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Senators Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) announced Thursday that the bipartisan electric vehicle legislation they authored won bipartisan approval Wednesday by the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee. According to the senators, the bill will reduce the country’s excessive dependence on foreign oil while creating American jobs.

The “Promoting Electric Vehicle Act of 2010,” approved in Committee 19-4, includes initiatives to increase the introduction of electric cars and trucks throughout the country, significantly reducing gas consumption and creating domestic jobs.

“At a time when consensus in the Senate is rare, the overwhelming and bipartisan support for the electric vehicle bill is a significant win for smart energy policy. The passage of this bill out of the Senate Energy Committee puts us on the path to electrifying our nation’s car fleet,” Dorgan said. “I’ll continue pushing my other colleagues in the Senate to endorse this bill, which will help us break our addiction to foreign oil while boosting the economy by putting more electric vehicles on U.S. roads.”

“Our goal should be to electrify half our cars and trucks within 20 years, which would reduce our dependence on oil by about a third, from about 20 million to about 13 million barrels a day,” Alexander said. “Republicans and Democrats agree that electrifying our cars and trucks is the single best way to reduce our dependence on oil, and the fact that 13 Democrats and six Republicans supported this bill in the Energy Committee shows that the Senate can pass this bill as a good, bipartisan step forward to reduce our dependence on oil.”

“It is outstanding to see bipartisan support for trading in the dirty, expensive fuels of the 19th century for the clean, efficient fuels of the 21st century,” Merkley said. “The bottom line is that electric vehicles save families money on fuel, cause less pollution, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. I’m proud to partner with Senators Dorgan and Alexander in the drive toward a stronger America.”

If passed by the Congress and signed into law, the bipartisan “Promoting Electric Vehicle Act of 2010” would create “deployment communities” across the country, where targeted incentive programs for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure systems would help demonstrate rapid market penetration and determine what “best practices” would be helpful for nationwide deployment of electric vehicles. The goal is to put the nation on a path to electrify half its cars and trucks by 2030, which if achieved, would cut U.S. demand for oil by about one-third.

Currently, the U.S. transportation sector is 95 percent reliant on petroleum and accounts for more than two-thirds of total national petroleum consumption. The U.S. imported more than 60 percent of its oil in 2008 at a cost of some $380 billion – or nearly 60 percent of the total trade deficit.

Senator Dorgan is a senior member of the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee and chairs the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee. Senators Alexander and Merkley are members of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee.
Source: Chattanoogan.com

San Diego July 14th 2010-Evoasis Internal Release

As many of you know, I have been talking for the last 3 years about “Inflection Points” which in retrospect can be viewed as an event or events that trigger a paradigm-shift in industries, societies or social orders. I firmly believe that what I was fortunate enough to witness on July 13th, 2010 in Lancaster, California by gracious invitation from Micheal Austin, VP of BYD America, marks a turning (Inflection) point in Americas future and that of the planet and society as a whole. China, as most people know, is a major investor/innovator in renewable energy. They have to be. There is not enough oil left in the world for a rapidly growing country like China to plan their energy security needs without making use of as much renewable resources as possible. Several hundred million cars will also be operating in China and India in the next 30 years. We have roughly 700 Million cars on the planet now and it is predicted this will increase to 1.2 Billion cars by 2035, mostly in Asia which is experiencing high-growth and increased standards of living. Forget global warming for a second. Lock yourself in the garage with the engine running in your car for 10 minutes and see how good you feel afterwords. It may be getting hotter but that doesn’t matter if we’re choking on toxic fumes anyway. They “get-it” in China and are planning to clean up their coal plants, use renewable’s where possible and run electric and hybrid-electric vehicles to keep the emissions (and oil imports) to a minimum. It’s vital to do that here as well. Even as we fight over oil spills and partisan politics, the cars keep rolling, the toxins keep emitting and our economy and our children face a bleaker (and less healthy) future.

Now for the “good news”…

BYD Company of China in Partnership with KB Homes, a California home builder, have achieved a “world-first” by creating a “Zero Net” excess energy usage home, which combines BYD batteries, power control systems, storage batteries and solar panels. Using only 4 Kilowatts of solar, combined with a 10 Kilowatt Hour Lithium Ion battery pack, the thermally-efficient EnergyStar(tm) compliant home uses the latest appliances, insulating materials and smart-grid system protocols to capture, store, feed-in or demand off-peak (low-cost) grid energy in multiple, automated combination’s throughout the daily cycle-of-energy demand and usage.

Mass production of these systems is near, with costs low enough to justify adoption in most new-build construction projects in the “solar-friendly” parts of the U.S.  The system will pay for itself in under 10 years in most cases and can be financed into the purchase price of the home at the time of sale, which at today’s low interest rates, makes this decision a “no-brainer”.

We expect to see this become the “norm” in the Southwest portion of the U.S.  as well as other “sunbelt” regions. Adding additional solar and using the EV battery as a secondary storage “asset” will provide low-cost/no-cost driving for electric vehicles in their local operation and of course, low carbon footprints for the owner/occupants. Evoasis, who work closely with BYD on energy efficient building and transportation solutions, wish to send our heartfelt congratulations to the BYD and KB teams, along with a hearty “well done” to the City of Lancaster and its forward-looking leaders. We at Evoasis/Utiligen have marked this date in our calendars, July 13th, 2010, as Energy Independence Day. Each year on July 13th, we will issue an update on the number of new homes employing these systems and the amount of fossil-fuel saved and the associated carbon-emission reductions.

Thanks BYD, for “changing the game” and bringing us to the next Inflection Point. Lets all work together to move the world toward its green future.

Sincerely,

Angus Clark-Chairman-Evoasis/Utiligen

KB Homes Lancaster California development is the first Zero Net energy home

BYD's e6 Electric vehicle is roomy and "rangy" with a 60 Kilowatt Hour battery and DC Rapid-Charge capability

Stella Li, BYD's Senior Vice President arrives for the Grand Opening

Lancaster's City Manager opens remarks and introduces participlants

Energy storage and control is handled in the garage with a small "appliance" that monitors and routes energy use to the home and/or grid.

The e6 EV can charge from the home and/or feed power back into the home if needed during high-demand energy periods

Designed with the interior room of a "cross-over" vehicle, the e6 is Best-in-Class for its range, affordability, rapid-charge capability (minutes not hours) and payload/capacity

LANCASTER, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The City of Lancaster, BYD and KB Home today announced the completion of a new earth-friendly prototype home utilizing BYD’s solar, battery and LED Lighting systems. During the grand opening event to be held today at KB Home’s Alamosa community in West Lancaster, the three parties, who began working on this futuristic home just a few months ago, will unveil the state-of-the-art technology that will potentially lead to more affordable solar electricity and energy storage options for Americans across the country.

The City of Lancaster has made the advancement and research of such green technologies a priority and continues to help drive innovation in its community. As such, Lancaster has waived all local municipal development fees for the project and fast-tracked it through the approval process, allowing construction to begin almost immediately.

“This remarkable new house is truly the home of the future,” said Mayor R. Rex Parris. “This type of cutting-edge initiative is precisely what happens when you combine the brain power of one of the nation’s premier homebuilders with one of the world’s most forward-thinking energy companies. The City of Lancaster is proud that our residents will be among the first to benefit from the cost savings and environmental protection offered by homes such as this. We look forward to building upon this successful collaboration with KB Home and BYD well into the future.”

KB Home began construction on the home in late March 2010 in association with BYD. BYD’s green energy technologies were incorporated into a new model home at KB Home’s Alamosa community in Lancaster. The home was built to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR^® guidelines and includes many earth-friendly features. BYD provided renewable energy-related materials, including solar panels, energy storage batteries, and LED energy-saving lights. KB Home also installed an electric vehicle outlet to demonstrate the home’s ability to charge BYD’s F3DM and e6 electric vehicles, which were on display at the home.

“At KB Home we are constantly seeking out new technology that will improve the quality of life for our homeowners,” said Steve Ruffner, president of KB Home’s Southern California division. “This collaboration has driven innovative thinking as we incorporate cutting-edge technologies so that future homeowners can enjoy the comforts of greener living.”

“BYD continues to be impressed with the support of City and County leaders in Lancaster and LA County to drive green policy and these energy-efficient technologies. These are real solutions for real people available today for mass-market adoption. BYD is ready and excited to deliver these green technologies at reasonable prices and our association with KB Home demonstrates that,” said Stella Li, Senior Vice President of BYD.

This home and four other KB Home model homes at Alamosa are now open to the public daily for tours. For more information, including community hours and driving directions, call 888-KB-HOMES or visit www.kbhome.com.

Source: Business Wire/Yahoo

Read more: http://wot.motortrend.com/6653521/industry-news/tesla-sells-banked-vehicle-emissions-credits-to-raise-138-million/index.html#ixzz0qBR7LRPm

Point Roberts WA/ Los Angeles CA- May 10, 2010 – www.InvestorIdeas.com reports on publicly traded electric Vehicle ( EV) and natural gas companies that are participating in the greening of the Port of Los Angeles. Players including BYD Auto (BYD Company: HKG: 1211), Balqon Corporation (OTCBB: BLQN), Westport Innovations Inc. (TSX:WPT; NASDAQ:WPRT) and Vision Industries Corp. (OTCBB: VIIC) all have a stake in the future of the Port, but for the companies involved, it represents just a fraction of their vision for a global green automotive market.
On May 4th the Port of Los Angeles announced plans to become the world’s first port to offer a reduced tariff for zero-emission vehicles imported into the United States through the Port. The reduced-fee incentive proposal was announced Friday, April 30, as Chinese manufacturer BYD Auto Company Limited (BYD) said it will locate its North American headquarters in Los Angeles and use the Port of Los Angeles to import its vehicles. BYD has now completed their location to a new Los Angeles H.Q.

BYD Auto is a Chinese automobile manufacturer based in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, established in 2003 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of BYD Company, listed on the Hong Kong Exchange (BYD Company: HKG:1211).

Another publicly traded EV company at the Port is Balqon Corporation (OTCBB: BLQN), a company that produces heavy duty electric trucks, tractors and electric drive systems.

As of November, Balqon Corporation (OTCBB: BLQN) had delivered 12 Nautilus E20s to the City of Los Angeles and one Nautilus E20 to the AQMD. All of the Nautilus E20s were delivered during the third quarter of 2009 were equipped with lithium-ion battery packs.
The company anticipates that future sales of the heavy-duty electric vehicles will be made directly to end users, such as large terminal operators, shipping companies and OEMs, rather than directly to governmental agencies such as the AQMD and the City of Los Angeles.

Westport Innovations Inc. (TSX:WPT; NASDAQ:WPRT), a provider of natural gas engines, in its April 2010 investor presentation, updates LNG clean truck program deals with the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. “Despite economic turmoil, over 500 LNG trucks have been deployed to date, the infrastructure is in place and the feedback from the fleets is excellent. “

According to the Port of Los Angeles, since its commencement on October 1, 2008, the Clean Truck Program (CTP) has delivered an estimated more than 70-percent reduction in the rate of truck emissions compared to 2007 average air emissions data.

On April 5th the Port of Los Angeles announced it awarded Vision Industries Corp. (OTCBB: VIIC), producers of the zero emission electric/hydrogen hybrid Tyrano™ truck, a purchase order for a zero emission Class 8 hybrid electric truck. The cost to purchase the zero emission truck will not exceed $280,000 including sales tax.
The Port of Los Angeles and Balqon Corp were showing off their first production XE20 electric, zero-emission yard tractors on Wednesday at an all-day Ride and Drive event at Berth 87. Balqon is getting ready to deliver 20 of the new heavy-duty trucks to a container terminal for a real-world debut.

The port ordered the lithium-ion battery-powered vehicles to be built almost a year ago, along with five XE30 trucks designed for short-haul, on-road drayage. The XE30s will be used to shuttle containers from the port to a near-dock rail yard about five miles north of the harbor.
Source:www.investorideas.com

China’s BYD said on Friday it would put its North American headquarters in Los Angeles and soon begin selling electric cars, like the e6.

China is often regarded as a major threat to the US auto industry for two major reasons. First, as of last year, China surpassed the US to become the biggest auto market in the world and it’s getting bigger. Second, the Chinese government wants to go directly to electric cars and skip past the gasoline internal combustion engine. According to experts on the Chinese electric vehicle market, China is much more likely to be a partner than a competitor in building an electric car future.

Why would China want to work with the US to produce electric vehicles? In simple terms, the country is desperate for rapid change. “The country has big problems and needs big solutions. Their current pathway is not sustainable,” said Roland Hwang, transportation program Manager at the Natural Resource Defense Council. Those problems include dismal air quality and a need to import as much as 80 percent of their oil for its cars by 2030. Hwang and other experts discussed China and electric cars at last week’s Electric Cars 2.0, a Berkeley-Stanford Cleantech Conference, in San Francisco.

China has the need but faces major challenges to achieving its electric car goals. It’s about five to 10 years behind the world in automotive technology, quality and safety. And the average Chinese consumer can’t afford the $5,000 or so price premium for an electric car.

Risks and Rewards

This spells opportunity for US companies. Jit Bhattacharya, CEO of Mission Motors, said his company’s phone rings off the hook with Chinese companies seeking help with anything that runs on electric power, from cars and scooters, to lawn and garden equipment. Mission Motors manufactures a $68,000 150-mile-per-hour electric motorcycle in China, but has shifted much of its business to selling its electric-powertrain technology. “Chinese companies call us, and say we don’t know how we’re going to get on this learning curve fast enough to actually get a vehicle to market in the next three to four years.”

The Mission One Superbike can travel 150 miles-per-hour and 150 miles on a single charge. But the underlying electric-drive technology is what attracts Chinese electric vehicle companies.

Hwang pinned the current Chinese electric vehicle market, mostly electric bicycles, at about 100 million. “Where is the electric car market headed? You can count on China being a big player. I’m convinced that they will be a big part of the market, as consumers, battery manufacturers and suppliers.”

US start-up companies have a huge opportunity to partner with Chinese manufacturers, scale up their businesses, and bring the technology back home. Major US and Japanese carmakers producing electric cars are also eager to break into the Chinese market, while Chinese companies, like BYD and Geely Automotive, are trying to bring their electric vehicles to North American markets. It’s an inter-connected market.

The opportunities for big and small companies alike are not without risks, according to panelist Marc Gottschalk, partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. The investment firm has a number of electric car clients, including Mission Motors and Tesla. “There is a struggle. Companies want to take advantage of that huge market in China,” Gottschalk said. “There’s also the feeling that they want to do everything you can possibly do to protect yourself from having the technology stolen and commercialized and used against you in the future.”

Common Goals

According to Hwang, one of the first things that the Obama’s new Energy Department appointees did was to establish a forum for the US and China to discuss their common electric vehicle challenges. “The concept is that China and the US, now the two largest automobile markets in the world, will forge simultaneously with the marketplace for electric vehicles,” Hwang said. “There are lots of synergies, lots of economies of scale, lots of advantages of going down that learning curve together.”

Source: Hybridcars.com

GE (NYSE: GE) and Nissan (NSANF.PK) signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore new technologies for electric vehicle smart-charging infrastructure.

GE and Nissan have outlined two key areas for potential collaborations. The first relates to the integration of electric vehicles with homes and buildings. The second focuses on electric vehicle charging dynamics with the larger electric grid. In coming months, GE and Nissan plan to identify specific projects they can partner on in each of these areas.

Much of the GE work will be conducted at GE’s global research operations located in Niskayuna, New York, where the latest electric transportation research and smart grid technology will facilitate the collaboration. Nissan will participate mainly through it Nissan Technical Center North America, located in Farmington Hills, Michigan, with support by the Nissan Advanced Technology Center in Japan.

Nissan’s all-electric, zero-emission Nissan LEAF is scheduled to launch later this year in Japan, the United States and Europe. Nissan–like Mitsubishi Motors (MMO.F)–has gone “all in” on its electric car initiative, rather than developing its own hybrid or plug-in hybrid technology. But it is yet to be seen, whether consumers will prefer all-electric models or plug-in hybrids, that have the option of burning gasoline for extended driving.

The creation of convenient, reliable charging infrastructures is key to widespread public adoption. Nissan, more than any other car company, is developing collaborative projects to create charging systems. These systems, such as the DOE-funded project led by Ecotality (OTCBB: ETLE), are being designed with open standards, so that any brand of vehicle can be juiced up, but Nissan looks to have the head start on its all-electric competitors.

In January the company closed a $1.4 billion loan agreement with the DOE to retool its manufacturing facility in Smyrna, Tennesse to produce the Nissan Leaf and battery systems.

Website: www.ge.com/research

April 23, 8:38 PMEnergy Policy ExaminerClifford Bryan

Nissan Leaf has gotten close to 25% of the first batch of electric vehicles on customer order.

AP Photo

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California has been selected as one of the states to participate in the DOE sponsored EV Project. With that honor they will get first choice on the Nissan Leaf 100% electric vehicle due out in December. That means zero emissions. The fact that California has a great electric charging infrastructure already in place helped out a lot. States southern states like Louisiana shockingly have zero electric vehicle charging stations. That’s not good if your state plans to get anything out of the green economy. I guess Louisiana’s Republican governor hasn’t learned much from his peer in California.

So what do California Leaf buyers and a few other states get out of this deal with the government. They get some pretty darn good government subsidies to buy an electric vehicle. The Leaf goes for 30k, Nissan Leaf buyers get a $7500 federal tax credit and Californians are eligible for an additional $5,000 rebate through the state Air Resources Board. That brings California buyers to about $20k for a new electric vehicle that costs pennies on the kilowatt to drive. When smart grid technology catches up those savings will get even better.

Nissan has a early order program going on for the Leaf. They’ve already signed up close to 25% of the cars due out in December on the program.

Source: Examiner.com

April 23, 2010, 5:30 pm

The setting was the sun-dappled campus of Columbia University, so perhaps it wasn’t surprising that today’s forum on “New York and the Electric Car,” sponsored by the university and General Motors, took on a somewhat elevated tone.

Columbia University A pre-production Chevrolet Volt on display at Columbia University.

Instead of focusing on the nuts and bolts of how the city’s many apartment-dwelling electric vehicle owners will plug in, the forum celebrated the prospective role of electric cars in changing the world. Several speakers compared the present period to the revolution from horses to horseless carriages more than a century ago.

John Gilbert, executive vice president of the real estate firm Rudin Management, invoked the transforming technology displayed at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. He challenged the audience to think of the modern building as a smart phone that will blossom when applications are created to aid car charging and efficiently manage the flow of electrons.

A highlight of the morning talk was the appearance of Lawrence Burns, the former longtime General Motors vice president, who functioned as the company’s hydrogen fuel-cell champion and big-picture guru of sustainability. Far from retiring, Mr. Burns is a corporate adviser and has academic appointments at both Columbia’s Earth Institute (as director of sustainable mobility) and the University of Michigan.

Mr. Burns said that 29 or 30 green cars of various types, including his former company’s Chevrolet Volt, would be on the market in the next few years. “The new DNA of the automobile is electrically driven,” he said.

He agreed with Mr. Gilbert that information technology would shape the car of the future, and invoked the “mobility Internet” to imagine a time when cars drive themselves and “don’t crash.”

“Texting won’t be an issue, and driving will be the distraction,” said Mr. Burns. “And because cars won’t crash we’ll be able to reduce their mass significantly.”

Among Mr. Burns’ last endeavors at G.M. was Project P.U.M.A., a collaboration with Segway that posits small pod-like 750-pound city cars that can drive autonomously. A second generation of G.M.’s city vehicles, called EN-V, are being put on display at Expo Shanghai in China.

Jeffrey Sachs, who heads Columbia’s Earth Institute, added a note of impatience to the proceedings. He invoked the specter of global warming and the auto tailpipe’s role in hastening it, and said the electrification of the automobile “will have to happen a lot faster than such a complex process would normally require.” Effective public policy, he said, can help accelerate E.V. adoption.

“We are on the cusp of an historic worldwide transformation in transportation that starts in the world’s biggest cities,” Mr. Sachs said in an interview. “It’s important from a resource point of view and an environmental point of view.”

A pre-production Chevy Volt was parked on College Walk for the event. Tony Posawatz, the Volt’s line director, said the company was “on a very good glide path to deliver the car.” The first retail cars will be delivered in November, he said. The Volt plugs in and will be home charged; Mr. Posawatz said he was looking forward to “having a gas station in my garage.”

So is New York ready to charge E.V.’s? Arthur Kressner, director of power supply research and development at Con Edison, cited the electric delivery trucks that plied the city’s streets 110 years ago and answered in the affirmative. Except for relatively rare peak demand times, he said, “the grid is more than capable of meeting the demands of electric vehicles.”

In an interview after the forum, Mr. Kressner said Con Ed has recently met with several charging companies, including the global player Better Place, and with the owners of city parking garages who are likely to add E.V. charging.

Source: NY Times Wheels Blog