Tag Archives: electric
Net Metering: Whats Not to Like?
There’s been a lot of talk lately about net metering. What’s so special about net metering, and why all the fuss? Net metering is a simple concept that’s policy in 43 states. It’s like rollover minutes on a cell phone bill — it lets utility customers who install solar systems feed energy they generate into [...]
Garbage Goes Electric in Chicago
A handful of garbage trucks in Chicago will be a whole lot quieter than their predecessors, thanks to an all-electric powertrain control system (ePCS) from Motiv Power Systems. The Bay Area startup won a contract for $13.4 million, it’s largest customer contract to-date, to provide the city of Chicago with 20 electric refuse trucks using [...]
A123 Systems: Going to Zero?
There was so much enthusiasm when high-performance battery manufacturer A123 Systems (NASDAQ:AONE) came on the scene. The promise of an advanced battery manufacturing facility pumping out batteries for next-generation electric cars while providing jobs for US workers was a bold one, and one that a lot of folks cheered. But certain realities rapidly turned that [...]
Tesla S Owners Can Use Supercharge FREE
Tesla Motors’ Model S just got a big leg up on any car—free energy. That’s thanks to the newly unveiled Supercharger network by Tesla Motors. The maker of the Model S will allow its Model S owners to charge their vehicles—for free—with their superfast, solar-powered chargers. The chargers can charge the 85 kilowatt hour Model [...]
Tesla Showrooms: Coming to Shopping Malls
Tesla Motors (TSLA) is building on its strategy of exposing the pubic to its electric cars in high-end shopping malls with 10 new locations planned for fall 2012. The expansion brings the number of Tesla showrooms to 24 in North America and 34 worldwide. These aren’t your average car dealerships, they are more like interactive marketing [...]
The Princeton Satellite Systems’ SunStation EV Charging Station
Solar EV charging stations are hardly new – as regular readers of SolarChargedDriving.Com surely know. But every now and then something comparatively new comes along in the world of solar EV charging. Now is one of those times, at least according to Princeton Satellite Systems, which claims it will soon be producing “the first 100 [...]
In Focus: Electric Vehicle Myths
What, with soaring gas prices and enhanced environmental awareness these days, electric cars have generated quite a bit of excitement and attention since General Motors’ modern day model premiered at the 1990 Los Angeles Auto Show. While the concept is as old as cars themselves (Robert Anderson, a Scottish inventor in the 1800s, created an [...]
Energy Efficiency: Is It The Real Deal?
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), peak electric loads in the U.S. are 20,800 MW lower than they would be without utility energy efficiency programs[1]. If it is correct it represents perhaps 100 power plants that did not need built that would have otherwise been required. Similarly, the EIA data shows that electric usage [...]
India’s Power Grid Failure: What Happened?
This is the first part of a two part piece by Raj Prabhu of Mercom Capital addressing the recent blackouts in India. This first part examines technical, regulatory and political dimensions of the problem, and the second part will deal with proposed solutions. The massive grid failure in India last week affected over 600 million [...]