Earth and Industry » ecotality

4.7 Million New Places to Charge an Electric Car by 2015, Analysts Say

Timothy B. Hurst — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 11:28:11 +0000

Lack of business model for public charge stations stimying buildout

Electric cars like the Nissan LEAF and the Chevy Volt will start hitting showroom floors this fall and there is a considerable amount of talk--and even some concern--about where exactly we will be in terms of building-out the charging infrastructure needed to keep those zero-emissions vehicles up and humming. With travel range on most passenger electric vehicles (EVs) somewhere near 100 miles per charge, potential buyers want to be assured they will not only be able to charge at home, but also when they're on the road.

While several factors have slowed the buildout of the charging infrastructure thus far, a new report published last week by the cleantech market research firm Pike Research, suggests there will be some serious catching up over the next five years with the addition of nearly five million new EV charge points.

The report,"Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment", estimated that there will be 4.7 million residential, public, private and workplace charging stations installed during the period from 2010 to 2015. And in the U.S., there will likely be almost 1 million charging stations by 2015.

“The success of hybrid vehicles in the 2000s gave drivers a taste for propulsion by electric power,” says senior analyst John Gartner, “and governments around the world are now highly focused on creating the charging infrastructure to support the arrival of EVs in significant numbers.”

Pike's forecast of 4.7 million charge stations was downgraded from their 2009 figure of 5 million charge points installed between 2010 and 2015, due to a dip in projected rate of sales for EVs, and a continued lack of a clear business model for public charging stations.

“The economics of selling a few kilowatt hours per charge are very challenging," said Pike analyst Gartner. "Public charging station deployments will be driven mainly by government initiatives over the next several years.”

The report also found that the market for EV charging equipment is likely to become increasingly crowded by the end of next year as tech firms like GE, Panasonic, Samsung, and Siemens jump into the EV charger sector. The moves will put more pressure on niche players like Better Place, Coulomb, ECOtality to push ahead with their plans of developing charging networks in the U.S. and Australia and Europe.

Hat tip: cnet

ECOtality Expands EV-Charging Prowess Into Australia

Timothy B. Hurst — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:20:58 +0000

EV-charging infrastructure start-up, ECOtality, has announced its expansion into Australia.

Launches new subsidiary to expand EV-charging infrastructure in Australia

In October, we reported on ECOtality's big plan for car charging networks in the United States; today, the Arizona-based car-charging start-up has announced its expansion into Australia with its wholly-owned subsidiary, ECOtality Australia. The company, headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland, will market and distribute battery charging equipment to support electric vehicles, industrial equipment, and electric airport ground support equipment.

Company officials at ECOtality say they are well positioned to support Australia’s growing EV industry.

“As one of the first to introduce fast-charging to Australia, ECOtality will have an impact in industrial markets, as the use of our fast-charging systems reduces air pollution and provides substantial savings in annual fueling costs and operating expenses," said ECOtality CEO Jonathan Read in a statement.

Read said that ECOtality Australia also plans to play a major role in facilitating the transition to clean electric transportation by providing charging solutions to support the successful introduction of electric vehicles in the region.

ECOtality's U.S. subsidiary, eTec, pioneered its proprietary Minit-Charger line of battery fast-charge systems over the last ten years. Originally designed to support on-road EV applications, Minit-Charger can safely charge an EV in about 15 minutes, eliminating the risk of overcharging and overheating, and enabling EV users to extend their daily driving range.

In October 2009, ECOtality received an award of nearly $100 million from the Department of Energy to pilot The EV Project, the largest deployment of EVs and charge infrastructure ever undertaken. The EV Project has a total value of more than $200 million, and will support electric vehicles with home-base, commercial and public charge stations in five states: Arizona, Washington, Oregon, California and Tennessee.

Charge station installations in those states will accompany the deployment of 4,700 Nissan LEAFs, a zero-emission EV.

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Electric Car Charging Networks Popping Up Across U.S.

Timothy B. Hurst — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:02:10 +0000

Public-private partnerships key to building regional EV infrastructure

Conceptual drawing of solar-powered EV-charging station. (Johnston Marklee/ECOtality)

One of the most prominent hurdles facing the large-scale proliferation of electric cars in the United States is establishing the necessary charging infrastructure. Metropolitan areas in five states have been selected to participate in a three-year study to test electric car-charging corridors

Thanks to a $100 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to embark on the project, the EV Project will be the first combination vehicle/charge-network roll-out in North America. Headed up by eTec, a subsidiary of ECOtality, (OTCBB:ETLY), the forty-partner EV Project will deliver 4,700 electric cars and 11,210 charging systems to support those cars in eleven cities across five states: Arizona, California, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington.

The EV Project will join other infrastructure developers already working on building out other EV-hubs, including a Bay Area EV-charging network that will include publicly-available Coulomb Technologies Chargepoint stations in San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco.

In Washington state, roughly one thousand Nissan LEAFs—Nissan's forthcoming all-electric vehicle due in 2010—will be deployed to cities around central Puget Sound.

The regional case for electric cars in the Pacific Northwest is strong as the cheap, abundant and clean hydroelectric resource makes the area a prime candidate for transitioning to an electric transportation base.

As the batteries used in EVs become more advanced and their ranges extend, project developers in Washington hope to develop an electric corridor along I-5 between Eugene and Seattle, with an eventual extension to Vancouver, B.C.

The charging stations, the bulk of which will be in homes, will also in high population-density and high-traffic commercial areas.

Map of five-state EV Project rollout.

The idea central to the EV project is to make the rechargers for electric vehicles readily available at places such as coffee shops, post offices, grocery stores and where people work. A regular charge could take four to eight hours, while a rapid charge could take 10 to 15 minutes.

A charge could cost 50 cents to $1.50 at home, but a rapid charge would be more expensive. It is also ikely that charging could be used to incentivize consumer patronage with companies providing free car-charging at store locations to attract shoppers and help ease the 'range anxiety' held by electric car owners.

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