Help me win Lance Armstrong's Bike…

…by voting for my video on the Drive Electric Tour site!

Thank You.

Also, if you see by CBox to the right, you'll notice that HankHillNeedsALeaf also has an excellent video.  I voted for him and I hope you did too but if you didn't, I'm afraid now it's too late and I'm very sorry to say the most deserving HankHillNeedsALeaf did not get one.  Perhaps it's just as well though, because I personally believe he'd go down to Strickland Propane and mount a tank in his trunk and put in a generator that runs on Propane using Propane Accessories to power his LEAF.

Seriously, though, well done HankHillNeedsALeaf and I hope you'll consider casting a vote for me too so that at least I can win that sweet ride designed by Lance Armstrong and beat out that woman who was just complaining about having to drive from New York to test drive a LEAF.  Personally, I think it was a gross under sight of the Drive Electric Tour planning not to have a stop in Chicago, Pittsburg, New York and Boston for our MyNissanLeaf buddy Mitch and we shouldn't punish those in D.C. for being lucky enough to be on the Tour Schedule, especially when we as well as all of the South East were pushed back eight months to only a handful of months before the rest of the country for the opportunity to just order the car.  Secondly, although I didn't blog about it, I was truly heartbroken when I, in Virginia, couldn't get in the Mini-E lease program.  I have, for the last two years, been very jealous of the New Yorkers and New Jerseyites that we able to get that most wonderful car.  So this time, let a Virginian win the LEAF! Or at least a Marylander, D.C. resident, Pennsylvanian, Illinoisan or another one of my fellow Tier 2 states.  Thanks again and I look forward to your vote!

Two Years and 119 Cars! (Today)

Previously

…I looked back at my first post.

Today

Since that first post, I've added a number of cars to this blog; some mentioned occasionally, some quite frequently.  All of these up and coming or already arrived cars deserve a mention since they're all at least partially able to take the label of Affordable Electric Car and all but one mentioned in the Plug-in America Vehicle Tracker.

Chevrolet Volt

I first mentioned the Volt in my second post to this blog, back when it was still designed with 60 mi (97 km) range.  I've no doubt has a love / hate relationship with the Volt over the last 2 years, but don't get me wrong, the Volt is the right car for a lot of people, and anyone interested in an EV with a 40 mi (64 km) round trip daily commute should seriously consider this car.  I even know a place where you can get the Volt at MSRP!

BMW Mini-E

I haven't spoken much about the Mini-E — so far only in my EVSE installation post — but this car has been on my mind a long, long time.  When the leases were announced for 2009, I jumped on the chance to get one of the 500 East Coast orders.  But alas, my region wasn't one of the privileged ones, so there was no Mini-E for me.  On the bright side, at least I saved over $800 per month for the last 2 years!

Toyota Plug-in Prius

The holy grail, as it were, of the PHEV world is the Plug-in Prius.  For years, home hobbyists were converting their Toyota Priuses into Plug-in cars to take advantage of inexpensive electrical rates.  I first mentioned the Original Equipment Manufactured (OEM) Plug-in Prius in January and was much enthralled.  It may not be the EV of my dreams, but it's about bloody well time!

Toyota Rav4 (2002)

The 2002 Rav4 Electric was the only car from the late 1990s and early 2000s that survived to today.  This was due to it being the only car in that time that was available, for a brief, 6-month period, for customer purchase, unlike the long, lost and mythical GM EV1.  I first mentioned this car when I saw it in real life back in January, the very same one on the wikipedia page liked above.  Of course, since the 2002 Rav4 EV is no longer made, it's not on the Plug-in America list; at least not for that model year…

Nissan LEAF

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know it's not a question of what I have said about the Nissan LEAF, it's a question of what I haven't!  I first signed up on the mailing list for the LEAF in February 2010, and have been following it ever since.  Indeed, my first mention of the LEAF was as early as May 2010 in a massive post about the physics of fuel economy.

Smart ED

Although Plug-in America's database is quite thorough, there are some very important cars that have yet to make their list.  Nowhere is this more apparent than with the Smart Electric Drive, which I first mentioned to you back in January when I saw the first car ever leased in North America.

Next up

Some cars expected in the next 12 months…

Clipper Creek CS-100 EVSE Installed!

For once, the awful photographer that I am, I have none the less decided to give you a pictorial retrospective of install of one of the first EVSEs in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  So with minimal textual interruption, here is my adventure into the world of Electric Vehicle Service Equipment — click any image for a larger version:

Wee!  A package for me!  From Clipper Creek?  I wonder what it could be?

Woo hoo!  The Clipper Creek CS-100 Electric Vehicle Service Equipment, complete with J1772 e-hose and Charger!

Ah, a sneak peak into the interior of this industrial strength behemoth!

The heart of the machine: the 90 Ampère, 220 Volt A/C converter!  At least, so my dreamy eyes interpret the mysterious box in front of me.

Gonna pump me some serious electrons with this puppy: the J1772 standard Electric Vehicle charge plug.

Aw, isn't she sweet — or he, all buff, industrial and military?  Nah, I like my ladies tough!  So there she is, all ready for her rough and ready install!

Ample room in the circuit breaker box for a new lead for my sub-panel.  And a bit of trivia: notice the blue sticker next to the 20 Ampère breaker?  The plugs it's connected to aren't NEMA 5-20R, plus the wiring didn't look a sufficient gauge for 20A.  So when I bought the house we told the former owner to downgrade that to a 15A breaker; I'm still waiting…

Ta-da!  Joe, the kind Electrician from Cullen Electric, Inc. has added the first link in the power chain to my new EVSE: the 125 Ampère, 2-pole circuit breaker.

And here is the 4-wire 1/0 SER Aluminium cable at the beginning of its journey out to the sub panel in the garage.

Yep, Joe warned me he would need to make a hole in my ceiling to run that thick wire across the house, but all in all, he did a pretty nice job of patching it back up, don't you think?  Just need to sand down the gauze mesh and repaint!

This one caught me a bit by surprise but it's small and I didn't even notice it until Joe pointed it out; I assume the wire got caught on its way to the utility closet so he had to fish it half-way through and anchor it there.

Here the cable comes out into the utility closet (more of a utility room under the basement stairs, really)…

Then the chord goes out again and up into the garage wall.

We're back in the garage.  Joe is on his lunch break so I thought I'd take a sneak peak at the new sub-panel before he put the cover on it.  As you can see, the 4-wire 1/0 SER Aluminium cable comes to the end of its journey here.

Time-lapse… the sub-panel is now fully installed with a new 3-wire 1/0 SER Aluminium cable coming out above on its way to the final leg of the electrical odyssey.

And what do we have inside?  Another 2-pole circuit breaker, this one with a 100 Ampère rating.  Can I just say, I'm probably learning way too much about Electrical Codes and Pricing and Wiring and Regulations than I probably ever remotely should?

Yep, that's for my CS-100 EVSE.  Squee!  Also, can I just say, should an adult male of my experienced age really still be squeeing like a school girl?  Yes.

Okay, I have to give a shout-out here to my best friend from preschool, Tony, as well as the Fairfax County Electrical Inspector for reminding me of the virtues of good, fire-retardant caulk.  That's 3M Fire Barrier Sealant CP 25WB+, with 4-hour fire resistance, and it's red.

Now we trace the 3-wire 1/0 SER Aluminium cable from out of the wall, toward the other side of my garage.  Notice the NEMA 5-15R on the far left for reference…

Look, off to the left!  EVSE ho!  And of course, now on the far right, there's that same NEMA 5-15R to guide our way.

My EVSE is receiving power from below thanks to Joe's fine work installing the 3-wire conduit to it.  The J1772 e-hose now sits lonely, waiting for an EV or Plug-in Hybrid to charge.  Nissan?  Chevy?  Ford Focus EV?  Mini-E?  Tesla?  Anyone??

Thank you Clipper Creek from one more happy, if untested, customer!

Finally, you may be wondering how much this cost.  Well, it wasn't cheap, but here's the breakdown:

Associations: $35.00

• $35.00 (Electric Automotive Association Annual Dues, Electronic Membership)

Materials: $3,272.05

• $2550.00 (Clipper Creek CS-100 EVSE)
• $267.30 (1/0 SER cable - 45 ft, 4-Wire Aluminum; from main panel to sub-panel)
• $125.00 (125amp Siemans 2-pole 3 breaker)
• $75.00 (100amp Siemans 2-pole 3 breaker)
• $125.00 (16 space main lug panel with cover)
• $64.75 (1/0 SEU cable - 25 ft, 3-Wire Aluminum; from sub-panel to EVSE)
• $65.00 (Shop parts)

Shipping: $50.00

• $50.00 (For the EVSE via UPS)

Labor: $680.00

• $680.00 (Thanks again Joe!)

Permits: $250.00

• $250.00 (Fairfax County, Virginia)

Taxes: $36.10

• $36.10 (Northern Virginia Sales Tax at 5% on all materials but the EVSE itself)

Credits: ($2,000.00)

• ($2,000.00) (EVSE Federal Tax Credit — Assuming no AMT in 2010)

Total cost to me: $2,323.15, assuming I qualify for the full EVSE Tax Credit and not get hit by AMT this year for the first time because of it.  Otherwise, it's a rather unpleasant $4,323.15 out-of-pocket with no money back and no return on investment for the next 12 or so months.

One question I still have is if I get a Smart Meter with TOU installed next year, as well as pay someone to fix the ceiling drywall, can I still qualify for the newly-passed 2011 EVSE 30% Tax Credit, capped at $1000.  I doubt the expenses that time would be anywhere near the maximum $3,333.33 for which the credit qualifies, but it doesn't hurt to ask.