Is The Chevy Volt Headed For The Trough of Disillusionment?

GM is planning to release the Chevy Volt in November 2010. Put simply, the Volt is a battery electric car with a built in generator. It can drive up to 40 miles per charge on just the batteries and then the generator kicks in. Like a conventional gas car, you can drive until the tank is empty and you can refill at any gas station and keep going as far as you like. Unlike a conventional car though, you can also plug it in, charge it up and then start driving from battery power again.

Did you catch the subtle wording above? The Volt can travel "up to" 40 miles. There is no guarantee that you get 40 miles out of that full charge. However, the "your mileage may vary" disclaimer is blatantly missing from press releases and other media. In fact, if you comb the mass o' videos and articles about the Volt, even the "up to" bit is often not present or only stated the first time. How far can you actually expect to really drive in electric mode? Who knows, that is not what GM is talking about.

GM recently kicked off the "230" marketing campaign. They claimed the vehicle would rate at 230 miles per gallon. That would be great, but it takes some creative accounting to get there. In electric mode, the EPA rated the Volt at 4 miles per kilowatt-hour. Using this number with the Automotive X Prize conversion to miles per gallon equivalent energy (MPGe) and the vehicle rates at just under 150 MPGe in all electric mode. Note that no actual gasoline is being used; this is just a measure of the energy spent. Then when the Volt turns on the generator, it does use gasoline with each mile. This is called Charge Sustaining Mode (CSM). When GM announced the Volt in 2007, they estimated that it would rate approximately 50 MPG in city CSM operation. GM has not updated this number for the actual production vehicle, so we'll use this estimate.

Using these two values, you can see that with short trips in the electric mode you can about 150 MPGe and as you continue past the battery range, the generator kicks in and the efficiency drops to 50 MPG. This means that all trips will fall between 50 to 150 MPGe. A 50 mile trip would be about 105 MPGe and a 200 mile trip would be about 55 MPGe.

Undaunted by this reality, the 230 flag was waved high. GM had a media event, did press releases, appeared on CNN Money and other TV shows to promote 230. But is this hype the right thing for them to do? I want the Volt to be a highly successful vehicle. It greatly reduces oil use and the associated pollution. This is good for national security and the air we breathe, but is building up the hype around the Volt only guaranteeing that it will be a disappointment?

Below is a graph of the Gartner Hype Cycle. This curve applies to many new technologies and the Extended Range Electric Vehicle certainly qualifies as new tech. The graph shows how a product can become highly anticipated and then not deliver on the wild expectations.

Note that these wild expectations don't even need to be from the company in question. The expectation could be set by the media or word-of-mouth. GM is saying 40 miles all electric and 230 MPG, there is a large portion of the population that are going to take this at face-value and expect it when this car hits the streets.

In hope of setting realistic expectations, here is a reality check, my attempt to cut through the hype.

1) The electric range will be less than 40 miles most of the time. And definitely less than 40 miles if:

• you have a lead foot - fast acceleration eats watt-hours
• your 40 miles includes highway driving - in other EVs, freeway-speed driving decreases the range by about 20%
• there will be some degradation as the batteries age - 80% capacity after 10 years would not surprise me

2) The gasoline mode (CSM) the fuel efficiency will be about 50 MPG. The official CSM MPG has not yet been published, you can expect highway to be lower than city. If you plan to drive the car 200 miles between overnight charges, you will only get about 55 MPGe. That is not bad (unless you expected 230 MPG).

Remember there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. The 230 number might have appeared in one obscure corner of an engineer's spreadsheet, but that does not mean it is what you will really get in daily driving. Much of the media and blogosphere called shenanigans on GM's 230 MPG claims. GM might think this was unfriendly media, but perhaps it has been the best thing that could happen.

More than ever, how you drive will greatly impact your consumption. You can get from 50 to 150 MPGe, still sounds like a marketable (hype reduced) car to me. Throw in foreign oil reduction and you have a car that can appeal to both flag wavers and tree huggers.

Related

"Patriotic Environmentalist", not an Oxymoron

Start-up Carmakers May Blaze Plug-In Trail

The big 3 of the automotive industry are off balance, focused on bail-outs and just keeping the doors open. Customers are demanding something more fuel efficient and eco-friendly. Add to this that battery technology has taken leaps forward in the last decade, driven by consumer electronics and the PC industry and you have an opportunity for start-up car companies that has not existed for 100 years.

The legacy automakers are racing to bring to market the future of automobile travel, but a start-up could beat them to the punch. Coda Automotive has a $45,000, five-passenger, four-door sedan scheduled for the fall. Tesla has 500 Roadsters already delivered and Aptera is planning to ship the Model 2e latter this year.

NPR Story Listen Now

Links:

PIA Plug-in Vehicle Tracker

Chevy Volt to be Sold on eBay

GM will do direct to consumer sales of the Chevy Volt using the online auction giant eBay. The online auction format would allow GM to sell the Volt at a premium without huge dealer markups. This would help GM to recoup the massive investment they have poured into Volt development.

Power is provided by a 16-kWh lithium-ion battery, which enables the Volt to travel up to 40 miles before the gasoline generator kicks in to recharge it.

The Volt should start selling online weeks before it is on the dealers lots with auction winners receiving their vehicles at about the same as the dealers get their first shipments.

DSIRE Launches Solar Site

DSIRE is the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency. It is a large database with incentives for each US state and territory for everything from Appliances to Wind. It is a comprehensive list, but if you are looking for solar information only, it can be overwhelming to comb through heat pumps and front loading washing machines.

Since there is so much solar related information the DSIRE team has now launched the DSIRE Solar site. It includes an interactive US map. You can select PV or solar thermal incentives when using the state-by-state map.

Link: DSIRE Solar

Online Solar Class

I recently published a story about Green Energy Education in Oregon and another about a class in San Francisco. If you are not in one of these areas, below is an Online class that might be of interest to you. This is not an endorsement and I have no affiliation.

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Accredited Online Training for Jobs in Renewable Energy - Allied Schools, Growing Green Careers!

Course offerings put you on the path to an eco-career:
› The Business of Solar
› Introduction to Photovoltaic Systems
› Fundamentals of Green Building

The training will prepare you to enter a variety of industries at the forefront of the green movement - or allow you to branch out on your own as a savvy green business owner.

Focus areas include:

Weatherization & Energy Efficient :: Planning & Land Use
Approximately $4 billion of the Stimulus Package (Recovery Act) was budgeted to renovate public housing nationwide and make the dwellings more energy efficient. Recruitment for individuals with green training is underway.

Travel & Hospitality
Eco-tourism is growing at three times the rate of the tourism sector itself. Hotels, theme parks and a variety of tourist destinations worldwide are seeking experts to help decrease their carbon footprint, save money and promote a greener public persona.

Real Estate
According to a National Association of Home Builder's survey, 74% of home buyers and renters are willing to pay more for green amenities. Real estate salespeople, home inspectors, contractors and property managers have a valuable career opportunity to carve a niche serving green-conscious clients.

Undecided whether a career in the growing green economy is right for you? Global support for a greener world is evident in these eye-opening facts:

• The renewable energy industry grew more than three times as fast as the U.S. economy in 2007.
• Largest growing sectors include: solar thermal, solar photovoltaics, and biofuels.
• President Obama said the US will double its supply of renewable energy by 2012.
• The DoE says Weatherization Assistance provides upgrades to more than 60,000 families every year.

Feel confident about a new career in a flourishing industry and be proud that your efforts will touch generations to come. You can do something uncommon with your future. Allied can help you meet your goals with:

• Emerging Technologies Focus
• 100% Online Course
• Live Student Support
• Nationally Accreditation

Link:
Online PV Course

Photovoltaic System Design and Engineering Classes

A 3-day course on PV system design.

Learn site assessment,& technology selection factors. Get the skills to deliver professional feasibility reports and design drawings.

Held at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, CA
Sep 14-16, 2009
Dec 7-9, 2009

For more info:
http://sunengineer.com/workshops.htm

UK EV Sprinter Van Comes to US

Four major US corporations and two utility companies recently took delivery of the Smith Newton, the largest road-going electric truck in North America. Coca-Cola, Staples, Frito-Lay, AT&T, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) are the first Newton customers in the USA.

The trucks, by Smith Electric Vehicles in North East England, were handed over at an official Capitol Hill ceremony.

Darren Kell of Smith Electric Vehicles, said: "The electric vehicle technology delivered to these customers today can readily be delivered to fleets in every major town and city in North America. The Smith Newton provides depot-based truck fleets with a realistic, zero emissions transport solution that both lowers greenhouse gas emissions and helps improve air quality in our urban centers."

Powered by the latest Lithium-Ion batteries and a 120kW electric motor, the Smith Newton has a top speed of 50mph (80km) and a range in excess of 100 miles (160km). It can be recharged in six hours. Newton was launched in the UK by Smith Electric Vehicles in 2006. It is produced in North America by Smith Electric Vehicles US Corporation, based in Kansas City, Missouri.

Missouri Senator Kit Bond said: "These next generation electric vehicles Smith is producing demonstrate exactly the kind of technology we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and end our dependence on foreign oil. Missouri is a growing leader in exciting new battery technology, making it an ideal partner for all-electric vehicle manufacturing."

Three models are produced with gross vehicle weights of 7,500kg, 10,000kg and 12,000kg, providing a payload of up to 7,300kg.

Via Smith press release

Green Energy Education

The recent rise in unemployment has many people looking for a new job and in some cases, a new career. The growing green energy area is attracting many people entering the job market.

The Obama administration wants to create 5 million "green collar" jobs in the next decade. Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski has tied Oregon's economic future to the renewable energy industries, saying renewable energy is the "entrance to a new economy."

Oregon's community colleges have responded with courses to prepare for careers in green-tech & sustainable energy. You can find courses on solar installation, solar manufacturing, wave energy, sustainable forestry, public policy, and more.

If you are looking for solar classes, Oregon's colleges could be the affordable answer.

Central Oregon Community College in Bend has programs to train students in weatherization and solar photovoltaics. "The aim in the training is to match growth and need in local industry and take workers, in the short term, to match industry," said Kathy Walsh, vice president for instruction at COCC.

Portland Community College has developed industry partnerships with SolarWorld, Intel, SpectraWatt, Enxco, XsunX and Solaicx. PCC has added an associate's degree in renewable energy systems and a program for maintenance & manufacturing technicians in solar voltaic technology.

"Classes are almost full every term and prospective students keep calling the microelectronics technology department showing an interest in the field," said Dorina Cornea-Hasegan, the department chairwoman. The school is prepared for a flood of students enrolling in the renewable energy systems course this fall.

The renewable energy technology program at Columbia Gorge Community College in The Dalles has seen growth of wind farms on the rolling hills of the Columbia River Gorge. The school expects 500 to 600 technicians will be needed by 2011 to tend to the electronic and mechanical systems on the 400-foot-tall structures.

It is never to late to reinvent yourself.

Via OregonLive.com

World's Largest Solar Highway in Oregon

Oregon was the first state in the US to install solar panels along the highway. It started early in 2008 when Allison Hamilton, an Oregon Department of Transportation project director, watched an episode of the PBS show NOVA that showed solar panels next to the German autobahn.

"Why not do that here?" she thought and in December of 2008, the I-5/205 interchange photovoltaic system powered on.

With business and utility partners, the project has been a big success. ODOT is getting renewable energy at no additional cost, Portland General Electric has added solar to their wind dominated renewable portfolio and in return for paying for most of the upfront costs, U.S. Bank gets the tax credits for 5 years.

With a successful project in the bag, ODOT is looking to "replicate this in spades, and we'll get lower cost per kilowatt," Hamilton said. Oregon now looks to build a 3 megawatt array, the largest solar highway project in the world, bigger than the 2.8 megawatt project recently announced in Germany. Ken Worcester, the city’s parks director, said the solar highway offers an opportunity to tap into the state’s economic stimulus funding. The business and utility partnerships are still being formed for this new project.

The array will be installed near I-205 in West Linn at the site of an old rest-stop area that was closed in 1995. Rows of 17,000 solar panels would stretch 2,000 feet across a terraced hillside of state-owned land. This area is currently being used for heavy-duty equipment storage, gravel piles, wood debris and work sheds. The area is visible from across the Willamette River from the town of Oregon City. I would prefer to look at a solar array than a gravel pile.

Many citizens of West Linn were concerned about a path that was planned to accompany the solar array. “I’m not in opposition to solar at all,” said Bill Weber, who lives on Riverknoll Way. “I am totally in opposition to the trail.” Other residents expressed concern that a path would invite crime into their backyard. The proposed trail would connect to a network of trails. By crossing Salamo Road, walkers could reach another trail through a savanna of rare white oak trees and then connect to another trail in North Willamette Park, completing a giant loop.

Michelle Wittenbrink, a member of the city’s Sustainability Advisory Board, said she hopes the prospective trail won’t become a roadblock to the solar highway. The city has until December to apply for funding for the path.

“This is really a unique opportunity, and it’s the right thing to do,” said Jeff Treece, Marylhurst president. “It improves livability for all of us.”

While this project planning is underway, Oregon is not sitting still. They have begun site evaluations at the Baldock rest area off southbound I-5 in Wilsonville for a 3rd ODOT solar array.


Links:
West Linn City Council supports ODOT solar highway

West Linn Solar Highway FAQ

Solar Highway Benefits West Linn

Oregon Solar Highway

Oregon City Solar

The Oregon Way Solar Highway support slides

Pope's Bavaria Home Solar Powered

Pope Benedict XVI's home in Bavaria near Regensburg, Germany, is now solar powered.

The 580 square feet of photovoltaic solar panels were donated and installed on the house's rooftop on July 31st. The panels will generate about 5,800 kWh of energy per year.

The panels will fully power the home and feed surplus to the grid. With Germany's generous feed-in tariffs, the surplus electricity should produce an income of about $3,500 a year. The money will go to job skills training for disadvantaged youth.

In other green pope news, the pope is scheduled to meet with race-car drivers participating in an "eco-rally" in mid-September. The 248-mile race will begin Sept. 19 and end Sept. 20 from the Republic of San Marino to the Vatican.

The drivers will be racing 20 cars that run on so-called clean energy, such as methane or liquefied petroleum gas. Some of the cars will be flexible-fuel vehicles in which engines can run on a number of alternative fuels and some will be electric vehicles.

Link

Portland, Green and Weird

Portland Oregon is an eco-friendly place. As Gregory Hancock of Grid Insight put it, "Portland is a progressive city of readers, bicyclists, roller derby fans, skeptics, car-haters, weirdos, hipster alt-conformists, ex-loggers, beer snobs, extreme endurance athletes, eco-nuts, and, perhaps most importantly, a lot of extremely talented engineers."

Despite being in a rainy corner of the country, Portland ranks among the highest in solar power production.

Want a 10'x20' storage unit for your old junk? In Portland, you can soon get a LEED certified, solar powered storage unit.

Sustainlane has labeled Portland the #1 Sustainable City for multiple years running. Popular Science agreed and named Portland the 2008 greenest city in the US. Among Portland's secrets are growth boundaries that restrain sprawl and smart planning to create walkable, bike friendly communities. It has light rail and street cars to get around in and a Solar powered trees illuminating one of the many stops. If walking, biking, or the train cannot get you there, the city has the highest per capita hybrid ownership of any place in the US. Here in Portland, AAA roadside service will even assist you on a bike.

Portlanders seem happy to be a little different. Breaking from the status quo, whether for organized zombie walks or city wide pillow fights is a way of life in stump town. A marching band with stilt-walkers, unicycles, fire eaters, puppets, flag twirlers, burlesque dancers, clown antics, and acrobatics or a donut shop with voodoo doll pastries pierced by pretzels and oozing raspberry filling are just a couple of the eclectic things you can find.

Finding ways to live life a little better is another detour from the ordinary. In Portland, you can attend a solar power convention in a convention center powered by solar. A Southeast neighborhood worked together create a solar thermal heater that heats all the homes on the block. It is part of the eco-block concept of sustainable urban planning. A gray water recycling bill is in the legislature and the city is adopting a community energy plan in Portland's North Pearl District.

You can drink a beer that is solar brewed (and it is good microbrew, I'll add). There is even a solar powered public toilet or the solar loo as it is referred to locally. The green creds continue at a gym where your spin class or treadmill miles generate electricity. The largest solar manufacturing plant in North America is in the Portland suburb of Hillsboro. You can see solar projects all over the city here.

You can even find a Portland company that recycles wind turbines (double green score). The city has dozens of electric vehicle charging stations in place and has plans to install over 500 of them around the city and another 500 around the state as they court Think, Nissan, Mitsubishi, BYD, & Better Place to the Portland market.

Free Geek is a Portland based non-profit that keeps technology equipment out of the landfill. Free Cycle was not a Portland start-up, but quick to latch on to good ideas, Portland soon became the most active free cycle city. Speaking of used items, Powell's "City of Books" is a musty must see with a 100kW PV system on the warehouse roof powering much of the building.

You can even find a K-8 school that emphasizes environmentalism.

Portland has plans to get CO2 emissions down to 1990 levels by the end of 2010. One milestone along that path was recently met. The city now has in excess of 5 megawatts of renewable energy scattered throughout the city.

This was not done by a new wind farm or giant solar power plant. Instead this is the collective capacity of 370 customers that have PV or small scale wind turbines. It’s enough to power more than 450 homes and offset 3,325 tons of carbon annually.

Solar installations have jumped in recent years and surplus energy is exported to the electrical grid, adding clean, renewable energy into the mix for everyone on the grid.

Let's hope that other cities can learn to be a little more weird and not be afraid to try something new.

Links:

Beyond Growth: Sustainability And Economic Development

Is Portland green enough for BYD?

Veggie Portland

5 Great Green Ways US Cities Are Leading by Example

Powell's Books 100kW Solar (2)

Intel's 100kW PV

Solar I-5 (2)

Biking in Portland Video

Solar Growing in Portland

Sherwood Police go EV

Energy Efficient Oregon

Green Beer is not Just for St Patrick's Day

Portland to be Plug-in Car Capital

Portland Reducing CO2

Mayor Adam's Goal to Make Portland Sustainable

Portland Green Loans

Project Get Ready Portland

Plugged in Portland

Cheaper Summer Electricity

July 2009 had record setting high temperatures in the Northwest US. Sunny skies and the absence of onshore breezes set the stage for the most severe heat wave in the region since 1981. Record highs were set in Portland and Seattle and many places in-between.

July 27: Portland International Airport (PDX) hit 103f, breaking the old record set in 1958. Vancouver WA also hit 103f to beat the 100f record set in 1998 by three degrees.

July 28th was 106f, breaking the 1998 record and setting a new all-time high temperature for any day of the year in Portland.

With all the heat, our air conditioner has been running more than ever and we just got our July electricity bill and it is lower than December. All the heat means that the solar panels have been pumping out the kilowatts. Which is more than enough to offset the seasonal use of the AC.

Before getting the solar panels, our summer electricity bills were 2-3X of our winter bills. Our electricity bill was still not zero. Remember the solar panels are sized to fuel my electric truck driving, not to take us off-grid. But it is nice that we no longer have spikes in the summer electric bills.

Solar Powered Laser Prism

Fifty years ago the state of Oregon celebrated her centennial (100 years old). As part of the celebration, at the center of the Oregon State Fair, there was a 75-foot tower spewing forth a giant natural gas-fueled flame.

This year Oregon turns 150 (sesquicentennial) and the fair planners want to do something equally monumental. However, in today's eco-conscious world, a giant flame for a gratuitous purpose is irresponsible and would elicit more complaints than awe.

What to do? Reinvent the flaming tower with a modern twist.

This year a permanent tower will be erected in the fairgrounds. The tower will be made from donated reclaimed steel, and the natural gas flame will be replaced with solar-powered lasers and prisms. The iconic tower is expected to be a landmark within the fairgrounds.

The tower is under construction right now and is planned to power on by the start of the fair on August 28th.

The Oregon State Fair is holding a contest to name the tower. You can submit your name suggestions until August 17th by e-mailing them to: Dani.Gerber@state.or.us.

The Oregon State Fair planners will then select their favorite 10 suggestions. On opening day, the top ten names will be unveiled at the tower and fair goers can vote on their favorite. The applicant whose name suggestion wins will receive a Pendleton Woolen Mills blanket and recognition on the Oregon State Fair’s website.

If you submit any ideas for the tower name, please leave a note here. It would be cool if one of our name suggestions were selected.

Via Salem News

Nissan LEAF EV

Nissan Motors recently unveiled the Nissan LEAF. The LEAF is a medium-size hatchback electric car.

100% Electric, Zero Emission!

Don't confuse the LEAF with a hybrid (HEV) or a plug-in hybrid (PHEV). It is a pure battery powered electric vehicle (EV). The LEAF does not have a built in generator like the Chevy Volt, so there is *no* tailpipe at all.

It's slated for launch in late 2010 in the United States, Europe, and Japan. In the US it will first be sold in select markets (CA, OR, WA, AZ, TN, NC) with the rest of the country soon following.

Here are the vital quick facts:

• Range is 100 miles in standard driving conditions – some highway, some city
• Targeted top speed of 85-90MPH
• Price will be in the range of a typical family sedan
• Recharge rate is ~13MPH from 220/240V outlet (8 hour for full charge)
• No published 0-60 time yet, but Nissan claims it accelerates like a V6
• 90 kW lithium-ion battery pack
• 80 kW electric motor with 280 Nm (equal to 107 HP and 206 lb-ft of Torque)
• Buy/lease of battery pack is not finalized
• Even in its dirtiest form, the grid is 60% cleaner than gas and it will get cleaner over time
• Comfortably seats 5 adults with a wheelbase of over 106 inches
• Innovative "connected car" features

As you can see, many of the details are still not published. Vital facts like the price, final top speed, & battery ownership model and life are still not public. Nissan has a countdown to the next announcement on Aug 6th that may answer some of these questions.

Nissan has said that pricing information will not be released until closer to start of sales in late 2010; however, the company expects the car to be competitively priced in the range of a well-equipped C-segment vehicle. Additionally, the LEAF is expected to qualify for state and federal tax breaks and incentives. With no oil changes or gas fill-ups, the LEAF is designed to be friendly on your wallet as well as the environment.

The "affordable" cost of the car is likely to mean that the batteries are not going to be included. Rather, they can be leased at a price that is less than you would pay for gasoline each month. This has the advantage that after the lease is up, you can just lease a new battery pack and not have to worry about battery longevity. And if the technology continues to advance, five years later you should be able to lease a new pack that gets 150 miles of range.

"Nissan LEAF is a tremendous accomplishment - one in which all Nissan employees can take great pride," said Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn. "We have been working tirelessly to make this day a reality - the unveiling of a real-world car that has zero - not simply reduced - emissions. It's the first step in what is sure to be an exciting journey - for people all over the world, for Nissan and for the industry."

Nissan is heavily marketing the car as zero emission. It is true that there is no tailpipe. But the source of the electricity cannot be ignored, the so-called "long tailpipe" back to the smokestack. It should be no surprise that this blog promotes the use of renewable energy to 'fuel' EVs. A solar PV system and an EV are a great combination. However, even if you don't have solar panels or a wind turbine, EV charging can still be done such that it does not burden the grid.

Consumer research demonstrates that 100 miles satisfies the daily driving requirements of more than 70% of worldwide consumers' daily driving needs. The LEAF can be charged up to 80% of its full capacity in just under 30 minutes with a quick charger. Charging at home through a 200V outlet is estimated to take approximately eight hours - ample time to enable an overnight refresh for consumer and car alike.

The feature that I find most innovative is that the LEAF is an "online car". You can connect to your car from a PC, iPhone, or any browser and turn on the environmental system. Great for hot or cold days to get your car ready to go before you have to get in. And if you pre-heat or cool the car while it is plugged in, that is less work that the batteries will have to do once the car is on the road.

The online system can also tell you the charge state of the batteries at anytime. It also keeps the network of charging stations up to date. This is going to be important over the next few years as thousands of charging stations will be installed all around the world.

The car can also be programmed to charge at specified times. This is a great feature for overnight charging if you have on-peak vs off-peak electricity rates. You can plug it in when you get home and it will wait till 10PM to start charging.

"The IT system is a critical advantage," says Tooru ABE, Chief Product Specialist. "We wanted this vehicle to be a partner for the driver and an enhancement for the passengers. We also wanted this vehicle to help create a zero-emission community, and these IT features will help make that possible."

I was lucky enough to get to meet the LEAF's program manager and a few Nissan VPs last year. The feature that I recommended was charging station information integrated into the navigation system. They have done this and more by showing the "reachable area" and nearby charging stations. This will make it clear to see if your destination is within the "reachable area" and if not, where you can juice-up.

For some consumers, the LEAF will be the perfect match, and the only car they will need. For others, the LEAF will be a logical addition to the family fleet - the optimal choice for the daily commuting and errands, for example. EV driving can also be supplemented with car club membership like Zip Car or rental if longer range is only occasionally needed. The savings on gas, insurance and maintenance can more than cover the additional cost of membership or rental.

The LEAF is the first in Nissan's forthcoming line of EVs. Nissan expects to be selling several EV models by 2012. The LEAF will be manufactured at Oppama, Japan, with additional capacity planned for Smyrna, Tennessee. The batteries are being produced in Zama, Japan, with additional capacity planned for the USA, the UK, Portugal, and potentially other sites.

Links:

Nissan LEAF FAQ

Nissan LEAF website

July 2009 PV & EV Report

The 7th month of this year pushed our solar energy production total over the 6 megawatt-hour milestone. The month started at 5788kWh and ended at 6404kWh. This nearly puts us half way to the 7 megawatt-hour mark.

July produced 618kWh, just edging out May's 616kWh. This makes July the best month of 2009. July 2008 had 636kWh and still stands as the best month of overall production for our system.

The month ended with a heatwave, yet July 14th was the best day of the month with 25kWh. The hot days yielded a string of days in the 20kWh range. 20kWh is not bad, but not record setting because the heat reduces the PV panels efficiency. That is why June of this year and last year each carry their year's best day.

As for EV driving this month, I logged 281 miles using an estimated 200kWh. The PV system generated more than 3 times the energy used for EV driving. This further increased the surplus in net energy for the year as you can see in the chart below.