LEAFs line up at the SF BayLEAFs meeting in Cupertino, November 10th
The Nov. 10, 2012 SF BayLEAFs meeting was held at the Union Church of Cupertino. Many thanks to linkim for being the diligent scribe and providing these minutes. Slides of the agenda and announcements can be found here: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?zlwf6ymit4c0h11" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There were 52 present among the 36 LEAFs, 1 Corbin Sparrow, 1 PriusC and a Karmann Ghia EV. Two new LEAF owners from Fremont were present, as well as three non-LEAF owners. Once again, JeremyW made the ~150-mile drive from Folsom to Cupertino using 2 quick charges along the way at Vacaville and San Ramon.
The guest speaker was Terry O’Day, Director, from NRG Energy’s wholly owned subsidiary eVgo (http://www.eVgoNetwork.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false
in Santa Monica, and Obrie Hostetter, Manager NRG eVgo, who assisted in the Q & A session. Terry’s topic was “LEAF Adoption: Going Forward in the Bay Area”. He indicated that the major concerns of EV owners relevant to charging issues were (i) range anxiety, (ii) upfront cost of charging stations and (iii) uncertainty of electricity cost. NRG eVgo’s plans to invest $135M across 8 regions in the US, with California receiving about $100M for DCFC (>$50M), workplace/multi-residential charging (>$40M) and R & D operation (>$10M).
Texas has already started to implement eVgo’s plans for charging infrastructure
with 50 DCFCs planned and 16 in operation in Houston, while in the North Texas region around Dallas, 50 DCFCs are planned and 14 in operation. The DCFCs in the Houston area will be located so EV owners should not be more than 5 miles from a DCFC.
The eVgo program has two different kinds of charging solutions:
• Residential Homes, Multi-Family Communities and Workplace Electric Car Charging stations using dedicated 240 V L2 charger services. These will be at locations where EVs can be plugged in for an extended time, typically 4-8 hours (overnight or while at work), to receive a full charge.
• Network Charging (eVgo Freedom Station) DCFC sites, which can provide a 50-mile charge in as little as 15 minutes. They also offer a standard Level 2 commercial charger at the site.
In California, eVgo is still far from having operational DCFCs available. The plan is to install 200 DCFCs and 1000 L2 chargers in the 9-county Bay Area (55 DCFCs), San Joaquin Valley (15 DCFCs), Los Angeles (110 DCFCs) and San Diego (20 DCFCs). The sites will include both L2 and DCFC with J1772, CHAdeMO and SAE plugs. The locations of the DCFCs in the Bay Area have not been settled, and eVgo is asking for assistance by the LEAF community to identify sites. So far, eVgo is considering sites near freeways, i.e., Cupertino, San Francisco, Daly City, San Rafael, Vallejo, Vacaville, etc. In California, the minimum cost for quick charging is $7/charge off-peak and $15 on-peak, payable by credit card, with other options such as subscription considered. Suggestions and comments on the eVgo plans should be submitted to Terry (
[email protected]) or Obrie (
[email protected]) and/or by Facebook or Twitter. More information on eVgo is available at http://www.evgonetwork.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
Slides from the presentation can be found here: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?qhsw6s3hpc46qia" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The second speaker was Rich Larsen (General Manager and mayor of Los Altos Hills - LAH) of New Power Technologies (http://www.NewPowerTech.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false
who made a presentation entitled “EnergyNet EV Charging LAH Field Trial”. EnergyNet is a software suite for power network management that provides improved resolution of the grid to maximize power network performance and enhance smart grid initiatives. The higher resolution permits identification of individual transformer sites and charging locations on the grid. By utilizing the software, EV charging can be controlled to manage cost and duty cycle. For example, input of the end time for charging (i.e., when the EV is needed) allows the charger to reduce charging rate (because a longer charge time can be used) that minimizes ancillary charges. Check their website for more details.
Gascant and Ingineer led a discussion with input from surfingslovak on “Storing Your LEAF During Vacations”. Simple guidelines include keeping the traction battery at close to 50% SOC during storage, unplug the LEAF from the charging dock and insure all lights and accessories are turned off. Recommended guidelines are:
• Storage up to 21 days – traction battery at 30-50% SOC (3-6 bars); 12 V battery undisturbed
• Storage >21 days – traction battery at 30-50% SOC (3-6 bars); 12 V battery trickle charge
OrientExpress announced that we currently have two sponsors for SF BayLEAFs – Solar Harmonics and Boardwalk Nissan. Links to their websites and other information can be found on the website sfbayleafs.org and clicking on the “About” tab.
Meetings of interest for the SF BayLEAFers include:
VERGE/Greenbuild SF, Nov. 12-13 (Intercontinental Hotel, San Francisco, live stream, free register at greenbiz.com)
EAASV meeting, Nov. 17 (Google, Mountain View, Mike Harrigan, City Carshare)
Sacramento/NorCal LEAF Owners, Nov. 17th Folsom (contact JeremyW)
Seat heater installation, Nov. 17 (location TBA)
EBEAA meeting, Nov. 24 (Alameda, topic TBA)
GGEVA meeting, Dec. 12 (SF, topic TBA)
At the conclusion of the meeting, we adjourned to the parking lot for further individual discussions and completed 2 horn upgrades. The SF BayLEAFs are not planning to meet in December although the group is amenable to participate in a social event with other EV enthusiasts and organizations.
