California getting five sites for charging electric cars (between LA & SF)

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2009/09/68499711/1

If you own an electric car with a practical range of about 200 miles like a Tesla roadster and you really, really want to make the 430-mile trek between Los Angeles and San Francisco, you'll be cheered to know a bank and an electric charging outfit are combining to make the trip a little easier.

Rabobank and SolarCity are installing electric car charging stations in four of the bank's parking lots in central California. All will be off Highway 101, the more scenic of the two major routes between the two metropolises. The chargers will work in about a third of the time of other charging stations, but it still doesn't sound like an exactly lightning-quick way to top off when you want to stay on the road.

“This charging station corridor demonstrates an important component of SolarCity’s vision for a carbon-free lifestyle. We’re combining clean, renewable solar power with all-electric transportation, allowing drivers to travel through California with zero emissions,” said SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive. SolarCity has installed more than 100 solar home charging stations for owners of the Tesla electric sports car, like the one in the photo.

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EVs for long-distance travel. It just doesn't make sense.

Years ago, back in the 80s, a shopping center in San Luis Obispo installed a couple of charging stations in their parking lot. Nobody ever used them, as far as I know, even though there were a few EVs in town. I knew a couple of the EV owners and they said they had no need for mall charging stations, since they had plenty of range for around-town, etc.

The key to widespread use of EVs for general transportation is going to be extending the range of these vehicles to something like 500 miles, which is typical of a day's drive for most people. When they do that, and every motel in the country offers charging stations, then it'll make sense to have an EV as your only vehicle. Until then, EVs will be limited to local use for most owners.

Many of the batteries being considered offer the ability to recharge rapidly - for example 80% in 10 minutes.

The interim solution looks to be the 'series hybrid' configuration that backstops the batteries with a gasoline engine to provide electricity for long trips. This meets the distance need while still providing the benefit of electric drive for most of the typical driver's annual needs.

Stop once for a few hours to recharge, then drive another 250 and you've got your 500.

The Tesla is also only first generation, as technology progresses, cars will charge faster and/or have longer range. The problem with longer range is that it costs more for the batteries and they take longer to charge. So you need to balance range against availability of charging stations. If we had stations every 50 miles and fast recharge, you wouldn't need 500 mile range EVs. A few hundred would be more than adequate.

so instead of stopping to recharge for hours on end, you go into a service station, they pop your battery out, put in a "fresh" one, and you go on your way. Meanwhile, they charge the old battery for a few hours and put it in a different car a few hours later as a "fresh" battery. :shrug:

Here's the site:

http://www.betterplace.com/

One thing about battery swaps is getting auto manufacturers to standardize on specific sizes.

so we could have our personal vehicles once we got to our destination city. I see truck cargo carriers transported this way. One of the most cost effective ways to travel when here and there are miles apart is by way of the rails so this would only be an extension of that. I wouldn't mind driving down to the train station and have an attendant load my vehicle onto the back of flatbed cars and us taking a seat in the cars designated for people to arrive at our destination at the same time. It would also be possible to change our minds in route and at the next stop disembark with our autos for some sightseeing or whatever.

I'd much rather hang out in the club car than sit behind the wheel.

I wonder if they could develop trains that make loading/unloading autos fast and cheap.

I do see trains playing a much larger role in our future. Trains are idea for ferrying our produce and manufactured goods around so why not for us too along with our favorite EV's. Every time I see the truck trailers piggy backed on the train cars I think, man o man we need to be doing more of that. I think the amount of green house gases produced would be much less by doing this this way too.

... but whether they _will_ with you is another question ...

I've not tried this (prefer to just use the passenger Eurostar instead)
but have had several friends & family members praising it:

http://gouk.about.com/od/gettingtotheuk/p/ChannelTunnel.htm

:hi:

'Smart Roads' or 'Smart Transportation' refers to an integrated system of roads, sensors and autos. Two particular areas of benefit would be much better traffic flow through congested areas and the ability to take over long distance driving tasks. Most of these (now not so) futuristic imaginings picture cars being designed to link together so that those with similar destinations can share the propulsion load and reduce wind drag.

I too like long rides on trains. Commuter trains can suck but on longer trips you can meet and get to know some interesting people.

but a friend and I did jump in a box car to get across the desert between barstow and needles years ago and let me tell you that was a mistake. I had never before or since stopped backed up and stopped again then go forward stop back up stop go forward stop back up stop so many times in my life in the same amount of time. the thing of it is the boxcar we were in was empty except for us and there is nothing to hold on to inside there or if there is we didn't find it in the dark but anyway when that train stopped it slowed down progressively faster then all of a sudden from a mile per hour or so it would come to a halt, needless to say we would go sliding from one end to the other each time. By the time we got off that thing we were both black from head to feet, I mean black with what looked like coal dust. I won't be doing that again anytime soon.

You have a lot of guts. I'm left wondering what the heck the train was doing all the stopping and starting for in that godforsaken place; do they have a lot of sidings along the way?


We used to hop slow trains for a half mile or so when I was around 7, but since I've always bought a ticket. I think I've used intercity trains in the US maybe half a dozen times, most of my experience is elsewhere. I'm not surprised you've not had occasion to use the travesty we call rail.

Five of 'em, huh?

Any clue how many distributed energy nightmares, cars, are in California?

No?

Clueless, even 6 years after the 10% ZEV "by 2003" car bill in California became a historic description of fantasy thinking?

Are all 5 of 'em powered by the brazillion solar roofs, or is it just like the rest of the state, more dangerous natural gas, then more dangerous natural gas, and then more dangerous natural gas.

http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/electricity/ELECTRICITY_GEN_1997-2008.XLS">Fundie Math: 724 > 860 and 724 = 122,593

By the way, what happened to all of Amory Lovins' hydrogen HYPErcars? Is Arnie's Hummer still the only one, and are they still funding the hydrogen station after shutting some of California's most beautiful state parks, stripping its poor of care, and further decimating its schools.

The last part must be very satisfying to our anti-science fundies here, since ignorance is essential to advancing stupid ideas like 5 charging stations for rich brats with Teslas makes a fucking difference this late in the game.

Have a nice morally vapid day.

I bet the one near San Luis Obispo will be partly powered by the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant.

I'm sure the rich brats will love the charging stations, then as EV prices drop, upper middle class brats will enjoy them, too. In a few more years, prices will drop more and brats from all income levels can enjoy them.

Have a nice day.