Chattanooga Electrical Engineering News Blog
Topics Related to Electrical and Electrical Engineering
Pilot is adding a competitive advantage in the race with other retailers on their plans to add electric vehicle charging stations. Pilot wants to create the “right experience” for its customers.
Pilot plans to add a total of 2,000 fast EV charging stations with protective canopies at 500 locations within the states as early as 2023. Pilot expects users to utilize their quick EV chargers between 15 to 45 minutes.
By Utility Dive: “Honda and battery maker LG Energy Solution picked Fayette County, Ohio, as the site of their planned battery plant to support Honda and Acura electric vehicle production, the companies announced Tuesday.
The companies will initially commit to investing $3.5 billion in the facility but project total investment to reach $4.4 billion, according to the release. Construction is slated to begin in early 2023, in an effort to mass produce lithium-ion batteries by the end of 2025.
The investment is part of a joint venture with LG Energy Solution, which is pending regulatory approval. Honda partnered with the battery maker after announcing in April it was looking to establish a battery plant near a planned EV production line in North America.”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Monday vowed to replace the U.S. government’s fleet of roughly 650,000 vehicles with electric models as the new administration shifts its focus toward clean-energy.
“The federal government also owns an enormous fleet of vehicles, which we’re going to replace with clean electric vehicles made right here in America made by American workers,” Biden said Monday
Biden criticized existing rules that allow vehicles to be considered U.S. made when purchased by the U.S. government even if they have significant non-American made components.
Biden said he would close “loopholes” that allow key parts like engines, steel and glass to be manufactured abroad for vehicles considered U.S. made.
T&D World – Will utilities lead, follow, or get out of the way?
The electric vehicle (EV) wave has come ashore. EV penetration is transitioning from its embryonic stage to the market growth stage across many transportation industry segments: cars, light trucks, buses, light commercial vehicles (LCVs), even Class-8 trucks (those more than 33,000 pounds). Although some segments are electrifying faster than others in terms of market penetration, overall this change will be the single most transformative event in the transportation sector since Henry Ford invented automobile assembly-line manufacturing. This change impacts everything — how far vehicles travel before requiring refueling (recharging in this case), the time recharging takes, where and when vehicles recharge — the very nature of replenishing the vehicle’s energy reserves. With this change comes opportunities for a new set of players to enter the marketplace, with the most impacted entity, the electric utility. These new market entrants will also bring new business models into a marketplace that is still evolving and will take some time to mature.
Over the past decade, following significant advances by the European Union (EU), upwards of two dozen investor-owned and municipal utilities in the United States have launched significant EV charging network infrastructure pilots. Initially, state governments drove these initiatives to achieve aggressive carbon reduction targets, but now EV charging capability is rapidly expanding into a national priority.
IEEE Smart Grid Webinar – In this presentation, we will offer some fact-based thoughts to fuel utilities’ push toward developing sound EV strategies. Our suggestions are inspired by the actions of some of North America’s leading utilities, which we have had the privilege of assisting with data and strategic advice over the last few years. Done right, EVs prove to be good for utilities and their ratepayers.
Essentially, three value streams exist to support the case for utilities to support public EV charging. First, research has shown that light-duty EVs put downward pressure on electricity rates through increased demand requiring little incremental investment. Second, EV drivers are prime targets for other utility programs, because they are the most digitally engaged of all customers. Finally, leading utilities see new business opportunities from home, public, and workplace charging.
SCC – The Solar Car Challenge is the top project-based STEM Initiative helping motivate students in Science, Engineering, and Alternative Energy. In 1993, the Solar Car Team launched an education program to teach high school students how to build and safely race roadworthy solar cars. The Solar Education Program met this objective, and worked to provide curriculum materials, on-site visits, and workshop opportunities for high schools across the country. This program was designed to motivate students in the sciences, engineering, and technology. The end product of each two-year education cycle is the Solar Car Challenge: a closed-track event at the world famous Texas Motor Speedway, or a cross country race designed to give students an opportunity to display and drive their solar cars.
National sponsors for the Solar Car Challenge: Hunt Oil Company, Dell Computers, Green Mountain Energy, The Acclivus Corporation, Austin Energy, Earth Day Texas, Lockheed-Martin, and Texas Instruments. The Solar Car Challenge is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit education foundation.
Please Click HERE if your organization would like to sponsor the Solar Car Challenge. Individuals can also contribute to the Solar Car Challenge! Every donation allows us to expand the reach of the program to more high school students, building their interest in science, engineering, and renewable energy. Thanks for your support!