GM partners with Envision Solar for Chevy Volt recharging

"Every electric vehicle is the equivalent of one or two single-family residences in terms of impact on the electric grid," said Desmond Wheatley, president of Envision Solar in San Diego. 

To help offset that impact, Envision has partnered with General Motors to provide solar-powered charging "trees" to GM dealers selling its soon-to-be released Chevy Volt. The Volt is a plug-in electric vehicle that runs on a 16-kilowatt lithium ion battery and a range-extending gas engine.

"We're leading in introducing to the marketplace a vehicle that is powered by electricity. We see electrification of automobiles as being the long-term play," said Sharon Basel, manager of GM's environment, energy and advanced technology communications. "For that to really happen, infrastructure needs to be developed. We're looking all the time to expand our involvement with powering facilities by renewable sources like solar, so this was just a natural step for us as we talk about leading and building a business infrastructure."

Envision solar trees track with the sun to maximize energy production. Set up in one- and six- parking-space configurations, each space can generate enough electricity to fully charge one Volt in a day.

In addition to generating electricity, the solar trees provide shade, because, Wheatley says, 80% of the electricity an electric vehicle takes on board after first plugging in goes to cooling the battery to a temperature that will accept a charge.

Although some of the trees are transportable, most will be tied in to the grid. The charging stations within the trees are provided through existing providers, such as Ecotality and Coulomb Technologies, and will consist of Level 1 (120-volt) and Level 2 (240-volt) chargers. Each charge will cost about one-third as much as refueling a gas vehicle, Wheatley said.

Envision solar trees already exist on university campuses. In partnership with GM, they will be installed at the manufacturer's world headquarters in Detroit in addition to dealerships in key launch markets for the Volt: California, Texas, Michigan, New York, Connecticut and Washington, D.C. Installations will begin at the end of this year.

"The whole goal is to reduce dependence on petroleum and reduce overall emissions," GM's Basel said. "To get electricity from renewable sources like the sun is an ideal condition."

-- Susan Carpenter

Photo credit: Envision Solar

 

Comments

[Desmond Wheatley]

I appreciate the lively debate around this matter. To clarify my comments around the relative impact of EVs to the grid I point out that I was referring to Southern California data, speaking as I was, with the Los Angeles Times.

A quick Google search shows that there are many variations in the published data around household electricity consumption both nationally and locally.
However, according to UC Irvine, the average of SC Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric Household electricity use is 6,000 kWh per household per year for 3 residents average per household (16.5kwh/day

According to the California Energy Commission, LADWP users consumed around 450kwh per month between 1980 and 2005 with no material growth trend in consumption during those years. I think it's reasonable, therefore, to assume that the average consumption per residential meter is still around 14kwh a day in LADWP's territory.

I wholeheartedly agree with the first point made by skierpage - no-one should mislead to sell the idea of using renewables to improve Americas energy future; no-one needs to.

[skierpage]

Desmond Wheatley shouldn't mislead to sell his idea, an electric car does not have the "impact" of two houses on the grid. @Grant points out the DoE says average US household electricity consumption is 11,040 kilowatt-hours a year, or 30 kWh a day. That's more than the 24 kWh it takes to recharge a Nissan Leaf to go 100 miles, and few people drive that far every day. Driving 12,000 electric miles a year will add only about 26% to that average domestic consumption.

If he's talking peak power consumption and not energy, he's still wrong. If you run home air conditioning, an electric oven, and a hair drier all at once, then your domestic activities will be consuming much more power than the Leaf's 3.3 kW on-board charger.

Susan Carpenter, you need to learn the difference between energy and power. The Volt has a 16 kWh battery, the 'h' is crucial. Wikipedia's Kilowatt_hour article is your friend.

[Jon]

Nobody really knows how well these charging stations will work. But the economics and practicality of charging at home is well known If you care to do the math and compare the Volt to a Prius or a Corolla, try Befrugal's calculator

http://www.befrugal.com/tools/electric-car-calculator/

[John C. Briggs]

@JA Just a few corrections here.

If your daily commute is less than 40 miles per day (mine is 20), the Chevy Volt will not use any gasoline. If you need to drive to some vacation spot that is 300 miles away, no problem the Chevy Volt has a gasoline engine to get you there. So daily driving it is an electric car EV and for longer trips it uses gasoline.

With the Nissan LEAF (an EV) you can drive 100 miles on an electric charge. So for your daily commute, this will work perfectly. For 300 mile trips, the vehicle is impractical. So you will probably switch over to your gasoline car for these trips.

Either way you will use gasoline for long trips and electricity for short trips. With the Volt you can do this with one car. With the LEAF you can do it with two cars.

The price, Volt = $41,000 and the LEAF=$32,000. Both should qualify for a $7,500 tax credit.

If you want an EV with long range, get a Tesla Roadster with a 244 mile range. Of course this is a different kind of compromise, you will have to part with $109,000. But it is pure electric. Oh, and it is American.

[simpleSimon]

Electric cars like the Volt are a step in the right direction, but what industry needs to focus on now is vastly improving the efficiency of solar panels and battery technology. Why should the Volt have to be parked under a charging solar tree? An efficient solar panel should be built into the roof of the car (replacing the sunroof). Anytime the car is parked outside it is charging. I can readily see a future where a sunroof sized solar panel built into the roof of your vehicle will gather enough power to fuel and charge a battery, which will enable you to drive without end. As long as you park outside, exposed to the sun, your car is charged and charging.

Of course this is not possible with the puny solar panel technology we have today, but with a little R&D that can change. When music CDs gained traction in the 1980s they could hold little more than the content of a single album. That same sized disc evolved to hold DVD content… the DVD has evolved to what we now call BluRay. A BluRay disk can hold more than 25x as much data as the original CD. Solar panel technology can make similar gains in even less time. It is 2010… let’s act like it. The future I see will not require you to put gas in your car, or even plug it in. Simply park it in the sun. So long as the sun rises your energy need will be met. A few of those future solar panels will work nicely for your home energy needs too. If the sun stops coming up… well, let’s just say you’ll have bigger fish to fry when that day comes.

[JA]

The Volt is such idiotic junk. Do a Google image search for the Volt and scroll down until you see a photo of the gasoline engine it has in it.
It has a 1.4 liter gas engine in it, to run a generator, that generates electricity, to run it's electric motors when the battery runs out. Most compact cars have 1.4 liter engines in them. It is not a small, lawnmower sized engine, it's a full sized automobile engine, shoehorned in there next to the electric parts.

Thus it IS NOT and electric car. It is a klugy, poorly though out, overcomplicated gas car. Does anyone really care what pathway the energy takes to get to the wheels? The point is, does the car ultimately run on gasoline, or electricity? The answer is, it runs on gasoline.

Add to that the fact that it costs almost $40,000, as opposed to a real electric car, the Nissan Leaf, that will sell for less than $20,000 after tax incentives.

I can picture the meeting that the grey haried, over the hill, backwards thinking designers had at Chevrolet when the idea was proposed to them:

So, we need an electric car to compete with the Asians. They're smarter and more foreword thinking than us, really rubbing our noses in it. We need electric to keep some of that mamby-pamby liberal "renewable energy" money here in the USA.

Ok, an electric car, but it'll run on gas, right?

No, electric means that it runs on electricity. That electricity should ideally come from renewable sources, like wind or solar.

Hmmm, wind and solar? Renewable? Sounds new-agey. Something for the Birkenstock wearing, arugula and soy sprout eaters, probably gay, definitely liberals. Everyone knows that in God-fearing America, cars run on gas. If we design a car with an electric motor in it, that's fine, but it has to run on gasoline.

America, enjoy your Volt. I hope it tanks.