We've made great strides in moving the electricity sector toward renewable energy. However, transportation remains a major source of air pollution and global warming gases. If we are to make a transition to renewable energy, we will need to electrify as much of the economy as we can, including transportation. Electrified rail is one means, electric vehicles (EVs) are another. Toward that end I've created this category under renewable energy. The focus is mostly on our experience driving an EV.
On 8 September we drove our 2015 Nissan Leaf from Bakersfield to Grover Beach, California using only DC Fast Charging (DCFC) stations.[more]
Canada's Electrovaya Inc said on Tuesday it signed an agreement to supply lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles to an original equipment maker, its second such deal with a NYSE-listed Fortune...
The trip was in part to visit a friend and in part to test the performance of two new DC Fast Chargers (DCFC) in the Tejon Pass. [more]
A year on from the “Dieselgate” scandal that engulfed Volkswagen, damning new research reveals that all major diesel car brands, including Fiat, Vauxhall and Suzuki, are selling models that emit far...
Toyota's chief engineer says that electric powertrains have developed to the point where it is now cheaper to build low-range electric cars than it is to produced hybrids.
I finished the drive with 240.5 miles on the trip meter, just above the EPA number of 238. But the onboard computer said I could continue driving, perhaps for another 50 miles, bringing my total to...
Electric cars are very much on the city's radar according to Eric MacNaughton, transportation coordinator for the city's Climate Change Project
In the first quarter of 2016, sales were up 75 per cent over the same time period last year, according to statistics compiled by Fleetcarma, a Waterloo-based telematics company that specializes in EV...
Completion of the US Green Vehicle Council and Cleantech Institute’s network of CHAdeMO DC fast charging stations will make north-south travel in the Southern San Joaquin Valley easier for...[more]
Oil imports are only one chapter of the story. The fact is, we spend or lose an insane amount of money, time, productivity, and quality of life from burning oil-based fuels. All of this strikes into...
Recently we took a train trip to San Francisco and on to Corte Madera by ferry. For lack of something better to do, we drove to a number of Electric Vehicle (EV) charge stations in the vicinity.[more]
Nordic power consumption is expected to grow due to the electrification of the transport sector and the phase-out of fossil-fuelled vehicles, but analysts are mixed over how disruptive the impact...
But what do electric car drivers miss about owning and driving gasoline cars? That’s an empty space, a void, a yawning chasm. This article tries to add some words to that side of the scale.
Senate Bill 32 will require the state to not only continue its programs to switch from petroleum to electricity for our cars, trucks, and buses, but to accelerate the transition.
Legislative committee hears from Quebec government about success of electric vehicle incentives.
Electric vehicle charging companies are calling for independent oversight of the $2 billion Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) is required to invest in clean car infrastructure, saying VW should not have the...
Recargo has been awarded more than $1.6 million from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to help complete key routes of the West Coast Electric Highway (WCEH).
While automakers have agreed on uniform plug standards for slower types of charging used at home and work, they have not done so for what’s known as DC fast charging, which can fill a battery in less...
The first big action is to set aside $4.5 billion in loan guarantees, and invite applications to support the commercial-scale deployment of innovative electric vehicle charging facilities throughout...
The city of Red Lodge installed in late June two Tesla destination chargers and two Clipper Creek universal chargers at its public restroom site at 305 N. Oakes Ave., opening up the region to drivers...
But the strong upward trend is undeniable to most—although not to Richard Muller, a professor of physics at UC Berkeley, who argues that EVs are destined for failure. “I predict that the electric...
The Region of Durham has joined the call started by the City of Oshawa – General Motors should produce electric vehicles in Oshawa.
The recent settlement between the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Volkswagen (VW) for its diesel engine fraud could more than triple the number of electric vehicle (EV) fast chargers...[more]
The Electric Circuit is delighted to announce the installation of 11 fast-charge stations in the Gaspésie and Bas-Saint-Laurent regions. The stations will be commissioned this summer, allowing...
The recent settlement between the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Volkswagen (VW) for its diesel engine fraud could transform electric vehicle (EV) charging in the state. As a certain...[more]
EV advocates urge CARB to immediately convene an advisory group for maximizing public input into how the settlement money will be spent in the public interest. [more]
California Electric Auto Association members call on CARB to stress EV charging infrastructure in the state's GHG Scoping Plan. EV charging must be front and center in the policy discussion.
Sweden has now opened what is says is the world’s first electric highway. The focus is on trucks, which connect to the overhead power lines much in the way trams – or, indeed, electric buses in...
Much of the nation’s vehicle fleet could be converted to run on electricity with hardly a ripple felt by the power grid, according to recent findings by the Rocky Mountain Institute.
The Consent Decree also requires Volkswagen to invest $800 million dollars in ZEV infrastructure and access over a 10-year period in California.
The money for California includes . . . $800 million in investments to advance California’s nation-leading zero-emissions vehicle programs.
According to the climate plan, “Ontario will work with Plug’n Drive, a non-profit electric vehicle advocacy organization, to establish and operate a facility to showcase electric vehicles and related...
It seems the world can’t shift quickly enough to electric vehicles. Within the past few months there has been a steady drumbeat of stories about possible bans on combustion vehicles, prompting calls...
Translations of recent statements made by top German officials make it sound like the country is about to do the right thing. Reality is a bit messier.
It’s amusing to watch the blogosphere go wild with certain memes. (We used to call them themes.) The latest is that Germany is going to mandate all cars must be zero emission vehicles by 2030. [more]
So there you have it: Norway is not going to prohibit its citizens from buying new diesel/gasoline cars, but it will implement progressive policies to encourage a transition towards electric...
The Quebec government has introduced a bill that would make it the first province in Canada to require automakers to sell or lease a minimum number of zero-emission vehicles.
An accelerated adoption of electric vehicles would hasten the end of the oil era, and could cause significant geopolitical turbulence as producer countries heavily reliant on oil revenues will...
Researchers say a flat fee on electric vehicles won’t help solve declining road funding revenues, like those faced here in the state.
Fifty-five percent of California drivers “are likely to consider an electric vehicle (EV) in their next vehicle purchase or lease,” according to a new survey conducted by the Union of Concerned...
Assesses the design and effectiveness of fiscal and other incentives for electric vehicles in Germany, the UK, France, the Netherlands, and Norway, at both national and, through a set of ten case...
This is the first of—we hope—a series of DC Fast Charging stations to be installed this month under US Green Vehicle Council’s contract with the California Energy Commission.[more]
Electric cars remain a noteworthy sight almost everywhere but Scandinavia, where Norwegians have bucked the trend by buying alternative-fuel vehicles.
The Ontario government is now aiming to grow the new-vehicle market share held by electric vehicles to 5% by the year 2020, and 12% by 2025, according to recent reports.
Given all the squawking over the Ontario government’s climate change action plan, you might think Environment and Climate Change Minister Glen Murray has gone rogue in setting extreme targets for the...
But the solar PV story shows that when tipping points are reached, things can change very quickly. It is not inconceivable that what happened with solar PV will also happen with electric vehicle
This means 14 500-volt fast-charging stations will go up along Highways 401, 416, 417 and 17. The proposal also included the commissioning of eight 240-volt Level-2 charging stations to be built...
We are unsure of when this study was first commissioned, but you can be sure it was well before Volkswagen’s dieselgate scandal was in full bloom.
Mueller used the company's annual news conference to also sketch out a plan to focus more on electric vehicles and services like car-sharing as it seeks to get past its emissions scandal.
Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca says the government will work with 27 private and public sector partners to create a network of charging stations at over 250 different locations.
So when we tell you that Samsung SDI has just sold its fuel cell division because it is simply unprofitable (and presumably has no long-term chance of making a profit), we think the facts speak for...
The previous version required reading the instructions, watching a video on line, and--if you were smart—a practice session or two before you needed it on a road trip with a line of Nissan Leafs...[more]
The U.S. Department of Energy cites electric cars as making up about a third of all vehicles on the road in 1900. In 1911, the New York Times even called existing electric vehicles “ideal.”
Don’t add Germany to the list of countries officially considering banning sales of cars running on gasoline or diesel just yet. But several prominent people are pushing the government to take steps...
The parking structure, situated near the Santa Clara Convention Center, Levi’s Stadium and the California Great America theme park, features 48 Level 2 chargers and one DC Fast Charger.
The general observation of other Nissan Leaf owners is true that the more you use the Leaf the better the traction battery capacity appears. Whether this is actual improvement in the traction...[more]
The proud makers of the world's top-selling luxury brands such as Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Porsche could not fathom how a small-time, loss-making upstart from California could ever compete with the...
Previously, Norway and the Netherlands have also begun discussing whether to limit sales of new gasoline and diesel cars to reduce air pollution.[more]
The point to consider is why would an industry body try to stop the inevitable? It hasn't worked out for the coal industry. It didn't work for Kodak.
The roll-out of electric vehicles must be “greatly accelerated” to the point where, within five years, electric cars must account for 20% of all new cars sold in Ireland.
We have to electrify as much of that energy usage as we can, because most of our renewable sources of energy produce electricity. That's true of solar and wind, geothermal and hydro power. So we need...
When Scott Negri’s restaurant project at The Dunes was approved by the Marina Planning Commission Feb. 11, it meant the addition of an amenity to the area that was barely discussed in several public...
The Dutch parliament has taken the first step in banning petrol and diesel cars from sale in the Netherlands from 2025.
Those early adopters are paving the way for the mainstream buyer, and the automakers are lining up to greet them. Currently there are 12 battery electric vehicles and 14 plug-in hybrids (which use a...
Confirmed multiple times in different interviews with BMW executives, the longer-range BMW i3 was promised to arrive by the end of summer, pushing the BMW i3 over the 100-mile range barrier for the...
As part of its punishment for the emissions scandal, the EPA could also require VW to make electric or hybrid vehicles in Tennessee, according to several recent reports in the German press.
In a symbolic gesture, the federal government also plans to replace their limousines with electric vehicles. Are we going to see Justin Trudeau in a Tesla?
There is no intention to outright ban non-electric vehicles, however they will become very unfavorably taxed, making them a much less interesting alternative than electric cars.
Rumors are swirling in Germany that Volkswagen (VW), under pressure to reach a settlement with US and California regulators by March 24th, is considering the creation of two mitigation funds and...[more]
I asked if he had noticed less interest in plug-in cars due to lower gas prices. He immediately said no, adding that those who were on the fence no longer showed strong interest—but that gas prices...
We took a chance when we bought our Tesla, and it’s paying off because our power comes from the wind. Our residential sized turbine captures wind from Lake Superior in Upper Michigan and fuels our...
Canadian electric-vehicle policy seems to be enjoying its own annus mirabilis, or "wonderful year," during 2016.
Although opposed by homebuilders, the electric vehicle readiness requirement says new single-family homes and duplexes built in the city will need to have the right electrical wiring to support...
We arrived with 55% charge remaining as opposed to last year’s 51%. We returned home with 34% State of Charge, slightly more than the 32% SOC during last year’s trip.[more]
Proterra, the high-tech startup, demonstrated its all-electric bus for Golden Empire Transit (GET) staff today. The company hopes to sell GET, the transit company serving Bakersfield, two electric...[more]
There was no signage and parking was at a premium. If nothing is done, these stations will be next to useless. They will be constantly ICEd and no one will be able to get in and charge.[more]
Because of the pace of incremental change, and because product cycles of cars are slower than they are for cellphones, an innovation revolution in electric cars has always felt distant. And yet we’re...
A new market forecast from Bloomberg New Energy Finance paints a rosy picture for the future of electric vehicles, rising from about 1 percent of global annual vehicle sales today to 35 percent by...
Call it the revenge of the electric car. Electric vehicles that seemed doomed just a few years ago to languish outside the mainstream are poised to reshape the auto industry in the coming decade,...
Die Welt am Sonntag is reporting that federal officials ask automaker to make electric vehicles in in Tennessee following emissions scandal.
A new group that's being cobbled together with fossil fuel backing hopes to spend about $10 million dollars per year to boost petroleum-based transportation fuels and attack government subsidies for...
This grant solicitation was an offer to fund projects that will install Direct Current (DC) fast charging stations on Interstate 5 (I-5), State Route 99 (SR 99), and along United States Highway 101...
How much has the car's battery capacity declined since we leased it and will it recover when warm weather returns?[more]
Ontario has announced extra incentives for people who buy or lease electric vehicles that could boost available help to as much as $14,000.
I started a list of how life has changed since driving an all-electric car — the list grows longer by the day.
We drive 2015 Nissan Leaf, an Electric Vehicle or EV. Both before and after we leased the car, I carefully researched the kinds of EVs available and what would be best for us. I learned a lot from...[more]
Wherein we again learn the importance of avoiding dependence on a GPS, on the value of paper maps, and on driving conservatively.[more]
Although the PUC has already said it will reduce the number of charging stations in the original proposals by SCG&E and PG&E, the plans are still troubling in their scale and their financing.
The creating of a new unit dedicated to “battery-powered vehicles” is a milestone as well — indicating that the auto giant has confidence that battery-powered vehicles are not just a passing fad, a...
The electric car market has been growing exponentially in the past few years. But it is still a small percentage of the new car market in most places, typically representing less than 1% of new car...
Mercedes is still the best-selling manufacturer when you combine their two vehicles in this class. But it’s clear that Tesla is eating into the traditional automakers with its single offering, and...
Britain is to get its first “electric service stations” as part of a £40m government fund to encourage drivers to switch to plug-in cars.
This post addresses the following questions: How does my EV handle winter outings in the mountains? How well does it drive in the snow? This post also relates another example for how rapid DC...
A few times a year, a news story appears about electric vehicles having high carbon emissions, throwing doubt onto electric vehicles' ability to play a major part in any low-carbon transportation...
Electric vehicles (EVs) probably don’t cause cancer, but that doesn’t stop some people from saying that they do. I came across a bizarre version of this meme a few months ago at a social gathering...[more]
They also see a larger mission in pressing the German automaker to make a shift toward more electric vehicles.
Germany is considering providing 2 billion euros to subsidize the purchasing of more electric cars. German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel is behind the idea, which also includes adding more EV...
By the end of 2016, the goal is to have 800 charging stations, including 60 rapid chargers, all of which will be placed along Quebec’s major highways.
Electric cars are taking centre stage at the Montreal International Auto Show, thanks in part to the Quebec government's efforts to get them in the hands of consumers.
The drawbacks are many and severe and worse of all; unadvertised!! I will expose the secrets the electric car manufacturers do not want you to know!
Following closely on the first place position held by the Tesla offering are two of the other top-selling electric vehicles out there — the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and the Nissan LEAF...
Note also that neither of these models requires that the car manufacturer is a party to the deal. If Tesla does not want to sell their cars without batteries, that does not keep a Tesla owner from...
Niels Buus Kristensen, Head of Department at DTU Transport and a member of the Danish government’s climate advisory committee, finds that electric vehicles hold the key to a transport sector...
Electric vehicles appear to be the cars of the future, but in the present they are not very popular in Tulare County.
Of course, if it turns out that this would lose money for the utility under present market conditions, one could think about establishing a feed-in tariff for electricity from car battery storage as...
Is it a sin that electric car owners don’t pay gas taxes? No, not at all, but you’d never know it listening to some people squawk. There are anti-electric car types who think this is a huge deal,...
If we finally are to cleanse our Valley air and make this a more healthy place, we must get belching old cars off the streets and start adding electric cars and plug-in hybrids to our garages.
BMW and Nissan Motors have recently joined forces to develop faster DC charging for electric cars, supplying new stations to 19 states. The hope is to make it easier to charge vehicles like the...
With improved technology and the prices of solar (and wind) energy falling exponentially, along with lithium battery prices falling about 14%-16%, there will be massive disruptions to the...
They pledged, specifically, to create a West Coast electric vehicle highway, keyed to transforming city-owned vehicle fleets to electric vehicles and making electric vehicle chargers available to the...
Who doesn’t want a metaphorical peak under the hood of their Electric Vehicle (EV)? Leaf Spy, a smart phone app, talks to the computer in Nissan’s Leaf and displays the data it finds there—data...[more]
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said Tuesday that her government is investing $20 million toward hundreds of electric-vehicle charging stations to be installed within and between urban centres.
When you drive an Electric Vehicle (EV), most of the time you charge at home. For those times when you don’t, you need to know where you can charge. The pre-eminent choice among drivers is Plugshare,...[more]
It’s unfortunately not uncommon to see skewed and misleading articles about electric vehicles in the popular press. The most recent example, a Washington Post article “Electric cars and the coal...
Every day brings another headline about a bad study making false claims about electric cars, another well-known-enough person sneering at them, or another video of someone rolling coal all over an...
Presentation to the Sierra Club's Buena Vista Group, Bakersfield, California 5 December 2015.
If you plan to take your Electric Vehicle (EV) on a road trip in North America today, you must take along a portable charge cable. Like a spare tire, a portable charge cable is an essential piece of...[more]
In October of 2014 we leased a 2015 Nissan Leaf, a battery-powered Electric Vehicle or EV. After one year of operation we can tally what it has cost us.[more]
Toward the end of October we passed the one-year mark with our 2015 Nissan Leaf, a battery-powered Electric Vehicle (EV). It was time to tally it’s operating cost.[more]
Kent's cross-country trip is now at 17,310.5 miles, and his next stop will be Albuquerque, then the Grand Canyon. In between cities, he charges at KOA campgrounds, using an adaptor that allows him...
Dailykanban received information that in one or two weeks, a number of other automakers will be exposed as diesel cheaters. A Volkswagen problem will turn into an industry-wide systemic problem, and...
This life cycle assessment aims to compare four types of similar-sized passenger vehicles in the New Zealand context, namely conventional petrol and diesel engine vehicles, and two types of PEVs...
Electric Vehicles (EVs) are simply cleaner than driving cars powered by fossil fuels, regardless of whether they use gasoline or diesel fuel.[more]
Electric Vehicles (EVs) use electricity stored in traction batteries to drive the wheels. There is no Internal Combustion Engine that burns gasoline or diesel. There is no tail pipe in an EV and,...[more]
EVs are more efficient in their use of fuel than cars powered by what insiders know as an Internal Combustion Engine or ICE. Because they are more efficient, EVs use fewer natural resources over...[more]
Electric cars tend to produce less carbon pollution than gas-powered ones—but just how much less? Enter your ZIP code below to see how different types of vehicles stack up in your area. Entering a...
We found that battery electric cars generate half the emissions of the average comparable gasoline car, even when pollution from battery manufacturing is accounted for.
In late October we tried a new route from Bakersfield to Grover Beach where we visit a family friend. . . The new route pushed the boundaries of what our 2015 Nissan Leaf is capable of—and our...[more]
The miners want you to know that if you own a Tesla, you are driving a vehicle that is likely powered by Wyoming coal.” Small problem: If you live in California, that’s flat wrong.
We’ve driven the car 7,300 miles without any service whatsoever and when we took it to the dealer there was no charge for it’s annual inspection.[more]
With the Government of Ontario looking to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 37% below 1990 levels by 2030, and with transportation being the largest emitting sector in Ontario, it is clear...
The German automaker not only installed the illegal emissions control software in its EA189 engines but then modified it for use in a total of four different engine types, indicating that the ...
The VW emissions scandal isn’t an outlier, but a symptom of the reality that internal combustion cars, whether gas or diesel, have reached the limits of effective compromises that will satisfy...
Volkswagen will cut investment plans at its biggest division by 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) a year and step up development of electric vehicles, it said on Tuesday, as it battles to cope with the...
Volkswagen, confronting a daunting threat to its size and prestige, is making a dramatic pivot to electric vehicles. The move has seemed a likely one since mid-September, when the German company was...
Volkswagen AG says it would cut investment by €1 billion ($1.5 billion Cdn) within the year and step up development of hybrid and electric vehicles.
French Minister of Ecology and Energy Segolene Royal says there are plans to extend the bonus to 10-year-old diesel cars, according to Life in France.
In what amounts to one of the auto industry’s greatest displays of Chutzpah, VW demanded the same subsidies for its diesel engines as was being offered to Electric Vehicles (EVs).[more]
Electric-vehicle owners are unplugging one another’s cars, trading insults, and creating black markets and side deals to trade spots in corporate parking lots.
Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi have joined the growing list of manufacturers whose diesel cars are known to emit significantly more pollution on the road than in regulatory tests,...
But as it turns out, Volkswagen had pushed aggressively from 2009 to 2011 for its so-called "clean diesel" vehicles to receive the same tax credits as those granted to plug-in electric cars.
I've posted two charts of two charging sessions. Both report similar findings. The car charges at its maximum capacity--6 kW to the traction battery--for 2.5 hours before it begins tapering the...[more]
But Volkswagen lobbied hard before the announcement, demanding that its diesel engines receive special fuel economy credits for their environmental friendliness, just as zero-emission electric cars...
Environmentalists should insist that regulators force VW--willingly or unwillingly--to abandon the internal-combustion engine and switch to EVs now for our sake as well as for the future of VW. It’s...[more]
Could communities soon be generating their own renewable energy, charging their cars and controlling home appliances remotely?
EVs are making rapid progress if you don't have to search out charge stations in major cities around the world and instead just come across them in the urban fabric.[more]
While Nancy and I were guided around Nice, France by our colleague and good friend Bernard Chabot last week, we stumbled across this Peugeot Electric Vehicle (EV) charging.[more]
What goes around comes around. Are you dreaming of purchasing a Tesla or some other all-electric automobile? Your great-great-grandfather might approve of your following in his footsteps.
As one analyst wrote: “For Volkswagen (and the auto industry), the dream of inexpensive clean diesel might be dead. Even if carmakers could deliver on VW’s false technological claims, the standard by...
The trashcan of history is filled with machines that once seemed as if they would last forever. Remember the typewriter? The rotary-dial telephone? Cameras that used film?
But, if it is true that we cannot win against thermodynamics, it is also true that we don't need to fight against it. A battle against the combustion engine was lost in the 1970s, but the war can...
A tipping point has been reached in the last two years for electric cars. Almost half of all fully or partially electric vehicles sold in the past decade were sold in 2014. In addition to the...
The California Energy Commission (CEC) issued a document July 27, 2015 that called for proposals to complete California's portion of the West Coast Electric Highway.[more]
Wherein I learn some important lessons: Don’t get overconfident with an EV; Don’t believe LA valets about their knowledge of EVs; The value of quick charging; Plan carefully; and—as always—allow...[more]
I've pulled the statistics out of the article Star-Crossed Trip: Bakersfield to LAX & Return and put them here.[more]
EVs are poised to play an important dual role of both reducing carbon from transportation and enabling higher penetration of renewable energy. The pieces are falling into place for a disruptive...
BlueIndy officials announced Thursday that the stalled electric car-share service will open to the public early next month.
Fourteen years before General Motors (GM) introduced its EV1 and a quarter-century before it recalled and eventually destroyed nearly all of them, a GM division built an electric car only to see it...[more]
Bakersfield's first urban public charge stations are nearing completion. The four stations at Bakersfield Community College's Weill Institute are located in downtown. [more]
In this episode: the electric car gets a 'major service', I drive to Vienna in Austria, I learn that most charging system providers really suck, I almost run out of electricity, and I put on a suit...
We’ve been contacted by EV drivers a few times about charging at our home here in Bakersfield, but none have showed up. That is, until John Rowell from Exeter called.[more]
PlugShare is a powerful mobile application and online tool that allows electric car owners to locate and optimize the use of EV charging stations.
As we’ve become more experienced, we’ve become bolder. On this trip we used our new Jesla EVSE—a portable charge cable—to charge quicker, and we took some shortcuts we avoided on the first trip. We...[more]
We planned another excursion in our 2015 Nisssan Leaf, an Electric Vehicle (EV). This time we planned to join friends for dinner in Visalia to the north of Bakersfield in the heart to the San Joaquin...[more]
We've now made four trips from Bakersfield over the Tejon Pass via the Grapevine and back. This is enough trips to account for variations in the weather and some variations in driving style. As noted...[more]
We've now made several trips from Bakersfield over Tejon Pass and two trips to the coast and back. There's now enough data to summarize how many kWh are needed to drive a Nissan Leaf on these various...[more]
We had a good time and it was great to talk shop with such an experienced crew. Gary, Tom, Jason and his wife, Dori drove up in Gary's new Tesla. They joined Mike Bornstein, his son, Stefanie, and...[more]
Our friends had organized a morning visit to the Ardis Walker house and museum of western history in Kernville. Walker was a prominent and colorful local figure in Kern County from the 1960s until...[more]
We wanted to drive our 2015 Nissan Leaf to Ridgecrest and have dinner with our niece before her assignment at the Naval base was completed.[more]
This tabular estimator is based on Tony Williams Nissan Leaf Range Chart. This simple spreadsheet uses Williams' estimates of how much electricity a Nissan Leaf consumes in level, steady-state...[more]
In order to understand Electric Car Charging and the infrastructure needed, we first have to understand the terminology. [more]
My meeting to discuss Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure in Kern County was canceled, leaving my day free. So I turned to Nancy and suggested we drive our 2015 Nissan Leaf to Tehachapi for lunch....[more]
The City of Tehachapi has completed installation of its Electric Vehicle (EV) charging station. The two, Level 2 EVSEs are located in the parking lot adjacent to City Hall. The station, part of the...[more]
SJVAPCD is now accepting applications for the Charge UP! Electric Vehicle Charger program.
Gary Giddings, creator of an early State of Charge meter for the Nissan Leaf will join the Electric Vehicle Owners of Bakersfield and the Southern San Joaquin Valley at the Golden Corral for brunch...[more]
On Friday 22 May we embarked on our Electric Vehicle (EV) adventure to Los Angeles via the “Grapevine” to take in a concert of the LA Philharmonic and visit friends.[more]
As part of our continuing exploration of the Nissan Leaf’s range, we took a one-day get-a-way and drove up to scenic Kernville deep in the heart of the southern Sierra Nevada.[more]
We had about a dozen cars, so there's a dozen drivers there. Leafs, MiEV, two BMWi3s, a Ford, Rav 4, and a Tesla. There was quite a line up of vehicles--the Tesla attracting the most attention...[more]
The California Energy Commission has updated the locations of DC Fast Chargers in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. [more]
How the traction battery of a plug-in hybrid may have saved a life.[more]
Ollie Danner has organized quite an event at the Beale Library. See the event flyer for details on the raffle prizes. All proceeds go to the Beale Library.[more]
Having heard so much good about petrol cars, we decided to test drive one. They are said to combine cheap price with long range and fast charging. A winning formula on paper – but how are they in...
Meanwhile, there are no DC Fast Chargers in Mojave, or anywhere on the east side of the Sierra for drivers of consumer-oriented EVs, such as the Nissan Leaf. The nearest fast charger to Mojave is in...[more]
Our findings show that defining battery retirement at 70–80% remaining capacity is inaccurate. Battery retirement should instead be governed by when batteries no longer satisfy daily travel needs of...
But while more electric car charging stations is a great thing for encouraging more people behind the wheel of a plug-in car, there’s a global endemic threatening the operation of charging stations...
When Craig installed solar panels on his home, he had no idea how it could benefit his commute. See how he powers his Fusion Energi Plug-In Hybrid.
The first stations started going in early in 2012 and there was a lot of excitement that many more would be coming soon. But the hype has not lived up to even the most modest of expectations. Fast...
On 5 March Nancy and I undertook our first true road trip in our 2015 Nissan Leaf. Our destination was Grover Beach and ultimately San Luis Obispo.[more]
The Electric Auto Association (EAA) submitted comments 16 March 2015 to the California Energy Commission on DC Fast Charger installations for the build out of the West Coast Electric Highway. [more]
EV owners who’ve tackled the Grapevine on I-5 with today’s consumer-oriented EVs know how difficult the route is, necessitating long layovers in Lebec and again in Valencia. That is about to change. [more]
We recently completed a 550-mile trip to Grover Beach and San Luis Obispo from Bakersfield in our Nissan Leaf, an electric vehicle (EV). It’s not as far as many have driven, but it’s far more than...[more]
There’s an urgent need by owners of consumer-oriented EVs for a DCFC station either at the base of the Grapevine or at Lebec. Similarly, there’s an urgent need for a companion station in Valencia. [more]
The following are Tom P. Green’s comments to the California Energy Commission Advisory Committee 12 February 2015 on the need for the rapid deployment of DC Fast Chargers (DCFC) in California.[more]
When we got our recent bill from Pacific Gas & Electric Co., I thought I’d take a look at hour our Electric Vehicle (EV) was affecting our consumption.[more]
For those of us who live in the San Joaquin Valley, getting to and from Los Angeles in an Electric Vehicle (EV) is a challenge. Southbound, the last charging stations are in Bakersfield. Then it’s a...[more]
The CEC document CEC-600-2014-002 reveals some locations of the planned DCFCs along I-5 and Highway 99. The US Green Vehicle Council and Cleantech Institute have proposed the build-out of a complete...
Deploying a network of DC fast charging (DCFC) stations along long-distance transportation corridors will enable long-distance EV travel in California. . . This network is also needed to make EVs...
The City of Tehachapi plans to install a Level 2 commercial charge station near City Hall sometime this summer, says Chris Kirk, assistant city manager. When installed, the station will double the...[more]
It was a beautiful day and there was a report of abundant wildflowers on the road to Woody. Glenville is beyond Woody and we thought we’d test our Leaf’s range once again in the foothills east of...[more]
On Sunday Nancy & I drove our car to Tehachapi from Bakersfield, California. That in itself isn’t significant. Thousands of cars and trucks climb the 4,000 feet from the San Joaquin Valley to the...[more]
Recreational Vehicle (RV) parks with NEMA 14-50 receptacles are popular with drivers of Electric Vehicles (EVs) where no EV-specific chargers exist—as is the case between Bakersfield and Mojave,...[more]
We’d have to agree with JP White in Nashville after his first quick charge: Awesome.[more]
The first ever Electric Vehicle Charging Etiquette Hang Tags. Great for busy charging locations. Reusable. Clear coating allows for multiple uses with dry erase marker.
Ok, it wasn’t quite mail order. Most of the transaction was done over the phone and via email, but we bought a car, an Electric Vehicle (EV), in a very untraditional manner.[more]
We’ve been driving our 2015 Nissan Leaf for two months now and it was time to take it on a road trip—a short one, mind you, but one long enough to test our range anxiety. We set out Monday morning to...[more]
Electric Vehicles (EVs) are different from the cars we’re accustomed to. They use electricity stored in the traction batteries to power the vehicle. They don’t use gasoline or diesel fuel. As a...[more]
Bob’s a techy and a serious car guy. He knows cars and likes to drive them fast--very fast.[more]
The members of the PlugShare community are an amazing group of people. Since the future charging infrastructure is not coming soon enough, (especially in oil-junkie, fossil-fuel hooked Utah),...
We’d been planning to buy a plug-in hybrid for some time. Just seemed to make so much sense on so many levels. They emit less air pollutants by being so much more efficient than conventional...[more]
It was fairly simple really. Tesla was out. Too much money. At more than 100,000 the Tesla is well out of reach for most middle-class families--certainly for us. That narrowed the choices down...[more]
Our 2015 Nissan Leaf S (the base model) with the Quick Charge option was delivered to Bakersfield by tractor trailer on October 20, 2014. The Leaf is an all electric, four-door hatchback. It's an...
We installed two types of "charge station" or more correctly two types of EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) at our home. The first is ClipperCreek's 40-amp EVSE with J1772 EV charge connector...
It worked. Ollie Danner’s Electric Car Pledge and his organizational skills are the reason we’re now driving an EV or Electric Vehicle. It wasn’t a direct route of course. And just signing his...[more]
The Los Angeles Air Force Base in California (LAAFB) has acquired 42 plug-in electric vehicles (PHEVs), the most the military has ever assembled in one place. The cars, trucks, vans and a bus will be...
Not only do Electric Vehicles provide many environmental, health, energy, and cost saving advantages... EVs also have the potential to provide many economic, technological, and labour market gains in...
The group says that the average battery-powered E.V. sold over the past year used 0.33 kilowatt-hours per mile, a 5 percent improvement over the 2011 data that was basis for the original report. Some...
No matter where you live in the U.S., an EV has lower global warming emissions than the average new compact car, which gets approximately 28 miles per gallon. Emission from EVs are poised for even...
I watched the used car ads for about a year and followed the Canadian Leaf Facebook group and eventually this past spring found a slightly used Leaf for just over $20k. The car was in almost new...[more]
My wife and I recently rented a standard (manual) shift car to drive around Ireland for a week. For decades I drove and was a fan of standard shift cars. I was saddened to leave these when nearly 11...[more]
All we can do is work to improve the quality of living for people, not only here but everywhere, and be willing to help future generations. We're not going to change the world, but if everybody just...
The Owens Valley is a desert. A beautiful desert at the base of the rugged Sierra Nevada, but a desert nonetheless. There are few towns, few people, and even fewer services. So it was more than a...[more]
The EV Show and Meet-Up was organized so Bakersfield residents were able to see and touch electric cars which are available right now. Electric cars sold per capita in the US are lowest within the...
Take the Electric Car Pledge with these electric cars being made today. Electric cars include PHEV - Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles and EV - Electric Vehicles.
The Bakersfield founder of electriccarpledge.com wants you to take the pledge if you support electric vehicles, plan to buy one in your lifetime or own one now.
While researching the new car market, I learned that the Nissan Leaf was the first fully-electric car available that didn't cost a fortune. It was still pretty pricey, but with the government rebate,...
Want to know where to find charging stations, how to build one at home, where to apply for electric car rebates? I will be blogging about our car adventures at...
The LEAF is a car one "fills up" at home rather than at a gas station. A few days ago I took my LEAF (to Miller Nissan in the San Fernando Valley part of Los Angeles) for a standard 1.5 year...[more]
I'm in Hawaii now but two weeks from now I'll be taking the car in for its 1.5 year service check up. The first two check-ups cost me zero $$. I love the feeling of driving knowing that there is...[more]
For Paul Gipe, a casual acquaintance from years past, his first opinion of the Chevrolet Volt was that ugliness is skin deep - it looks like the Chevy Cruze, which he does not like. . . [more]
My solar panels have long since paid for themselves by the savings in electricity costs. I have my electric car running on electricity from the sun, which costs me nothing and there is plenty of it...
Our LEAF EV is now one year old. The standard one-year service visit cost us zero dollars; no oil change, no anything. Nissan suggests changing out a passenger cabin air filter after a year, but...[more]
The lifetime fuel economy is 3.1 l/100k which compares very favourably with my 2010 Prius, which used to consume 4.8l/100k. . . [more]
EV range: about 55kms under the present weather conditions and the earliest Canadian users are reporting about an 8-15km drop in EV range due to cooler weather now Fuel consumption on continuous...[more]
Tuesday I drove a Chevy Volt through the wind farms of the Tehachapi Pass. This was part of an interview and photo shoot by Automobile Magazine about the Chevy Volt and the potential role renewable...[more]
In my first EV posting back in May, I guesstimated that when driven carefully a Nissan LEAF should be able to travel about 4 miles per kWh. We have now had our LEAF for a bit over two months and,...[more]
Should your LEAF have a flat tire, then getting somewhere to have the problem fixed may not be as easy as with your previous cars. To save weight and space, some new cars, including the LEAF, no...[more]
We have now had our Nissan LEAF EV for a month and things are going smoothly. Everyone we have taken for a test drive has nice things to say about the car. The LEAF does not have a tailpipe. So, it...[more]
Note: This is the first of a series of guest posts on electric vehicles--EVs. I've written about the potential of EVs in my books since 1995. As part of my work with renewable energy I've...[more]
Portion of a presentation made January 10, 2008 to Al Gore's Solutions Summit To significantly address the United State's contribution to climate change and to prepare for the diminishing supply of...[more]
