Vehicle to Band

Heard at the NorthEast Electric Vehicle Symposium, dateline September 16, 2024…

An important partner for the EV Club is the PACE organization (People’s Action for Clean Energy). PACE president, Mark Sculley, plays in a band, Temporary Sanity, that had an outdoor gig at Burlington Tavern Day over the weekend. Since there was no power near the stage, a gas generator was used, which unfortunately, ran out of gas midway through the set. Talk about range anxiety!

However, the band’s sound tech drives a Rivian R1T, so no problem! They just plugged the equipment into the vehicle. It worked seamlessly and barely made a dent in the battery state of charge. Let’s think about this – what would use more energy, powering an electric guitar or moving a 7,148 pound vehicle?

It’s not quite “Where’s Waldo,” but the truck is a little hard to spot – it is on the right side of the photo, powering zero-emission tunes.

EVs are hard to beat, but they also have a good beat and you can dance to them.

New Rivian Test Drive Center

Rivian recently opened a service and test drive center in Blauvelt, New York. Blauvelt is just across the Mario Cuomo (Tappan Zee) Bridge in Rockland County. The recently opened service center in Shelton does not offer test-drives. That is why it was a treat to have them join us at the Symposium to offer test-drives locally.

Truck-Powered Presentations

For those of you who saw the Sunday presentations delivered from the bed of a Ford F150 Lightning pickup, the mic and PA were powered by the truck, courtesy of our sponsor, Earthlight Technology. Below is Bryce Jones of Pirelli Tires speaking about what goes into an EV tire.

It was nice harmony that we were able to have a representative from Pirelli Tires present at the Hotel Marcel, which in a previous life served as a Pirelli manufacturing facility and headquarters.

Bryce Jones of Pirelli Tires presenting 0n the bed of a Ford F-150 Lightning under a solar canopy.

Photo: Shawn O’Sullivan

Hotel Marcel, formerly Pirelli Tires HQ, with solar canopies in foreground.

NorthEast Electric Vehicle Symposium Set for September 15th and 16th

We thank our Gold Sponsor: BMW

Sunday – EV Test Drives

Sunday will feature test drives with 10 EV models:

• BMW i4, i5, iX
• Tesla Cybertruck
• Rivian R1T, R1S
• Alfa Romeo Tonale
• Kia EV6, EV9, Niro

Sunday – EV Showcase

There will be a showcase with approximately 50 vehicles. These include many late-model EVs, such as a BMW i7 and a Tesla Model X, an electric garbage truck used by the City of New Haven, and 2 electric police patrol cars from Westport.

Sunday – “Sage on a Stage” Short Presentations

We will be using the bed of an electric pickup truck as our stage! Here is the agenda.

Monday Policy Symposium

• 9:00 – New Haven Mayor Justin Eliker welcomes attendees
• 9:15 – Rep. Jonathan Steinberg introduces Marissa Gillett
• 9:25 – Marissa Gillett, Chair, Public Utilities Regulatory Authority discussing transportation electrification and the equitable modern grid
• 10:15 –  Claire Coleman, CT Office of Consumer Counsel
• 10:45 – Break
• 11:00 – Moderator Matt Ferrell of the YouTube Undecided Channel leads a panel discussion of people from a municipality, condo association, commercial enterprise, and an installation contractor, who describe their experiences navigating incentives, wrangling the utilities, and other challenges. This is a ground-truth level look at the intersection of policy and lived experience.
• 12:00 Lunch
• 1:00 – Brandon Smith of EVNoire discusses how workplace charging promotes fair access to EVs.
• 1:45 – Daphne Dixon of Live Green CT discusses Model EV Zoning Regulations that have been developed in concert with the federal Department of Energy.

This is a free event. The location is the Hotel Marcel in New Haven. Free registration is here.

Above photo is a wrapped Cybertruck which ships with the stainless steel body panels. We have seen lots of folks having fun with wrapping it.

First Public Test Drives of a Cybertruck to Be Offered at NorthEast Electric Vehicle Symposium

Tesla has confirmed that they will offer supervised Cybertruck test drives. This will be the first public test drive of the Cybertruck offered in the state. We hope you can join us!

Steer By Wire, High Voltage Architecture

While there are many strong opinions about this polarizing vehicle, Tesla has introduced features that have not yet been rolled out to other models. The vehicle is reportedly extremely nimble due to 4-wheel steering and steer-by-wire. A little bit of pressure on the steering wheel sends a signal down the wire to the motors, making for extremely responsive handling. This ~6500 pound vehicle will handle like a compact car.

The truck has an 800-volt architecture which, for high-power EVSE, will make for blazingly fast charging speeds. The other thing 800 volt architecture does is reduce the amount of wiring needed.

The not so low-voltage battery is a 48 volt lithium ion battery. We have been living with 12-volt since the mid-fifties (before then, the standard was 6-volt). Over the past 70 years, way more electronics have been introduced into vehicles. It is only a matter of time until higher power levels become the norm.

Here’s Where to Go Cybertruckin

NorthEast Electric Vehicle Symposium

Date/Time: Sunday, September 15th, 12-4

Location: Hotel Marcel, 500 Sargent Drive, New Haven, CT

Policy symposium on Monday, September 16th

The event page is here.

Free registration is required. We do have a capacity limitation. Please register here.

Other available test drive vehicles include the BMW i4, i5, and iX, the Rivian R1T and R1S, and the Alfa Romeo Tonale. It is permitted to test drive multiple vehicles. That will be arranged separately.

Attendees can register for either or both days.

For any questions, please contact us at info@evclubct.com

BMW Signs on as Gold Sponsor

They will offer test drives of the i4, i5, and iX battery electric vehicles. There will be an i7 on display in the showcase.

In addition to BMW, we have confirmation for the Rivian R1T and R1S, as well as Tesla Model 3 and Model Y. We are working on a couple of others.

There will also be a Tesla Cybertruck and a Rivian e-delivery van in the showcase. Amazon has purchased 100,000 of these vans and Rivian is using them for mobile service.

Test drives are offered on Sunday, September 15th, from 12-4PM. The event is being held at the Hotel Marcel in the Long Wharf area of New Haven. Here is the event page with registration link for the NorthEast Electric Vehicle Symposium 2024.

NorthEast Electric Vehicle Symposium

NEEVS is back, this year expanded to a 2-day event on Sunday, September 15th and Monday, September 16th at Hotel Marcel, New Haven. Registration now open.

The event is free but we sure do appreciate a contribution in any amount! Use this link to contribute.

Sunday is an EV showcase and Ride and Drive with mini presentations every 15 minutes. Monday is a policy symposium with guest speakers.

Sunday 9/15: 12 pm -4 pm

• EV Showcase – Some of the vehicles that will be on exhibit:
  • Electric garbage truck from Battle
  • Tesla Model X
  • BMW i7
  • Electric police patrol car
  • Rivian electric delivery dan
  • Chevy Equinox
  • Alfa Romeo Tonale
  • Flux Marine electric boat
• EV Ride and Drive
  • BMW i4
  • BMW i5
  • BMW iX
  • Rivian R1T
  • Rivian R1S
  • Alfa Romeo Tonale
  • Tesla Cybertruck
  • Kia EV6
  • Kia EV9
  • Kia Niro

It is permitted to test drive multiple vehicles. We are still talking to some other companies and may have more. This is the first public test drive of the Cybertruck in the state.

• “Sage on a Stage” mini-presentations on topics of interest to current and prospective EV owners – examples:
  • What to know before installing a 240-volt charger in your garage and getting charging incentives. Presenter – Ed West of West Electric
  • Federal and state EV purchase incentives. Presenter Barry Kresch, EV Club CT
  • What’s different about EV tires. Presenter – Bryce Jones, Pirelli Tires
  • Road tripping and range anxiety. Presenter – Out of Spec Dave
  • Differences in the ownership experience between Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and EV. Presenter – Paul Braren, EV Club CT
  • ICE to EV Conversions. Presenter – Jon Untied from Inductive Auto

Monday 9/16: 9 am -3 pm

• Policy oriented presentations and discussions. Speaker lineup is in development but includes
  • Marissa Gillett, Chair of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority discussing an Equitable and Modern Grid. Introduction by Representative Jonathan Steinberg.
  • Claire Coleman, Director of the CT Office of Consumer Counsel (This office advocates for consumers in regulatory matters.)
  • Matt Ferrell of YouTube channel Undecided and discussants talking about their experiences in installing chargers and/or solar or batteries and wrangling incentives and utilities.
  • Brandon Smith of EVNoire discusses how promoting workplace charging can alleviate access to charging concerns in distressed communities.
  • Daphne Dixon – Model EV Zoning Regulations
• Catered lunch and networking

Thank you to our sponsors for generously supporting this event:

Gold Sponsor: BMW

Silver Sponsors: Live Green CT, EVNoire, West Electric, Tauck Ritzau Innovative Philanthropy, Eastern Mechanical Services

Bronze Sponsors: New Haven Clean Cities, Leifer Properties, Ikea, Inductive Autoworks, Earthlight Energy Solutions, Capitol Area Clean Cities, Connecticut Green Bank, Flux Marine, Tecknow, Alfa Romeo of Westport, Hotel Marcel, Ikea, Conservation Law Foundation, Pirelli and Susan Vanech Properties/Coastal.

The Symposium is Sold Out – People Can Still Come for the Car Show

Get charged up at NEEVS, the ultimate gathering for EV enthusiasts, policy wonks, and all who seek cutting edge guidance on decarbonization.

Please join us at the first annual Northeast Electric Vehicle Symposium (NEEVS) at Hotel Marcel in New Haven on September 9, 2023. EV enthusiasts, electrification and decarbonization advocates, sustainability volunteers and professionals, municipal employees, real estate owners and developers and policy wonks are invited to join us.

Bruce Becker is the lead architect and owner/developer of Hotel Marcel in New Haven, the country’s first zero emissions and Passive House hotel, and Chairman of the EV Club of CT. Bruce will welcome guests as they enjoy a light buffet lunch, and briefly share his approach to hotel e-mobility at Hotel Marcel. Guests have access to Tesla Superchargers, Level 2 chargers under a solar canopy and a custom electric shuttle van.

You will learn firsthand from expert guest speakers about:

1. Hotel Marcel’s guest experience in e-mobility,
2. The state of public EV charging and opportunities for improving it,
3. The latest updates in state and federal EV/EVSE incentives and V2G,
4. Best practices for transitioning vehicles and homes to all-electric,
5. How to move municipalities to 100% clean, renewable energy,
6. The societal and environmental benefits that proposed regulations for light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles under Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) provide for Connecticut.
7. Zoning for EV readiness

Date: September 9, 2023

Hours: 12:00-4:30

Host: Hotel Marcel, 500 Sargent Drive, New Haven, CT 06511

Organizer: EV Club of CT

Partner: Tesla Owners Club of CT

Thank You to Our Generous Sponsors: Hotel Marcel, Live Green CT, EV Connect, Chargepoint, Maxwell Vehicles, and the Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition.

Speaker Schedule:

2:05-2:30: Charles Rothenberger, Climate & Energy Attorney, Save the Sound will present highlights of the Regulations for Light, Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicles under Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II). In July 2023, Connecticut became the latest state to initiate adoption of the Advanced Clean Cars II rule, which will benefit society by requiring manufacturers to increase sales of electric and other zero-emission models within the state over time, culminating with 100% of new sales being ZEV in 2035.

2:30 – 3:00: Daphne Dixon, Co-founder and Executive Director, Live Green Connecticut and Director, Connecticut SWA Clean Cities Coalition, will present about Zoning for EV Readiness, a must attend for municipal decision makers.

Networking and Car Show 3:00-4:30: Enjoy beverages and food at the hotel bar while networking with other guests, and head outdoors to the lot adjacent to Hotel Marcel’s Superchargers to enjoy the car show while networking with EV owners that are members of Tesla Owners Club of CT, the EV Club of CT and the Westport Police Department.

Above photo by Paul Braren

Successful EV Showcase with Hotel Tours

Thanks to everyone who made this a successful event, with numerous EVs, including Lucid, Rivian, Tesla, Ford, Kia, Chevy, Polestar, and others.

The Westport Police brought their Tesla Model Y patrol car that went into service January of this year.

Tours of the hotel were given. This is the first net-zero hotel in the country, LEED Certified Platinum, Passive House Certified. The hotel has no fossil fuel connection. It is powered by solar, augmented with battery storage. Air-source high efficiency heat pumps provide the heating and cooling. The lighting is high efficiency Power over Ethernet. The elevators have regenerative braking. The kitchen uses induction. The envelope is so tight that if you are in a guest room, about one-tenth of a from I-95, it is totally quiet.

There are over 1000 solar panels on the hotel roof and the solar canopies. There is a bank of Tesla V3 Superchargers and, under the canopy, 12 level 2 chargers with J-1772 connectors. There is already in place infrastructure to install another 12. The level 2 chargers are part of the EV Connect network, though they can also be activated with a ChargePoint account.

This event was jointly produced by the EV Club of CT and the CT Tesla Owners Club. We thank the Tesla Club for its partnership.

2022 was an action-packed year as you can see below. But we wanted to begin by saying a big Thank You to all of our members and supporters.

EV Evangelist Award

Club president, Barry Kresch, was given an award by Southwestern CT Clean Cities Coalition for Outstanding Leadership in EV Education. This award is a public acknowledgement of the positive contributions Barry and the EV Club of CT have made towards our mission of evangelizing the rapid adoption of EVs.

The Year of Incentives

With legislative and regulatory pushes at the federal and state levels, EV purchase and charging incentives became both more numerous and more complex in a big way over the past year – and it’s not over yet. The IRS is still working on the rule-making for the incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act and the US Treasury has delayed EV tax credit guidance regarding battery sourcing until March 2023. DEEP is still in the process of implementing the changes to CHEAPR from PA 22-25, and PURA is conducting its year one review of the charging installation and managed charging incentives being offered via Eversource and United Illuminating with anticipated changes to follow. We have spent considerable time keeping up with developments on our incentives page and various blog posts.

Advocacy

We remain engaged with policy makers, including for SB-4 last year, which significantly augmented the CHEAPR program. Our biggest disappointment was another year without a direct sales bill. The club has a seat on the policy committee of the national Electric Vehicle Association, with whom we partnered to submit comments to the IRS regarding the Inflation Reduction Act. Similarly, the club partnered with our EV Coalition partner, Save the Sound to submit comments to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority regarding the year one review of the utility incentives.

Speaking Engagements and Appearances

The club educates the public about EVs through virtual and in-person speaking engagements, panels and events. Engagements in 2022:

• Wakeman Town Farm Westport
• Transportation Summit – CT League of Conservation Voters
• Schiller Shoreline Lifelong Learning Institute in Guilford (with People’s Action for Clean Energy – PACE)
• Y’s Men – YMCA, Westport
• Greenwich Conservation Commission/Greenwich Sustainability Committee
• Westport Rotary
• CT Humanist Society – Hamden
• Town of Kent (with PACE)
• Sustainable Essex
• EVs for Law Enforcement – Clean Cities Panel
• Westport Senior Center
• Clean Transportation Day for legislators in Hartford

EV Showcases

There are numerous events around the state and the club supports as many as we can, sometimes by participating directly or other times by helping to recruit EV owners to exhibit their vehicles. We let our members know about these via emails, blog posts, and our event calendar and have participated in events from Greenwich to Essex. Showcases tend to cluster in spring and fall around Drive Electric Earth Day and National Drive Electric Week. We also supported the return of the Electric Car Guest Drive, an event in which EV owners are paid to participate with their vehicles. 

Wilton Fire Department

As we did with Westport a year ago, we arranged for club members to bring EVs to the Wilton Fire Department for first responder training. Aside from the requisite instruction, these events are a lot of fun as the first responders we speak to are genuinely engaged and have many questions.

Food Rescue US

When gas prices spiked, the volunteer drivers that this organization depends upon to “rescue” food before it is discarded so it can be donated to organizations serving food insecure families became harder to come by. A number of club members stepped in to fill this need. Food Rescue advised us they considered club participation to be a huge success.

EV Club Joins for Event with Rivian Owners Club

The new Rivian R1T pickup and R1S SUV have begun to be delivered to reservation holders in 2022. In May, the EV Club joined up with the Rivian Owners Club for a meetup at the Bridgeport Brewing Company with Rivian owners showing their vehicles to EV Club members. Funds from an event fund raiser went to support our EV Coalition partner, Save the Sound. See the video tour.

CT EV Data

• EV Dashboard based on our Freedom of Information Act Requests of the Department of Motor Vehicles – updated semi-annually.
• CHEAPR rebates monthly and an annual summary of rebates by dealership (our proxy for EV-friendly dealers to the extent they sell CHEAPR-eligible vehicles).
• Ad hoc projects, such as the financial analysis done for the Westport Police Tesla Model 3 patrol car with the possibility of an update for the new Model Y patrol car.

Public Meetings

It has been more challenging to hold meetings during the pandemic. We have tried to fill the gap with virtual meetings at which we hosted speakers. This year we had speakers from Eversource and UI discuss the new consumer and commercial charging programs. A brand ambassador from Aptera joined us to discuss their unique approach to a solarized EV. We ended the year with a gathering at the new net-zero Hotel Marcel in New Haven where we celebrated the opening of L2 and Tesla charging stations.

24 Chargers at Hotel Marcel in New Haven

Photos: Hotel Marcel, Maxwell Electric Shuttle Minibus parked at an EVConnect charger, Solar Canopy and Tesla chargers, charging under the canopy

At long last, the chargers at the Hotel Marcel in New Haven are live. The hotel is located in the Long Wharf area, next door to IKEA. There are 12 Tesla 250 kWh Supercharger stalls  and 12 level 2 chargers from EVConnect with J-1772 connectors. The infrastructure is present to triple the number of L2 chargers to 36. You can use the EVConnect app to use them. Just download it from Apple App Store or Google Play, then scan the QR code, use the Guest Checkout option, then charging starts right away. Alternatively, if you already have a ChargePoint account, you should be able to start charging by just tapping your phone on the charger, or using the ChargePoint app. The rate for the level 2 charging is set by the hotel and it is being made available gratis. Tesla is responsible for setting the supercharger rate.

The IKEA next door has another 2 level 2 chargers (free) and there is a planned Electrify America level 3 installation coming.

The lobby area of the hotel is open 24/7 with rest rooms and food available. While you are there, check out this very cool facility, housed in a 1960’s landmark Brutalist building retrofitted as the nation’s first net-zero hotel. Power comes from solar panels on the roof and solar canopies, complemented with batteries, energy efficient electric appliances and fixtures. Even the elevators have “regenerative braking” when they are descending. The 11th Commandment: No electron shall go to waste. The insulation is very tight, including the German-made windows, which allow for passive heating in the winter. All of this makes for effective sound insulation, as well. Even though it is near a busy highway, the rooms are totally quiet.

20 Chargers Coming to Fairfield

The Town of Fairfield will be installing 20 level 2 charging ports (10 dual port units) at Sullivan Independence Hall sometime in first quarter 2023. These are intended for use by the town fleet. The town doesn’t have the vehicles yet – like with everyone else, deliveries are slow. But it’s great they’re thinking ahead. These are networked and could be repurposed for consumer use, but it is not known if that will happen.

Both the Hotel Marcel and the Town of Fairfield made use of the utility incentives for these installations.

Net-Zero Hotel Marcel Gets Electric Shuttle Bus

Ensconced under the solar canopy in the photo, in front of level 2 J-1772 chargers, is an electric shuttle van from Maxwell. The shuttle seats 14, including the driver. This is a battery electric van, i.e. 100% electric. Maxwell has been manufacturing these at its Southern California facility since 2019. It sports a 74 kWh battery, a range of 150 miles, and can take a DC fast charge using a CCS connector.

It is owned by the recently opened net-zero Hotel Marcel, and is ready to provide guests with an emission-free and quiet ride to downtown New Haven, the Yale campus, Tweed Airport, or the nearby Amtrak station. The hotel can use it to transport wedding parties, and it has the range to reach Westchester and Bradley Airports.

Electric vans are projected to be a high-growth segment. Amazon has ordered 100,000 delivery vans from Rivian. FedEx is testing 150 electric delivery vans in Los Angeles, purchased from BrightDrop (General Motors.) There are reportedly around a half-million of this category of passenger van, now ripe for moving to electric.

The existing, quaint rules need updating. As part of the registration process, the vehicle had to pass an emissions test.

We are not aware of any other electric shuttle vans in the state. If you know of any, please tell us in the comments.