Electric Vehicles

Feds: Let’s Reduce Greenhouse Emissions With Better Gas Mileage

April 1, 2010
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The EPA wants to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. Photo from ODOT.

The Obama Administration is taking the federal government’s first steps to reduce greenhouse gases – and it’s starting with cars and trucks.

It’s doing this by requiring new passenger vehicles to get better gas mileage. Cars that burn less fuel also produce less pollution, including greenhouse gases.

The new rules kick in for the 2012 model year and get increasingly tough over a four year period.

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Putting More Electric Cars On Oregon Streets

February 5, 2010
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With Oregon on the verge of a big increase in electric vehicles, a new report is out with some ideas on how to make EV use grow even faster.

This summer, Oregon will be one of four test markets for the EV Project, a plan to deploy 4,700 electric cars and more than 11,000 charging stations. The other states include Washington, California and Arizona.

But this report is looking at the long term, saying Oregon can do even better.

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Making Electric Cars Smarter

May 1, 2009
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With tens of thousands of new electric vehicles expected to hit the roads in a few years, comes a challenge. How do we find a place for them on the electric grid?

Imagine all those EV drivers coming home from work, about the same time of day, and plugging in their cars at about same time. It could put quite a strain on the power system.

Helping manage that demand is one of the goals of a project at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA. They call it the Smart Charger.

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Global Warming Hearing: Part One

April 9, 2009
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We’re watching today’s hearing on Senate Bill 80, legislation that will put Oregon on a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state.

The bill tells agencies and industry to develop plans that will meet goals of reducing emissions at least 10% below 1990 levels by the year 2020, and at least 75% below 1990 levels by 2050.

Part of the discussion includes an ongoing argument over whether mandating these goals is a “hard cap” (a term used by opponents) or something else.

Here’s what witnesses are telling the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee.

Andrea Durbin, Oregon Environmental Council, Supporter:

  • She says the greenhouse gas reduction goals established by the 2007 Legislature are a good first step but, “We’re not going to see action in Oregon until we have a process for moving forward.” She believes the bill will make sure Oregon industry will be more competitive in a “carbon restrained world.”

Dave Robertson, Portland General Electric, Opponent:

  • He says the bill will force PGE to close some power plants and build new ones, costing consumers $7 billion. Robertson says that could nearly double power bills by 2020. “A hard cap,” says Robertson, “is something we simply can’t accept.”

Tim Miller, Green Lite Motors, Supporter:

  • Miller’s company is a start up that builds electric vehicles. He says EVs will help Oregon meet these reduction goals, noting that the state already has some EV manufacturers and other big companies such as Nissan and Think may build factories here, “The demand is here and the products are coming.”

Jennifer Hudson, Ash Grove Cement, Opponent:

  • She says Ash Grove is the only cement manufacturer in Oregon. Located in Baker County, the plant employees more than 100 people and provides about 20% of the county’s tax base. She says if Oregon moves forward alone on global warming, it will put her plant and the state’s economy at a disadvantage. She says the state should wait for Congress to create a national plan.

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Ashland EV Companies Prepare For Big Showdown

April 8, 2009
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They’re neighbors and friendly competitors. But who knows what will happen when two electric vehicle companies from Ashland face off this summer in an international electric motorcycle race?  The race takes place in June on the Isle of Man.  One of the companies, Barefoot Motors, makes electric ATVs.  The other, Brammo, makes electric motorcycles.  The Time Trials Xtreme Grand Prix is the first race of its kind.  See the rest of the story in the Ashland Daily Tidings.

The Power of Plug-Ins

January 4, 2009
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Imagine reducing your commuting costs up to 90%. At the same time, you’re helping lower carbon emissions by 27% and cutting oil imports in half.

And none of this involves riding a bike or taking mass transit. You’d be driving to work in the privacy of your own car.

Sound too good to be true? Maybe not. The solution involves a massive switch from gasoline powered cars to plug-in hybrids.

According to Dr. Michael Kintner-Meyer with the Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory in Richland, Washington, some 43% to 73% of the nation’s gas powered cars and light trucks could be replaced with plug-ins.

If that happened, Kintner-Meyer says it could lead to dramatic improvements in carbon emissions and oil consumption. And if we handled it right, we wouldn’t have to build new power plants or transmission lines to keep the plug-ins powered.

Kinter-Meyer says the key to making this work is charging up the plug-ins during overnight hours, when demand for electricity is lowest. Not only would we get those environmental benefits, but the car batteries could be incorporated into the grid and help provide some stability.

News of Kinter-Meyer’s research came to us from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. The Council has been studying how the increased demand for electricity from hybrids would impact the power supply in the region.

According to the Council, the demand for power from plug-ins and electric vehicles in the Northwest is expected to reach 25 megawatts by 2020. That added demand will increase power plant emissions by 1 million tons . But factoring how much less pollution we’d be getting from automobiles, the Council says the net result would be 6 million fewer tons of carbon gases.