Green Wombat

photos: green wombat

At a Silicon Valley alternative energy summit attended by 300 tech execs, local government officials and Sen. Barbara Boxer, PG&E (PCG) today demo’d the first plug-in hybrid car that can power the electricity grid.  The modified Toyota Prius was plugged into a into a standard PG&E meter outside Advanced Micro Devices’s Sunnyvale headquarters. As the car’s lithium ion battery powered a bank of lights and a portable heater, the meter began to run backwards. PG&E envisions hundreds of thousands of plug-in hybrid cars being charged at night, when electricity demand is low, with power produced by wind farms and other renewable sources.  Then on hot afternoons, when demand peaks and electricity rates soar, a plug-in hybrid parked at the owner’s workplace would feed the grid to minimize the use of greenhouse gas-emitting power plants. "At
250,000 cars you’re reaching the equivalent of a small power plant," PG&E exec Bob Howard told Green Wombat as the blue Prius with yellow racing stripes was surrounded by television crews. PG&E is developing vehicle-to-grid technology that would identify where a plug-in hybrid car is being charged or providing power to the grid and then bill or credit the owner accordingly. For instance, you might agree to sell PG&E power from your car when electricity prices reach a certain point during the day. You leave your car plugged in at work and when that price point is reached, the grid begins drawing power from the car’s battery, leaving enough electricity for the commute home.  "This makes the electricity grid more like the Internet," Howard says. "Our dream is to see something like this by 2012." Plug-in hybrids could also be used to keep a home’s lights on during a power outage and to help avoid blackouts.

The PG&E Prius uses a 9-kilowatt battery that lets it run longer on electricity while relying less on its gasoline engine. That means the car gets the equivalent of about 100 miles per gallon. The California utility paid $40,000 convert a standard Prius and expects that
production models would cost $5,000 to $6,000 more than a conventional hybrid. However, the lifespan of the car’s lithium ion battery is a big unknown. PG&E’s best guess is that it would last between six and eight years before needing to be replaced. One PG&E official said that the utility might consider buying back old batteries, which still have storage capability, and using them as backup power sources.  Monday’s event was the latest effort in a campaign to persuade automakers to put plug-in hybrids into production. General Motors (GM) has said it will begin selling a plug-in hybrid by 2010. PG&E has been talking to Toyota (TM) and other automakers about manufacturing plug-in hybrids and is collaborating with Ford (F) to develop a PHEV truck for the utility’s fleet. PG&E is also converting two DaimlerChrysler (DCX) vans. "We believe it is possible to merge the electricity grid with plug-in hybrid vehicles," Howard told the assembled tech execs.

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The U.S. Department of Energy said today it would hand out up to $14 million to promote the development of batteries for plug-in hybrid vehicles. And the beneficiaries of this federal booty? A Silicon Valley startup toiling on the next Tesla, perhaps? Of course not. The money is going to the United States Advanced Battery Consortium, which is an alliance of the people who brought you the planet-warming, gas-guzzling SUV – Ford (F), General Motors (GM) and DaimlerChrysler (DCX). The former Big Three are kicking in another $14 million for the effort. To be fair, the consortium is soliciting proposals from outside companies to develop a plug-in hybrid battery – the feds want one that would allow a car to travel 40 miles on a charge. Still, the idea of taxpayer money going to Detroit automakers to research ways of killing off the SUV is a bit like writing a check to Peabody Coal to develop solar power plants. And as we recall, back in the ’90s GM developed a battery that let an electric car go more than 100 miles on a single charge. But we all know who killed the EV1.

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What do Silicon Valley’s leading business organization, the Rainforest Action Network and California’s largest utility have in common? They’re teaming up to pressure  automakers to produce plug-in hybrid vehicles as a way to fight global warming and reduce U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group and its new allies in Plug-In Bay Area got together yesterday in Palo Alto to launch a campaign to get companies to place "soft orders" for plug-in hybrids, or PHEVs, to show Toyota (TM), Honda (HMC) General Motors, (GM), Ford (F) and other auto manufacturers that demand exists for cars that can get 100 miles to the gallon by using a rechargeable battery that extends the vehicle’s ability to run on electricity. SVLG’s membership roster includes tech powerhouses and green-leaning companies like Google (GOOG), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Yahoo (YHOO). "The specific action we are taking is to promote PHEVs among our 210 member companies, urging them to support these efforts to accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids through ‘soft’ fleet orders, employee incentives, education, demonstration projects, and support of favorable legislation," SVLG spokesman Duffy Jennings told Green Wombat. So far, the Bay Area cities of Berkeley and Alameda as well as Marin County have placed soft orders – commitments to buy –  for 160 fleet PHEVs, according to Plug-In Bay Area. (Yes, I know, that’s a shocker.) That might not get Detroit’s attention but it may be harder to look the other way if thousands of soft orders starting coming in from Silicon Valley. Plug-In Bay Area is part of the national Plug-In Partners campaign.

Green Wombat happened to watch Who Killed the Electric Car? last night and was struck by just how much things have changed since GM sent the last all-electric EV1 to the junkyard
in 2005. The EV1 owed its birth in the 1990s to a California regulatory agency – the
California Air Resources Board – which mandated that 10 percent of cars sold in the Golden State be zero-emission vehicles by 2003. General Motors offered the EV1 for lease in California while it and other automakers fought to scrap the zero-emission rule. They succeeded and GM then refused to renew the EV1 leases, claiming there was no consumer demand for electric cars despite the EV1’s vociferous fans. The movie’s conclusion: the auto industry, Big Oil, the government and indifferent consumers were guilty of killing the electric car.

Flash forward to today. Environmentalists, tech companies and electric utilities like PG&E
(PCG) – a member of Plug-In Bay Area – are banding together to create the market for plug-in hybrids first, pre-empting the inevitable arguments from reluctant automakers that there’s no demand for such vehicles. After all, it’s much easier to argue against Big Government and "unfair regulation" than it is to to fight your own potential customers and the free market.

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photo originally uploaded by flexkramer

The electric utility industry’s blossoming love affair with plug-in hybrid cars continues. A study conducted by Xcel Energy (XEL) – a Minneapolis-based utility that serves 8 midwest and western states – and the U.S. government’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has found that filling Colorado’s roads with plug-in hybrids could cut vehicle greenhouse gas emissions in half without igniting a power plant building boom. Provided, that is, utilities construct so-called smart power grids that charge plug-in hybrids when electricity demand is low. A smart grid can also let car owners feed power back to the grid during peak demand when their vehicles are idle, say, during the work day. "To make a dent in issues like climate change and dependence on foreign oil, the grid must change," said Xcel Energy chief administrative officer Ray Gogel in a statement. "Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles have the potential to help us better use renewable and other non-traditional energy sources while creating a grid that is more interconnected, balanced and reliable.”  In the study, a NREL computer model simulated the addition of large numbers of plug-in hybrids equipped with a 9-kilowatt battery to the Colorado market, predicting their electricity usage and greenhouse gas emissions under real-world driving conditions. "How much would be saved in vehicle emissions depends on when drivers charge their cars," Xcel said. "Incentive programs may induce customers to charge … at certain times and will help Xcel Energy minimize emissions and operating costs as well as incremental utility infrastructure investment."

Plug-in hybrids use long-lasting rechargeable batteries so the car relies less on its gas engine. While some companies offer kits to convert traditional hybrid cars like the Prius into plug-ins, automakers have yet to bring a so-called PHEV to market. However, California utility PG&E (PCG) has talked to Toyota (TM) about producing a plug-in hybrid and General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) have such cars on the drawing board. PG&E is developing smart grid technology that would detect when and where the cars are plugged in, charging their owners variable rates depending on the time of day and also allowing the cars to return power to the grid. At last week’s Cleantech Forum in San Francisco, Hal LaFlash, PG&E’s director of renewable energy planning and policy, noted that wind farms tend to generate peak power in the evenings when electricity demand falls. "We can use off-peak loads from wind farms to charge vehicles," he said. "A shift to electric vehicle could complement renewables."

Utilities’ promotion of plug-in hybrids makes is a winner for the industry on several counts.

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photo by KnutBry/TinAgent/Think Technology
Green Wombat popped into the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco this afternoon, where venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and others are confabbing about the latest trends and opportunities in green technology. Among the more intriguing companies in town was Norway’s Think. The automaker is building a two-seater electric runabout with a range of about 115 miles (185 kilometers) called the Think City. What’s cutting edge about Think is not so much its technology as its business model.  The company plans to sell its cars but lease the battery for either a monthly or by-the-mile fee. "By leasing the battery the consumer doesn’t take the risk over the unknowns of battery life," said Think president Jan-Olaf Willums. Presumably, as battery technology advances, Think drivers can swap their power plants. "Our returns come from both selling the car and the services for which the car is the platform," he added. Among those services is a package that will include on-the-road WiFi,  GPS navigation and a media player. "It Will be most IT oriented car on wheels," Willums claimed. He said Think will also offer short-term car sharing and a program to offset greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity used to power the vehicles. "We’re moving from a car concept to a mobility concept. People look more and more at the full cost of ownership."

The company closed a $25 million round of financing earlier this month and expects to complete an additional $50 million round in a few months, which will allow it to begin selling cars in Europe by September, according to Willums. He said the company expects to start
selling the Think City in the United States in 2008. The company launched in 1990 and Ford (F) acquired the startup in 1999. After producing about 1,000 electric cars, Ford sold Think to a Kamkorp Microelectronics. That company in turn sold Think to its current owners, a group of Norwegian investors led by Willums.  So how does Think think it will succeed when automotive giants like Toyota (TM), Honda (HMC), General Motors (GM) and DaimlerChrysler (DCX) argue that the all-electric car is not ready for prime time? Think’s answer is, dare we say it, think differently.

UPDATE: See Green Wombat’s feature story on Think ("Have You Driven a Fjord Lately?" in the August issue of Business 2.0 magazine.

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originally uploaded by cluestream

On the day that the world’s climate scientists released a report concluding definitively that humans are the cause of global warming, Bank of America (BAC) Friday announced the nation’s largest corporate rebate program to encourage employees to switch to planet-friendly hybrid cars like the Toyota (TM) Prius, Honda (HMC) Civic and Ford (F) Escape. More than 185,000 Bank
of America workers in the United States will be eligible for the $3,000 reimbursement if they buy a low-emission, fuel-efficient hybrid. The offer expands a pilot program launched last June for employees in Boston, Charlotte and Los Angeles. BofA spokesperson Eloise Hale told Green Wombat that the financial giant
won’t disclose how many workers have bought hybrids so far but noted that purchases have more than quadrupled since the pilot program began.  While offering the largest program of its kind, Bank of America isn’t the first company to make hybrid cars a fringe benefit.  Google (GOOG), for instance, gives its employees $5,000 toward the purchase of
fuel-efficient cars. Silicon Valley software firm Hyperion (HYSL) also will put $5,000 worth of green in workers’ bank accounts if they ditch the gas guzzler for a super fuel-efficient car. In Green Wombat’s Prius-clogged hometown of Berkeley, Clif Bar in December began offering $5,000 to workers who buy a biodiesel-fueled vehicle or a hybrid. Meanwhile, outdoor gear company Timberland (TBL) hands over $3,000 to employees who go hybrid.

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photo originally uploaded by Alaina B

It’s the autumn of 2008 and we’re at a Southern California auto dealership. A young couple is shopping for a new car. "Honey, the 2009 Hummer H6 Terminator really rocks," gushes the guy. His wife stands on her tiptoes and reads the Cal-EPA label affixed to the window. "Yeah, but the Hummer’s Global Warming Index rating is just terrible, especially compared to the new Toyota (TM) Happy Dolphin plug-in hybrid," she says.  "Let’s go look at the dealer across the street."

Environmental officials hope that scene becomes common when California cars begin sporting greenhouse gas emission labels alongside the familiar EPA mileage estimate. On February 15, the California Air Resources Board convenes a workshop to hash out the label’s design and the details of what it will say. The meeting is part of the implementation of a 2005 law that requires all new California cars and trucks, beginning with the 2009 model year, to carry a prominent label listing a Global Warming Index rating. The label must compare "the emissions of global warming gases from the vehicle with the average projected emissions of global warming gases from all vehicles of the same model year," according to the law. The label must also contrast a car’s greenhouse gas emissions with the vehicle that model year that contributes the least to global warming. (According to carbon credit company TerraPass, a 2007 Hummer H3 driven 12,000 miles a year spews 13,812 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; a Toyota Prius emits 4,226 pounds. A Toyota Land Cruiser, however, is hotter than a Hummer, pumping out 15,651 pounds of planet warming gases.)

The intention of global warming labeling, of course, is to encourage consumers to buy earth friendly transportation – and for General Motors (GM), Ford (F), Honda (HMC), DaimlerChrysler (DCX) and other automakers to compete to have their car listed as the lowest emission vehicle on each label that will appear on some 2 million cars sold every year in California. We can already hear the voice-over on the car commercials: "Your contribution to global warming may vary…."

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photo from calcars

Not content to wait for Detroit and Tokyo to get with the plug-in car program, the California Energy Commission has allocated $3 million to establish a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Research Center at the University of California, Davis. The center is charged with developing plug-in hybrid technologies and promoting their commercial viability. Plug-In Hybrids use larger and higher capacity batteries than conventional electric-gasoline hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius. The rechargeable batteries allow them to travel further without using the gas engine, nearly doubling the car’s fuel efficiency and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. In California, vehicles account for about 40 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and plug-in hybrids are seen as a key in combating global warming. As Green Wombat reported earlier this week, a U.S. Department of Energy study found the nation has sufficient off-peak electricity capacity to replace 84 percent of its vehicle fleet with plug-in hybrids. California Energy Commission officials weren’t immediately available for comment but Green Wombat will provide an update once we get more details on the plans for the plug-in hybrid research center.

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Wondering where the hell you’re going to find a biodiesel filling
station at 10 p.m. on Saturday night? Your plug-in hybrid running low
on electrons far from home? One of the big challenges of driving an alt energy car is finding fuel. It’s not like there’s a compressed natural gas station on every corner, even here in the green car capital of California. But where there’s a wiki there’s a way, and the MapMuse service plots the location of various renewable energy fueling stations across the country, from biodiesel and ethanol to hydrogen (few and far between). Just enter your zip code or destination and the map will show the nearest locations, whether the station is public or private and other info. MapMuse is interactive, letting the public plot the latest additions to the alt energy network. (Fuel station owners can also pay $10 a year for listings.) The Washington, D.C. company started the service six months ago but is now calling on consumers to provide updates.

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photos originally uploaded by xwelhamite

The United States could replace 180 million cars and trucks – 84 percent of its fleet – with plug-in hybrids without taxing the existing power grid, according to a new U.S. Department of Energy study released today. That could mean a substantial cut in greenhouse gas emissions, even with a big increase in electricity production from coal-fired power plants. That’s because eliminating global warming emissions from individual power plants is far easier and cheaper to do than from hundreds of millions of vehicles, concluded the report’s authors at the energy department’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richmond, Washington.  The report did not consider electricity generated from nuclear, hydro or renewable energy sources when calculating the grid’s capacity to support plug-in hybrids. But if the U.S. made a push to switch to plug-in hybrid vehicles, the authors predicted the jump in electricity demand would promote the construction of solar power stations and wind farms to replace aging coal plants. Another big benefit: smog levels in cities like Los Angeles would drop dramatically if the nation plugged in. To create a plug-in hybrid you swap out the car’s battery for a bigger rechargeable lithium ion version so it relies much less on its gas engine. "Since gasoline consumption accounts for 73 percent of imported oil, it is intriguing to think of the trade and national security benefits if our vehicles switched from oil to electrons," PNNL energy researcher Rob Pratt said in a statement. The researchers said that adding "smart grid" technology would allow utilities to detect when hybrid cars are plugged in so they could be charged only in off-peak hours. Pacific Gas & Electric, one of the nation’s largest utilities,  is working on such a system. See Green Wombat’s A Plug-In Prius that Powers Your House.

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