Charged up: federal employee fights to plug in electric car at work from Medill Washington on Vimeo.
EVA/DC member, Bob Bruninga, talks about the frustrations of a federal employee not being able to plug in his electric car at work even though he is willing to pay for the electricity. Video produced by LiLi Tan for Medill News Service in Washington.
In this video, Bryan Murtha walks through the process of charging his new Tesla Model S at the public charging station at Kohl’s department store in Silver Spring, Maryland. He also explains some of the features of the car to some passers by who had not yet seen one of these award winning electric cars. (closed captioned)
The members of the Electric Vehicle Association of Greater Washington, DC have expressed disappointment in the Arlington County Board decision to disapprove what would have been the nation’s first all-electric taxi fleet. Despite the recommendation of County Manager, Barbara Donnellan and county planning staff, the board voted 3 to 2 against approving 40 certificates for EV Taxicabs, LLC.
EVA/DC Vice President Eric Cardwell said, “the Arlington county board missed out on a great opportunity to have a private company install a massive electric vehicle charging network with no cost to the tax payer. This could have solved all of the board’s chicken and egg questions. Personally as an Arlington resident, I am disappointed that the board lacked the foresight to make Arlington county the electric vehicle destination that it has the potential to be!”
EVA/DC President Emeritus Dave Goldstein added, “Arlington County just blew an opportunity to become one of the high tech destinations in America.”
Exciting news! Maryland Clean Cities Coalition member, BEVI, has been awarded a Constellation Energy to Educate grant to advance Youth Energy and Environment Service (YES) Corps 2013 summer internships. The YES Corps Program advances Science Technology Engineering Arts and Math (STEAM) electric vehicle education. BEVI will be working with the Electric Vehicle Association of DC (EVADC) and four Maryland universities - Johns Hopkins University, the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), and the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) and Baltimore County (UMBC) to create paid summer internships and fellowships at the universities, and to encourage broader engagement of unpaid interns and high school students interested in participating. BEVI is actively pursuing collaborations with sisters states as well, including Virginia and the District of Columbia, to leverage these valuable resources to drive clean transportation and clean cities opportunities.
Continue reading
Mindy’s electrified Smart in the Phoenix electric light parade.
Hi EVADC! Hope things are well out there! It’s been a little more than a year since I left the energetic orbit of the beltway, and I thought I’d send a short update from my new home in the desert Southwest. Here in Phoenix, we have an abundance of incoming solar radiation, and are just starting to see residents and businesses taking advantage of the energy source. There are over 300 public chargers installed and online in the Phoenix metropolitan area, and a few Level III fast-chargers too! Not all of the public chargers are solar-powered, but many are. Phoenix generally has two power companies, and there is not a “choice” program like we have in most DC locations. You must get power through a single provider, and the only choice you have is to pay extra for a “renewables mix” through that power company. I have chosen to pay for this renewables mix (about 59% solar, 34% wind, 5% biomass/biogas, and 2% geothermal), which ensures that my energy consumption is bought from these renewables (it adds $.004 to my per-kWh electricity price). I also get a special rate from the power company because I own an electric vehicle. Between the hours of 11pm and 5am, I pay only $.06/kWh for the whole house! So, now I set timers to do a lot of stuff at night (laundry, dishwasher, charging my phone, and of course charging my car!).
Continue reading
The video above is a montage of select comments from eight local EV advocates speaking in support of the Arlington County recommendation to grant 40 certificates to EV Taxicabs. Malik Khattak, president of EV Taxicabs, proposes to operate the nation’s first all-electric taxi cab fleet. Testimony from the Arlington County Board meeting on Nov. 27, 2012.
We have a chance to see an all-EV cab company operate in the greater Washington, DC region. The Arlington County Board of Supervisors will decide whether to award 40 taxicab operating certificates to EV Taxicabs at the November 17th Board meeting:
17 November 2012 at 18:30Members of EVA/DC plan to support EV Taxicabs‘ bid to add 40 100% Electric Nissan LEAF vehicles to the taxis operating in Arlington, County. Their proposal received the highest rating of all from the County Manager’s 2012 Taxicab Certificates Application Report with a score of 84. And if they do get the certificates to operate, it will benefit many EV drivers because EV Taxicabs plans to build the region’s first CHAdeMO DC fast charging station on Columbia Pike near Bailey’s Crossroads!
Unfortunately, EV Taxicabs’ proposal has run into a roadblock with the failure to secure the recommendation of the Arlington County Transportation Commission. We hope to help convince the Arlington County Board that the concerns of the Transportation Commission are based on incomplete information in a way that only we, experienced EV drivers know. You can read more on my lengthy open letter to the board or hear me speak it tonight.
Join members of EVA/DC by writing a letter or speaking in support of EV Taxicabs at the Arlington County Board Meeting.
The Redskins win over the Eagles was even sweeter for fans who drove a plug-in electric car to FedExField yesterday. EV drivers can charge at one of ten eVgo charging stations at the stadium. The Level 2 charging near Gate A is provided courtesy of NRG Energy.
For EV drivers who wish to use the charging stations on game day, let the parking staff know that you need to charge and they’ll direct you to the eVgo stations in the Purple Lot.
Video montage of Fall 2012 MD Volt meetup.
University of Maryland Engineering Students, faculty, electric vehicle (EV) owners and enthusiasts gathered outside the Engineering Research Center on Saturday, November 10th at the College Park, MD Campus for an EV meetup that featured ride & drives, informal presentations and lunch sponsored by MD Volt Inc.
At lunch, Mark Czajka, Director of MD Volt, welcomed the attendees and turned the podium over to Charlie Garlow, President of EVA/DC, who gave a preview of the next monthly meeting on November 21st. Dr. Alireza Khaligh (UMERC) talked about a partnership he has with Genovation, a green car company based in Rockville, MD working on advanced battery and ultracapacitor technologies to develop the upcoming G2 EV.
Malik & Sal Khattak of EV Taxicabs gave a brief presentation about an all electric Nissan LEAF taxi fleet proposed for Arlington County, Virginia. Jill Sorensen of the Baltimore-Washington Electric Vehicle Initiative (BEVI) spoke about the activities of her organization which led to a brief discussion of issues surrounding public charging station infrastructure.
