ODO 4278 miles

So, permits are still in review at Culver City Building and Safety Division. I'm not that great at waiting but at least it has provided some inspiration. I decided to take a look at Culver City's policies on solar photovoltaics. Since 2008, all new construction, additions and major renovations of 10,000 square feet and greater requires the installation of 1 kW of solar photovoltaic power per 10,000 square feet. My first reaction was "That sounds great." But I'm wondering how many project owners are choosing to pay the fee instead of installing the solar panels - I feel like I have seen at least two projects that likely met the square footage requirement but have no solar on the rooftop. Nonetheless, some of the language in the ordinance (Ordinance 2008-       ) is pretty nice: "Wheras, solar photovoltaic power generation consumes no fossil fuels, generates no fossil fuels and will therefore increase energy efficiency and will reduce air pollution in the Los Angeles Basin and Culver City;" There you go. Just doing my part.

ODO 4173 miles

Wahoo! This was my first week at as an EDF Climate Corps fellow. While my projects focus on energy efficiency and alternative energy procurement, I immediately needed to assess the electric vehicle charging situation. This was especially important since my commute is very long (~40 miles) and my solar panels are in permitting review at the moment. So, I was both disappointed and pleased to discover that there is a waiting list (what! strong evidence of demand) for the free charging (what! strong support for EVs) where I work. I've put my name down on the waiting list for a four hour charging time slot in my parking structure. Let's see if that will happen in the 12-weeks I will be a Climate Corps fellow.

I was also surprised to see that my Spark was the first to be part of the EV charging network. So I decided to track down the 2013 sales of Spark EVs in California and Oregon, the only states these so-called compliance cars are being sold. According to Green Car Reports, my Spark is one of the 539 Spark EVs sold in 2013. Not surprisingly, the #1 car in the Amgen EV Charging network is the Nissan Leaf, which had 2013 sales of 22,160 according to Green Car Reports. Using those number, the Spark sales were only 2.4% of the Leaf sales. One caveat is that Spark sales started in June so the adjusted percentage may actually be double. 

The blog Plugincars advocates for Chevrolet to sell the Chevy Spark EV nationwide, similar to the Nissan Leaf availability. I agree, but that's a topic for another post.

ODO 4022 miles

I have been doing a little light reading - the 2013 Tesla 10-K report . Personally, I am pretty excited by the development of Tesla's Gen III, which Tesla's intends to produce in about three years coinciding with the end of my Spark EV lease. Who knows if that will be the next EV for me but it is a promising sign of the variety of choice that will exist in three years.

I am reading Tesla's report because of my ongoing interest in their sale of regulatory credits. These are the credits that Tesla, and others, sell to car manufacturers that don't meet California's Zero-Emission Vehicle Regulation. In 2013, Tesla recognized $129.8 million in revenue from the sale of these ZEV regulatory credits. This is an astounding increase from 2012 sales of $32.4 million in ZEV credits, which itself was an increase from $2.7 million.  These are year-over-year increases of 301% and 1100% for 2013 and 2012, respectively. On the other hand, the revenue associated with ZEV credits has decreased as a the percentage of total revenue, 7.8% in 2012 and 6.5% in 2013. So, while sales of ZEV credits have increased, sales of Teslas have increased even more (precisely $1.60 billion from 2012 to 2013 or 386%).  Tesla's 10-k notes that they don't intend to rely upon the sales of ZEV credits as part of their business plan. On the flip side, the report notes repeatedly that the credits have no associated costs. So, it is a fascinating read to anyone interested in the future of electric vehicles.

ODO 3873 miles

I saw this the other day and asked myself "What is this sign all about?" I even asked the construction workers installing the sign and I just confused with them EV jargon about networks and charging plans. Well, there is a new game in town (almost). Whole Foods in Westwood now has two EV charging stations where you can charge for free! With prime parking locations! It is part of this network of charging stations that are paid for, not by membership fees or hourly rates, by advertising revenue. Volta (http://www.voltacharging.com) is installing a network of charging stations in California, Arizona and Hawaii that are in high traffic areas. According to their "Find a Station" page, the closest one to me at the moment is in Otay Mesa. This is actually not a bad location for me, given my slight anxiety around visiting Tijuana without a place to charge. Locally, I certainly won't get a lot of juice while charging for 10 minutes while I shop at Westwood Whole Foods but I like the innovative idea for expanding the EV charging infrastructure. Are more Whole Foods chargers powered by advertising on the way?