GreenlightAC, Genovation make electric car inroads (WBJ) 18 May '09
(Washington Business Journal - by Vandana Sinha Staff Reporter)
Area businesses and bureaucrats are making the same bet: Electric cars will not go the way of some dot-coms — hyped, hailed then disdainfully discarded.
They’re ramping up their investments to produce, support and buy electric-powered cars, giving the nascent industry a considerable head start from many of its other alternative fuel peers. They say the electric car movement has many drivers — $2.4 billion in stimulus money, $7,500 in federal tax incentives for electric-car buyers, an auto industry set to roll out next-generation electric cars by the end of next year, and an administration proclamation that 1 million electric cars shall crisscross the country’s roads by 2015.
Alongside them are also skeptics who point electric cars’ limited radius even when fully charged and the battery suppliers’ need to keep up with accelerating market demands. Not to mention the extra strain on power sources.
Still, in the Washington area, the drive toward electric cars has picked up speed. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments assembled jurisdictions in pursuing stimulus grants to bring 1,000 Nissan electric cars and hundreds of charging stations to the region, even as Pepco works to smarten its power grid to handle the extra electrical zaps. In D.C., a company called GreenlightAC aims to unveil this month a charging station for area parking garages, while another in Rockville, Genovation Inc., converts a banana-yellow Ford Focus into an all-electric car for municipal staffers and consumers. For a region that has made climate change a pressing issue, the electric car could hardly be far behind.
At the furthest corner, however, behind an industrial business strip off East Gude Drive in Rockville, and inside a one-car repairman’s garage, Genovation’s three employees hope a noiseless electric motor sets their cash registers humming. They are taking used Ford Focus models and replacing their gas tank, combustion engine, exhaust and radiator with a 110-volt lead acid battery.
After taking the Rockville mayor for a test spin in its bright yellow prototype, which is still being honed, Genovation CEO Andrew Saul hopes to nail down his first municipal fleet customer by the fall, and ultimately produce an annual 800 electric versions of Ford Focuses — and, one day, custom or classic cars — for governments, businesses and consumers starting at $22,000 apiece.
But Genovation said its speed can often be hampered by battery and components manufacturers, who are still trying to catch up to the increased interest.
“The battery development process takes a very long time,” said Steve Rogers, Genovation’s chief technology officer. “If somebody makes a breakthrough in that department, there could be a huge influx.” Industry leaders say that is likely with the stimulus funding, which also reserves dollars for battery makers to scale up production.
“The battery manufacturers are waiting for the car companies to make the cars. The car companies are waiting for the battery manufacturers to get to a certain level,” said Brian Wynne, president of the D.C.-based Electric Drive Transportation Association. “Now everybody sees the path. But these are big-dollar investments.”
And yet, local governments aren’t waiting. MWCOG has rallied a dozen jurisdictions, including the District, College Park, Alexandria, Falls Church and Prince George’s, Montgomery, Arlington, Prince William, Fairfax and Loudoun counties to commit to buying anywhere from two to 250 Nissan electric cars and charging stations built by a West Coast company through a stimulus grant application due May 13. If the region wins funding, the District would take the largest chunk of the 1,000 planned new cars, positioning the charging stations alongside already electrified SmartBike kiosks.
As for Genovation, if it nails its sales projections, it plans to hire another 20 people and expand into a new production center.
Meanwhile, GreenlightAC intends to capitalize on one of the electric car industry’s biggest challenges: a geographic range often restricted to 15 to 50 miles before needing another trip to the electrical outlet.
The company, which is closing on its first $500,000 round of angel investments, is planning to release its first product prototype this month, a three-foot-high, wall-mounted electric car-charging station intended for commercial or municipal parking garages. The two-man company says it is in talks with D.C. and Montgomery County and commercial building owners to test the hardware, ironically resembling a gas pump and handle, for a few parking spots for drivers to juice up their cars while they work or shop.
Though, GreenlightAC is competing with larger companies, some in its own back yard. MWCOG and the District have inked a deal under their stimulus request with Monrovia, Calif.-based AeroVironment Inc. to install curbside charging stations. But the local company says it differentiates itself by focusing only on indoor-charging locations, forecasting that by the end of next year, it will sell 350 of its nearly $3,000 charging stations.
And that ropes in yet another player necessary for the electric car niche to widen in this region — the utility.
Pepco said it is piloting smart meter technology, already in D.C. and requested for Maryland, to help manage electrical loads on the grid so that hundreds of charging electric cars don’t weigh down the system.
“We’re going to be using the information from all of these vehicles to help us design the smart grid of the future,” said Barbara Gonzalez, senior business process consultant. “We will plan and build whatever capacity the customers will need.”
Which could be considerable if companies like Genovation and GreenlightAC get their way.
