Guest blog by Cara Miale
March 23, 2011

As if we don’t have enough phobias already, now there is range anxiety, a malady brought on by the electric car. But it’s okay; there is a cure, or rather an app for that.

Studies indicate that many electric car drivers – and those considering joining the ranks – suffer the fear of running out of power and being stranded with a dead battery. A little planning ahead could take the pressure off; there are an estimated 1,400 vehicle charging stations in the United States today and the number is growing. Even though most people drive less than the 100 miles a day allowed by many EV’s, range anxiety remains a logistical – and largely psychological – impediment to widespread electric vehicle adoption by consumers. One 2010 study showed range anxiety even caused EV drivers to modify their driving behaviors, decreasing the travel range and limiting most trips to no more than 25 miles.

Several companies have stepped up to ease the pain. The navigation system in the new electric Ford Focus finds electrical charging stations nearby and can help the driver conserve power by suggesting turning off the A/C or taking a more leisurely route. Google Maps, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently added electric vehicle charging stations to its popular platform, allowing users to search for and pinpoint more than 600 charging stations.

PlugShare, a new free app from Xatori, goes one step further with a personal touch: users can find home charging stations close by, and even list their own as a safe-haven for range-anxious drivers. PlugShare works with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, and you don’t need an EV or a special outlet to join. Accounts are customizable; those who wish to share can list their name, number and address as well as what types of energy they have available and where to find it (like the garage). The integrated app uses handy icons to identify private and public standard outlets, EV plugs and charging stations. With just a few clicks, you can identify the nearest charging station, call or text the person who listed it, and get directions. PlugShare hopes to launch a study of the app’s impact on the environment so users can celebrate the positive impact they’re making, not unlike other resource-sharing models like Denver B-cycle (members can track their miles ridden, calories burned, carbon off-set and money saved – and compare their stats to other members of the B-cycle community).

PlugShare’s website even encourages those without EVs to join the community: “Sooner or later an EV owner may ask to charge at your outlet, and you’ll be able to talk to a real person (not a dealer or a salesman) to find out if an EV is right for you!”

With President Obama’s goal to have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015, community-building applications like PlugShare may bring the unintended benefits: more folks who get to know their neighbors. And, it could mean the end of the EV car salesman as we know him.

Cara Miale is a freelance writer in Denver.

Article source: www.RealEnergyWriters.com

The past decade has been the most significant ten-year period for EVs since the first ten years of the 20th century, when 38 percent of cars in 1900 were charging up, many with the aid of Thomas Edison-designed electric technology.

The renewed excitement that EVs garnered among car makers in the late 1990s gave way to…almost nothing. But in the past few years, EVs have suddenly been reborn, and they’re now becoming a central aspect of development strategy for major car manufacturers. (Just today, Tesla Motors said that cheaper batteries will mean its $57,000 Model S sedan, which uses cells like those in laptops, can turn a profit with fewer unit sales).

We recently showed a timeline of GE’s own research and experiments with EVs over the last 40 years. And in 2010, we’ve seen our own work accelerate in new battery breakthroughs for trucks and buses; partnerships with tech leaders such as battery-maker A123 Systems and battery-switching pioneer Better Place; a new battery factory being built in upstate New York, purchases of EVs on a fleet-wide scale; sleek new WattStation EV chargers; and even advanced R&D into electric flight — just to name a few.

read more here

Wow this is a huge commitment by GE to get into EV’s for their fleet of corp[orate vehicles. Initiatives like this speak loud in the marketplace. Plus the stimulation is gives to the manufacturer’s to be able to build out a fleet is big.

GE Announces Largest Single Electric Vehicle Commitment, Commits to Convert Half of Global Fleet by 2015

FAIRFIELD, Conn.–GE (NYSE: GE) announced today it will purchase 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015 for its own fleet and through its Capital Fleet Services business – the largest-ever single electric vehicle commitment.

“By electrifying our own fleet, we will accelerate the adoption curve, drive scale, and move electric vehicles from anticipation to action.”

GE will convert at least half of its 30,000 global fleet and will partner with fleet customers to deploy a total of 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015. GE will initially purchase 12,000 GM vehicles, beginning with the Chevrolet Volt in 2011, and will add other vehicles as manufacturers expand their electric vehicle portfolios. GE and its partners will use a mix of electric vehicle technologies to meet their respective needs. Chevrolet Volts will roll off production lines this month and other automakers are bringing electric vehicles to market. As this occurs, GE is in a strong position to help deploy the supporting infrastructure to help its 65,000 global fleet customers convert and manage their fleets.

GE owns one of the world’s largest fleets, operates a leading global fleet management business, and offers a portfolio of product solutions including charging stations, circuit protection equipment and transformers that touch every part of electric vehicle infrastructure development. This enables GE to lead wide-scale electric vehicle adoption and generate growth for its businesses.

“Electric vehicle technology is real and ready for deployment and we are embracing the transformation with partners like GM and our fleet customers,” said GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt. “By electrifying our own fleet, we will accelerate the adoption curve, drive scale, and move electric vehicles from anticipation to action.

“We make technology that touches every point of the electric vehicle infrastructure and are leading the transformation to a smarter electrical grid,” Immelt said. “This transformation will be good for our businesses and for our shareowners. Wide-scale adoption of electric vehicles will also drive clean energy innovation, strengthen energy security and deliver economic value.”

GE businesses including Capital Fleet Services, Energy and Licensing & Trading will benefit from an emerging electric vehicle market that could deliver up to $500 million in GE revenue over the next three years. This includes rapidly developing markets for GE’s charging station, the WattStation.

GM CEO Dan Akerson said, “GE’s commitment reflects confidence that electric vehicles are a real-world technology that can reduce both emissions and our dependence on oil. It is also a vote of confidence in the Chevrolet Volt, which we will begin delivering to retail customers by the end of this year. We are pleased that the Volt will play a major role in this program, which will spur innovation and benefit our companies, our customers, and society as a whole.”

FedEx Chairman, President and CEO, and Electrification Coalition member Fred Smith said, “With more than 16.3 million vehicles in operation in 2009, the nation’s fleet can drive initial ramp-up scale in the battery industry and OEM supply chains. By buying these vehicles, GE is helping ramp up production which will help lower the price of vehicles and their components and make electric vehicles more visible and acceptable to the public at large. This is good for GE, good for our economy, and good for our nation.”

GE also announced today two electric vehicle customer experience and learning centers to provide customers, employees and researchers first-hand access to electric vehicles and developing technologies. One will be located outside of Detroit, in Van Buren Township, Michigan, as part of GE’s Advanced Manufacturing and Software Technology Center. The other will be located at GE Capital’s Fleet Services business headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, with several other centers to be announced in 2011. The centers will monitor and evaluate vehicle performance and charging behaviors, driver experiences, service requirements, and operational efficiencies, while also affording the opportunity to experience a variety of manufacturers and models, and gain insights on electric vehicle deployment.

GE is launching this comprehensive electric vehicle program as part of its ecomagination business strategy to accelerate the development and deployment of clean energy technology though innovation and R&D investment. In support of the announcement today, an electric vehicle readiness toolkit has been launched on ecomagination.com to help municipalities, customers, and individuals prepare for wide-scale electric vehicle deployment.

BMW Announces Markets for BMW ActiveE Field Trial

New York Metro and Greater Los Angeles will again be included and be joined by Metropolitan markets of San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento and Boston

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – September 23, 2010… Later today at Opportunity Green in Los Angeles, BMW will announce the markets which will participate in the BMW ActiveE field trial when it begins in summer 2011. The New York metro market and the Greater Los Angeles Area will again play key roles. In Southern California, the metropolitan market of San Diego will be included. Northern California will be included in the BMW ActiveE field trial with the Greater San Francisco and Sacramento areas. In addition to select markets in Connecticut, Boston will provide new opportunities to gain experience in this trial.

The BMW ActiveE field trial will build on the success and experience gained during the MINI E field trial, now in its second year. Experience gained in this second-phase trial will prepare the BMW Group for the launch of its purpose-designed Megacity Vehicle in 2013.

“We were the first automaker to put 450 electric vehicles on US roads for daily use. We have gained so much insight into living with an EV with our MINI E pioneers over the last year,” said Rich Steinberg, Manager of Electric Vehicle Operations and Strategy for BMW of North America. “Partners like the City of New York’s Mayor’s Office, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison have also been critical to the success of the program. We’re looking forward to working with more drivers in more markets to build on our base of experience as we get ready for the launch of the Megacity Vehicle, and we look forward to even greater collaboration with the BMW ActiveE.”

“In addition to our existing and new pioneers in each of these markets, we are looking forward to working with our new strategic partners: the City of San Francisco Department of Transportation, San Francisco Clean Cities Coalition, Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Boston, San Diego Gas & Electric, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Northeast Utilities and subsidiary Connecticut Light & Power, Sacramento Municipal Utilities District and New Jersey Clean Cities Coalition,” added Steinberg.

The BMW ActiveE field trial is set to begin in Summer 2011.

BMW ActiveE: the next phase of the BMW Group’s ongoing EV development

A glimpse of the BMW ActiveE was first seen with the Concept ActiveE at the North American International Auto Show in January, 2010. Based on the chassis of a BMW 1 Series Coupe it features a newly developed electric drive train and a lithium-ion batterylithium-ion battery-packed developed in cooperation with SB-LiMotive. It offers four passenger seating and approximately seven cubic-feet of luggage capacity.

The vehicle concept and drive system provide the agility and dynamic acceleration performance which are characteristic of the BMW 1 Series Coupe. Based on realistic simulations, the sprint from 0-60 mph requires approximately 8.5 seconds. The maximum speed of the vehicle is electronically limited at around 90 mph.

The lithium-ion battery pack specially developed for this vehicle supplies energy to the motor and all other functions of the BMW Concept ActiveE. For the first time, storage cells are used which were developed especially for use in automobiles by the BMW Group in collaboration with the cooperation partner SB LiMotive. The aim is to use the best available technology in the area of energy storage as part of the development of the Megacity Vehicle. The lithium-ion batteries of the BMW Concept ActiveE have their own liquid cooling system and intelligent battery management system, which are key elements in increasing both the storage capacity and the durability of the battery cells. These systems also ensure that the long range can be maintained largely independent of external climatic conditions. The storage system developed for the BMW Concept ActiveE enables a real-world range of about 100 miles on a single charge, depending on conditions.

The climate control systems developed for the BMW Concept ActiveE can also be activated via smartphone. This option includes a timer function so the driver can ensure that the vehicle is conveniently pre-cooled or pre-heated before getting into it in the morning, for example. Climatic pre-conditioning optimizes not only ride comfort but also the operating status of the energy storage system in the sense that it maximises the range of the vehicle. The control of the heating and air conditioning system by mobile phone is made available through BMW ConnectedDrive. The BMW Concept ActiveE demonstrates the extensive range of options for using these services with the full integration of a smartphone connection into the vehicle infotainment system.

A future-oriented technology which runs across all brands: electro-mobility as a mainstay of EfficientDynamics.

With the BMW ActiveE, the BMW Group demonstrates the continuation of its project i research and development activities geared towards achieving emissions-free mobility independent of fossil fuels. It builds on the significant experience that had already been gained through the MINI E field trial which recently entered its second year.

The BMW Group is developing electro-mobility as an additional central mainstay of its EfficientDynamics strategy. Electric drive provides an additional option for individual mobility, alongside the ongoing optimization of the pure combustion engine, the market launch of BMW ActiveHybrid technology in production vehicles and the BMW Hydrogen 7 as evidence of the suitability of hydrogen drive for everyday use.

Project i brings together the BMW Group’s activities relating to the development of production vehicles with electric drive. The focus is on the conception of a production Megacity Vehicle which fulfils the requirements of a sustainable mobility solution for urban areas, with one option being electric drive.

The BMW ActiveE field trial will begin in summer 2011 leading up to the Megacity Vehicle in 2013.