Seattle partners with Nissan on EV program

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels

(Credit: City of Seattle)

The City of Seattle has partnered with Nissan North America to promote the development of an electric vehicle charging network in anticipation of Nissan's release of its highway-legal EV, Renault-Nissan Alliance and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels announced Tuesday.

Nissan's commercially sold EV will have a different look than its EV-02 prototype, but the same functionality. The Nissan EV is expected to have a range of 100 miles on a single charge and be able to be charged within four to eight hours via a 220-volt outlet. The City of Seattle is planning to work with its local utility to come up with a program for installing the outlets--already commonly used in homes for electric laundry dryers--in interested residents' garages. It will also work to develop electric charging stations throughout Seattle.

The announcement is just one in a list of many U.S. communities that have begun to develop electrical charging stations in anticipation of Nissan's commercial EV release in the U.S. in 2010.

Last week Renault-Nissan Alliance announced a program in Tennessee. In March and April, Nissan announced partnerships with local Arizona governments to development a corridor of electric charging stations that would encompass the 116-mile stretch between Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz. as well as their surrounding areas.

That particular project includes a partnership with tech company Ecotality. Its CEO Jonathan Read has told CNET it will be building the Arizona stations to accommodate any EV that adheres to Society of Automotive Engineers standards for electric vehicles, not just Nissan's EV.

Nissan now has projects geared toward establishing electric charging stations in anticipation of its 2010 EV launch in the U.S. in Sonoma County and San Diego, Calif., Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., Oregon, and Tennessee.

But the Seattle announcement is unique because the power source for the electric charging stations will be from http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/light/Seattle City Light, the publically-owned utility who's claim to fame is that it's "net zero" for greenhouse gas emissions.

"From light rail to street cars to electric vehicles, we're reducing the impact of transportation on our climate. Electric-powered transportation is particularly attractive in a city with a carbon-neutral utility, generating clean electricity through hydropower," Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels said in a statement.

[Thranx]

I'm normally a big proponent for going with the best product available... but these US cities should be trying to strike deals with US car manufacturers.

[brianbot5000]

The US manufacturers don't have an electric car that is two years away from production. The Chevy Volt doesn't need an electric charging station. The Nissan will be the first of it's kind...if you don't count the EV1, which General Motors produced and killed off 15 years ago...

All things being equal, I would agree.

[brianbot5000]

I'm a fan of making this available, but logic would dictate this isn't really needed. Most people commute to work well within a 40 mile radius. Seeing as how the car has a 100 mile range on one charge, they should easily be able to get to work and back on one charge, with distance to spare. In which case, they can just use their own electricity. I don't see too many folks driving 80 miles to Seattle in an electric car, and having no way to get back home.

[Anonymous2345]

I am guessing the 100 mile range does not include hills and rush hour congestion, both of which we have a lot of. I know I'd be hesitant to rely on a vehicle that I could only plug in at home. Having charging stations available in the city makes it less risky.

[mikefxlee]

It's called autonomous ah-hoc sensor networks. UK owns the Patent. A few IEEE standards also helped out.

But doable now, certainly. Can everyone work together to do it? Your guess is good as mine?

If I may - I changed careers to rock musician so this isn't really advertising it's an old post

http://www.cawidgetwerx.com/Sustainable_Energy_Deployment.html

I quit a while ago and went with bass guitar... But someone please use that info to some good.

[Bear_Shaman]

Hope all rents the video "Who Killed The Electric Car". I totally support this but some of the problems I see are liability back to the Utility. Have you ever tried standing in a puddle of water and plugged your dryer or range into the 220 vac circuit? Not very safe. Will the system be AC or DC? What happens when there is a water shortage (light winter snow pack) in the Puget Sound. I've lived in Seattle before and during these times they have water rationing and would have to assume hydro will be limited. The system seems to be different then what the San Francisco Bay Areacities have chosen for their infrastructure. At least standardize voltages and connectors nationwide. Big 3 did it to themselves.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Considering that Seattle City Light owns very little in the way of power generation and relies on Puget Sound Energy, a private company that is owned and operatted by an investment group in Canada and Australia, I don't see that their claim to net zero really has much significance. PSE has sold most of their generating power to other states in the past, artificially raising rates in the Seattle area as a result. They even went as far as to get rates raised once to cover storm damage where no power was being consumed by customers- but the power company had planned on having that money regardless, so they raised rates to cover for the time when no power was being consumed. That cost the customers millions and just gets passed on down the road.

I don't see how Seattle City Light will be immune from that sort of thing.

[mikefxlee]

Hello:

I do know how to make this all work. it's call autonomous ad-hoc networking. you need to license that IP from the UK University of Lancaster I believe. Look up SECOAS, to get an idea.

[mikefxlee]

I guess I'll bloody do say it again. Even the IEEE tried to help. Just didn't make NAB in time.

We need industry standards for the infrastructure first. Form a standards committee to start the ball rolling so that private sector investment in infrastructure is now guaranteed to endure over time with an industry standards body for interoperability in place. When sure any make will inter operate, private sector will start to invest in infrastructure. Remember 802.3?

[Vegaman_Dan]

Even with the simple 220 VAC connection, there is no standard. There's several variations of the same power connection that keeps you going back to the hardware store to match up what you need any time you move. :)

But that being said, at least it isn't a proprietary connection and this sort of thing is very doable in most garages today.

Keep in mind that we folks in the Puget Sound don't keep our cars *in* the garage though- that's where all our stuff goes. The car sits outside in the rain.

[theBike1945]

Charging stations at places where customers stay a relatively short time period make sense, but
allowing a car to park for 8 hours in one spot is a real problem. There is also the certainty that quickcharging Li Ion batteries using the new and soon to arrive fast charging technology will make these charging stations obsolete even before they are built. These publicity seeking local govt officials
are jumping into something they obviously know nothing about and have studied not one whit. I guess we'll just have to watch money being thrown down a rathole until the lightbulb goes off in the
brainless heads of folks like Mayor Nickels. Don't we deserve better?

[mikefxlee]

I think I'm allowed to post this. It's an email reply.

Dear IEEE 125th Anniversary Contact,

See e-mail inquiry below, can you please assist Mike Lee at [e-mail] ?

Regards,
Jean Bae

IEEE Conference Business Services
445 Hoes Lane
Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM Eastern Standard Time

*IEEE. Fostering technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity.



From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Date: 04/13/2009 01:05 PM
Subject: FW: Other


-----Original Message-----

From: [e-mail]
Sent: 4/10/2009 01:20:43 AM
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Other

On 2009-04-10 at 01:20:43,
The following information was submitted:
>From Host: 204.246.230.28
fname = Mike
lname = Lee
CompanyOrganization = cawidgetwerx
submit_by = [e-mail]
birth_day = 15
birth_month = March
birth_year = 1967
MemberNumber = None
mailing_city = San Francisco
mailing_state = Ca
mailing_country = United States
form_id = Other
comments = NAB 2009, there will be a Zenn electric car at the show, less planned it seems more a door prize.

I note that a few recent ratifications related to power grid communications and application guidelines for design. The capability has been around for a few years. The passage and confirmation of a standard turned it into a market as interoperability between device and vendor can be defined.

Same with cars. What is the standard connectors, Voltages, Capacity, Operational life, Standby life, etc. Let me restate it as What issues need a standard that would let infrastructure to support these cars come into being and insure that regardless of the car maker, the investment in infrastructure is not wasted and will interoperate with every make and model.

As this is NAB, every media, and related industry will be at the same place and time for a few days. Along with a sample - car to see. And get a consensus over what types of issues need to have a standard for the infrastructure to be viable.

Put it another way, this would be a great opportunity to have a 125 video - lots of people, famous sites, and in action .

I'm not a member and am not familiar with your bylaws. I do read your standards newsbrief now and then to have some clue.

NAB seems a window where the mechanism to create the body needed to build infrastructure into motion. Let all the subcommittees and other bodies derive from the fundamental issues defined here.

I realize this is short notice, and I don't know what exactly. At one time 802.3 ethernet did not exist. However it did become a standard, the same initial steps I suggest might be easiest to climb at this moment in time due to the economy, NAB, the Zenn car being there, and others.

I will offer to volunteer some time as an engineer (applied physics), Integrator, IT consultant, media producer, or artist - in any or all aforementioned areas if such could be any assistance in initiating the proper sequence of events.

Respectfully,
Mike Lee
[e-mail]

[jstack6]

I've read the 100+ mile range is at 70 mph. It will be grater at lower speeds in the city.

As far as hill go if you have an uphill only it would be less range but most of the time you have some up and also down. With regenerative braking you charge on the way down and can gain about 80% of the energy. On log long downhill you can add to your total energy and not waste any brake dust of pad slowing down.

Over all the 100 mile range will be moe than enough. If not they are adding lots of public charging stations. Have a break and snack whill it charges back up. Don't be in a big rush, meet and talk with local real people. It makes life a lot richer.

They have 3 levels of charging, a slow over night 120 volt home 15 amp plug, the 240 50 amp 2 hour full charge and the 480 90 amp fast charge in 20 min. Be sure to only charge off [peak so you don't require more power plants or make extra pollution. We have Mega watts of wate off peak. That's why utilities off Time Of Day low off peak prices.