May 2010 Archives

Six days ago Tesla Motors announced that it had bought Toyota's old NUMMI assembly facility in Fremont, California. Fremont is less than an hour drive from Palo Alto, and the rest of Silicon Valley, where Tesla was founded and is currently headquartered. Considering the plant just closed down in April, the timing couldn't have been better for Tesla which plans to use portions of it to manufacture its Model S.

The Nummi plant was first opened in 1962, having been built by General Motors. After 20 years of operation it closed in 1982 and then reopened in 1984 as a joint operation between Toyota and GM with the goal of improving processes and knowledge between the two companies. Now, in 2010 the plant is seemingly repeating those steps only this time there will be no union involvement and the partnership will be focused on improving the efficiency of the cars themselves and not just the manufacturing operation.

The Tesla Model S is slated for release in 2012, the same window that Toyota plans to release a fully electric model of its own. Domestic manufacturing ensures support from the federal government for Tesla which has already received numerous grants and $465 million dollars of US government loans. Toyota has taken a business interest in Tesla and pledged to buy $50 million dollars of common stock when Tesla eventually goes public.

Toyota has been facing a lot of backlash in recent years for accidents involving involuntary acceleration and brake failure. Some have attributed these issues to computer malfunction but the exact cause remains unknown. This partnership may represent an opportunity for Toyota to improve its electronics and license software from Tesla, while Tesla in exchange could leverage components and manufacturing from the worldwide leader in reliability.

Coulomb Technologies today announced their partner distributor ChargePoint Australia unveiled Sydney's first public ChargePoint® Networked Charging Station for electric vehicles in Derby Place, Glebe Australia. The station was installed by Visionstream and is managed by ChargePoint AU. The charging station will be used for Sydney's GoGet car share program.

Below is the press release. For more information or photos, please contact Anne Smith public relations at 408-313-8089

Sydney Installs Nation's First Public
ChargePoint Networked Charging Station for Electric Vehicles

Australia's first public on-street electric vehicle charging station opens by Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP.

SYDNEY May 25, 2010: Coulomb Technologies today announced their partner distributor ChargePoint Australia unveiled Sydney's first public ChargePoint® Networked Charging Station for electric vehicles in Derby Place, Glebe Australia. The station was installed by Visionstream and is managed by ChargePoint AU. The charging station will be used for Sydney's GoGet car share program.

"Electric vehicles have zero exhaust emissions, while car sharing replaces up to 10 privately owned cars for each shared vehicle. Each day more than 700,000 cars travel throughout the Sydney local government area, significantly contributing to smog, greenhouse gas pollution, congestion and noise. Anything we can do to decrease the greenhouse gas emissions caused by motor vehicles is a step towards a healthier city. Together with public transport, walking and cycling, electric vehicles are part of the climate change solution," Sydney's Lord Mayer Clover More said. "Today, Sydney joins other cities including San Francisco, Amsterdam, Philadelphia, Houston, Detroit and Vancouver who all have installed charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. When I was in Copenhagen in December for a Climate Change Summit I committed to working with the NSW Government, car share companies and others to scale up the purchase of electric vehicles. Today is a first step in supporting a cleaner mode of transport."

There are about 3,000 individual members of car share companies within the City of Sydney area, the majority with GoGet, including 500 small businesses. The City provides 120 dedicated on-street car share spaces, four times more than any other Australian city. Worldwide, car share membership has risen from around 50,000 users in 1997 to 550,000 in 2009.

Car share schemes provide a network of vehicles that members can book to use for short periods of time (from one hour to several days). Costs associated with fuel, insurance and maintenance are usually included in the operators' car hire fees.

GoGet co-founder, Bruce Jeffreys said members will be able to drive the plug-in electric hybrid at the same price as the rest of the GoGet hybrid fleet. "It's great to see a plug-in electric hybrid vehicle in a safe and convenient location with a world-class charging station ready to go," said Jeffreys. "We're looking forward to the introduction of additional electric vehicles into the GoGet fleet as demand grows."

Luke Grana, CEO and founder of ChargePoint Australia said the Sydney installation is a public demonstration of the viability of charging stations with preparations underway for a national rollout. "ChargePoint is preparing to conduct charging station pilot programs later this year in Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide. The Glebe charging station will provide behavioral and energy usage data which will be vital for effective and efficient energy management and future infrastructure planning."

Ms Moore said the City of Sydney is investigating the purchase of retrofitted plug-in Hybrid EVs and new EVs for its vehicle fleet, as part of its goal to reduce carbon emissions by 70 per cent from 2006 levels by 2030.

ChargePoint Pty Ltd, with headquarters in Sydney, is considered a pioneer in the e-mobility industry. The ChargePoint Network enables electric vehicle drivers the convenience of charging their battery at home, and public locations including curbside, workplace and shopping centers. Consumers subscribe to the ChargePoint Network and receive a ChargePoint Smart Card that allows them to charge their car at any ChargePoint Networked Charging Station Australia wide. The ChargePoint Network includes charging stations, consumer subscription plans and utility grid management technology for electric utility companies to smooth electrical demands on the grid. For more information on ChargePoint Pty Ltd, visit: www.chargepoint.com.au

For further information please contact: Jonathan Walter Ph.0406868359
For more City of Sydney media releases go to www.sydneymedia.com.au