Up next on ITV, how can I help with your host, Ronnie Doss.
Hi, my name is Ronnie Doss and I live in San Diego, California.
I'm interested in environment and green policy, so I set out to explore what San Diego had to offer
by meeting with local businesses, industries, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations.
As we showcase who's making a difference in our community by educating, implementing, creating,
or currently using green practices and sustainable solutions.
So sit back, relax, and welcome to How Can I Help.
Get energized with an innovative look at lowering emissions in Carlsbad at K1 Speed.
We want to start season two, furious and fast.
Wow, that really sounds better the other way, but I don't know if I can legally say it, so this is what we're going to go with.
I'm here in lovely Carlsbad, California with Chris of K1 Speed, and thank you for having us, first of all.
No problem, thanks for coming guys, glad to have you.
Absolutely, so I'm kind of getting an idea, but could you tell us what is K1 Speed?
Basically, K1 Speed is Southern California's largest indoor carting track.
We have nine locations and we're expanding every day.
Wow, and I noticed your carts are a little bit different from these gas powered ones I used to go on when I was a kid.
Could you tell us a little bit about those?
Yeah, definitely a little different here.
We're running batteries in our cart, so they are electric, which basically means zero emissions, which is much better for the environment.
Awesome, so yeah, and also the thing is you don't have all those fumes, those overwhelming fumes when you're inside an indoor cart.
Exactly, so even if you have dinner plans afterwards, you leave here, you come out smelling great.
Sounds good.
Well, I'm all revved up to race, do you think we could give it a try?
Definitely give that a try, take care of you.
It's an electric atmosphere here in downtown San Diego for the launch of Car To Go.
So let's get moving forward in an eco-friendly way with Electric Go.
Each year, the United States produces about 10% of the world's petroleum, but consumes about 26% of the world's total production.
Cars and light trucks are the single largest users of petroleum, consuming about 43% of the total.
To help create a sustainable San Diego, it seems we would need some alternative to the traditional automobile.
Today we are making history for San Diego, for North America, and for the car sharing movement across the world.
Stop for a moment and consider this, for the first time in the history of North America, an entire city will have access to electric vehicles.
Everyone who lives here in San Diego or anyone who visits this great city can be part of the next generation mobility movement.
Car To Go is grateful to the City of San Diego, especially Mayor Sanders and his staff, for letting Car To Go participate in starting this electric vehicle mobility revolution.
November 18, 2011 will forever mark the day that North America's first all-electric car sharing network was made available to an entire city,
and in this case it happens to be America's finest city.
This car sharing program is good for the community, it is right for the environment, and it's great for the City of San Diego.
Car To Go provides San Diegans with unmatched options for moving around the city, and we are providing a way to actively help reduce their individual environmental footprint.
Standing here at Jason to the historic Santa Fe Depot makes sense also.
Like the trains that pull in and out of the station every day, Car To Go is a mobility option that helps people move around the city in the most convenient and cost-effective manner.
Car To Go works well with existing forms of public transportation.
In fact, when paired together, Car To Go and public transportation serve as a direct catalyst for reducing congestion and the overall emissions produced in San Diego.
San Diego is committed to creating a sustainable future for this city, and so is Car To Go.
Car To Go is the world's first free-floating car sharing service, and now here in San Diego we are also the world's first emissions-free car sharing network.
No other car sharing company can make this claim, and no other city has this solution.
Car sharing is not entirely new to San Diego, and for that matter neither has changed.
San Diego is a progressive city full of innovation.
San Diegans don't just embrace technology, they create the technology that improves people's lives.
San Diego and Car To Go have a lot in common.
Together we are rolling out a new era of car sharing, and you can bet the world is watching.
What we do here today will serve as a model for other cities around the world.
We are shaping the future of emissions-free urban mobility.
Now everyone who has dreamed of owning an electric vehicle but could not has the chance to embrace the benefits of electric vehicles in their daily lives.
San Diego has already established itself as a leader with a strong commitment to the electric vehicle movement.
By increasing transit options and facilitating the infrastructure for charging stations,
San Diego is making it possible for electric vehicles to be integrated into everyday life.
Car To Go is helping to redefine mobility in both the city and in individuals' lives
by making electric vehicles available and economical, and by providing the vehicles to share collaboratively.
Car sharing is the ultimate example of collaborative consumption,
a growing global social movement that uses technology to enable people to share goods more efficiently and in a more sustainable way,
reducing consumption and waste.
We've designed Car To Go to be as easy as using your own vehicle,
and in some cases, like a densely populated downtown area, it can actually be easier.
Car To Go is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
You can use the cars with or without a reservation and for as long as you need to.
When you are finished using Car To Go, simply leave it in the operating area.
Our parking options are abundant.
Members can park in Car To Go designated spots at city non-restricted meters
or on streets in residential neighborhoods within the operating area.
When you are finished using Car To Go and end your rental,
the Car To Go is immediately available for the next member to use.
And the other great thing is you only pay for what you use.
With Car To Go, you are only billed for the time you use it by the minute,
with discounted rates for hourly and daily use.
Recharging, insurance, parking and maintenance are included in the rates.
We think you will see that Car To Go is simple. Just get in and drive.
Tell me a little bit about the impact that people will have on our vehicle.
Well, you know, there's a good thing about being smart for two.
Number one, obviously, electric drive is great for the environment.
That's simple. But besides the vehicle, really there's an urban center on the vehicle.
Generally, statistically, most people doing morning commute or going to run errands,
one person in the vehicle, it's not too many people.
This is the perfect vehicle for that.
Parking is easy, obviously.
It takes up half the space of a normal car.
And then, what are the economic impacts?
It seems like you've really got the community and the environment impact.
But what are the economic impacts?
With holidays, people are more so than ever.
They're really considering how they spend their money.
And it's getting more and more expensive to own multiple vehicles for a family.
And it's getting more and more expensive to own them downtown.
And it's hard to do that.
Which really gives people the option.
Maybe they'll give them all their cars, but they can start to move
if it's only having maybe one family car.
And then, you know, two or three family members you might as well go for their daily use.
Great. Well, thank you so much for doing that.
Hey, cruise by and get a real oil check.
Yeah, absolutely. Charged up about this.
Yeah, sign up.
On behalf of the city of San Diego, I'm very pleased to welcome Cardigo to San Diego.
We're incredibly proud to host the very first all-electric vehicle car sharing network in North America.
Today's launch says a lot about San Diego, about our culture, about our priorities,
and about our enterprise and spirit.
Cardigo chose San Diego to roll out its first EV sharing program,
because we've been ahead of the game in planning the charging network needed to support the service.
And for commuters, as Nick mentioned, coming into downtown from the suburbs,
this service gives them the flexibility to take public transit if they need to get around by car during the day.
Finally, as a city with so much natural beauty, we're very aware of the environment.
In my six years as mayor, I've seen time and time again that San Diegans jump at any opportunity to preserve natural resources,
whether it's conserving water, installing solar panels, or recycling.
We'll continue to work toward a better EV charging network with our partners in the Smart City San Diego Coalition,
including SQG&E, General Electric, Queen Tech San Diego, and the University.
Once again, I'm excited to welcome Cardigo to San Diego,
proud that they've chosen this city for their testing around ground renovation,
and wish them real success with this new service. Nick, thank you very much.
And how can the youth be involved in some of these environmental...
Well, you know, we always appreciate help.
One of the things that we understand is that kids are the ones that teach their parents.
It doesn't matter whether the kids in elementary school or whether the kids in college.
When you come home and train your parents in recycling in the electric vehicles and all of these things,
you know, that's how we start all of this.
And I think the kids are, and young people, the most influential in the house of this.
Wow. And what are your hopes on the future of San Diego?
Is it going to be moving towards the sustainability?
Well, I think that we're taking giant steps all the time,
and we're really lucky to have SDG&E in San Diego.
They've been working very impactfully.
But I think that the fact that we're perfectly positioned,
we really recognize the environment as part of San Diego and part of the prosperity.
Last year, we were at California Center for Sustainable Energy to explore solar panels
with renewable solar Diego episodes.
Now we're back here, and I'm with David Almeida, to learn a little bit about electric vehicles,
get the nuts and bolts, and also how it's moving our community forward.
First of all, thank you so much for having us.
You bet, Ronnie.
It's great to be back, and I kind of have a general idea of how electric vehicles work,
but I want to see how it works for the community.
What are some of the benefits with electric vehicles?
With a standard battery electric vehicle, so for a full electric vehicle,
you've got the benefit of having a vehicle that is much more efficient
than your standard internal combustion engine.
The day that you buy it, it's at its most efficient.
But because you're shifting your consumption from gasoline to the grid with electricity,
you're getting more efficient as the grid gets more efficient.
And because we live in California and we have a very, very clean grid,
and we have state mandates that are pushing for more renewable energy to make it more efficient,
the longer that you have your electric vehicle, the more efficient it's going to be.
Oh, wow.
So, yeah, that was going to be one of my things.
Instead of going from this fueling to charging, now we're going to have these problems with charging,
but it seems like you're getting more choices when you go with this idea.
Yeah, and I think that there are some things to consider like impacts to the grid
when we have more electric vehicles.
And that's why it's so important for EV owners to contact utility,
because you're essentially adding a similar load as what you would with a home to your neighborhood.
So if you imagine a neighborhood that has three homes in a cul-de-sac,
well, two of those homes gets two EVs.
That's adding on basically two small homes onto that grid.
So it's important for the utilities to know that they can adjust their infrastructure to accommodate that.
But there are things that consumers can do too.
So then I guess the next question would be, are electric vehicles dependable and practical?
Well, I think it depends on how you're going to use them.
You know, an electric vehicle, a battery electric vehicle,
so a full electric vehicle, is very useful and very efficient for specific uses.
For me, it's a great resource because I live in North Park from here, so about six miles away.
And my average day, I usually drive less than 12 miles.
But, you know, on the heaviest day, I drive somewhere around 50.
That's perfectly within the range of an electric vehicle with today's technology.
But let's say that I drive a little bit more.
Like my wife, she has to work up in Los Angeles once a week.
So she can't use an electric vehicle right now with the current technology.
But you can use something called the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle,
which is what we got here with the plug-in Prius.
So I think everyone knows what a Prius is.
It's a standard hybrid vehicle.
But the plug-in version just has an expanded battery so that you can do a certain amount of miles specifically on electricity.
And then after you meet that level, then it kicks over to the super efficient hybrid engine.
And so, in that sense, you know, when we think about electric vehicles,
we don't want to just pigeonhole into battery electric vehicles.
We want to open it up to the suite of different technologies that are coming out.
So that includes battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
And so for that matter, my wife could definitely use this because it's super efficient in its hybrid state.
But then when she's driving around town, she's taking advantage of all those EV miles.
Wow. Okay. So as you're talking about with the grid and all this,
it seems like what's going into the vehicle is getting cleaner and cleaner.
But what about what's coming out of the vehicle?
How are these batteries disposed of or recycled?
Well, the batteries are rarely ever going to be disposed of
because they have such a high residual value.
So meaning that the components that they're made up of are very valuable.
So you would only want to recycle them.
But recycling is just one aspect of it.
We're doing studies right now with the National Renewable Energy Laboratories,
as well as many of the UC schools.
So UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and UCSD to develop kind of the next stage of batteries.
So if you think about batteries like a Walkman or a Disman,
I don't know if your viewers are going to remember that.
But when you had those Walkman, you would use your batteries for a while
and then they would no longer be able to charge the device.
But you could take them out and you could put them in a remote control
and you could still use those batteries in remote control for a while
because the remote control required less energy.
Oh, okay. Yeah.
Same sort of concept with EVs.
So when an EV battery can no longer take the charge to drive a power vehicle,
you can pull out that battery and apply it to many other sources.
So can you tell us a little bit about the rebates and incentives
for San Diego residents who are interested in getting into electric vehicles?
I definitely can.
And it's not just for San Diego residents.
It's also for all residents within the state of California.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
So at the center, at the California Center for Sustainable Energy,
we administer the California's Clean Vehicle Rebate Project.
And that provides cash rebates for electric, plug-in hybrid electric,
and fuel cell vehicles.
So if you're a San Diego resident and you're interested in getting
maybe one of these plug-in Priuses or perhaps a Nissan Leaf,
think about coming to our website, checking out the application process,
and we'll get you a rebate as soon as we can.
Wow.
Some savings while you're trying to sustain the environment.
That's a perfect combination.
Yeah, it's pretty great.
California Center for Sustainable Energy,
thanks again for not only providing a place for outreach and education,
but a resource center for all the residents here in San Diego.
And letting me come around and ask you guys some more questions.
Yeah, no worries.
Thanks.
Thank you so much for your time.
And we'll be back with the Green Yourself segment featuring David Almedo.
California Center for Sustainable Energy gave me some great environmental advice.
Now I wanted to see some real electric vehicle enthusiasts.
I'm here with electric vehicle enthusiasts,
Kevin Schultz in North Park, California.
Yeah, this is an inaugural event of what we're calling the San Diego Kilowatt Hour.
It's a vehicle and we've got the idea of making it for Canada.
We're making it here again for a while.
It's a pretty simple proposition.
We just give people a monthly event where they can come if they're either riders
of electric vehicles or if they actually travel to technology,
they can come and meet other people to ride other people's cars.
Definitely.
So what got you interested in electric vehicle enthusiasts?
Well, you know, I saw a movie like a lot of other movies
in many movies.
We just have a little cover of Ryan Austin.
Oh, yes.
In the years of the cult who killed the electric car.
And that movie motivated me to become the sustainability enthusiast
and become very interested in alternative vehicle enthusiasts.
So I got a Prius, you know, after that movie.
And I love my Prius.
It's a great car.
But it kind of nagged at me that it still uses gas on the combustion engine.
Okay.
I feel a lot better when I'm able to write something that, you know,
causes no pollution, makes no noise.
And it's just more convenient to go to the crowd.
So have you had any hurdles or obstacles that you've had to maneuver?
Oh, wow.
So that's kind of the big thing about Kilowatt Hour 2
is you can come from any experience level with your vehicle, right?
Right.
And it's about sharing those experiences,
sharing latest information and tips,
talking about failures and successes of our vehicles,
how we can make them better, and just having a good time.
I wanted to say too, there's a couple of things I'm involved with
that has heavily inspired me putting this together.
One is critical mass.
I really have to tip my hat critical mass.
I admire that movement.
It's a really worldwide movement.
There's something so empowering about hopping on your bike
and being with hundreds of other bicycle enthusiasts
who just kind of taking back the streets.
Absolutely.
This is a much smaller scale than that.
But I hope over time that our numbers will grow as well
and maybe we'll even do some events with critical mass.
Oh, wow.
And then the other thing that inspires me are moped gangs
around town.
They're kind of counterculture younger people usually
who get on their old vintage moped that they've restored
and just have a great time rolling around the streets
and having fun together.
So this is kind of hopefully going to draw up
on both of those examples.
Definitely.
It really seems like it's getting the community
involved with sustainability.
And instead of being awareness like,
here's another textbook or here's another, you know,
me on a soapbox, this is just a fun way to ride.
And you're touching on a really important reason
for a group like this as well.
It's just getting out on the streets
and showing people that vehicles like this exist.
Oh, wow.
You know, putting that thought in their mind
that, wow, people actually do get on something like this
and it gets them from point A to point B.
That's true.
A lot of us are pretty individualistic
and we use our vehicles for individual purposes
and the far fewer people might see us then
would see us when we're involved in things like this
making more of a statement.
Oh, yeah.
So it would be like an education outreach statement as well.
Exactly.
Wow.
Well, thank you so much for moving forward in a green way
and hope to see you on the streets.
Sure.
If you come back in a few months,
hopefully we'll have a lot more electric vehicles here.
Definitely.
We'll come check up on you.
Great.
Thanks, Ronnie.
We've been learning a lot about electric vehicles
and I kind of wanted to get more energy efficiency tips.
So could you tell us a little bit about what time of use is
and how that affects the environment?
Yeah, sure.
So I think the best way to talk about that
is with looking at electricity load for a specific day.
And so what I mean by load is the demand of electricity
for any given day.
Okay.
I've given you an image about a typical load
for a summer day in San Diego gas electric territory.
And so what you see from that image is that it's kind of a hump.
So electricity demand starts off low in the early parts of the morning,
so starting around like 5 a.m.
But then as more people wake up, they go to work,
the days get warmer, we start using our air conditioners,
that electricity demand increases and increases and increases.
And it kind of tops off at around, say, 4 o'clock.
After that time, it goes down and as more people are leaving work,
it's getting cooler and less electricity is consumed.
So one of the ways that the utilities are trying to mitigate
the excess demand from electric vehicles
and reduce stress on the grid is by creating incentives
for people to charge off-peak.
And what I mean by off-peak is that time between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
when electricity demand is the highest,
that's something called peak demand.
And so what they're trying to do is take,
shift the consumption of electricity for EV owners
out of that peak demand.
So away from 11 to 6 p.m.
Yeah, so they're creating lower electricity rates
during those off-peak times than on that on-peak time.
And so it's creating an incentive for consumers
to basically shift that electricity consumption
to those areas where electricity demand is lower.
When you think about it, the utility has to provide electricity
to all of its consumers based on that demand at any given moment.
Because they want to ensure that as soon as you plug in
whatever you're going to plug in, you're going to get electricity.
So they have to create an energy generation mix
that's going to be able to meet demand at all times.
And as we already looked at with the power content label,
there's several different components that electricity demand.
So you've got hydro, you've got renewables like wind and solar,
but you also have coal, nuclear, and hydrogen.
Well, in order to do that, so through that hump,
there's something called the generation stack.
So how much electricity is generated by each of those components
meets up for that demand.
At the greatest demand, the utilities like to use something called peaker plants.
And peaker plants are things like usually coal
or heavily more carbon-heavy fuel sources
that can come on at a quicker time
and they can be turned off at a quicker time.
The majority of our electricity comes from compressed natural gas
or combined cycle natural gas plants that are super efficient.
And they're efficient because you can turn them on
and they run for all the time, 24-7.
But it takes them a while to get up to that efficiency.
So they have a higher ramp-up period and a lower ramp-down period.
But for like a coal plant, it takes a shorter amount of time to turn it on
and a shorter amount of time to turn it off.
That ramp-on and ramp-off.
Well, I don't know if it's physically showing,
but you know, yeah, exactly.
They're heating that up, making the steam, and it's just immediate combustion.
Yeah, it's much, much quicker.
I don't think it's immediate, but it's much, much quicker.
So when you're charging between that peak period of 11 to 6 p.m.,
you're taking advantage of that super efficient combined cycle natural gas plants.
But you're also, you have a potential to be taking advantage of those peaker plants
that rely more heavily on high carbon intensity fuels like coal.
So shifting your load to other areas,
or shifting your charging to different times of the day,
so either in the early morning or late at night,
you can reduce your environmental impact.
Okay, so like you're saying, the generational load would be lower in those other times
because you're still using the combined cycle natural gas
as opposed to, as you keep going up to get power,
you need something quicker and easier,
so it wouldn't be as environmentally efficient,
it would be more energy, just what they have to do to keep up with demand.
Basically, I mean, it's a really complex idea,
but I think you basically got the gist.
But I mean, the important note for this is,
I mean, even when you're using that electricity from those peaker plants
during the 11 to 6 period, or during that peak period,
you're still using electricity, or using fuel much more efficiently
than you would be if you were on a gas.
So compared to my JETA, which is pretty efficient,
it's still, you know, it can't compete with an electric vehicle.
Okay, so electric overall is always going to be kind of lower environmental impact,
but the times when we use energy could lower that even more.
Right, right, and we're talking about California, right?
So if you're, based on whatever you get your energy generation from,
let's say that California relied more heavily on coal,
that's going to change that argument,
because you're shifting your fuel source from gasoline,
from the gas pump to the grid,
and depending on how efficient that grid is,
or how low emitting that grid is,
that's going to really depend that argument.
So if we go to other areas where, say, West Virginia,
we utilize more heavily on coal, it's going to be a different story.
I think when you're thinking about the benefits of electric vehicles,
there is the carbon savings that you're getting from
utilizing low carbon sources of fuel through electricity.
There's also public health impact as well.
So you're cleaning the air through these other mechanisms,
because you're reducing the amount of gasoline consumption,
but you're also creating a safer environment for all of California.
Amazing.
So those are some easy tips for you to be more energy efficient
and lower your impact on the environment.
Thank you so much, James.
You bet, buddy.
From energy independence to polluting less,
electric vehicles drive us to a more sustainable San Diego.
This is Ronnie Doss reminding you that if everything is coming your way,
you're probably in the wrong lane.
Hope you enjoyed the show, drive safe, and keep on rolling, EcoDiego.
