The McDonnell Group

“Zero Emission” Nissan Leaf Sells Out Across Region as Atlanta Prepares Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure & Georgia PSC Reviews Special Rate Plan

By Nancy Broe

ATLANTA - November 9, 2010 – Atlanta’s role as a leading smart grid center got a boost last Friday when Mayor Kasim Reed culminated “Sustainability Week” at an Electric Vehicle Panel at Georgia Tech announcing Atlanta as one of the first Southeast cities chosen by Nissan to deploy 300 of the new zero emission, 100% electric, Nissan Leaf automobiles.  Atlanta is a “tier 2” test city, with 300 cars slated for delivery in April 2011.  All three hundred sold out quickly, with plans to open up sales to a larger number later in the year, depending on the success of the first group.

The electric vehicle program is part of another key goal the mayor announced: that the city will seek a top ten ranking from the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Clean Cities” program. Atlanta currently ranks 19th in the Clean Cities’ ranking, which evaluates parklands, water sustainability, recycling, transit, air quality, and other metrics.

Don Francis, Director of Clean Cities – Atlanta, spoke on the charging infrastructure and the need for standards.  Deepak Divan of Georgia Tech addressed using renewable energy on the grid to power EVs and make them truly sustainable.  Eric Nozière of Nissan recapped the press conference and the Nissan rollout.  Richard Holmes with Georgia Power noted the company’s interest in working on EVs since 1990s and that they still have some charging infrastructure installed from those efforts.  Georgia Power wants to avoid sunk cost issues this time around. The four leaders fielded a number of technology questions from local students at the event.

After decades of leaving federal funding on the table due to lack of ability to galvanize commitment to public transportation measures, Atlanta, under the leadership of Mayor Kasim Reed, seems poised to take a historic step toward sustainable transportation –- and the smart electric infrastructure needed to support it.

“We’re really excited,” said Patty Durand, former director of the Georgia Sierra Club and currently a leader in the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Green Energy & Smart Grid Research.

“The electric vehicle paves a path to sustainability."

EV Infrastructure

Durand is a new member of Atlanta’s Electric Vehicle Readiness Task Force, which began last October.  Durand says the group is made up of representatives from the City of Atlanta, Georgia Power, Nissan Leaf, Georgia Tech, and others. “They try to be very inclusive and make sure that any entity that has an interest in EVs is part of this,” she said.

The task force is collaborating on efforts to establish the elements of a complete supporting infrastructure.  In addition to preparing the MOU with Nissan to add Atlanta to the early market launch for the Nissan Leaf, the Metro Atlanta EV Readiness Task Force initially worked on expediting the residential permitting process for the installation of a level 2 (240 volt) charging station for the coming fleet of plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) which includes the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt to start with but will also include vehicles from Toyota (PHEV Prius, RAV4 and others), Ford (BEV Focus), Electric Smart Car, and others.

Durand notes “There’s not a public charging infrastructure in the region, yet.”  Early adopters, she notes, will need to purchase upgrades to their home to adapt to the recharging system.  The range of the vehicle when fully charged is 100 miles, more than enough, Durand notes, for the average 30-mile Atlanta commute and a few errands before recharging.

Purchase Price Initiatives

There has been no problem attracting buyers.  The car lists for $32,500, but after state and federal subsidies, the number drops to $20,500, according to Durand.

The priorities for the program are to build out charging infrastructure and to get the rate case in place.  Private charging can be installed on residential 120V service with a full-recharge time of approximately 13 hours. Public chargers could do the job in less than 30 minutes.

Durand foresees the day, coming soon, when a commuter simply plugs their car into the garage charger, pushes a button to recharge the vehicle at a pre-set time, much as one would do with a DVR player programmed to record your favorite program.  The car charges while you sleep, and is ready to go in the morning.

New, EV-friendly Georgia Rate Plans

“Georgia Power,” Durand notes, “has filed a rate program with the Georgia public service commission with a time-of-use plan to offer very inexpensive kWh rates during certain hours. The plan, when approved, would mean that Leaf owners as early as 2011 will be able to charge their vehicles overnight at an extremely cheap rate using electricity when Georgia Power’s system has excess capacity.”

At the close of Friday’s event, Mayor Kasim Reed drove off in a leaf, followed by media and interested parties.  He headed to a Georgia Power charging station where he demonstrated how to charge the vehicle, then let others take the car for a spin.

Expanding the Charging Structure

There are currently no cities within 100 miles of Atlanta with established EV infrastructure.  Durand notes, “That’s one reason the electric vehicle manufacturers, together with the DOE, are choosing a targeted roll-out.  You don’t want to do a scatter shot on this for everyone that wants a car. The idea is to target the distribution of the cars and work in cooperation with a city, the utility, a manufacturer and other partners.

“Atlanta has offered expedited permitting for public charging stations to achieve optimal deployment. Eventually regional cities will join the task force, and get financial incentives to help deploy charging stations at public places like malls and restaurants. I think Roswell has joined, for example.”

“The first steps of the program may be just ‘baby steps,’” Durand said, “But they are very important steps. It’s the beginning of what many believe will be a revolution in automobile manufacturing and energy sustainability.”