Anti-ICEing Ordinance Proposed in Jersey City, NJ

Lanny


Public Hearing Scheduled for June 28, 2017

The Jersey City, New Jersey City Council has proposed an ordinance that would make it unlawful to block a specifically designated EV parking space or charging station with a non-electric vehicle or to occupy a charging space with an EV unless it is actively charging.

The proposed City Ordinance 17-075 [PDF link] was introduced at the June 14, 2017 Council Meeting and it also defines certain terms related to electric vehicle charging for purposes of the Code and it requires specific information to be placed on the signs at EV parking/charging spaces in order to be enforceable.

City Ordinance 17-075, portions excerpted below, would authorize towing as well as a fine for violations occurring on a street, alley or City parking facility. Read More …

Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA

Lanny

Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA now has four EV charging ports in the parking lot at College Square. The two dual-port Schneider Electric charging stations were installed in April by MTV Solar of Berkley Springs, WV.

The EV charging stations are close to restaurants and other activity centers and are open to the public and are free to use.

Tesla Plans Charging Solution for Apartment Dwellers

Lanny


Today at Tesla’s annual shareholder’s meeting, CEO Elon Musk was asked via Twitter if there were any plans to make it easier for people living in apartments to own and charge a Tesla. Musk responded by saying that the company will be establishing more Supercharging locations within cities for Teslas to charge even if owners do not have access to a traditional home charging station.

Musk explained that these city Supercharging locations will be lower-powered than a regular Supercharger which is optimized for long-distance trips but would have more power than a typical charging connector found in a single family home garage. He said the system will be designed to load-balance the power so that all the cars will not be drawing maximum current at the same time.

Musk said that Tesla needs to solve the problem of charging for people who live in apartments and not just standard homes. “Wherever the car is being parked, at an apartment or work or somewhere in between, we’re going to make sure that there is a place to charge your car even if you live in an apartment.”

Tesla Supercharger in Breezewood, PA

Lanny

Construction has begun on a Tesla Supercharging Station at the Sheetz at the Breezewood Interchange of I-76 and I-70 in Pennsylvania. There appears to be eight stalls going in there.
This will be a welcome addition to relieve some of the congestion at the six-stall Somerset Supercharger which was almost full when I used it on Memorial Day afternoon.

The Breezewood Supercharger is also well-placed for Tesla drivers wishing to travel the more scenic and leisurely Rt. 30 and the Old Lincoln Highway.

Wireless Inductive Bus Charger in Howard County, Maryland

Lanny

Howard County will be adding electric bus service to their Green Line route. It will use inductive charging while stopped to load passengers.

The inductive high-speed charging equipment is already in place at the bus stop on the east side of the Mall in Columbia. The 50 kW Momentum Wireless Power fast chargers are made by Momentum Dynamics of Malvern, Pennsylvania.

Induction charging pad at bus stop.

Maryland EV Tax Credit Extended Three Years

Lanny
photo: Executive Office of the Governor

The Maryland Clean Cars Act of 2017 (SB 393/HB 406) was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan on May 4, 2017. This will extend the Electric Vehicle Tax Credit program through fiscal year 2020.

The Electric Vehicle Tax Credit yearly funding will increase by over 30 percent. The EV Tax Credit will now be $100 per kWh of vehicle battery capacity, (was $125) and the maximum tax credit per vehicle will remain $3,000. Vehicles with a sales price over $60,000 will not qualify for the tax credit. The new legislation also modifies the EV Charging Station rebate. The rebate for installed residential equipment will be 40 percent of the cost, with a $700 maximum, and the commercial rebate will be 40 percent of the installed cost with a $4,000 maximum rebate.

The EV Tax Credit will only apply for vehicles purchased on or after July 1, 2017 and is subject to funds availability.

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Maryland Governor to Sign Bill Extending EV Tax Incentives

Lanny


Governor Larry Hogan will sign the Clean Cars Act of 2017 that will extend the Maryland tax credit on purchases of electric vehicles and tax rebates for installing EV charging equipment.

The Clean Cars Act of 2017 is one of around 20 environmental bills that the Governor will be signing into law on May 4, 2017. A signing ceremony will be held at the Annapolis City Dock at 2:00 PM. The Governor will be joined by Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch.

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Rehoboth Beach Charging Stations Temporarily Out of Order

Lanny


UPDATE: One Unit is Working as of July 25, 2017

We took a quick day trip to Rehoboth Beach last weekend in the Model S. Upon arriving in town, we headed over to the two High-Amp Level 2 charging stations that were installed two years ago after a proposal was debated by the Board of Commissioners. [EV Charging Stations Proposed for Rehoboth Beach, Delaware] Unfortunately, both units were labeled, “Temporarily Out of Order.”

I reached out to the City of Rehoboth Beach and they said, “there seems to be an issue with the circuit boards and panels.” They apologized for the inconvenience and said they are working to get them fixed but don’t know how long it will take.

Fortunately, there are 30 Amp charging stations at Tanger Outlets [12 Charging Ports Coming to Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth]. We also got a boost using the DC Fast Chargers at several Royal Farms stores that were installed recently as part of a state of Delaware grant [Delaware DC Fast Chargers Coming to Eight Locations].

Please let us know at @PlugInSites on Twitter or on Facebook if you learn that these stations are operable again.

Bill to Extend Maryland EV Tax Credit Moves Forward

Lanny


UPDATE: Governor Signs Tax Credit Extension

A bill to extend the excise tax credit for plug-in electric vehicles and for an income tax rebate for EV charging stations passed the Maryland House of Delegates (123-11) and now moves to the Senate for consideration.

HB 406, the Clean Cars Act of 2017, proposed by Governor Larry Hogan, is one of several bills that were filed this session that sought to renew the state’s commitment to provide incentives for electric vehicles and charging equipment.

$60,000+ Vehicles Not Eligible
Read More …

Charging Green for St. Patrick’s Day

Lanny
green


Happy St. Patrick’s Day! It’s the day for wearing green, eating corned beef and cabbage and drinking green beer.  In that spirit, here are some of my favorite green-colored Plug In Sites.

Above is a photo of the five ChargePoint stations in the garage at the Hotel at Arundel Preserve. These are some of the first public charging stations installed in Maryland in early 2012. At first there was a chronic problem with gas vehicles ICEing the charging spots. The hotel management was very eager to solve the problem. They tried painting green stripes on the floor and green text on the wall that read, “ELECTRIC CAR USE ONLY.” Gas cars still blocked the spots.

Annapolis Green Paint

Next they painted the entire wall in front of the charging spots green with white text. That still didn’t work. Then they got official NO PARKING EXCEPT FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING signs and the ICEing problem evaporated overnight. ICEing hasn’t been a major problem there since.
This charging site is at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis.  This is the most vivid shade of green markings that I’ve ever seen! I’m all for using green pavement markings to supplement effective signs, I only oppose a mandate to require green paint in order to be enforceable. It’s hard to miss these green spots.

Read More …