February 2020 | EV Four Corners

EV Direct to Customer Sales in CO, SB20-167, Comment TODAY, or tomorrow morning :-)

by Sarah Kelly on February 23, 2020 0 Comments

Your comment to your state senator (For those in SW Colorado, our state senator is Don Coram, and you can email him at: [email protected]) IS NEEDED BEFORE 10 AM tomorrow (Monday, February 24). Mr. Coram has voted against state EV legislation in the past. Please send him a note to let him know you’re his constituent and your views on bill SB20-167.

Want some pros & cons on this bill? See https://coloradosun.com/2020/02/17/electric-vehicle-makers-direct-sales-colorado-bill/

This just in from Denver Electric Vehicle Counsel:

This is an update on the progress of the above bill, “Electric Motor Vehicle Manufacturer & Dealer” – Concerning increasing consumer access to electric motor vehicles by allowing manufacturers to sell their own electric motor vehicles directly to consumers.
The Senate Transportation & Energy hearing was held on this bill on Tuesday the 18th. There were about 30 individuals testifying, at 3 minutes each, with a split of about 50/50 “For” and “Against”, which lasted over 2 hours. The Committee voted to send it unamended to the Committee of the Whole (the Senate Floor) by a vote of 3 to 2.

On Friday the 21st it was on the Senate Floor for the Second Reading, with the debate lasting for about an hour. The bill was amended and you can see the text of the bill at https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2020A/bills/2020a_167_eng.pdf with the amendment double underlined on page 2. The Senate vote was very close at this Second Reading.

The Third Reading of this bill will be TOMORROW at 10:00 AM where it will pass or fail. If you would like to state your view of “For” or “Against” to your Senator, you should do it now, well before 10:00 AM tomorrow. You can find your Senator at https://leg.colorado.gov/findmylegislator and follow the directions.

Battery Best Practices

by Sarah Kelly on February 23, 2020 1 Comment

When I got my first EV (2017 Nissan Leaf), I gathered from various sources there were things you should do and things you should avoid to extend your car’s battery life. Batteries make up about 35% of the cost of an EV, so you want to make them last. However, the owner’s manual was light on advice and the internet was full of conflicting information about what was important.

Nissan Leaf cutaway showing part of battery
By Tennen-Gas – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8249799

An EV-savvy friend told me the simplest rule was to keep your battery between 10% and 90%, and don’t let it sit at 100% charge for long time periods. When you fill it to the top, start drawing it down soon. That is good advice, but I like to know WHY a thing is important and WHO says so.

Finally, University of Michigan researchers have studied the issue and came up with some easy to understand best practices. Why should we care about treating our EV batteries right?

Battery degradation causes premature replacement or product retirement, resulting in environmental burdens from producing and processing new battery materials, as well as early end-of-life burdens.
Center for Sustainable Systems, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan researchers

Below are eight best practices as summarized by the Electrek.co article cited in the quote below. Follow the link to the article to learn more about the study.

Here are the 8 recommendations that we summarized from the paper. We note which brand of vehicle provided the guidance in its owner’s manual.
Journal of Energy Storage studies EV owner’s manuals, compiles best practices for batteries

Every manufacturer includes a warning about high temperatures, though different strategies are suggested. Most companies do not cite a specific high temperature in which to avoid vehicle operation. Those that mention a specific temperature use either 50° C / 122° F [Fiat-Chrysler] or 60 °C / 140° F [Tesla].
Plug in the car anytime it is hot, thereby allowing the battery cooling system to run as needed [Tesla and GM].
Avoid parking in the sun on hot days [Kia]. When the vehicle is plugged in, the BMS (battery management system) will measure the temperature and take the appropriate warming or cooling action before charging begins [Tesla, Ford, GM, Nissan, Honda], and may disable fast charging capabilities [Kia]. The researchers advise: When the vehicle is running or charging, the BMS will regulate the temperature of the batteries, so it is most important to be aware of high battery temperatures when the vehicle is parked while not charging.
Dealing with low temperatures is also cited by almost all EV owner’s manuals. Plugging in the vehicle when it is cold (below 0° C / 32° F) is recommended so that the battery heating system can run on grid power. The battery warmer will automatically activate below a specific temperature unless the battery is both not plugged in and under 15% charge (to avoid over-discharge) [Nissan].
Extremely low temperatures for extended periods may cause irreversible damage, necessitating battery replacement [Mercedes-Benz]. The lower temperature limit for batteries is cited as −25° C / -13° F [Nissan, Mercedes-Benz] or −30° C / -22° F [Tesla, Honda].
Over-discharging will typically not occur during operation. The BMS will turn off the car and cease operation before severe degradation occurs. However, if the “empty” battery is then left for an extended time without being recharged, the battery can enter an over-discharge state due to the slow self-discharge that occurs even when the battery is not operating. Some manufacturers are concrete, instructing owners not to leave the vehicle parked for more than 2 weeks with a low battery (20% state of charge) [Tesla, Mercedes-Benz].
If possible, don’t allow the battery to be run all the way down, or left idle for extended periods [BMW, Hyundai, Kia, and Honda].
The majority of manufacturers do not include information in their manuals explaining that fast charging can lead to accelerated battery degradation. Those that say use of fast chargers should be minimized to maintain battery life [Ford, Nissan, Kia, Honda].

DEVC February Newsletter

New Mexico

by Sarah Kelly on February 17, 2020 0 Comments

The Denver Electric Vehicle Council’s (DEVC) February newsletter is out! It features a nice shout out to us here at EV4Corners.org. Thanks David and DEVC for your encouragement and EV enthusiasm! Download the newsletter using the button below. It also includes a funny video – Lynette’s Albuquerque test drives a Nissan Leaf.

Lynette! What do we have to do to get a fast charger in Cuba, NM?

DEVC-Newsletter-Feb-20 Download

Novel Colorado legislation would allow direct-to-consumer sales of BEVs

by Gordon Rodda on February 16, 2020 2 Comments

Tesla is already doing this, but apparently there is a general prohibition against direct-to-consumer sales of cars that new Colorado legislation would alleviate, but only for BEVs. This may be a response to recent opposition of the car dealers (and support by the car manufacturers) to Colorado’s Zero-emission Vehicle standard. Here’s the message we got today from the Denver EV group:

Last Thursday Senate Bill SB20-167 was introduced and assigned to the Senate Transportation & Energy Committee. The bill is titled: “Electric Motor Vehicle Manufacturer & Dealer” – Concerning increasing consumer access to electric motor vehicles by allowing manufacturers to sell their own electric motor vehicles directly to consumers.

The bill Summary is as follows: “Current law states that, with certain exceptions, a motor vehicle manufacturer may not own, operate, or control any motor vehicle dealer or used motor vehicle dealer in Colorado. The bill creates a new exception that allows the ownership, operation, or control of a motor vehicle dealer that sells electric motor vehicles of a manufacturer’s line-make. An “electric motor vehicle” is a motor vehicle that can operate entirely on electrical power.”

The hearing for this bill will be this Tuesday (2-18) at 2:00 PM in the Old Supreme Court Chambers at the State Capitol. If you can’t testify in person and would like to share your views with the Committee, you may email the five committee members. They are:
Senator Faith Winter, Chair [email protected]
Senator Kerry Donovan, Vice Chair [email protected]
Senator Mike Foote [email protected]
Senator Dennis Hisey [email protected]
Senator Ray Scott [email protected]

As a courtesy to the committee members, you may want to put “SB20-167 For” or “SB20-167 Against” in the Subject line. Also include a brief reason for your view in the text of the email. This legislation might be especially germane to the Four Corners insofar as so few dealers in the Four Corners are supporting EVs.

Montezuma County, CO goes EV x 3!

by Sarah Kelly on February 4, 2020 0 Comments

County Administrator Shak Powers and Commissioner Jim Candelaria show off one of three Chevy Bolt electric vehicles the county purchased for Social Services, IT and Health Departments
Photo by Jim Mimiaga/The Journal

Check out this article at the Durango Herald! Montezuma County purchases three electric vehicles. Why would a small, rural county in the Four Corners choose EVs? Read the article to find out. Better yet, send the link to your county’s administrator. “Efficiency, cost savings cited”