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ECOtality’s eTec Completes SuperCharge System Installation at Long Beach Airport
31 January 2008
Long Beach Airport and Electric Transportation Engineering Company (eTec), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ECOtality, Inc., have completed the installation of five Dual Port SuperCharge systems at Long Beach Airport. The five stations will be used to recharge a fleet of electric baggage tractors and belt loaders that service JetBlue and US Airways.
Able to charge up to 40 electric ground support vehicles, the SuperCharge installation provides the infrastructure for Long Beach Airport to transition its ground support equipment from gasoline- and diesel-powered equipment to pure electric powered systems. By reducing its dependence on gasoline, the airport will cut fueling costs, while significantly reducing noise and air pollution. The City of Long Beach received funding from the California Air Resources Board for the installation.
According to a February 2007 report published by ETEC and the US Department of Energy, use of electric ground support equipment can reduce annual fueling costs by 70 to 80% and reduce total operating costs by 30 to 40% when compared to internal combustion engine ground support equipment that operates on gasoline or diesel fuel. Currently installed in 13 major airports in North America, there are more than 300 eTec SuperCharge systems in daily operation that service more than 1,000 pieces of electric ground support equipment.
January 31, 2008 in Brief | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
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Posted by: sjc | January 31, 2008 at 09:43 AM
While this particular installation is not that big, Long Beach does have a significant air pollution problem so anything will help.
Looking at eTec's website, Southwest appears to be one of their largest airline customers. It would be interesting to get a comprehensive list of the 300 airports they have their equipment installed in.
Posted by: Dave | January 31, 2008 at 11:01 AM
The last paragraph suggests that it is already working
Posted by: DavidJ | January 31, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Small scale demonstrators like this get the foot in the door for much larger scale adoption of new technologies. Recently, a resort in Alaska installed a low-temperature geothermal powerplant to replace their diesel generators. It's the first of its kind and produces 400kw. Since geothermal is more suitable for baseload applications, it's good to see movement in this direction.
Posted by: Cervus | January 31, 2008 at 11:10 AM
In house servicing and record keeping competent staff.
As these specialty vehicles do not go on public roads, they should make fine test beds.
Excellent location!
I expect the techs will have a hoot.
Posted by: arnold | January 31, 2008 at 09:29 PM
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Long Beach is such a small airport, I do not think that they even have 40 ground support vehicles. But, if the idea works there it might scale to large airports as well.