An example of one of AeroVironment's DC Fast Charging stations along the world's first EV tourism corridor between Seattle and Wenatchee, Wash.

After years of pushing for it, Plug-In North Central Washington is thrilled to announce the grand opening of the world’s first dedicated electric vehicle tourism corridor between Seattle and Wenatchee, Washington. The three DC Fast Charging stations and accompanying Level 2 stations will allow drivers of appropriately equipped electric vehicles (e.g. Nissan Leafs and Mitsubishi i-MiEVs with fast charging capability) to make the trip between the two regions and become EV tourists. Several hotels in North Central Washington—including Sleeping Lady Resort in Leavenworth and Springhill Suites in Wenatchee—are standing ready to accommodate these pioneering EV tourists with free charges for hotel guests at their on-site Level 2 charging stations. In addition, several other Level 2 charging stations in Wenatchee are at the ready including two behind the Convention Center and two at Stevens Pass Ski Area.

As we prepare to welcome these EV tourists to our region, the official grand opening ceremonies for the world’s first EV Tourism Corridor will happen this weekend, June 16, 2012, with several events at four of the communities along the route. Many of the region’s most stalwart EV enthusiasts will be on hand with their Leafs and other plug-in vehicles to be among the first to make the full round trip. Due to the day’s packed events, the charging stations will largely be reserved and occupied by these pioneers for their duration.  As we are also welcoming other plug-ins that can make the trip, such as the Chevy Volt or Prius PHEV, there will be no restrictions on how many of those vehicles can make take part in this historic occasion.

If you wish to take part or are wondering if there are still slots open to make the trip, please contact us.

WHAT: Ribbon-cutting and community events to celebrate expansion of the West Coast Electric Highway into North Central Washington State with the opening of charging stations along US2, between Seattle and Wenatchee. Over a dozen stations of mixed power levels are available, with more installations planned.

WHO: State and local officials, proponents of vehicle electrification and EV-tourism, electric vehicle drivers and business people will provide brief remarks about the US2 EV-friendly Scenic Tourism Corridor and possible impacts on EV driving and tourism.

WHEN: Saturday, June 16, 2012 at times and places indicated below.

WHERE:

Sultan at 9 a.m.
Visitor Information Center
320 Main St., Sultan, WA 98294

Skykomish at 10:30 a.m.
Sky Deli
148 5th Street North, Skykomish, WA 98288

Leavenworth at 1 p.m.
Leavenworth City Hall (behind building)
700 US Highway 2, Leavenworth, WA 98826

Wenatchee at 3:30 p.m.
Wenatchee Convention Center (behind building)
121 North Wenatchee Avenue, Wenatchee, Washington 98801

OPPORTUNITIES: Intermingle with State and local officials, Plug-In North Central Washington organizers, EV enthusiasts and drivers, and local business people. Learn about the impact of the West Coast Electric Highway expansion into North Central Washington on Seattle area consumers, rural tourism-dependent economies, energy independent communities, and the mainstream adoption of electric vehicles. Events will include ribbon-cutting ceremonies and electric vehicle charging. The final celebration in Wenatchee features rides aboard the “Current,” an all-battery electric shuttle bus operated by Link Transit, an Electric Vehicle Showcase, ribbon cutting, and talks by leaders of vehicle electrification in the State.

Artist's rendering of what a charging station pavilion could look like, courtesy of ECOtality/Blink Network of charging stations.

When it comes to making charging infrastructure for electric vehicles easy to install, Douglas County is way ahead of the curve. While much of the nation struggles with how to change and update existing land use, zoning, permitting and other codes for the easy installation of the charging stations these next generation vehicles need, Douglas County has taken a different approach and found a much simpler way to do it—in a fashion that fits in well with Eastern Washington’s cultural landscape.

Douglas County’s work has also provided other counties and cities in the area with a good template to start from, greatly reducing the time, energy and resources needed to do the same thing.

“Essentially the issue of where to put in charging stations should be a pretty simple exercise,” said Mark Kulaas, Land Services Director for Douglas County, in an interview with Plugin Center. “People are either going to have them in their homes and businesses or they’re not, and the city and county shouldn’t be passing judgement on that.”

After passage of a 2009 state law that required most of Washington’s cities and counties to develop ordinances allowing electric vehicle infrastructure to be installed, the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) was directed to draft some model ordinances that would help local governments meet those requirements. Ron Johnston-Rodriguez, Economic Development Director for the Port of Chelan County and the Director of the Plugin Center, was on the advisory committee that helped to draft these model ordinances. For everything from land use considerations, to permitting processes, to signage suggestions, the PSRC recommendations were very detailed. The 46 page model ordinance guidebook can be found at the PSRC website.

“When that legislation was passed we just kind of followed the process along that was being headed up by the Puget Sound Regional Council and kept contact with Ron [Johnston-Rodriguez] through the process,” said Kulaas, who also serves on the City Council in Wenatchee. “After the model ordinances came out we knew it needed to be done to meet state requirements and the staff here was very interested in making it as painless as possible. We knew that the Port of Chelan was really taking a lead on this, and we knew that our region was ahead of the curve. So if a business or organization was looking for opportunities to install charging stations we wanted to be able to respond right away, instead of taking a couple of months to push through new ordinances under pressure.”

Kulaas says Douglas County’s overarching philosophy in the process was to “stay out of the way” and says they wanted to find ways to distill the model ordinance guidance down from its very detailed state to something simple. “For us here in Eastern Washington we didn’t need to go through the entire scope that was addressed in there,” he said. “We pretty much wanted to stick to land use issues and some of the model ordinances stuff extended beyond land use issues.” As an example of some of the detail they wanted to cut out, Kulaas pointed to the model ordinances suggestions for station signage. “If I was a business and I had a charging station, I’m going to be putting up a sign,” he said. “I don’t need the government telling me to put up a sign and how to do it.”

In the end, Douglas County took approximately seven pages of guidance and distilled it down into one simplified page. “We believed that if there are already codes that govern a particular activity, why create more?,” said Kulaas. “The Department of Labor and Industries already permits electrical systems, we don’t. The Public Utility Districts provide power under their guidelines, we don’t. The Americans with Disabilities Act applies regardless of what the activity is, so we didn’t feel it was necessary to make regulations more complex than they already are. Essentially our philosophy is ‘less is better.’”

Kulaas said that Douglas County was able to do the work between their required work programs and that it wasn’t that much of a time burden, estimating that it took about 30 total hours of staff time with basic research taking 20 hours and the rest devoted to herding it through the hearing process. From start to finish, the whole process including adoption by the county commissioners took about two months. “The process was made a little quicker because we had requested and received approval from the state Department of Commerce to use what’s called ‘expedited review’ through the Growth Management Act—and that cut two months off right there,” said Kulaas, adding that the state legislature was wise enough to also exempt the regulations from the state Environmental Policy Act so there was no environmental analysis to conduct—saving a large chunk of time.

The county plans on taking a look at the ordinances a couple of years down the road and if something needs modification they have no problem with revising it at that point. “Somebody has to be first, and frankly, on a number of other technology issues Douglas County has been a leader—we just want to be in a position that as individuals and business make the decision to adopt this new technology we’re ready for it,” said Kulaas.

“Now it’s our job to stay out of the way as projects start coming in,” he said. “Our big thrust was that we didn’t want to have a special permit for somebody putting in a charging station. If you need a building permit, great, you need a building permit, but if you’re not doing any construction then you need to get permits from whoever you need to get permits from—Labor and Industry and approval from the Public Utility District for example—and then go on your way. We didn’t add any permits or approvals that wouldn’t normally exist for electric vehicle infrastructure.

Kulaas said his department would be happy to share their research and process with other local governments in the region, saying that if other cities or counties in the area used the materials they’ve adopted, they would cut out a fair amount of analysis time and drafting.

Resources:

1. Douglas County Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Ordinances
2. Puget Sound Regional Council Model Ordinances

Douglas County Land Services Contact Information:

140 East 19th Street NW, Suite A
East Wenatchee, WA 98802
509-884-7173
http://www.douglascountywa.net/departments/tls/land/default.asp

An all-electric Nissan LEAF charges up at the first charging stations to be installed over a mountain pass in the United States

As the initial piece of the puzzle in what will eventually be the nation’s first ‘EV-friendly’ scenic tourism corridor along U.S. Route 2 from Seattle to Wenatchee, Wash., the two electric car charging stations opened at Stevens Pass ski resort on June 2, 2011, are not only the first modern universal electric car charging stations over any mountain pass in the U.S., they represent a gigantic milestone in the quest to make all of North Central Washington a place where electric vehicles can flourish.

The two stations, supplied by Coulomb Technologies as part of their ChargePoint Network, are each able to simultaneously charge at 240 Volts (known as Level 2 charging) and 120 Volts (known as Level 1, or ‘trickle’ charging)—allowing up to four vehicles to charge at the same time. Using the Level 2 ports, fully electric cars can add between 15 and 30 miles of driving range for every hour of charging. The Level 1 ports can add around 4-5 miles of driving range for every hour of charging—making them better suited to charging plug-in hybrids such as the Chevy Volt or upcoming Prius Plug-in.

As Stevens Pass sees it, the stations will allow EV drivers from both Seattle and Wenatchee—as well as points as far away as Portland and Vancouver, B.C.—to use their zero tailpipe emissions vehicles while they are skiing, hiking, camping, mountain biking, fishing, hunting, and doing any of the other myriad of recreational activities that the Cascades and North Central Washington offer. Not only that, given that Stevens Pass uses the bountiful supply of hydroelectricity and wind power generated in the Northwest, EV drivers who fill up there will be filling up with emissions-free electricity as well, making the trek entirely emissions free.

Video of the Event:

The stations are the first in what will eventually be an extensive network of charging solutions from Seattle to Wenatchee. The State of Washington has already committed to installing two DC Fast Charging stations on each side of the mountain pass. Along with the Level 2 stations at Stevens Pass Ski Area—as well as several other Level 2 stations that area businesses plan on installing in the coming year—the DC Fast Charging stations will complete the EV-friendly scenic tourism corridor. DC Fast Charging stations can add about 80 miles of driving range to a properly-equipped electric car in about 30 minutes of charging.

“These stations are going to be everywhere—the future is clearly electric,” said Washington State Representative Mike Armstrong at the event. He is the ranking minority member of the House Transportation Committee, and his 12th district includes most of North Central Washington. “The great part about electrification is that it will allow us to wean ourselves from the oil dependency we currently have,” he added.

Washington 12th District Representative Mike Armstrong (L) shakes hands with Ross Freeman (R), Stevens Pass Environmental and Sustainability Manager, as Ron Johnston-Rodriguez, Economic Development Director for the Port of Chelan County looks on during the opening of two electric car charging stations at the ski resort.

Stevens Pass is already well-known for its green efforts, including on-site composting of most of the resort’s food waste, extensive use of wind power and the purchase of carbon offsets to make up for the environmental effects of operating a ski resort in the middle of the forest on the top of a mountain. At the event John Gifford, Stevens Pass Ski Area General Manager, said that the addition of the charging stations was a clear extension of the resort’s efforts to date. “Frankly it’s just being a good steward,” he said. “Yes, hopefully long term it will have a positive impact for our business, but we mostly look at it as a way to offset our environmental impact in this pristine area.”

According to Stevens Pass Environmental and Sustainability Manager, Ross Freeman, the stations will be free for use for an initial period of several months, but eventually a full charge will cost somewhere in the realm of five dollars. According to Freeman, the stations were mostly paid under a federal grant administered by Coulomb’s Chargepoint network, but Stevens Pass covered some of the costs for the stations as well as for installation, electrical work and fabrication of the special ski lift theme station mount (which also serves a dual purpose in allowing the stations to swing out of the way for snow removal).

A posse of electric cars including two Nissan LEAFs (blue), two Tesla Roadsters (one not pictured) and a converted plug-in Prius gather around the charging stations to fill up.

To celebrate the occasion, electric car drivers from both Wenatchee and Seattle made the trek up the hill to be the first to charge up at the groundbreaking installations. North Central Washington’s first Nissan LEAF owner, John Sweeney, drove his LEAF 55.8 miles from East Wenatchee to Stevens Pass, with only a short 45 minute stop for a 120 Volt Level 1 trickle charge in Leavenworth while eating breakfast. While others were worried he may not have enough juice to make the entire trek, Mr. Sweeney was completely confident he would make it. With springtime temperatures outside dropping down to around 40 degrees F and an elevation gain of around 3,200 feet, it certainly was a great test of the LEAF’s capabilities at the extreme—but the vehicle made the drive with about 5 miles of range to spare. To squeeze as much range as possible out of the vehicle, Mr. Sweeney drove at a steady 55 mph most of the way.

Other electric vehicles in attendance included another Nissan LEAF from Seattle’s Stadium Nissan—the first Nissan dealer in downtown Seattle to make the focus of their dealership green vehicles—as well as two Tesla Roadsters from Seattle, driven by prominent EV advocates Tom Saxton and Chad Schwitters, both on the board of Plug In America. Plugin Center’s Director Ron Johnston-Rodriguez, also brought the Port of Chelan County’s converted plug-in Toyota Prius along for the ride.

When Pauline and John Sweeney initially heard about the all-electric Nissan LEAF just before Christmas last year, it immediately dawned on them how beautifully the vehicle could fit into their North Central Washington lifestyle—saving them money and reducing their environmental impact at the same time.

The Nissan LEAF is the world’s first mass-market and affordable all-electric car and, as a result, has gathered its fair share of early adopters—especially as gas prices have shown how unpredictable they can be over the last few years—and the Sweeneys are proud to be counted in that category.

As the first people to own a LEAF in North Central Washington, they relish the fact that they are saving loads on “fuel” costs and filling their car up with locally produced electrons, instead of fuel mostly imported from places around the world that don’t have our best interests in mind. In Chelan and Douglas Counties, electricity prices are so incredibly inexpensive that an electric car like the LEAF can be driven for less than a penny a mile—compare that to the 14 cents a mile it would cost you to drive even a fuel efficient Toyota Corolla and now you’re talking a factor of about 20 times less expensive to drive a LEAF.

“For a two car family around town in Wenatchee, the LEAF is about the best car you could think of,” Mrs. Sweeney told the Plugin Center shortly after they took delivery of the vehicle. Most days the Sweeneys take their two cars—their second car is a Volvo all-wheel drive station wagon—fewer than 50 miles. Even though the LEAF is restricted to around 90 miles on a full battery in between charges, as a second car this limitation doesn’t make a bit of difference.

“This is an urban assault vehicle—and it can compete with luxury vehicles as well,” said Mr. Sweeney. “On the outside it may not look like it, but on the inside it is loaded with more amenities than our Volvo. Its on board computer and navigation system has more stuff than I will ever delve into, to be honest.”

The Sweeneys also rave about how comfortable the LEAF is, countering the frequent misconception that electric cars are just glorified golf carts. “It’s a very comfortable car, rather surprisingly,” said Mr. Sweeney. “It certainly isn’t a golf cart.” Having all the comfort, convenience and luxury of an upmarket vehicle was very important to the Sweeneys, given that they are about two years away from retirement—and the LEAF seems to deliver that in droves.

You might wonder how a couple that only got interested in the LEAF last December was able to get a LEAF so quickly given that the car is in such high demand, and wait times can be between 4 and 8 months from order to delivery. Indeed, after the Sweeneys learned about the LEAF in December they quickly paid a trip to the local Town Nissan dealership, and said they had a pleasant and informative conversation with the sales people there, but it quickly became apparent they wouldn’t just be able to buy a LEAF and take it home.

Nissan began taking pre-orders for the LEAF consisting of a $99 deposit in April last year, but by August the company had taken more than 20,000 pre-orders for the car and decided to suspend any other ordering activity (in fact, Nissan only just re-opened it last month). After the Sweeneys found this out they were a bit discouraged, but lodged their interest with Town Nissan and then settled in for a long wait.

On a whim, when they were on a trip to Spokane in January they decided to stop by the Nissan dealer there and see if they had any other information on the LEAF. As it turned out Jaremko Nissan had what’s called an “orphaned” LEAF on their lot—another customer had decided at the last minute to not purchase it. That LEAF was fully loaded and was the exact color the Sweeneys wanted, so they decided to buy it on the spot. “We would have liked to have bought our LEAF locally, but it just worked out this way,” said Mrs. Sweeney.

It was a brilliant stroke of luck for them, given how much they love their new LEAF. “We get lots of gawkers and onlookers asking us what it is and how it drives,” said Mr. Sweeney. “But we don’t mind. We enjoy telling people in the area how much they can save on fuel and how the car can fit into their lifestyle as easily as it does ours.”

The nation’s first electric car-friendly scenic tourism route is moving right along. As previously announced, the Washington Department of Commerce—in collaboration with several partners, including the Plugin Center—will install two or three electric car fast charging stations using federal funds at yet-to-be-chosen locations along Highway 2 over Stevens Pass by the end of 2011.

These high speed charging stations will allow properly equipped electric cars to make the trip from Seattle to tourist destinations in North Central Washington—opening up exciting new branding and marketing opportunities for local businesses. In fact, many local North Central Washington businesses are already lining up to take advantage of this new opportunity—including the Stevens Pass Ski Area; Leavenworth’s Sleeping Lady Resort and Icicle Ridge Winery; and Wenatchee’s Convention Center, Town Toyota Center and SpringHill Suites by Marriot Wenatchee hotel.

This new EV-friendly scenic tourism route will form an extension of the already planned I-5 electric vehicle highway, which will eventually allow EV drivers to go from Vancouver, BC to San Diego, CA. When complete, North Central Washington will represent the furthest destination that EV drivers can travel on that route.

Informational Meetings Planned

To prepare local residents for the new concept of EV tourism, the Washington Departments of Commerce and Transportation will be hosting two informational meetings. The meetings are meant to help local partners prepare for an alternate fuel future.

Who Should Attend:

Representatives from Economic Development Councils, Chambers of Commerce, Tourism Bureaus, Cities and Counties, Businesses, and other interested parties.

Meeting #1:

Tuesday, March 8, 2011
2:00-3:30 p.m.
Sleeping Lady Resort Woodpecker Building, 7375 Icicle Road Leavenworth, WA 98826

Please RSVP to:
Ron Johnston-Rodriguez, Economic Development Director Port of Chelan County
ron@portofchelancounty.com
509.663.5159

Meeting #2:

Wednesday, March 9, 2011
10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Sultan City Hall 319 Main St # 200; Sultan, WA 98294

Please RSVP to:
Sally Harris, Regional Manager Washington State Department of Commerce
Sally.Harris@commerce.wa.gov
206.276.0059

Agenda for Both Meetings:

1. Find out about public and private investments in electric vehicle infrastructure in our state and region, and the coming transition to electric vehicles. Who: Ron Johnston-Rodriguez, Port of Chelan County and Gustavo Collantes, State Energy Office, Washington State Department of Commerce
2. Learn about how counties, cities, and towns can prepare for electric vehicle infrastructure. Who: Anne Fritzel, Growth Management Services, Washington State Department of Commerce
3. Hear about opportunities to host or install electric vehicle chargers along Highway 2, and the kind of sites and partnerships which best support electric vehicle infrastructure. Who: Representative from Public-Private Partnerships, Washington State Department of Transportation

A Nissan LEAF electric car plugs into a DC Fast Charging station. Stations like this can add 80 miles of driving range in about 25 minutes.

Leave it to Washington: After gaining recognition for the U.S.’s first EV-friendly highway initiative in 2010, the state has decided to ring in the New Year by announcing the nation’s first EV-friendly scenic byway and tourism route.

In what the Washington Department of Commerce calls “another pioneering initiative to prepare for the imminent arrival of electric vehicles,” a series of electric car fast charging stations will be installed along a stretch of U.S. Route 2 from just north of Seattle in Everett, over the Cascade Mountains to popular tourism destinations in North Central Washington including the cities of Leavenworth and Wenatchee. The rural EV tourism route will be an extension of the massive electric car charging “ecosystem” that is already being built by both the State and the EV Project in and around Seattle and the greater Puget Sound Region.

Update 2/20/2011: Two informational meetings are now planned to help local partners prepare for this development. Click here to find out where and to RSVP.

“Washington State is proud to announce another important step toward enabling broad adoption of electric vehicles,” said Rogers Weed, Director of the state Department of Commerce. “Partnering to deliver charging infrastructure is essential in Washington, and this initiative keeps us moving in the right direction, promoting local jobs, rural businesses and clean energy.”

In collaboration with the state’s initiative, North Central Washington businesses are lining up to embrace the idea of EV tourism and will install their own charging stations at resorts, wineries, hotels, convention centers and arenas in the area. The first of these east-of-the-Cascades destinations preparing to welcome EV drivers with charging stations include the Stevens Pass Ski Area; Leavenworth’s Sleeping Lady Resort and Icicle Ridge Winery; and Wenatchee’s Convention Center, Town Toyota Center and SpringHill Suites by Marriot Wenatchee hotel. They have all committed to installing medium speed “Level 2″ charging stations—which can add around 15-30 miles of driving range per hour of charging—and will be enough to support EV tourists’ daily activities once they arrive in the region.

“Sleeping Lady has always been deeply committed to the environment and sustainable travel practices,” said Lori Vandenbrink, sales and marketing director for Sleeping Lady. “We hope that the installation of our charging station will help support the increased use of electric vehicles as people travel to and from our area.” Sleeping Lady Resort has already announced that they will be installing a Coulomb Tech CT2100 Level 2 charging station—which can charge up to two cars at a time. Coulomb’s system provided a plug-and-play solution for Sleeping Lady to offer the use of the charger for free to overnight guests, while also providing it at a nominal fee to other visitors and residents of the area.

In addition to those pioneering businesses, over a half-dozen other destination-property owners and public entities from Leavenworth to Chelan  are expected to announce their intentions to purchase and install charging stations by the time the fast chargers are deployed on U.S. Route 2 in early 2011.

“This puts us on the right road to a low-carbon future,” said Eileen V. Quigley, Program Director of Climate Solutions’ New Energy Cities, which works with pioneering Northwest communities accelerating the transformation to a new energy future. “Climate Solutions applauds the first electric-vehicle scenic highway in the nation as a solution we need at this crossroads between the old fossil-fuel based economy and the new clean energy economy.”

Wenatchee even has a Level 2 charging station already installed: as part of its agreement with Nissan to sell the all-electric LEAF midsize hatchback, Town Nissan in Wenatchee has installed a Level 2 charging station for public use—making it the first working Level 2 charging station in North Central Washington. Tom Goodfellow, Town Nissan’s New Car Sales Manager, says they are willing let EV drivers of all stripes—not just LEAF owners—use the station, as long as they come inside and ask permission.

“Enthusiasm and preparation for electric vehicles arriving in North Central Washington has been ramping up for the past six years,” said Ron Johnston-Rodriguez of the Port of Chelan County, coordinator of the Advanced Vehicle Innovations (AVI) Consortium and the Plugin Center. “The State of Washington’s collaboration with the Port and its AVI partners has proven to be an energizing catalyst for community-wide efforts to facilitate and promote charging station deployment in the region. This investment in electric vehicle infrastructure by both private and public sectors  accelerates the Consortium’s timetable for multiple activities to demonstrate and integrate electric vehicle technology into the fabric of this rural area’s tourism industry cluster.”

U.S. Route 2 from the Puget Sound region to North Central Washington is well known in the Pacific Northwest and nationwide for its beautiful scenery—so it should come as no surprise that in 2005 the 120 mile stretch from Everett to Wenatchee was designated as a National Scenic Byway and renamed the Stevens Pass Greenway. Over three million yearly visitors use it to access the hundreds of tourism and recreation destinations available in the Cascades and North Central Washington, including fishing, winter sports, wineries, camping, hiking, kayaking, rafting, hunting and the many conferences held in the land of sunshine. In fact, the region is so popular that it is affectionately known as “Washington’s playground,”with a website dedicated to helping you sort through the diverse variety of activities.

The state will spend up to $200,000 in funds from the Federal Recovery Act to install two to three fast charging stations along the route by the end of 2011—although early 2011 is the target. The “DC Fast Chargers,” as they’re known, can add 80 miles of driving range to an electric car—such as the already-available Nissan LEAF, or upcoming Ford Focus Electric and Mitsubishi i-MiEV—in about 25-30 minutes of charging. This should be just enough to get a Nissan LEAF over the mountains in one or two fast charges depending on conditions and driving style.

Related Resources:

• State of Washington Department of Commerce Press Release
• PluginCenter/Port of Chelan County Press Release

The 2011 Polaris Ranger EV UTV is just one of many electric vehicles now available specifically for farm and landowner use.

In the December 2010 issue of Good Fruit Grower, the Pacific Northwest’s preeminent orchard and vineyard magazine, North Central Washington is singled out as “a pioneer for the adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles because of its cheap hydropower”—something which many of this area’s inhabitants might be surprised to learn. After reviewing some of the history of the Advanced Vehicle Innovations (AVI) consortium and the PluginCenter, Good Fruit Grower points out that agriculture in our region is primed to reap the benefits of vehicle and equipment electrification.

“We’re at the very early stages of application of this technology to agriculture,” said Ron Johnston-Rodriguez, coordinator for the AVI consortium and economic development director for the Port of Chelan County, in the article. “We think it’s going to be a growing part of the landscape. All this started with passenger cars, but it’s scaling up, so we’re looking at larger vehicles and the cost is anticipated to come down significantly, just like other technology.”

Electrification of farm implements and vehicles can provide many of the benefits that everybody will see from using electric vehicles in North Central Washington—and some other side benefits that are a bit more surprising. These include:

• Much lower operating costs—as much as 10-15 times lower.
• Fewer maintenance worries—electric motors have two moving parts and don’t require a transmission.
• Nearly silent—easily hear your radio or your phone while out driving on your electric ATV, talk with farm workers without turning off your vehicle, drive up to your animals without scaring them.
• Very high torque at low RPMs—starting up and pulling loads on an incline was never easier.
• Switch on and off at the touch of a button—conserve “fuel” costs without even thinking about it.

Also in the December issue, the magazine looks at the success of Steve Heckeroth, a pioneer in the field of electric tractors, as well as Washington State University Extension’s use of an all-electric ATV for orchard field work.

Heckeroth owns a California-based company—MendoMotive—that builds electric tractors modeled on the old Allis-Chalmers G. According to Heckeroth, that size tractor is perfect for the small to moderate sized farm operations he’s targeting. He hopes the “Model G,” as he calls it, will be ready to purchase for the 2011 growing season and has already lined up a company to provide financing.

As the magazine points out, the electric farm implement concept is not new, but it is experiencing a resurgence in popularity as fuel prices rise and the benefits of electrification become known. Back in the 1960′s and 1970′s, GE actually built the Elek-Trak electric tractor, but as Johnston-Rodriguez says in the article, hunting down old Elec-Trak tractors to restore them has “practically become a cultlike activity.”

In the past Good Fruit Grower has highlighted other local agricultural electrification successes, including Sunshine Farm’s conversion of an old Allis-Chalmers G tractor to all-electric (with the help of Heckeroth and local EV advocate Randy Brooks).

If you are an agricultural operation and are considering adding electrified implements and vehicles to your fleet, feel free to contact the Plugin Center for more information.

One of our key goals at the Plugin Center is to help local fleets, businesses and governments explore the benefits of integrating all-electric vehicles and associated charging equipment into their operations. To this end, on October 14, 2010, the Plugin Center invited Cascadia International of Tacoma, WA, to bring the all-electric Navistar eStar medium-duty commercial truck to Wenatchee for a day of demonstrations and driving experience for potential fleet owners. The event was well-attended and included participation by Link Transit, Chelan PUD, the City of Wenatchee, and Stemilt Growers. In addition to the demonstration event, the eStar was also featured as a guest of honor the next day at the annual Alternative Fuels and Vehicles Odyssey day held at Wenatchee Valley College.

Cascadia International is the country’s first dealer of the eStar—one of the first all-electric, medium duty (2-ton), commercial vehicles for sale in the Pacific Northwest. It has a range of 100 miles using an 80 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, can carry up to 4,400 pounds and has a gross vehicle weight rating of 12,100 pounds. Navistar began production of the eStar at a former RV manufacturing facility in Indiana in May 2010 after receiving $39 million in federal grants to retool the plant at the end of 2009. Both FedEx and UPS are already using the eStar in daily delivery operations in the U.S. and around the world.

Link Transit graciously offered up space for the October 14th event in their fleet depot near the Confluence Technology Center—also providing us with access to one of their heavy duty lifts. Using the lift, attendees were able to get a detailed look at the underside of the vehicle and see where the electric motor is mounted as well as how the vehicle’s gargantuan battery pack is shielded by a thick plate metal and sandwiched between the substantial frame for safety.

Cascadia International representative, Michael Dockery, was on hand all day and turned the keys over to the various groups for test drives. The vehicle is electronically limited to 50 mph, and test drivers were able to take it to the top speed on a loop that went from the Link depot to Rocky Reach Dam and back. Although it wasn’t planned, the dam provided a not-so-subtle reminder of several reasons why electric vehicles make so much sense for North Central Washington—incredibly inexpensive electricity with no emissions. Even with the all-day test driving, the eStar still showed more than a half full battery pack when the last attendee left for the day.

At the end of the day most attendees had experienced the eStar in ways that changed their minds about what EVs are capable of and many ideas for potential uses had been floated. In particular the PUD imagined the vehicle working well for field maintenance, the city could envision it being used for service vehicles, and Link Transit looked forward to a time when a passenger body is fitted on the frame. Given that Link is already planning on unveiling the country’s first all-electric, battery powered, fast charge buses early in 2011—called the “Current”—it only makes sense for them to further electrify other routes as they can. Todd Daniel, Link’s Operations Manager, said that by using electricity their per-mile operation costs are a fraction of what they are with either diesel or gasoline.

According to Dockery, the eStar will eventually be built with both platform and passenger configurations—likely sometime within the next two years—so Link’s dreams may not be that far off. Port representatives Ron Johnston-Rodriguez and Aimee Pope were incredibly satisfied with the local response to the event and have already started making plans for similar events with both the eStar and other electric vehicles and associated EV equipment throughout 2011.

“Hosting such demos for local interested parties is a key activity of the Advanced Vehicle Innovations consortium and the Plugin Center,” said Johnston-Rodriguez. “If any of them end up adopting electric vehicles and charging equipment, we certainly hope they become part of the the demonstration projects we feature in our growing number of plug-in focused events.”