Madison Gas & Electric to install EV charging network
Madison, Wisconsin is a fairly typical college town, a place with a fairly substantial population of people with progressive attitudes on many issues. That means it has more people who ride bikes, take the bus, walk and drive hybrids than some other surrounding areas. It's also easier to find plug-in vehicles in places like Madison than elsewhere. Madison Gas and Electric can see the writing on the wall and wants to be ready for the transition to electrification. With that in mind, the local utility will begin installing a charging network in the state capitol. MGE has purchased six Chargepoint units from Coulomb Technologies. The Chargepoints support a subscription charging system that works much like mobile phone services.
MGE plans to offset all electricity use from the Chargepoints with renewable energy. The first unit should be installed this summer with all six in place by early 2010. MGE purchased its first plug-in hybrid in 2008 and it is getting a plug-in Ford Escape hybrid this summer with vehicle to grid capability for a test program.
[Source: Madison Gas and Electric]
MGE Plans Electric Vehicle Charging Network
Project first in country
Madison, Wis., June 25, 2009-As part of several technology demonstration projects under study, Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) has purchased six Coulomb Technologies electric vehicle charging stations from Carbon Day Automotive, Chicago, Ill. Electric cars and trucks charged at the stations will have their emissions offset through renewable energy. The project is the first of its kind in the United States.
The vehicle charging network will provide users with options that extend the range and use of their electric vehicles. The driving range for an electric-powered vehicle can be about 40 miles. Currently, owners have to recharge their car or truck at home or at prearranged locations. Only a handful of public vehicle charging systems are in place throughout the world.
MGE plans to install the first charging unit this summer and have the network up and operating by early next year.
"MGE's forward-thinking efforts ensure the Madison area will have the infrastructure to support electric vehicles," stated Scott Emalfarb, a principal in Carbon Day Automotive.
Last year, MGE purchased one of the state's first plug-in hybrid cars. This summer, the company will install vehicle-to-grid technology in a new Ford Escape plug-in hybrid, making it "Smart Grid" ready. This technology allows the vehicle to recharge at low power demand times and can also be discharged to supply the grid with power during peak power demand hours.
"This demonstration project will show us how use of plug-in vehicles could eventually affect operations of the electric grid and power supply planning," said Lynn Hobbie, MGE senior vice president.
Carbon Day Automotive is a division of Carbon Day, an organization dedicated to increasing environmental awareness by encouraging people to play a part in saving the planet.
Coulomb Technologies applies networking technology to the challenge of charging electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in order to fuel the electric transportation industry. Coulomb's ChargePoint(SM) Network addresses the needs of drivers, utilities, governments and parking-space owners.
MGE generates and distributes electricity to 137,000 customers in Dane County, Wis., and purchases and distributes natural gas to 141,000 customers in seven south-central and western Wisconsin counties. MGE's parent company is MGE Energy (Nasdaq: MGEE). The company's roots in the Madison area date back more than 150 years.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DasBoese 7:47PM (6/28/2009)
Subscription based. Ugh. They can keep it.
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Chris M 11:42PM (6/28/2009)
What, do you expect to get it for free? With a few exceptions, most public EV charging will have a charge (pardon the pun) for it. While it could be charged to a credit card (pardon again), it might well be more convenient to to accumulate the charges (sorry) and simply pay for it in a monthly bill, or prepay it in the same fashion as "FastPass" for toll bridges. While a coin operated charging outlet is technically feasible, just like old fashioned vending machines, it does present potential security problems and additional labor to collect the money.
The only real problem I forsee with subscription billing is, with multiple companies providing charging outlets, could an EV driver get effectively shut out of using a charger from a different subscription charging service? For convenience sake, we'd really like to be able to use whichever charger is available wherever, and not have to worry about it.
Perhaps it is time to ask our congressional delegates to put regulations in place insuring interoperability between different EV charging outlets and billing services.
DasBoese 2:06PM (6/29/2009)
No, of course not for free.
The potential problems you mention are exactly what irks me about subscription-based models, that and the unwillingness of having to pay monthly subscription fees for a service that I might not even use very often.
Look at it from that angle: Even in mobile communications, where subscriptions make much more sense because it's a non-local service, prepay plans make up a significant marketshare. Those are people that don't make a lot of calls, or are very cost-conscious.
The mass-market EVs that are curently underway all have ranges that will allow most owners to get around with just charging at home. The most likely users of urban charging stations are visitors and PHEV users, for both of whom a subscription model isn't attractive.
A prepaid model is a far better option, though it does suffer from the same convenience issues as the subscription, i.e. you can use it only in certain areas.
By far the most convenient solutions are good-old-fashioned money, credit/debit cards and electronic cash (in countries that have it. Over here, most banks have started including a digital stored-value chips into debit and credit cards)
polo 9:05PM (6/29/2009)
"The potential problems you mention are exactly what irks me about subscription-based models, that and the unwillingness of having to pay monthly subscription fees for a service that I might not even use very often."
Call me crazy but if EV charging stations were subscription based, they'd be offered as "pay as you go" plans with "rollover miles" for your unused miles (puns intended).
RAN 10:21PM (6/28/2009)
I agree. How much will $2 worth of electricity end up costing the Chargepoint Subscriber?
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Chris M 11:45PM (6/28/2009)
Uh, two dollars?
No, the real question is how much will they charge per Kwh, considering that there will be a markup to pay for the equipment and to make a reasonable profit. I predict signs will be posted showing different charging rate options, and the charge per Kwh for each, similar to the signs at gas stations for different grades of gas.
paulwesterberg 10:51AM (6/29/2009)
mge already sells wind power for an extra cent per kwh.
ryan 11:54PM (6/28/2009)
The area around the capitol has an extremely high wealth concentration. Buying luxury hybrids, and paying for a subscription service, is something they would enjoy.
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RAN 8:45AM (6/29/2009)
Yes, uh, two dollars. That's usually the amount bandied about when someone asks how much it costs to charge an EV. So when you get done with your Kwh, cost per electron analysis, just tell me how much more it will cost me to get two dollars worth of electricity from this service.
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Larry Miller 11:46PM (6/29/2009)
MG&E is installing them in the state capital, not in the state capitol.
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