hi, i'm dave gardy for clean cities tv, theeducational internet tv channel of the u.s. department of energy's clean cities program.clean cities tv features video programming about clean cities and its mission to reduceu.s. petroleum consumption through the use of alternative and renewable fuels, includingelectric vehicle technology. electric vehicles, or evs, play an importantrole in reducing pollution and increasing america's energy independence, and they doit cost effectively. that's why it's important to help communities adopt best practices tofacilitate the proper integration of the infrastructure to support ev charging and operation. thisis especially true for multi-unit dwelling communities, or muds, such as apartment complexes,condos, and townhomes—the focus of this
video. one of the leading communities in implementingbest practices for ev adoption, especially where multi-unit dwellings are concerned,is san diego, california, a major city in a state where almost 40% of the greenhousegas emissions are caused by transportation. san diego gas and electric, or sdg&e, alongwith its regional partners, is working to help create a plug-in ready region. sdg&e's goals are to help reduce petroleumdependence for transportation; help california achieve its greenhouse gas reduction goalof 13 million tons by the year 2020; ensure sdg&e continues to supply safe, reliable powerto a growing number of customers as they adopt
electric vehicles; and help customers obtainthe lower cost of off-peak electric fuel for charging their evs. to understand just how much savings can berealized by off-peak, overnight charging, we talked to joel pointon, manager of electrictransportation at san diego gas & electric, who also discussed other ways that the utilityis helping people transition to electric vehicles. our residential electric vehicle time-of-userates actually enable our residential customers to have cost savings in the range of 70% to80% compared to the utilization of gasoline for transportation. that's comparing a 25-mile-per-gallonvehicle at $4 gasoline. as part of our support program for the multi-unit dwelling community,sdg&e has been offering workshops for free
to the stakeholders in this community forthe past two and a half years. at those workshops, we give an orientationto the types of charging available—the types of vehicle coming to the market, and we givethem an overview of the choices that they will need to make in moving their projectsforward, looking at scalable projects, looking at the concept of finding the solution thatfits their particular community. the workshops help residents, property managers,and other stakeholders learn about electric vehicles and ev infrastructure in order tomake informed decisions about adopting electric vehicles. joel begins the workshop by pointingout that electric vehicles are not a new idea. they have been around since the early 1900sand were touted as economical, good for the
environment, and the only modern way. today, california produces electricity usingcleaner methods than the average u.s. utility, and because the state is increasing requirementsfor use of renewable resources to 30% by 2020, electric fuel will continually get cleaner.there are several types of electric vehicles. plug-in electric vehicles, or pevs, is a genericterm for all plug-ins that charge a battery from grid electricity. a battery electricvehicle, or bev, is 100% electric drive. it uses only electricity for fuel—no tailpipe,no emissions. some currently available battery electric vehicles include bmw active ev, fordfocus, honda fit, and toyota rav 4 evs, mitsubishi i, nissan leaf, tesla model s, think city,and wheego whip life.
plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or phevs,combine an electric motor using grid-stored electricity with an on-board, gasoline-fueledmotor. when the electricity range runs out, the internal combustion engine kicks in tocomplete the trip. phevs now available include the chevy volt, the ford c-max, the ford fusionenergi, fisker karma, and the toyota plug-in prius. and for low-speed, low-range travel,there are small neighborhood electric vehicles, or nevs, for short trips on local streets. after a consumer chooses the appropriate ev,the next decision is the type of electric vehicle supply equipment, evse, or vehiclecharger. in general, the faster the equipment charges the vehicle, the higher the equipmentcost, so a consumer needs to weigh the cost
against the convenience and charging timerequirements. ac level 1 and level 2 chargers work with alternating current that is deliveredby the power company to your home. it will be converted to dc on board the vehicle. ac level 1 operates on standard 120-volt acon 15- to 20-amp circuits (like most home outlets) and charges on a simple cord setprovided with the vehicle that plugs into a 3-prong wall outlet. level 1 can be usedanywhere, but charging is slow, adding 4 to 6 miles of range per hour of charging. level1 has a mild impact on the electric grid. ac level 2 operates at 208 to 240 volts acusually on a 40-amp circuit, but this could range from 20 to 80 amps depending on thecharger. charging is done from a wall- or
pedestal-mounted unit that requires installationby a qualified electrician. ac level 2 also requires a dedicated 208- to 240-volt circuit.ac level 2 provides medium-speed charging at 12 miles of range per hour at the low endof 3.3 kw up to 24 miles of range per hour at the higher level of 6.6 kw. the advantage of ac level 2 charging is speedof charging. the disadvantage is a higher equipment and installation cost than ac level1. it has a moderate impact on the grid. with direct current, or dc charging, the ac currentis converted to dc within the charging unit. equipment for dc fast charge, or dc level2, operates at 208 to 440 volt, 3-phase up to 100 kw. this type of charging is usuallyconfined to commercial operations due to the
high cost of equipment and installation andits high impact on the electric grid. plug-in electric vehicles can span a rangeof load profiles. compared to other household appliances, level 1 charging draws about thesame electricity as a microwave oven. level 2 charging at 3.3 kw uses the same electricityas an electric oven or hvac system. 6.6. kw doubles that load while ac level 2 chargingat 9.6 kw can exceed the load equivalent of a entire home on a neighborhood transformerin the street. if users charge their evs at what sdg&e callsthe lowest-priced, off-peak hours of midnight to 5:00 a.m. as shown in this diagram withthe green area on the left, it is anticipated that no new power plants will be requiredfor the expected ev load for the foreseeable
future. load increases as the day progressesduring summer with the heaviest load on the grid occurring during peak hours from noonto about 6:00 p.m. sdg&e is helping to reduce charging during peak hours by offering favorableoff-peak or super off-peak rates. this chart shows current summer rates. super off-peakrates are approximately 50% of the per-kilowatt-hour cost as compared to peak rates from noon to6:00 p.m. the winter schedule shows much flatter ratespreads due to lower seasonal demand for electricity. consumers can sign up with sdg&e for one oftwo ev time-of-use rate options, depending on whether they prefer to use a single whole-housemeter or install a separate meter for vehicle charging. potential ev users must considerwhere they will charge their vehicle, what
the charger's capabilities are, and who willbe providing the charging. in addition to ev charging at home, whichcan be either a single-family residence or a mult-unit dwelling, provisions are increasinglyavailable at some workplaces and at community public charging stations. across the country,a growing number of communities or private enterprises are installing public chargingstations on the street like this one in san diego's mission valley, or in parking garagesor parking lots. such charging stations are usually conveniently located for use by thepublic and charge a vehicle's battery for a fee. multi-unit dwellings, such as apartments,condos, and manufactured home parks, are typically
located in higher-density population areas.currently, 51% of san diego county's million-plus housing units are in multi-unit dwellings,and that percentage is predicted to increase. that represents a large market for electricvehicles. but providing the residents of such buildings with the opportunity to charge electricvehicles at home is not as simple as it is for single-family residences. considerationmust be given to codes, covenants, and restrictions of the community, agreements between propertyowners and residents, as well as rental contracts between property owners and renters. it mustbe determined if the configuration of the facility will allow for the necessary meteringand wiring or if alternative locations, such as common areas, will be used for chargingstations.
arrangements must be made for how the costwill be allocated to residents who use the charging systems. finally, installing theinfrastructure and charging equipment in multi-unit dwellings requires the cooperative effortsof many stakeholders, such as residents, property developers, utilities, vendors, and municipalgovernments. san diego, california, is meeting these multi-unitdwelling challenges through the partnership of san diego gas and electric, the citiesof san diego county, and their regional planning agency sandag, all members of the san diegoregional clean cities board. the partnership also includes regional infrastructure projectslike the ecotality ev project and evgo, property management associations, and innovative programslike the ev carshare company car2go.
there are two basic scenarios for providingcharging stations in multi-unit dwellings: community resource installation and individualcharging units. we'll see how each of these options has been used in two san diego casestudies. circa 37 is an apartment complex in san diego's mission valley community wherecharging stations were included in the initial development plans. here, the charging stationsare installed on the street as a community resource. mark radelow, vice president ofdevelopment for sudberry properties in san diego, which developed and manages circa 37,talked with clean cities tv about the support they receive from their partners in the project. we looked at several different charging programsand in dealing with blink and the ev project,
we liked their system. we liked actually thephysical look of the units because, as you can see, the aesthetic character is very importantto us. we had a really good working relationship with them. the idea of putting public chargersin a public right of way was something that had not been done before. andy hoskinson, san diego area manager ofecotality's blink, discussed the advantages of installation in new construction, suchas the upscale apartments of circa 37. we worked with the developer of the properties,mark radelow in particular. they had interests as they were building this project to incorporateelectric vehicle chargers into it, so we examined some opportunities both on-site and then forthe potential for on-street as they were building
these streets new. it presented as a reallygood opportunity because it's in a very densely populated area of the city of san diego inmission valley. there's also a lot of retail around here as well. and with the fact thatthey were building the development new, it wasn't a retrofit, which allowed for a lotof flexibility in how we deployed the ev chargers in a very cost-effective manner. we see utilizationon these smart chargers here. we see utilization that is very high across the six ev chargersthat we've got deployed here in the circa 37 community. the circa 37 project partners also enteredinto a mutually beneficial relationship with a leading ev carshare company, car2go, whichhelps with maximizing the utilization of the
charging installations. we'll discuss thesecarshare relationships in more detail a little later in this video. retrofitting an existing building as in oursecond case study, cityfront terrace, a mid-rise luxury condominium community in the marinadistrict of downtown san diego, is different. residents inquired about charging stationoptions for evs they wanted to purchase in 2011. property management and residents wanteda billing solution that would allow residents to pay for their usage directly without theproperty managers having to track usage or collect payments. in assessing this, cityfrontterrace found many technical challenges, including the need to wire the parking spaces with differentbrands of 208-volt charging stations and the
need for individual user billing. facilities management suggested the installationof individual meters for each charging unit and to have sdg&e's bill go directly to eachresident installing a charger, removing management as a middle man and allowing the residentto install their preferred brand of vehicle charger. by wiring new individual meters directlyto the underground garage meter room, the cost of wiring to residential meters on upperfloors was eliminated. working together on a compromise plan, cityfrontterrace installed 20 individual meters wired directly to the utility side of the buildingelectrical supply. wiring hubs on each floor of the garage allowed for wiring to individualparking places. each individual requesting
vehicle charging would pay an equal portionof the upfront capital cost for the project and purchase their own charging unit for theinstallation at their space. thus each resident receives their monthly bill directly fromsdg&e and sees their individual time-of-use behavior and savings with the utility's speciallow electric vehicle rates. building manager david huckaby, who was instrumental in thisunique arrangement and its design, comments. so i surveyed the building and spent the restof the afternoon taking a look at it and came up with a plan where we could basically tapinto the power coming into the building, prior to our meter, and that was important becausewe wanted to make sure we were not taking away or negating all the hard work we've doneto reduce energy consumption. tapping into
the bus coming into the building, we wereable to put in a bank of 20 meters, which later could be bought into by various residentswishing to charge electric vehicles. and with that in play, they can be billed directlyfrom sdg&e, take full advantage of off-peak rates, and have the convenience of overnightcharging at their home. i have to admit to being probably the most reluctant to startthis project, and in the end, i'm very proud of it. one of the lessons from both of these casestudies is that installation of ev charging stations in multi-unit dwellings is a communityeffort, requiring buy-in from the property management, contractors, residents, utilities,and municipalities.
san diego gas and electric recommends severalsteps leading to plug-in readiness for multi-unit dwellings. first, poll your community to findout the level of interest from both multi-unit dwelling property management and residentswho might enter the pev market and how soon they might do so. as a community of interestedparties, organize orientation sessions or workshops to educate people about the optionsfor vehicles, charging technologies, costs, and business models as well as the vocabularyof the ev industry. study and list the challenges involved inyour particular situation, such as legalities wiring and metering, community codes, covenants,and restrictions, allowed uses, assigned versus unassigned parking, and provisions for personswith disabilities. discuss policy issues and
reach internal group consensus on all aspectsof the project including how it will be paid for. decide on the scope of the project asa starting point for the contractor with estimated number of spaces to be equipped, evse preferencesand locations, and other information for contractor design. review the plans with utility projectmanagers. find and evaluate a licensed contractor with evse installation experience, insurance,training, and required certifications. together, the multi-unit stakeholders, contractor,and utility project management will design and evaluate the layout, metering options,and infrastructure support. once this plan has been developed, the contractor will initiateand manage the project including scheduling, coordination of the project implementation,and obtaining permits, inspections, and utility
service orders. once the project is completed,the project partners will have earned a celebration and the right to brag, so sdg&e encouragesthe sharing of this experience with others through its website. san diego residents can take advantage ofelectric vehicle technology without investing in either evs or the required infrastructureby using an ev carsharing service, an innovative solution that is growing across the country.carshare companies like car2go, mentioned earlier in the circa 37 project, can alsohelp increase the feasibility and utilization of community resource public charging installations.to find out more about carsharing, we talked to mike cully, location manager for car2goin san diego, who was instrumental in crafting
car2go's participation in the circa 37 project. car2go is north america's first all-electriccarsharing fleet here in san diego. so it's really a solution to modern mobility in denselypopulated areas like san diego. this really opens up the modern mobility concept of connectingpublic transportation and the gaps that it leaves there, so you can actually take thetrolley, take the train. you'll find one of these vehicles that will help you completeyour trip. so it really is a solution to modern mobility problems. so this car service couldn'thave happened without a collaborative relationship with many different agencies like san diegogas and electric and especially ecotality. you have to have the infrastructure to supportthis kind of model to make it feasible to
make it work in the area, and that's exactlywhat ecotality has done in establishing its network of evse throughout the region. sdg&ehelps support that effort as well by locating and working with ecotality to find those keylocations in the area that would support the network. that pioneering, cooperative effort exhibitedby the stakeholder partners in san diego demonstrates that the comprehensive implementation of cleanand sustainable electric vehicle technology for multi-unit dwelling infrastructure isachievable with proper planning and collaboration. congratulations to san diego on leading thenation by working together in a community team effort to deploy ev infrastructure solutionsthat make sense. thanks for viewing this special
video presentation. for clean cities tv, i'mdave gardy.
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