SolarCity and Rabobank Developing EV Fast Charging Corridor in California
22 September 2009
SolarCity and Rabobank, N.A. are partnering to create a solar-power enhanced, EV fast-charge corridor along Highway 101 in California. When complete, the corridor will include four Tesla fast chargers loacated at Rabobank locations between San Francisco and Los Angeles (Salinas, Atascadero, Santa Maria and Goleta). A fifth in San Luis Obispo is in a public parking garage owned by the city and will be maintained by the city. The Santa Maria charger is powered by a 30 kW solar array at the bank.
SolarCity is in negotiations with Rabobank to install additional solar arrays, which, when completed, would constitute the first all-solar-powered EV charging corridor. SolarCity, which installs Tesla chargers, plans to retrofit these chargers to accommodate all EVs.
The corridor would be the first interregional effort of its kind and would be the first to include solar power at a charging station. The SolarCity-owned and operated corridor, built in cooperation with electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors, will provide a full charge in one third the amount of time of other charging stations.
San Francisco and Los Angeles each support local infrastructure for electric vehicles (EV). Allowing drivers to plug in and charge up at multiple locations along well traveled corridors will dramatically increase the convenience and practicality of the growing number of EVs on American roads, the partners said. Rabobank branches are positioned all along the high-traffic Highway 101 corridor, close to shops, restaurants and other commercial centers in Northern and Southern California, making them convenient locations for charging stations.
SolarCity has installed more than 100 solar home charging stations for Tesla owners. The company has also assumed responsibility for a distribution contract for electric vehicle chargers for Toyota Tsusho as part its acquisition of SolSource Energy, announced last week.
I assume the Solar array is a gimmick.
Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to charge when a cloud came by, or at night or in the evening.
There is no harm in having a 30KW solar array connected to the grid, in the same location as a charging station, but it is basically marketing.
[ I checked again, it is solar "enhanced" ]
It might be better to build more of them, without the expense of the solar arrays (or with smaller ones).
Posted by: mahonj | 23 September 2009 at 01:14 AM
A bigger problem is standards - without a federal charging standard (which could be flexible), pure EVs are doomed to city life.
They really want to sort that out - before lots of people buy incompatible cars and start sending them back after getting stranded at a charging station that they cannot connect to.
They could sell coffee and give free internet access if the charging is a bit slower than anticipated.
The problem is not so much the time spent, but the boredom induced.
I am not sure I would want to do a little recreational banking which I charge my car, but sipping a coke, while viewing the Pacific could be OK.
Posted by: mahonj | 23 September 2009 at 01:29 AM
It can be calculated that a persons time is worth so many cents a minute which my lawyer emphasises on a regular basis.
A range extending engine not only can operate when the vehicle is stopped but also when it is moving. Stops and their length can be reduced to a small fraction of the drive time by filling up with diesel for an OPOC every 400 miles or so. If the car sits parked most of the time, the OPOC is never used to charge the 40 mile batteries, but house power is used.
Full electric cars should never be allowed on the roads since range extending generators can be very small and lightweight. This rule is mostly to eliminate the bad press about the range of electric cars, but also to eliminate the bad engineering of putting very large expensive batteries in cars that sit parked most of the time.
Safe recharging outlets can look exactly like the one behind the desk. Fast ones are not needed with range extenders.
Poor people cannot afford solar electricity; its use here is total deception of the public. A power of 32 Kw is less than the rated power of most cars. And less than the power of the TZERO range extender. What is the average power of the Solar array over a year, not the peak power at high noon, and what is the cost of the array with installation but without any tax credits or subsidies including the cost of real estate. ..HG..
Posted by: Henry Gibson | 23 September 2009 at 05:15 AM