North Coast Electric Company

It seems the Electric Vehicle (EV) industry, with a huge funding push from US taxpayers via the Federal Government, is showing signs of actually achieving critical mass and becoming a viable transportation option.

 

Washington State's Governor recently attended the grand opening of a car dealership just down the street from our Seattle corporate office because they will be selling the soon-to-be-available Nissan Leaf. She even took a spin in the demo unit they had on hand for the big event. There is no shortage of passionate enthusiasts predicting a burgeoning market for the clean, quiet and efficient plug-in marvels?like the "Velozzi Solo" and the Wheego Whip LiFe" or how about the ever-green "Saba Carbon Zero."

In case you are wondering what these vehicles are really like, perhaps a description will help clear that up for you. For instance, the Velozzi Solo is described as a "Crossover PHEV genset, powered by a micro turbine that can run on a variety of fuels, powered by LiIon batteries and super capacitors."

Sounds like fun, but what's the catch?

Can you say "range anxiety?"

In looking through the 118 EVs listed at www.pluginamerica.org (this is where I got the cool car names above) I found the range to be all over the place. On the high end you can get a nifty little Tesla Sedan with a range of 300 miles! However, there were also many vehicles under 50 miles. And how about a "full size city bus" with a range of 8 miles and a top speed of 12 MPH! You can't go very far in it and it will take the better part of an hour to do it.

Range anxiety is a lot like driving around with your low fuel indicator light on?ALL THE TIME. The immediate cure for range anxiety is lots and lots of readily available charging stations.

We have created a team of people here at North Coast Electric to evaluate what is available so we can give informed direction to our associates and customers. Last week we met with several companies selling EV charging stations. They varied from a small local manufacturing company to one of the most recognizable brand names in the world.

A few more similar innovations that are showing up includes - Plugless Power??the world's first "hands free" proximity charging system for electric vehicles. Just park in your garage and do nothing while it charges the car.

?or how about fuel cells? (they're baaaack!)

I just read that Mercedes-Benz, Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan and Renault are all working on vehicles that use them.

While writing this blog entry, I just got a Tweet that stated that Washington State will have the country's first "electric highway." Part of a $230-million project to install EV charging stations in Washington as well as several other parts of the country.

Guess we better get ready!