http://www.bendbulletin.com/business/3116579-151/making-cities-electric-friendly# Making cities electric-friendly By Jim Motavalli, NYT May 3, 2015
Jeremy McCool is convinced there is a better way to charge electric vehicles in a crowded city than using a wired plug. McCool is founder and chief executive of Hevo Power, a Brooklyn, New York-based startup that is working to create a home for electric vehicles in an environment that is inherently challenging to them. First, he and his team developed a wireless charger designed to look like an ordinary manhole cover and fit unobtrusively into the urban landscape. They are also working on what he calls a “green loading zone.” Electric trucks simply drive up and recharge wirelessly while they are parked. He plans to test the technology by the fall at New York University, on a groundskeeping vehicle. That day will mark a long-awaited milestone for Hevo Power, which has been working on its products for several years, McCool said. “It has felt like an impossible journey,” he said. Hevo developed its wireless charging platforms with the help of a $240,000 grant from New York state. With vast numbers of apartment dwellers, New York, along with cities like Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco, represents the promise, and the challenges, of what is a large, still untapped market for electric vehicles. “New York City has the highest percentage of apartment households in the United States,” said Jim Lapides, a spokesman for the National Multifamily Housing Council. That density, as well as government bureaucracy, cold weather, the difficulty of curbside recharging on busy streets and the high cost of owning a vehicle in a city in general, makes running an electric car a challenge. But government officials remain committed to trying to encourage electric vehicle use, saying that even if only a small fraction of drivers switch to a plug-in car, the reduction in carbon emissions could be significant. For example, the Philadelphia Parking Authority has pursued a novel strategy: It lets residents reserve public spaces for an annual fee and pay for installation of chargers there. But only about 20 people have signed up, according to Martin O’Rourke, a spokesman for the authority. In California, the epicenter of electric vehicle deployment, NRG eVgo, a charging provider, is offering a special deal for apartment and condominium dwellers through the state’s Take Charge program. Property owners pay nothing to have their parking wired for electric charging. Car owners then pay $39 a month as well as the cost of electricity, which is rebated to the property owner. “It’s been very challenging for renters in California who want to buy an EV,” said Terry O’Day, a vice president at NRG eVgo. The need is clearly large. In Santa Monica, where he lives, O’Day said that 80 percent of residents live in rental or condo properties. There is the prospect of many more chargers to come in California, though. Pacific Gas and Electric, a utility in the central and northern parts of the state, is proposing to install 25,000 chargers in its coverage area. That kind of density suits the region. “We have a little more than 60,000 EVs registered, and that’s more than 20 percent of the total in the United States,” said Jonathan Marshall, a spokesman for the utility. But in New York, especially Manhattan and Brooklyn, the challenges remain high. “Manhattan is so dense and vertical that traditional approaches to charging don’t work,” said John Shipman, who runs electric vehicle programs at Con Edison, the city’s main utility. However, the obstacles have not stopped a multitude of agencies and companies from trying to make it a reality, starting with the city itself. Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office, said that city fleets now have 825 plug-in vehicles of all types, and 203 charging stations, — “still the largest single network in New York state.” Spitalnick also pointed to a new city law that requires 20 percent of new off-street parking to be built “charger-ready.” Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, she said, “has been aggressively increasing the city government’s use of electric vehicles, while continuing to partner with the private sector to expand charging infrastructure for private vehicles.” [© bendbulletin.com] For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Making-cities-plugin-friendly-installing-EVSE-tp4675405.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
