Leviton is in the "EVSE" house, always has been.

Here’s a little secret for you that I as a Mini-E driver with 18,000 miles will gladly share.

Public charging stations and range anxiety are way over-rated and over-hyped. Not to say that we won’t need public charging stations, we will need them and they will primarily be along transportation corridors for longer distant travel. We also need them emotionally as sort of a security blanket to sooth our apprehensions and transition to a more limited range. A security blanket that is reassuring but serves little other purpose.

Pundits, analysts, government and the E-car media are all gushing stories and programs around public charging stations.

The Secret?

I have publicly charged my Mini-E exactly 4 times in 14 months, I have plugged it in 400 times with my home charging. Even imagining a world with abundant charging stations that were free to use, for the most part I would not use them as the range of the Mini-E gets the job done for all my trips returning home to it’s charging cocoon and with no effort or worry is ready for me when I wake up with 100% charge. Talk about a sweet dream! I could see myself maybe once every two months needing a public charger for a longer trip.

Public charging will at best represent a small 20% of the charging marketplace. Immediately from there, the percentages will begin to decline as battery prices go down and range goes up.
The big market and the one that is flying under the radar screen?

Home charging.

Home charging will represent 80% of the marketplace and will grow from a market size of a few hundred chargers today to eventually 100 million chargers in a few short decades representing 1/3 of our nations fleet that will have a plug to plug into a home charger.
Leviton , a quiet giant has been working hard the past few years and is now entering that home charging space.

You may or may not be familiar with Leviton, but its products are in over 90% of us households and it’s manufacturing, distribution, sales, and brand loyalty from the electricians that will be installing your home station, position the company perfectly in the home charging space.

As an EV driver I had the honor of a few friendly visits with Mini-E #183 to Leviton’s facility in Southern California during the development of the EVSE and I wish them great success with their EVSE rollout.

PR Releases below.

Cheers
Peder
Mini-E #183, 18,000 trouble free sunshine powered miles.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/38346106

Press Release
PR Contact:
Pamela Winikoff
631 812-6155

Leviton Announces Residential Charging Stations for Electric Vehicle Market
Leviton introduces Evr-Green™ line of electric vehicle supply equipment

Melville, New York, July 20, 2010 – Leviton today announced its entry into the Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) market with a full portfolio of residential charging products. The Leviton Evr-Green™ line of EVSEs includes Level 1 and Level 2 residential charging stations. The product line will debut at the Plug-In 2010 Conference and Exposition in San Jose, California on July 26-29, 2010 in Leviton booth #310.

Leviton has developed an industry-first plug-in prewire system for the Level 2 EVSEs.
According to Mike Mattei, vice president and general manager for Leviton’s Commercial and Industrial Division, “As part of Leviton’s commitment to creating a sustainable future, we now offer a complete solution to EV charging. Leviton provides the charging stations as well as installation by certified contractors and extensive customer service. Evr-Green chargers comply with all industry standards, are backed by the industry’s only ten-year warranty, and are compatible with all the major EV manufacturers.”
The Evr-Green Level 1 portable cord set empowers consumers to charge their EV anywhere a standard outlet is available. Leviton also has developed a unique receptacle for EV owners to plug in their Level 1 cord set. In addition, Leviton’s Level 2 residential charging stations range from 16 Amp to 32 Amp charging levels. Both Level 1 and 2 EVSEs have SAE J1772™ connectors that are compatible with all North American plug in vehicles. Leviton will also provide a wide range of “smart” options and features for their residential products.

About Leviton
Leviton Manufacturing Company is the largest privately held global provider of electrical wiring devices, data center connectivity solutions and lighting energy management systems. Founded at the turn of the 20th century in America, Leviton has grown to become one of the preeminent leaders in the electrical industry. Today Leviton's product portfolio consists of over 25,000 devices and systems used in homes, businesses and industry. Proven to be a smart choice, nine out of ten homes throughout North America have Leviton products installed in them. Builders, electrical contractors and other industry professionals rank Leviton products #1 in brand preference. To request more information about Leviton’s Evr-Green portfolio, please visit http://www.evrgreeninfo.com. For more information, contact Leviton Manufacturing, 201 North Service Rd., Melville, NY, 11747, www.leviton.com

Happy 4th of July!

A simple 4th of July message.

Our forefathers founded a Union of States, a nation of independent, self reliant free people. On this Independence day we are reminded of that with patriotic gatherings and fireworks.

On this Independence day we are also sadly reminded that we are today, more so than ever, dependent on foreign lands and kings for oil, for energy. We continue to choose to bespoil our country's natural treasures and increasingly give away our independence and wealth to foreign lands and kings. It is not our Presidents or our Congresses that are to blame. It is "We the People" that choose to do that. We get angry at our President and at Corporations, but we blindly ignore our own use of oil. We the people.

Let us face honestly our great challenges with new opportunities, with imagination and creativity with independence, self reliance and better choices.

God bless those that have served this country and those that have sacrificed their life for our great nation. Their oath to this country's independence was eternal.
The least we can do is make better choices for our nations independence.

Happy Independence Day!

Peder Norby

The Currency And Civic Value of Electric Vehicle Public Charging

Civic restoration, civic planning and environmental design have been my profession and my avocation for the past three decades. As a person engaged professionally in this arena, it is the most inspirational of times as America rediscovers its history in its older downtowns and older neighborhoods full of culture, uniqueness, identity and diversity, and looks to the future with changes in the way we power our homes and our cars. There is a strong connection between the two.

As a Mini-E driver for the past year racking up 17,000 miles and counting, The electric driving experience has been very rewarding both in terms of the performance and pleasures of the Mini-E, as well as experience and insights gained from the field trial, some posted on these pages in previous posts.

My views on the charging of electric cars in general are as follows: 75% of all charging will be done at the place of residence. 15% of charging will be at “Point B” commonly known as the workplace. The remaining 10% of charging will be done at public charging stations.
Focusing in on the 10% of public charging stations, I believe the most valuable of these will be along transportation corridors and destination locations.

A destination location is generally described as a place that pulls from a three hour drive time demographic. The least valuable of the public charging stations will be the local or regional destinations within a one hour drive time such as libraries, big box stores, neighborhood commercial centers etc.

It is my view that as the adoption rate of electric vehicles escalates the number if not the percentage of public charging stations along the transportation corridors and destination locations will grow exponentially and the “in city” charging stations will struggle and become less relevant in the future as the EV and PHEV range increases.

It is with certainty I can say two things.

1. That the role of the gas station today serving 100% of our gasoline car, will be greatly diminished by orders of magnitude with the adoption of electric cars
2. Americans will still travel by car and will still explore this great country in the family drive vacation.

This past weekend, my wife and I, celebrating our anniversary, took a trip in the Mini-E to Newport Beach. We selected this destination location because of the public Mini-E charging station at South Coast Plaza.

Here’s what that trip looked like.

We drove 65 miles on the freeway to South Coast Plaza (SCP), plugged in Mini-E #183 which was at 35% SOC at 11:30am and then went to a restaurant in the SCP to watch the U.S. play Ghana (we lost unfortunately.) After lunch we shopped at Nordstrom’s buying three shirts, Macy’s for home goods, and then the Bang and Olufsen store for our entertainment system.

We left SCP at 3pm fully charged and drove the short distance to the Newport Bay Marriot where we settled into our room and caught a few hours of sunshine by the pool. We dined at Mastro’s with a very special bottle of wine celebrating our Anniversary.

The next morning it was off to Laguna beach for lunch and art shopping at local galleries and the Sawdust Festival. We left Laguna at 4pm and arrived home at 5:30 pm, concluding our trip with about 20 miles of range left. The total miles driven on the overnight trip was 165 miles.

Here’s what that trip looks like in currency.

$55 for lunch, Bloody Mary’s, Beer, tips and taxes at the restaurant.
$150 at Macy’s
$130 at Nordstrom’s
$0 at the B&O store (widow shopping to add to our system one day.)
$220 for the hotel, parking and drinks by the pool.
$500 at Mastro’s for dinner and wine (an indulgence)
$100 in Laguna Beach for parking, lunch, Starbucks, Sawdust Festival and art pieces
$1450 for a painting (a gift to each other on our Anniversary)

Total: $2455 on merchants, restaurateurs, lodging, parking authorities and taxes.
All this economic stimulus because of an electric vehicle charging station and $2.00 worth of free electricity provided by SCP.

Our trip destination was determined by the availability of a public charging station and a great location. Multiply this currency experience by 700 others that will potentially use the same charging station in the near future (2 a day)

That is the currency and civic value of electric vehicle public charging.

Thank you South Coast Plaza, Newport Beach and Laguna, we had a blast! We hope you enjoy the money we left behind.
Cheers!
Peder
Mini-E #183

You can live and drive on sunshine :)

Sharing our most recent June 2010 utility bill.

Even with the worst "June Gloom" I can remember along the Carlsbad Coast, we were still under $28 and change for the month.

Our annual true up should be around $-100 due to the higher summer rates (6 months beginning on May 1st) that SDG@E pays for our solar energy.

That's for a home, guest home, and the Mini-E at 16,000 miles a year.

The Mini-E remains the single best car I have driven in 32 years, and the only one I can power by sunshine :)

We're "crusin" to Newport Beach this weekend for a long weekend vacation with the Mini-E and hope to charge at the South Coast Plaza Mall as well as a fellow Mini-E driver's home.

Cheers!

Peder

How sad is this?

AP picture of a Heron dying in oil. 5/24/2010

There is a much better way and it's not that hard to do.

Our home is called Herons House so the picture above strikes close to the heart.

The ethos statement of our home was written in 2005.

"We are blessed and we are grateful. We live in America, in one of the most beautiful parts of earth. We are chasing a dream...we are flying...

Up and down the coast, searching, downward looking, in estuaries and lagoons for a high perch to nest. A home is found, an old nest of years perhaps decades, overlooking the lagoon. It will provide a good beginning…. perfect for the Herons.

Julie and I are building our home, reusing an old house on a large lot as a good beginning, perched above the lagoon and Pacific Ocean. Like the Herons, we will walk lightly on earth, using the resources provided to us by nature, in harmony and partnership with our environment, with each other.

The Herons' House. Our house. "

In the construction of our home and the choice to drive an electric BMW Mini-E powered by solar PV, we hope we have remained true to those words. We live in a very sensitive habitat with Herons and birds of all manor on our land and in our lagoon.

I have rescued a Pelican, wrapped up in fishing line while kayaking,



We have Herons visiting and flying by hourly



It is a paradise similar to the marsh lands of the gulf coast. I can't imagine the picture of the dying Heron being our lagoon.

Living and driving on electrons powered by renewable energy can end this madness of repetitive environmental disaster.

I will never buy a gasoline car as long as I live.

There is a much much better way to do this.

Peder

Peder wants to go racing!

I'm Ready to Race!

Finally, some video of the Mini-E driving in a way that I like to drive. ( sometimes )

Below is a the entire video of the Mini-E race and their sub 10 minute run at Nürburgring.

Now I know the first driver was a pro but there was visible moisture and less than ideal conditions. Tomorrow a Prince of a driver, HRH Leopold, and well trained at that, will take Nürburgring on and see if he can beat the time. Of course he can!

I will humble submit that someone with 14,500 miles of seat time in the machine, that used to be a damn good go kart driver winning most of his races can do even better!

Just refer to my bloodline as Red, White and Blue blood!

Fly me to Germany BMW, I'm ready to race!

Man I love this car!

Cheers
Peder

Oil is not stupid, we are.

A departure from blogging about Mini-E #183 to tell a related story. It is about my awakening to living with the earth and renewable energy.

For nearly 15 years I owned a summerhouse on the Danish island of Rømø. Rømø is on the west coast of Denmark, near the border with Germany.

"You can see Germany from my Kitchen window" to paraphrase a famous quote from a certain U.S. female politician.

The German island of Sylt lies a few hundred meters south of Rømø and yes you can see it from the island.

The summerhouse was constructed of rock from the island, had a thatched roof made from the wheat stalks that grow in the northern part on the island, and was situated on a few aces of beautiful natural lingberry fields on the leeward side of the island. The windward side is 8 miles of beach and wind.

Wind.

In the late 1980's, early 90's all of the island residents (about 8,000 of us) as well as others on the mainland and other Danish islands were polled to find out if they would support a 20% higher utility cost to build an offshore wind farm. To to be self reliant and ween Denmark, once 100% dependent on imported energy, off imported energy. The carrot was that once built the energy cost would be level with no or little increases in the future.

The poll was 80% in favor.

A few years later, the first off shore wind farm in the world was built just a few kilometers north of Rømø. A decade later and after much environmental analysis, Horns Reef two was built.

Here is a video of Horns Reef one.



Today the Horn's Reef project, about 15 miles offshore, provides power to over 300,000 Danish houses. Denmark is 100% energy independent, with renewable wind energy approaching 30% of it's total portfolio. The Danes found oil and wind in the North Sea. The Danes are seeking to have 50% of their total energy from wind, bio fuels and other renewable's by 2030. They lead the world in wind high tech with nearly 50% of the worlds windmills and have created 100,000+ jobs in the global wind energy biz.

If Horns Reef should ever suffer a catastrophic failure, with 100% certainty I can say that the pollution of the entire west coast of Denmark would not happen.

Shifting gears a bit, (which you don't do in the Mini-E) and bringing it back locally at the home owner level .

Remembering that vote on that Danish island over a decade ago, we decided to "vote" with our own home and pocket book by installing a solar P.V. system to use a renewable resource that is abundant in our part of the world, sunshine. Our home produces 100% of our energy requirements with renewable and non polluting solar energy for our home and cars.

It's not that hard to do America!

Frank Lloyd Wright said:

"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you."

Nature won't, government and big oil most certainly and repeatedly will.

Nothing could be more Republican, Democratic, Libertarian or Green, than a country or a citizen that produces their own energy, is self reliant, less expensive, and environmentally cleaner than we are today.

We are too smart to behave in this stupid way.

In the words of a Saudi oil minister, "the Stone Age did not end for lack of stones"

My thoughts and prayers to those in the gulf states and on the coastline as they deal with this unprecedented failure and violation of their lives, livelihood and will being.

It truly makes me ill as I know, I know and live, a better way forward.

With much sadness and anger,

Peder Norby