http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/environment-and-nature/20130913/electric-vehicle-ownership-on-the-rise-thanks-to-unique-subsidy-program-energy-savings
By Steve Scauzillo, September 12, 2013
Hao Cheng, 36, of Walnut, unplugs his EV (electric vehicle), a Nissan
Leaf, at the EV charging station at the Metrolink Park N Ride/ Train
Station, in Walnut, Wednesday, August 14, 2013.
Daniel Phan had the world on a string.
He drove a Mercedes Benz to his job at Fannie Mae, where he churned out housing loans until the bubble burst.
Now,
he sits behind a desk for a Los Angeles city and county joint agency
finding housing for the homeless, the very people the housing boon left
on the curb.
“I was on the profit-making side of housing and urban
development with Fannie Mae,” Phan, 50, explained. “Now I am doing the
opposite. That is the beauty of this country.”
The transformation
didn’t stop there. He garaged his gasoline-thirsty Benz and leased a
2013 Nissan Leaf, a battery-powered electric car that he charges at one
of 64 new solar charge ports at the Metrolink train station in Industry.
With his car charging, he rides the clean-diesel train to his office;
when the train glides into the station around 6:07 p.m., he walks to
his reserved parking spot, unhooks the charger and drives to his home in
Walnut on battery power.
The entire commute is nearly pollution free.
“I strongly
believe in the electric vehicle and anything that can bring green
sustainability and profitability,” said Phan. “It comes down to choices.
This is the better choice.”
Phan is one of a group
of 59 Nissan Leaf owners who were nudged into a sustainable lifestyle
through a one-of-a-kind program offered through the city of Industry and
the regional South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The generous, $13 million program supplies each lessee with a $2,000 down payment and pays about half their monthly payments.
Slowly but surely, it is turning a car-oriented suburban town
like Walnut in the eastern part of the county into an unlikely green
living spot with a modicum of consciousness raising sprinkled in for
good measure.
In short, these 59 electric car owners — also
required to take the train 14 days out of the month — are experiencing
an environmental awakening normally reserved for planet-conscious
celebrities on the Westside munching on organic produce and tofu.
For
example, Hao Cheng, 36, also of Walnut, has suddenly familiarized
himself with all the public charging stations. And not just those in
California, but in the entire Pacific Northwest. Cheng has become a bit
of a fanatic in less than a month.
The Leaf goes about 100 miles per charge, but when traveling the
freeway that dips to 60 to 80 miles at most. Like many all-electric car
owners, he carefully planned his trip to Palm Springs, finding a
480-volt super charger at a McDonald’s on University Avenue in
Riverside, about halfway there.
His Leaf comes with a quick-charge port.
“I refilled my battery there in 36 minutes. Otherwise, I cannot make that trip because it is about 100 miles,” Cheng said.
Cheng
found a website that maps out all quick-charge locations in the U.S.
“In Oregon and Washington, they have a lot of fast-charging station
along the freeways. California needs more investment in those facilities
if they want to increase the number of EVs,” he said.
Southern California Edison counted 12,000 plug-in
vehicles in their service area as of Aug. 6, according to its report
“Charged Up.” They represent 10 percent of the plug-in vehicles
operating in the nation, making California “a launch state” for electric
vehicles, the report stated.
Of those, 65 percent are cars that
also have smaller gasoline engines to extend the range, such as the
Chevy Volt, the Ford C-Max Energi and the Fusion Energi; 35 percent are
all battery, such as the Leaf, the Honda EV, the Chevy Spark EV and the
new Smart EV.
In about six years, SCE estimates the number of plug-in vehicles in its service area will reach 350,000.
To
meet electric charging demand, SCE recommends electric and
partial-electric vehicle owners designate the end of the charge time on
their car’s on-board computer, so that charging start and end times
vary, so as not to overload the grid. Most plug-in vehicle owners who
charge at home do so after 10 p.m., when rates are lower and
electricity more plentiful, the report stated.
SCE’s report
concludes that plug-in vehicle owners are more likely to live in
suburban areas where garages are equipped with 220-volt chargers or
standard 120-volt plugs. Only 5 percent of multi-unit residents owners
or condominium associations surveyed said they would consider installing
such infrastructure.
Most if not all of those in the Industry-SCAQMD
program live in Walnut, a town with a majority of single-family homes
with garages. This, and the fact that Industry and the SCAQMD paid for
64 charging stations using solar panels, makes the program fit well with
commuters who work in Los Angeles.
While most public charging
stations, found at city halls, in Walgreens and at Ikea, can charge a
car in about four hours, Blink is building quick chargers. Two super
chargers exist at the SCAQMD in Diamond Bar. But very few are available
to the public, hampering the range of all-electric cars.
SCE is concerned about an increase in high-voltage chargers and
cars that accept the quick charge. “This could create new implications
for grid reliability ...” according to the report.
The report
also lists the top three questions EV owners ask: How much will it cost
to charge their car? Where are the public charging stations? What are
the environmental benefits of these non-gas guzzling cars?
Nam Huyn calculated that it costs less than half in “fuel” to drive his Nissan Leaf than his mini-van.
Huyn, who works in the Los Angeles Controller’s Office, pays
attention to numbers. Since each participant went out and got their best
deal at a local car dealer, each monthly lease payment is different.
Huyn said he was one of five to receive an introductory $180 per month
lease. With the $125 per month subsidy from the program, his monthly
cost is $55.
“I think this is a wonderful program,” Huyn said. “If
somehow, all cities and other organizations can figure out a way to
promote electric vehicles, it would be a win-win for all.”
Merci Adams, 51, of Walnut, had her car payment reduced from $375
to $250 with the subsidy. Even though that’s more than some in the
program, Adams is not complaining. She believes driving the electric car
and taking the train to her job in a law office in L.A. is better than
driving her old car, a Mercedes Benz.
“I love it. Love it. Love
it. Did I say I love it?,” she said. “It is one of the best cars I’ve
ever owned and I have driven some high-end cars,” including a Cadillac.
She’s vowed to buy the electric car when the two-year lease runs out.
“Did I mention my boyfriend, who is 6-foot-9, loves it?” she asked.
Adams
has ridden trains to her job in L.A. for 20 years. Adding the electric
car fit into her lifestyle. Now, she can check environmentalist next to
her description of legal secretary and mother of a teenaged daughter.
“I love passing those gas stations,” she said.
She estimates she’s saving about $250 a month in fuel. “I’m giving that to my daughter, the starving college student,” she said.
Phan
said switching to an electric car from a gasoline-powered model will
soon be the norm, just as more people no longer smoke cigarettes.
“Just as in those days, when we smoked, we didn’t know any
better. We polluted the air and we were killing the person next to us.
Now we know better. I believe in better things. Science can create
better things,” he said.