Westport in Electric Vehicle Project With CL&P

Westport is among four Connecticut municipalities and a global financial services leader joining with Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) to install charging stations for plug-in electric vehicles as part of a major research project, the utility announced today.

Westport will install and maintain charging equipment along with the communities of Torrington and Mansfield as well as UBS in Stamford, an announcement said.

First Selectman Gordon Joseloff said the charging station will be installed near the Metro-North station in Saugatuck in the near future. The Board of Selectmen approved the contract with CL&P at its March 23 meeting.

“We’ve worked hard to make Connecticut an early market for electric vehicles, so we’re excited to launch New England’s first comprehensive, hands-on EV (electric vehicle) study,” said Jeff Butler, CL&P’s president and chief operating officer.

Note: WestportNow Publisher Gordon F. Joseloff is also First Selectman of Westport

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Northeast Utilities Launches Electric Vehicle Charging Station Project

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 Get Business Mobile Text Alerts: Text BIZ To 37798 Tweet(1) Topics Hybrid Vehicles Business Northeast Utilities See more topics ? X Stamford West Hartford Torrington Westport By JANICE PODSADA, jpodsada@courant.com The Hartford Courant 7:20 p.m. EDT, May 3, 2011

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Northeast Utilities said Tuesday it is launching a research project to determine how plug-in electric vehicles would impact the electric grid in Connecticut.

"By year end, we expect to have a network of more than 30 charging stations in place and generating detailed meter data," said Watson Collins, electric vehicle project manager for NU. "We'll have a robust picture of away-from-home charging levels, to study along with home-based use as more EV [electric vehicle] drivers recharge overnight."

About 20 towns and businesses served by Connecticut Light & Power, which is owned by NU, are expected to participate in the project. Among the businesses and municipalities that have already signed on to install EV charging stations are UBS in Stamford and the towns of Torrington, Westport and Mansfield. West Hartford is expected to join the project shortly. Currently, there are about 70 electric vehicles registered in the state.

"By gathering information from municipal and business customers, we can gain tangible experience to help guide future decisions about our infrastructure, our policies and how we will ultimately serve all of our customers as EVs become more common," said Jeff Butler, CL&P's president and chief operating officer.

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"It's all about understanding how EV recharging impacts the electric utility system under a variety of conditions," Collins added.

NU already has installed charging stations at company offices in Berlin and Hartford. For more information, go to http://www.plugmyride.org.

BYD Announces EV Fleet Results at Anniversary of Green-Taxi Project

Today marks the one year anniversary of the world?s largest all-electric vehicle Taxi fleet, manufactured by BYD. In conjunction with this anniversary, BYD announced results of several of its electric vehicle pilots ? the F3DM, e6 and eBUS-12 which are in fleet testing across the world. Fifty of BYD?s e6, five-seat crossover vehicles, each with a range of over 160 miles (up to 300 Km) and a top speed of 88 mph (140km/h), have been in service at Shenzhen-based Pengcheng Electric Taxi Company since April 29, 2010. The Shenzhen e6 Taxi fleet has now accumulated ~1,730,000 all-electric miles (or 2.77 million kilometers). The distance traveled for single fleet vehicles has reached ~63,000 miles each (>100,000 km). "This fleet of 50 e6 taxis has survived the very harsh operating conditions of hot Shenzhen summers and a very cold winter this year, and drivers and passengers alike have been extremely satisfied with their ride experience,? according to Stella Li, Senior Vice President. 250 more eTaxis are being delivered to the International University in Shenzhen before August this year. According to collected data, the per-car-fuel-savings is over $1167 per-Taxi-per-month (driving an average of 400Km per day). BYD?s all-electric Taxis are expected to help Shenzhen avoid about 133 lbs (or 60.4Kg) of carbon-dioxide pollution per day per Taxi. This is an equivalent of 2,425,060 lbs (or 1.1M kg) of carbon-dioxide pollution saved by this fleet in the first year.

BYD electric Taxi in Shenzhen (Photo: Business Wire)

The most important finding in the e6 fleet testing was that there has been no noticeable energy drop ? both driving range and battery performance has been stable in rapid-charging conditions over the 1.73M miles tested ? a breakthrough in EV rapid-charging. BYD has been challenged by the media about its claims of long-range electric vehicles and superior battery longevity in rapid-charging regimes since launching its first dual-mode, electric and plug-in-hybrid electric vehicles in December 2008. With the results of the e6 fleet, which was continuously rapid charged in 20- 30 minutes, BYD now has a proven track record for its Iron-Phosphate battery technology. The data is there to show vehicle charging efficiencies, consumption efficiencies, and EV ranges over time-- all with rapid-charging regimes.

BYD also reported on its F3DM fleet which BYD launched in its first US tests at the Housing Authority of Los Angeles (HACLA). The F3DM can travel over 40 miles all-electric but can be engaged to act as a Hybrid-Electric (HEV) to extend its range up to 300 miles. The HACLA fleet has now accumulated ~10,430 miles all-electric and 14,430 total miles (4,000 fuel-driven miles when extended range was necessary). The fleet is achieving an equivalent of 88 mpg and BYD estimates the per-car-savings---even netting out EV charging and electricity costs-- is ~70%. BYD?s dual-mode cars are expected to save HACLA about 37 lbs of carbon-dioxide per-day-per-auto when driven to the EV range.

In China, BYD launched an all-electric bus fleet with the eBUS-12 (click for video link) in Shenzhen and Changsha, China in January 2011. These fleets have already accumulated 28,802 all-electric miles (46,380 Km) while undergoing a 3-hour-charge of the 324 Kwh FE battery. An example of the per-eBUS-savings for Shenzhen?s Bus Line 202 (driving only 200Km per day) is about $2833 monthly per eBUS. 300 more buses will be delivered to Shenzhen in August of this year. BYD?s all-electric eBUSes save about 708 lbs (or 322Kg) in carbon-dioxide emissions per eBUS per day.

In total, BYD EVs have accumulated over 1.769 million all-electric miles and have seen no diminished range or capacity due to rapid-charging. BYD vehicles are estimated to have already saved $360,000 in fuel costs and over 2.776 million lbs of carbon-dioxide. BYD launched consumer sales of the F3DM in September 2010 and anticipates very good demand for the BYD e6 and all electric vehicles in China, fueled in part by government incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles. "Consumers that purchase pure electric vehicles will also enjoy the special privilege of "license-plate-lottery-free, no traffic restrictions and tax-free exemptions (paid by the government)." (LINK: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/98649/7344880.html)

About BYD

BYD is ranked #1 at the top of Bloomberg?s and BusinessWeek's 2009 Tech 100 List (http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100520006751/en/BYD-Tops-Bloomberg-Businessweek%E2%80%99s-12th-Annual-Tech) and is the leading manufacturer of advanced, environmentally-friendly battery technologies like the BYD?s Iron Phosphate battery. BYD?s solar panels and LED lighting systems have TUV/CE and UL listings, and the company enjoys rapid growth in consumer electronics space and automobile manufacturing under its BYD brand. With investments from Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) and MidAmerican Energy Holdings, today, BYD is the fastest-growing Chinese automotive and green energy technology manufacturer. The Company trades on the Hong Kong exchange (HKE) under the ticker numbers (HK.0285 ? BYD Electronics) and (HK.1211 ? BYD Company Ltd). For more information, visit www.bydit.com or email pr@byd.com.

Photos/Multimedia?Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6702788&lang=en

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