID) credit/debit card to authorize a session or using a standard credit or debit card at a remote payment station (RPS) to pay for charging sessions. To locate available charging stations, visit mychargepoint.net and click “Find Stations.”
About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 176,000 employees and about 80 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and, until its sale, Volvo. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.
About Coulomb Technologies, Inc.
Coulomb Technologies is the leader in electric vehicle charging station infrastructure with networked charging stations installed in municipalities and organizations worldwide. Coulomb provides a vehicle-charging infrastructure, with an open system driver network: the ChargePoint Network provides multiple web-based portals for Hosts, Fleet managers, Drivers, and Utilities, and ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations ranging in capability from 120 Volt to 240 Volt AC charging and up to 500 Volt DC charging. For more information, follow Coulomb on Twitter at twitter.com/coulombevi. To request a charging station in your area, visit http://www.mychargepoint.net/request-station.php. To download the ChargePoint iPhone App, click here.

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