That's not a manhole cover, it's an electric car charger

By Richard Read | High Gear Media – Wed, Oct 23, 2013 6:24 PM EDT

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Fully electric cars and range-extended vehicles like the Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model S, and Chevrolet Volt have only been on the market a few years, but it's pretty clear that they're on the front line of an automotive revolution.

For that revolution to be successful, though, automakers need to overcome several significant hurdles. Battery capacity is perhaps the biggest obstacle of the bunch, but charging logistics are troublesome, too. Sure, you can find outlets for your plug-in vehicle at home and some stores -- even a few McDonald's outposts -- but those require cables, which are messy and inconvenient. Simplifying the process could lure in would-be buyers and speed up the rate of electric caradoption.

And that's where the folks at HEVO Power come in. They've designed a new system for wireless charging that they'll be testing next year in New York City. If all goes as planned, it could make life much easier for electric car drivers and fleets.

HEVO's system relies on charging plates embedded in the street, designed to look like manhole covers. When parked above them, electric car owners can power up their batteries with no muss and no fuss.

There are, of course, other wireless charging systems on the market, but HEVO's is designed to work faster and more efficiently than most of those. It uses resonance charging, a variation on conventional inductive charging in which the capacitors on the charging coils in the ground and on the vehicle resonate at the same frequency. Using identical frequencies facilitates the transfer of energy from one coil to the other, reducing energy loss and charge times.

In practice, it'll work like this: vehicle owners will have their cars outfitted with special receivers that can communicate with HEVO's in-ground chargers. HEVO, in turn, will work with the city to create special charging zones that look a bit like bus or loading zones.

Drivers can pull into one of those zones and open an app on their smartphones to initiate charging. While they're away from the vehicle, they can use that same app to see how fully their batteries have been charged. HEVO's business model includes not only revenue generated from charging fees, but also from advertisers who want to alert EV owners of sales and events near the charging stations.

HEVO's prototype is expected to debut in early 2014, using two specially outfitted Smart Fortwos owned by New York University. For an overview of how the system will work, check out the video above.

New Nissan Leaf is cheaper, runs further on single charge

Nissan unveiled the newest model of its Leaf electric vehicle in Tokyo on Tuesday. The new model increases the car's range to 148 miles, while dropping prices by $6,000. Nissan hasn't announced overseas plans for the vehicle, but similar upgrades are expected.

The upgraded Nissan Motor Co. Leaf electric car can travel further without recharging, comes in a cheaper model and tells drivers how much battery life is left.

The changes in the revamped model, shown Tuesday at a Tokyo hotel, were based on feedback from owners whose chief worry was running out of electric juice while driving, Nissan officials said.

Electric cars emit no pollution, but they need to be recharged. Owners have charging equipment installed at home. But the scarcity of recharging stations on the roads has limited electric vehicles use to short commutes and kept zero-emission cars confined to a market niche.

The new model can travel 228 kilometers (142 miles) on a single charge, up from 200 kilometers (124 miles) as long as you don't use air conditioning, because of improvements such as streamlining the battery system and the vehicle's lighter weight, according to Nissan.

It sells for less than 2.5 million yen ($31,000) in Japan when stripped of fancy options and adding government green subsidies - more affordable than the cheapest previous model at just below 3 million yen ($37,000).

Nissan did not detail overseas sales plans but said similar upgrades were in the works.

The Leaf is the world's most popular electric vehicle, comprising more than half of all electric car sales. Leaf global sales since late 2010 total 43,000 vehicles, about half of them in Japan.

More than 17,000 Leaf cars have been sold in the U.S. and monthly sales are recently at about 1,500 vehicles, according to Nissan.

Senior Vice President Masaaki Nishizawa told reporters the Leaf does away with the hassles of going to gas stations and allows drivers a cleaner conscience.

"People who try out the Leaf are moved," he said. "But they are worried about cruise range."

When the Leaf first went on sale, recharging facilities were at 200 Nissan dealerships in Japan. That will grow to 700 Nissan dealers later this year, or 1,200 locations, when including other spots such as convenience stores.

Among other changes to the Leaf:
- Roomier luggage space after the recharging mechanism became smaller and was moved to the front.
- A dashboard display that tells how much battery charge is left.
- A navigation system that calculates the best energy-saving route to your destination.
- A smaller lighter recharging nozzle.
- Reduction of rare-earth use by 40 percent for the electric motor.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/new-nissan-leaf-cheaper-range-article-1.1205116#ixzz2Cnagdov5

Nissan LEAF gets badged for police duty in Portugal

Portugal's Policia de Segurance Publica (that'll be PSP from here on out) has putt he world's first Nissan LEAF police car fleet on the streets.  The eight-car fleet will help PSP in it's goal to reduce it's carbon footprint.

'We pride ourselves in being the first police force in the world to incorporate cars with zero-emission technology as part of our 5,000 vehicle fleet,' Superintendent Paul Gomez Valente, National Director of PSP, said in a statement.  'We want to continue contributing to the reduction in pollution in large urban centers and the introduction of the 100% electric Nissan LEAF sets a new benchmark for our fleet.'

While entitles of all kinds are interested in cutting their environmental impact (or at least enjoying the cost savings of doing so), the Nissan LEAF seems like an odd choice for a police vehicle.  Criminals on the run need only hit speeds of more than 90-mph or distances of around 100-miles, and they'd be free.

 That's probably why the PSP, which itself is focused on patrolling urban environments, will concentrate the use of the new LEAF's in it's Safe School Program. 

According to Nissan's Press Release, they do mention that the cars have flashing lights, sirens, and  clear Policia markings, so they can be called on for any other task.  As Nissan points out, the LEAF's quiet electric motor could even provide the benefit of catching criminals off guard.

Source:  C.C. Weiss, GiZMag.com

Walgreens to add EV Charging Stations

This Forbes Article is Brought To You By University Nissan of Boone, NC.

Filling Prescriptions and Car Batteries, Walgreens Gambles on EV-Charging Stations

Image via Wikipedia

Walgreens, one of the largest retail-chain pharmacies in the United States, plans to add electric-vehicle charging stations at about 800 locations across the nation by the end of this year.

“Consumer interest and enthusiasm has been incredible and we’re excited to provide locations to charge up in neighborhoods across the country,” said Walgreens President of Community Management and Operations, Mark Wagner. “As more Americans embrace environmentally sustainable technologies, our convenient locations make us uniquely positioned to help address the concern around accessibility or ‘range confidence.’

The company’s neighborhood stores will provide EV drivers a high-speed DC charger that can add 30 miles of range in as little as 10 minutes of charging time or a Level 2 charger that can add up to 25 miles of range per hour of charge.  The majority of charging stations will be established in Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.  In addition, select locations in Florida, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington will also receive EV charging stations.

When the company completes the initial charging station building, Walgreens will account for nearly 50 percent of all public EV charging stations across the country, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Read the full article here: http://blogs.forbes.com/williampentland/2011/07/24/filling-prescriptions-and-car-batteries-walgreens-gambles-on-ev-charging-stations/

Leaf Gets Five-Star Safety Rating!

Leaf Gets Five-Star NHTSA Crash Rating
Nissan Motor Co.'s electric Leaf won a five-star overall rating from government safety regulators Monday. The Detroit News reports that the Leaf won the rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's New Car Assessment Program. The vehicle got four stars for frontal crash and rollover tests and five stars for side crashes. Overall, it was awarded five stars. Click here for a picture. The Leaf has also been named Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "The Nissan Leaf is the first all-electric vehicle to achieve five-star overall for safety," noted Brian Carolin, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Nissan North America Inc. "Not only is the Leaf the most innovative car on the planet, it is also one of the safest." Standard Nissan Leaf safety systems include dual-stage supplemental front air bags with seat belt and occupant classification sensors, front seat-mounted side impact supplemental air bags, roof-mounted curtain side impact supplemental air bags for front and rear-seat outboard occupant head protection, three-point seat belts with pretensioners and load limiters, and a child seat upper tether anchor. Vehicle dynamic control and traction control are standard on all Leaf models. For more on the Leaf and safety, click here.

Nissan Leaf Wins 2011 World Car of the Year

Brian Carolin accepts the WCOTY award

NEW YORK, N.Y. (April 20, 2011) - Today, at the New York International Auto Show, the 100-percent electric, zero-emission Nissan LEAF was named 2011 World Car of the Year, edging out the BMW 5-Series and the Audi A8 for the top spot. Today's award is the latest in a string of accolades for the world's first affordable mass-market, all-electric vehicle for the global market, which was also named European Car of the Year.

"It is a great joy that the world's first, mass-marketed electric vehicle, the Nissan LEAF, has won the prestigious award of 2011 World Car of the Year," said Nissan Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn. "This accolade recognizes Nissan LEAF, a pioneer in zero-emission mobility, as comparable in its driving performance, quietness and superb handling to gas-powered cars. And it validates Nissan's clear vision and the values of sustainable mobility that we want to offer to customers around the world."

The World Car Awards jurors observed that, "The Leaf is the gateway to a brave new electric world from Nissan. This 5-seater, 5-door hatchback is the world's first, purpose-built, mass-produced electric car. It has a range of over 100 miles on a full charge claims Nissan, takes around 8 hours to recharge using 220-240V power supply and produces zero tailpipe emissions. Its low center of gravity produced sharp turn-in with almost no body roll and no understeer. The good news? It feels just like a normal car, only quieter."

The World Car of the Year competition was launched in 2004, with winners chosen by a panel of automotive journalists from Asia, Europe and North America.

Nissan LEAF is available in Japan, the United States and select European markets and will be released in other global markets in 2012. The vehicle is currently built at Nissan's Oppama, Japan plant. It also will be manufactured at the company's Smyrna, Tenn., plant in the United States in late 2012 and at Nissan's Sunderland plant in the United Kingdom by early 2013.

Aiming to be the world leader in zero-emission vehicles, Nissan, with its Alliance partner, Renault, has formed partnerships with more than 90 governments, cities and other organizations around the world not only to develop and produce EV and lithium-ion batteries but also to promote sustainable mobility. Nissan is also taking a comprehensive approach to encourage to the world to more sustainable mobility such as improvement of charging service, infrastructure deployment, the promotion of the use of recycled materials and overall energy management system including second-life use of lithium-ion batteries.

Nissan Leaf Drive Electric Tour Q&A Walkaround

Our General Manager, John Cook, and Sales & Lease Specialist, Justin Mitchell, had the opportunity to attend the Nissan Leaf Drive Electric Tour in Charlotte, NC. 

This video is a compilation of what Nissan presented to them about the All-New Leaf. Click on the picture to access the video. 

Please enjoy and post any questions you may have!