Nissan expanding electric charging launch in Arizona

An artist's rendering of what Ecotality fast-charging commercial stations may look like.

(Credit: Ecotality)

Nissan has promised to supply its highway-legal electric vehicles to the Phoenix area, as well as the previously announced Tucson area, for public and private fleets by the end of 2010, the Renault-Nissan Alliance plans to announce Thursday.

"This is a deployment well in excess of a couple hundred," said Mark Perry, director of product planning for Nissan North America.

In anticipation of Nissan's municipal and eventual commercial electric vehicle (EV) launch, the energy technology company Ecotality plans to also announce on Thursday an expansion of its chain of electric charging stations beyond the Tucson Metro area stations it announced in March.

The total plan, which includes partnerships with the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) and Pima Association of Governments (PAG), is that Ecotality will create an electric plug-in infrastructure corridor encompassing the greater metropolitan areas of both Phoenix (Maricopa County) and Tucson (Pima County), as well as the 116-mile stretch between them along the Interstate 10 highway.

Using a 480-volt rapid-charge option, Nissan's EV-02 prototype--which has the battery pack and motor that will be used in the final commercial version--can charge up to 80 percent capacity in about 26 minutes, according to Perry.

Ecotality's CEO Jonathan Read said charging up at its SAE Level 3 (440V) fast-charging stations may actually even be a little quicker in practice.

Ecotality's fast-charging commercial stations may look similar to those Ecotality stations used for typical private off-road EV fleets.

(Credit: Ecotality)

"Nissan's conservative. We believe that generally the charge time can be 15-20 minutes, given most people are not going to run to zero. I almost dare you to try to get a Starbucks in less than 15 minutes. It's really conducive to a stop for a beverage, a quick shop, a stop at the pharmacy, so we're going to position these where people normally stop for a few minutes anyway," said Read.

In addition to commercial charging stations, there are also plans to work with local utilities to install 220-volt outlets in the garages of would-be EV owners. At those outlets, Nissan's EV would take an average 4 hours to recharge from zero to full capacity, according to Perry.

But you won't have to be a Nissan customer per se to get a charge from an Ecotality-built station in Arizona.

"Our charging stations are going to be agnostic; they'll work on any battery in any vehicle that adheres to the SAE standards. So while Nissan will be the first here, they'll attach to any vehicle that comes along," said Read.

Phoenix and Tucson residents may actually have cooperative community leaders to thank for the EV opportunity, if Nissan is to be believed.

Never underestimate the value of municipalities that get along with each other, their utilities, and the private sector when embarking on projects that require permitting, said Perry.

"Phoenix had all the things we were looking for in a launch market: High consumer interest, but really something you shouldn't underestimate (is) a regional planning authority that has a history of working well together and moving things forward in a coordinated fashion to make Phoenix plug-in ready. Plus, we have support from the utility companies. Plus interest from the private sector, support from Ecotality, and major employers interested in participating. When those factors are there, that's what you want," said Perry.

Perry said he's seen interest from companies who'd like to provide employees with free charging stations in their parking facilities as part of a sustainability plan.

Ecotality, which is based in Scottsdale, Ariz., had another logical reason.

"We actually have a long and storied history in electric here. We worked on charging stations for the old EV1s before they were crunched by General Motors," said Read, referring to Ecotality's subsidiary eTec.

While the charging equipment was made by Delphi, eTec installed many of the residential charging stations for General Motors' EV1 customers in the Southwest, particularly Arizona, as well as some public charging stations, according to Ecotality.

[tehrani625]

I remember seeing the EV1 Charging stations at a McDonalds and a few in the garage at the Biltmore Shopping Center. They are not their anymore and that was when I was a little kid, I'm 16 now. I am also about to get my drivers license so it would be cool to drive an electric car to school. I would disagree with Nissan about the city depts. working together though, they argue all the time over stupid things. Our city is more of a large village overrun by developers trying to make a quick buck. Phoenix has 3 downtown's, its really not all that organized or coherent.

[matthewbulat]

I expect the normal operation of an electric car is to be recharged overnight on off peak power rates. Having charging facilities near work could double the useful daily range of an electric vehicle. To see if you can complete your regular daily city drive in an electric car see a calculator I have created at http://www.matthewb.id.au/media/Electric_Vehicle_Calculator.html Compare the running costs of a petrol/gas car against a range of electric cars.

[shelby_sf]

I am really glad to see they are adhering to the SAE standards for the plug in specs. In order for plug-in vehicles to truly be a viable option we have to ensure that we don't go down a proprietary path on the charging systems. They must be generic and work for all makes and models.

[tipoo_]

Why cant these things take place in Nova Scotia?


;-)

[mike_ekim]

Take the ball - make it happen in Nova Scotia.

You must be the change you want to see in the world -Mahatma Gandhi

[Vuki777]

ECOtality is a great little company. I'm so happy to see that a new, U.S.-based company is working so closely with an international automotive firm to develop this.

[tucazlr]

So what does this mean for jobs? That's what we need!!!!