Stimulus Spending for Electric Vehicles and Smart Grids

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Comment:

You've seen the recovery act signs around roads and elsewhere, but sometimes it's hard to figure out exactly where the money is going. I've put together a number of articles here to show that one of the administration's priorities is getting electric vehicles on the road. An ambitious goal, for sure, given the shortcomings of currently available battery technology, electrical infrastructure, and cost, but there will be jobs created.

Here are some brief points of interest:

• The Department of Energy has a $25 billion government program allotment to put towards electric vehicle manufacturing in the U.S.
• $3.4 billion in stimulus is going towards establishing smart grids in more communities.
  
• Expect more monetary requirements down the road for subsidizing the vehicles above the currently proposed $7,500/vehicle because costs, including unionized labor, are estimated to result in vehicles priced at $40,000-80,000/vehicle (price after subsidy).
  
• Expect more subsidization of home power requirements (as well as community) if these are to be used by average families.
  
• Many companies are scrambling for these "lottery-winning" opportunities right now.
  

While I'd like to see money spent (instead) on public transportation, aging infrastructures of electricity, water, and sewer throughout our cities and nation, and more towards general smart community planning including bike trails, scooter and golf cart use in appropriate settings, the money being thrown at this is certainly better than a war-stimulus idea. But, it might be more realistic for us to admit that our motoring future is not going to be the same as the past and to start planning accordingly.


--Kalpa


Electric vehicles are charging up the automotive industry

.....In August, President Obama set a national goal of getting 1 million plug-in vehicles on the road by 2015. It took about twice as long to get a million hybrids rolling on U.S. streets and highways. But any new technology that involves high-voltage, exotic battery chemistries and 3,500-pound objects hurtling forward at high speed is bound to hit some potholes. Early adopters, experts say, will have to contend with charging infrastructure challenges and some pretty long waiting lists. And did we mention price? Even the least expensive electric or plug-in car will cost more than $25,000, and most will come in closer to twice that.

.....even the fiercest electric advocates admit that battery reliability still has room for improvement. Arthur Krieger, a retired police officer in Los Angeles, drives a Prius powered by a relatively small nickel metal hydride battery to assist the gasoline engine. The battery needed replacement after nine years on the road. That's when Krieger got a nasty surprise: A new one would cost more than $4,800. "That cost will wipe out the entire cost savings of having a hybrid in the first place," Krieger said. The price would be even higher on an all-electric vehicle using the latest chemistry: lithium ion.

.....Already widely used in cellphones, watches and laptops, those batteries have storage, charging and weight characteristics that make them superior to previous technologies -- with premium prices to match. A replacement battery for a Tesla Roadster costs $30,000, and it can move the car only 200 or so miles before it needs to be recharged. That's a 3 1/2 -hour process on a high-powered charger, 30 hours on regular household current.....Then there is the matter of exactly where to re-juice all those electrics.....All-electric cars, however, can take well over a day to charge unless owners invest thousands of dollars in home electrical upgrades.

Fisker to Buy GM Plant

California startup Fisker Automotive Inc. is in advanced talks to buy an old General Motors Co. plant in Wilmington, Del., to build a plug-in electric hybrid vehicle that would hit the U.S. market in 2012......Fisker Chief Executive Henrik Fisker said earlier this week that the company had identified a U.S. site to build a $48,000 hybrid vehicle marketed toward families. The plant would likely employ at least 1,500 workers and produce up to 100,000 cars annually, he said......Fisker plans to begin delivering the Karma, an $89,000 luxury sports car being assembled in Finland, to U.S. customers next summer........Fisker was awarded a $528 million loan from the Department of Energy last month to develop the two vehicles.

A maker of electric cars plans to use old GM plant in Delaware

.....Fisker plans to make a car in Delaware that is being developed under the name "Project Nina" after the ship belonging to explorer Christopher Columbus. Russell Datz, a Fisker spokesman, said that the project's name is meant to be "symbolic of the transfer from the old world to the new in terms of auto technology." The car is expected to cost about $39,900 after tax incentives. The Fisker facility is expected to create 2,000 jobs and will likely be operational by 2011. Administration officials said the deal will indirectly create another 3,000 jobs once the plant is fully operational, expected in 2014. Administration officials say that Fisker expects many of the jobs will go to former GM or Chrysler auto workers.

Former GM plant set to make electric cars

.....Dubbed Project NINA, the car is expected to cost around $40,000 after a $7,500 tax rebate. Fisker did not give any other details on the planned car. The company unveiled a luxury sports sedan called the Karma earlier this year. That vehicle has a range of 50 miles on all-electric power. An on-board 2.0 liter combustion engine kicks in to charge the battery, giving the car a total range of 300 miles. The Karma has a top speed of 125 miles per hour, and a price tag of around $80,000. It can potentially use as little as 10 gallons of fuel a year, according to the company. Fisker bought the GM plant for $18 million and plans on spending an additional $175 million retooling the facility.The electric car manufacturer recently received a $528 million loan from the Department of Energy as part of a $25 billion government program to spur advanced vehicle manufacturing in the U.S........

Electric-Car Companies Grab U.S. Cash to Blunt Risks

.......Investors betting on acceptance of electric autos include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the venture-capital firm that employs former Vice President Al Gore and is backing Fisker. “A huge amount of private capital is on the sideline, so a new locus for funding right now is the U.S. government,” said Ray Lane, a managing partner at Kleiner Perkins who works on the firm’s alternative energy investments. “The Department of Energy has stepped into the role of private capital, at least temporarily.” There are about 50 alternative vehicle ventures competing for capital right now and 40 of them will probably fail because they “never got scale,” Lane said. Of the surviving 10, perhaps two will remain independent companies while the rest are acquired for their brand or technology, he said.

Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is advising Santa Monica, California-based Coda Automotive, which seeks to import China-built electric sedans in 2010. He also is a Coda investor......Obama seeks to have 1 million on the road within six years. “Hybrids are still less than 3 percent of the market, and that’s a relatively proven technology,” said Rebecca Lindland, an IHS Global Insight Inc. forecaster in Lexington, Massachusetts. “Modern-day electric cars are still chock full of risks.......Fisker has committed to making the plant “a union shop, so we are expecting union wages,” said Kerry Kryspin, a trustee of UAW Local 435, which represents workers at the facility. The average autoworker made about $28 per hour at the plant before it closed last year, he said.....

Upstate woos three electric car makers

The established automotive industry in South Carolina's Upstate soon could get a jolt of new activity. Three electric vehicle manufacturers are looking at sites here, and if any one of them chooses this area, the potential synergy that follows could open numerous doors to technological advances and spin-off companies -- not to mention hundreds, possibly thousands, of jobs.....

New `electric corridor' to be tested, could lead to more electric vehicles

..... Next year, roughly 1,000 all-electric vehicles will be whispering around Washington state's Puget Sound as part of a federally funded project that eventually may lead to an electronic corridor stretching from Eugene, Ore., to Vancouver, B.C., where you could swipe a card and receive a 15-minute quick charge to speed you on your way. Washington is one of five states with metro markets selected to participate in the 36-month study, funded by a $100 million grant from the Department of Energy under the economic recovery program. The first corridor that will be developed runs between Phoenix and Tucson, slightly more than 100 miles. Other corridors could be developed between San Diego and Los Angeles, and Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga in Tennessee......

State To Award $4.3 Million In Grants To Ten Communities

.....Barre Town will receive a $1 million grant which will be loaned to SB Electronics to assist in the purchase of equipment for an $18.2 million, state-of-the-art factory to produce innovative “Power Rings,” a capacitor used in hybrids, plug-ins, or other vehicles that use an electric motor. The new 52,800 square foot facility will be built in the Wilson Industrial Park, and the project expects to create 80 jobs within two years. The project is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative” for manufacturing facilities for hybrid vehicle components as part of the federal ARRA stimulus package.....

Lessons From Detroit Plug-in Electric Vehicles Conference

.....adding a 220V plug (like the one powering your dryer) for an electric car is like adding a few new homes to the grid. Plugging in 5 or 6 cars at 220V during summertime peak load would (as of today) cause local blackouts. Adding a 220V plug to your home may require additional cost. While most homes are wired for this (for the dryer), you still have to make a plug accessible to the car, and this has to be professionally and safely wired (this is called Level 2 charging). Worst case scenario is an added $1,000 cost impediment to the consumer (and the time for installation).....

DOE Grants Jump-Start the Smart Grid Toward a Still Undefined Future

Winners in the Obama administration's $3.4 billion smart grid sweepstakes were exultant. Some losers sounded bitter. But there seemed to be no quarrel that yesterday's Energy Department grants will accelerate revolutionary changes in the ways electricity is generated and managed by utilities and their consumers.....

Oregon Companies Receive Stimulus Money For Electric Car Products

The federal government has announced $2.4 billion in stimulus money grants to develop the batteries and charging stations for electric cars. Three Oregon companies were selected for grants, as Barbara Leidl reports. Nearly $300 million go to Entek International of Lebanon and its partner, Wisconsin-based Johnson Controls. Their goal is to make a new lithium battery -- similar to the ones used in cell phones -- but suitable for the next generation of electric cars. Rick Pekala is with Entek. Rick Pekala: "With this money it will really allow us to accelerate, taking it from the R&Dlab to a manufacturing scale." He estimates that about 20 new jobs will be created.....

Phoenix companies get $99.8 million in stimulus money for electric vehicle network

Electric Transportation Engineering Corp. and ECOtality Inc. will be getting a $99.8 million stimulus grant and partnering with Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. to roll out an electric vehicle pilot program in Arizona and other U.S. cities. Phoenix-based Electric Transportation and its Scottsdale-based parent company ECOtality were expected to announce Wednesday morning that they will receive the funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund a network of charging stations for electric vehicles.....

$2.2 MILLION IN STIMULUS FOR SMART GRID TECHNOLOGY IN NEBRASKA

Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson welcomed an announcement by the U.S. Department of Energy that Nebraska will receive more than $2.2 million to modernize the electric grid in the state. The funding is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. “I fought hard to include this energy funding in the stimulus bill because it will help modernize Nebraska’s distribution system and will bring jobs to the state,” said Nelson. “This investment represents the future of energy distribution in the U.S., and this funding ensures Nebraska will be a part of that future.” The Stanton County Public Power District, based in the city of Stanton, will receive $397,000 to extend existing smart meter network to all metering points by deploying an additional 2,400 smart meters, along with the associated computer software and hardware and data collection systems. The Cuming County Public Power District, based in the city of West Point, will receive $1,874,994 to install communications infrastructures and deploy control software to enable Smart Grid distribution functions for Cuming County Public Power District system and the neighboring Stanton County Public Power District distribution system.....

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