The Oregon Electric Vehicle Association (OEVA) had six vehicles in the Hillsboro Oregon 2009 4th of July Parade (Pictures and two short videos below).
In starting order the OEVA vehicles were:
1) Corbin Sparrow
2) Honda Insight (converted to 100% electric)
3) Twike (2-seater electric with pedal assist)
4) Chevy S10 Electric (Factory made by GM as 100% electric in 1998)
5) Trike (custom made 3-wheeler chopper)
6) Zap Zebra PK Truck
Sunday, July 5, 2009
OEVA in Hillsboro 4th of July Parade 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Patriotic Environmentalist, not an Oxymoron
Happy 4th of July!
Environmental living can be patriotic.



Wednesday, July 1, 2009
June 2009 EV & PV Report
On June 21st, here in the NW corner of Oregon, the Sunrise was at 5:21AM and Sunset was at 21:03. That is 15 hours 42 minutes of sunlight. Our west-facing PV solar system started generating power at 7:45AM and did so until 20:45. That is 13 hours of powering our home and feeding the grid.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Why Plug-ins Work in Oregon
June 2009
Oregon’s interest in electric vehicles has a logical and natural basis.
First, our state is renowned for its quirky, innovative policy reputation; we are often willing innovators and early adopters. The move to battery electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles appeals to our pioneering spirit.
Second, we Oregonians inhabit a special place of dramatic physical beauty that reinforces our sustainability, conservation, and environmental instincts. Given the mounting evidence about global warming and the carbon contamination that comes from internal combustion engines, the quest for low- and no-emission vehicles is obvious. Introducing and evaluating EVs of various size and purpose simply makes sense.
Third, approximately half of our electricity is generated from the Columbia River and a growing share of the energy portfolio comes from renewable sources. Electric vehicles and their role in our power grid hold great promise.
Fourth, our far-sighted land use laws, integrated transportation strategies, and interest in urban design and development have had us “kicking the tires” for some time now on new approaches to sustainable mobility. So we have been organizing and formalizing and thinking about approaches that will help our businesses and citizens get ready for a new transportation model, with the move toward electric vehicles as an earlier enabler of the transition.
Getting Plug-In Ready: Work in Progress
Executive Order: The Governor’s Alternative Fuel Vehicle Infrastructure Working Group
As part of the Governor’s climate change and sustainable transportation agenda, Governor Ted Kulongoski signed Executive Order 08-24 back on September 26, 2008. The Order creates the Governor’s Alternative Fuel Vehicle Infrastructure Working Group. The group is charged with developing the policies and alternative fuel infrastructure for Oregon to attract car manufacturers seeking to bring the next generation of electric and alternative fuel vehicles to market in North America.
Formalizing agreements with electric vehicle manufacturers
During the last year, Oregon has entered agreements with Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi to be a testing ground for their new plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles. Discussions continue with other manufacturers as well. But that isn’t the whole story. Oregon is also home to dozens of local companies that are designing, building and providing services for the electric vehicle (EV) industry-including making cars.
Clean Cities Grant
The American Renewal and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) includes $300 million for alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicle projects. A diverse and expansive team of public and private sector organizations in Oregon has submitted a proposal for these funds, taking a significant step towards transforming Oregon’s transportation system from one almost solely dependent on petroleum to one increasingly dependent on electricity. The Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) Office of Innovative Partnerships is serving as lead agency for this project. The application has been submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for funding through its Clean Cities program. Oregon’s proposal is for $15 million and will more than exceed the 50 percent match requirement. The project’s objectives are to:
- Increase the number of various types of electric vehicles: regular hybrids, plug-in hybrids, battery electric and medium-duty hybrid vehicles
- Deploy charging stations throughout the state to support electrified vehicles and help convince average consumers that the infrastructure is there to support the use of these vehicles
- Conduct public outreach and education as well as technician training on electric vehicles
- Support the development of market opportunities for electric vehicles, batteries and charging stations
- Gather data and study the use of electric vehicles and charging stations to support the development of this market across the country
Key Players
In addition to the 80 partners involved in Oregon’s Clean Cities grant request (see above), there are a large and growing number of institutional players involved in Oregon’s EV initiatives. Too numerous and dynamic to list here, key players include representatives from:
- EV Industry (Brammo Motors, Arcimoto Motors, Shorepower, Oregon Electric Vehicle Association)
- Utilities (Portland General Electric, Pacificorp, NW Natural Gas, Eugene Water & Electric Board)
- Finance and Business Development (Intel Capital, Oregon Department of Economic and Community Development, Portland Development Commission)
- Government (Multnomah County, Clackamas County, City of Portland, City of Corvallis, Office of the Governor, Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon Department of Energy, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Global Warming Commission);
- University Sector (Portland State University, University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Oregon Institute of Technology, and Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC))
EV Cluster
A business cluster is a geographic concentration of interconnected businesses, suppliers, and associated institutions in a particular field or market segment. Clusters are considered to increase the productivity with which companies can compete, nationally and globally.
Oregon has been pursuing a cluster strategy since 2005. The Oregon Business Plan is built around the cluster strategy. Some of our leading clusters are in the wood products, footwear and apparel, and renewable energy industries. The newest cluster, now forming, focuses on electric vehicles. The goal is to accelerate the growth of EV-related jobs in Oregon. While PDC is the convener, the effort is targeted statewide.
Statewide RFP for Charging Stations
ODOT has issued a first-in-the-nation solicitation for charging equipment to service electric vehicles (EVs). At the request of local entities and electric utilities throughout the state, ODOT is using its unique public/private partnership authority to establish consistent standards and uniformity in building an EV charging infrastructure for Oregon. ODOT’s Office of Innovative Partnerships (OIPP) is taking a leadership role by establishing standards for the appearance, performance and safety features of EV charging stations. The objective is to have centralized purchase agreements for EV charging equipment in place by the end of 2009 that will be available for use by other agencies, local governments, utility companies and others.
Charging locations may include public facilities such as Park-n-Rides, motor pools, campuses, and public rights of way or private property such as retail and office complexes. Resources for the EV initiative may become available through the federal economic stimulus package, which would accelerate the deployment of EV charging infrastructure. For more information or to download the request for proposal, visit http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/OIPP/inn_ev-charging.shtml
EV charging stations
Portland General Electric (PGE) is helping lead the way on plug-in vehicle adoption. To help customers be more sustainable, PGE is working with the City of Portland to develop a network of charging stations for plug-in hybrid electric and all-electric vehicles. The move responds to customers’ concerns about climate change and volatile gas prices, and anticipates the plan of car manufacturers to roll out the new generation of plug-in hybrids by 2010. For more information, check this link.
Portland State University Project with Toyota RAV 4s
Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., is preparing to place four off-lease RAV4-EV battery-electric vehicles (BEV) in a new program in Portland, Oregon designed to assist in the development of clustered electric-charging infrastructure for the arrival of future zero- and low-emission vehicles.
The vehicles will be used as station cars for shuttling people from mass-transit terminals to downtown and suburban locations. The program is being developed by Portland State University (PSU), in association with the University of California, Irvine’s (UCI) ZEV-NET (Zero Emission Vehicle-Network Enabled Transport) program.
Website by summer of 2009
We currently are designing and populating with content a website that will go into production early this summer. It will summarize who, is doing what, where and when with regard to electric vehicles in Oregon. More important, we hope to use the site to identify and support communities of interest within the commercial, nonprofit, and governmental sectors within our state, region, and beyond.
EV Conference Q4 2009
OTREC, PSU, and RMI are planning an EV conference in Portland this fall. We will target approximately 100 attendees by invitation only from the following groups:
Approximately 70 attendees from PGR cities, other cities; and, approximately 30 representatives from EV and auxiliary industries, government, media, international representatives, elected officials. The majority of participants will represent North American regions however we aim to have at least 5-10% of the audience representing international constituencies.
The objectives for the event are three-fold:
- Meet: Get acquainted with peers, solidify relationships within and among the “anchor” cities of PGR. Provide discussion time and informal networking opportunities.
- Learn: Status report from cities. Hear from manufacturers, industry analysts, government leaders, and media about vehicle production forecasts, pricing strategy, and generally how things look from their angle relative to EVs, NEVs, and other low- and no-emission vehicles.
- Work: Document the question: What’s happening on the ground? Identify near term opportunities and barriers going forward (by region and, perhaps, collectively.) Consider using RMI process for developing 5-year vision and 2010 operating plan-including performance measures that begin to establish how we define and measure success by region and nationally
Education and conferences have elevated our thinking and accelerated dialogue …
Oregon has benefited from three important conferences/work sessions during the past year.
The first program, Meeting of the Minds was held last July in Portland. The event was designed to bring together leaders from multiple sectors and geographies to share ideas, learn from each other, and shape the agenda for creating more sustainable cities, with a particular focus on transportation and mobility. Those attending included over 200 policy makers, decision makers, opinion makers, rainmakers, and thought leaders from the commercial, nonprofit, and public sectors. The guests included representatives from the environmental, energy, economic development, and urban design communities with a stake in transportation, with many coming from Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, but approximately 20% were national and international participants.
Lat October, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) held a charrette with a national focus in Portland to help realize RMI’s Smart Garage vision: bringing electrified vehicles, advanced net-zero buildings, and a smart renewable grid together in innovative ways to provide clean, cheap, secure mobility and electricity. Many participants asked: when can we have a charrette solely focused on Portland? On February 26, 2009 lessons learned during RMI’s Smart Garage charrette were combined with the pioneering plug-in experience of Portland stakeholders to begin the process of drafting a coordinated, regional Portland plug-in readiness plan. The goal of this meeting was to bring many actors in the Portland Metro plug-in space together, to share activities and discuss movement forward, touching on the following components:
- Identification of major stakeholders required to push a regional effort forward, next steps
for how these representatives might work together, and an estimation of resources needed to make this collaboration happen (funding and person-hours).
- Prioritization of major milestones in several content areas.
- Recognition of essential questions to be answered or feedback required from other regional stakeholders.
Partners, Players, and Working Groups
As referenced in the first section of this summary, Oregon has several main cohorts engaged in electric vehicle activities at the moment:
The Governor’s Alternative Fuel Vehicle Infrastructure Working Group that is charged with developing the policies and alternative fuel infrastructure for Oregon to attract car manufacturers seeking to bring the next generation of electric and alternative fuel vehicles to market in North America.
The 80 public and private partners involved in Oregon Clean Cities grant request.
The EV manufacturers with which Oregon is entering memoranda of understanding to become a test bed for battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
The utility companies currently deploying charging stations and the state and local governmental entities that have defined and issued a statewide solicitation for charging infrastructure slated for award later this year.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Assault on Batteries!
Electric Vehicles (EV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) are an emerging technology that could change the way the world fuels personal transportation. At least nine car companies worldwide say that by 2013 they will offer plug-in vehicles (EV or PHEV) that use electric motors as their primary means of propulsion, according to Plug-in America.org. (See the list here.)

What will it take to make a long-range high performance battery pack? Innovation. Looking at the chart above and the second chart to the left, you can see that the energy density of batteries has continued to improve over time as breakthroughs big and small are realized. These breakthroughs correspond directly to price since fewer batteries can be used. Opponents of plug-in vehicles claim that moving to batteries just changes who we are dependent upon from Middle Eastern oil to Asian battery manufacturers or Bolivian lithium suppliers. America can become a leading technology developer and manufacturer of batteries.
Through its U.S. subsidiary Compact Power, Korea's LG Chem will be building the battery packs for the Chevy Volt. With GM, LG Chem is investing $244 million in production capacity and development. Johnson Controls-Saft Advanced Power Solutions is spending $220 million for a factory that will equip the new Ford plug-in hybrid.
Indiana is also getting into the game. Its largest city and state capital is home to EnerDel with the only US-owned lithium ion battery plant dedicated to electric vehicle batteries. EnerDel is now scrambling to keep its business plans on track as Th!nk Global struggles.
To help bolster their case, U.S. Senator Evan Bayh spoke at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway proposing "$1.6 billion in federal grants to accelerate growth of America’s advanced hybrid-electric and electric car industry [that] is crucial for American competitiveness in automotive and high-tech manufacturing."
Elsewhere in Indiana, Bright Automotive is designing a 100-mile-per-gallon PHEV light truck with a massive lithium-ion pack. The plan is to have the high-tech truck in production by 2012.

Peak Lithium?
Opponents of plug-in vehicles further claim that we are just trading peak-oil for peak Lithium. There are a few obvious retorts to this assertion. First, unlike oil, Lithium is not consumed. Lithium batteries can be recycled and made into new batteries. Second, batteries can be made from many other things. Zinc-air batteries are currently being used in hearing aids because they are lighter than lithium. If these can be scaled up, they are an excellent material since zinc is cheap and abundant.
What happens next?
While new battery technology continues to evolve, so have the solutions for how to utilize them. AFS Trinity has a creative solution that uses a small, off-the-shelf ultra-capacitor to buffer the battery pack. The ultracap absorbs energy from regenerative breaking and provides much of the power for initial acceleration. This increases the energy output rate and reduces wear and tear on the batteries since much of the cycling is done by the ultracap. AFS claims to be able to get near Li-ion performance with lead-acid batteries in this hybrid storage system. Coupled with Li-ion, such a system could further improve its performance or lifespan. Argonne National Laboratory seems to think there is merit to the idea.
Electrically powered transportation will continue to grow more viable. It won't be easy, battery technology is still expensive. Government incentives will be needed to move this technology into the economy of scale volumes where it can be made affordable. A goal of the Obama administration is to have one million plug-in vehicles on the road by 2015. The administration’s stimulus package allocates $2B for advanced batteries, $300M for federal and states new clean fuel vehicle fleet purchases and $7,500 tax rebate for individuals who purchase a plug-in vehicle, with even more money for the Auto Industry Re-tooling Fund.
Innovation can produce the next great car, there is a boom of new car companies including Tesla, Fisker, Aptera, Bright, Miles, Zenn and others that are bringing plug-in cars to market with the batteries that we currently have. Meanwhile, the major auto companies are not ignoring this market; whatever short comings they may have, they know how to bring a mass produced car to market. And all of them are looking to companies like A123, LG Chem, EnerSys, BYD, EEStor and others to tackle the energy storage challenge.
No one has a lock on this future; everything is up for grabs.The Race to Plug-In Hybrids Is On
Monday, June 22, 2009
What is the right PHEV battery range?
GM has picked 40 miles as the battery range for the Chevy Volt. Looking at the chart above, you can see why. Nearly 80% of US drivers would be able to do all their daily driving without ever using gasoline. Then when they want to take the car on a longer trip to the beach or mountains (or Seattle or LA), the first 40 are battery powered and then the electricity for the rest of the trip comes from the on-board gasoline powered generator that makes enough electricity to keep the batteries in a charge sustaining mode. If you pull over for dinner1 and are lucky enough to find a place to plug in, you can put some juice in the batteries and then get another 10 or 15 miles of cheaper/cleaner battery powered travel before going back to the generator.
A rechargeable auto with the Volt’s target range of 40 miles on electricity is "not cost effective in any scenario" a study by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh found. Plug-in cars with smaller batteries may be a better value, according to the study, which doesn’t cite the Volt by name.
The study is an attempt to test how prices and driving habits may shape consumer choices among current hybrids and new [plug-in] models.
With lighter, cheaper batteries, a plug-in with 7 to 10 miles of electric range or a conventional hybrid may provide the best mix of price, faster charge times and efficiency, Michalek said. His study was accepted this week for publication in a future issue of the journal Energy Policy.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Best Buy Sells EVs
The Enertia uses lithium-ion phosphate batteries by Valence Technology. It has a 45-mile range and a maximum speed of 53 MPH. Great for typical commuting and riding fun. Not, however, for a cross-country easy rider run. Brammo's 2010 motorcycle is expected to have a 100 mile range and go 75 MPH.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Net Metering & Feed-in Tariff
- Do Nothing - Any energy sent to the grid is simply donated to the utility.
- Net Metering - When you feed the grid, your meter runs backwards at the current rate. This may have monthly or annual limits.
- Feed-in Tariff - Here the utility pays you more than the going rate. This is an incentive method.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
EV Day Portland 2009
One week after the 4th of July, you can see cars that are liberated from the gas pump!
- Platinum $1,000
- Gold $500
- Silver $250
- Bronze $100
- Affiliate/membership $50




