World Carfree Day: Sep 22

World Carfree Day: Sep 22

A “celebration of cities and public life, free from the noise, stress and pollution of cars.”

As the climate heats up, World Carfree Day is the perfect time to take the heat off the planet, and put it on city planners and politicians to give priority to cycling, walking and public transport, instead of to the automobile.

Burbank Bicycle Riders !    September 22

Bike - In - Movie

Megamind

Bike Safety Workshop 2pm
Learn basic traffic safety skills, lane positioning, door-zone, proper etiquette, doorzone, and avoiding hazards on the road.
Flat-Fix How-To Session 4pm
Community Bike Ride to the Bike-In-Movie 5pm
Bike-In-Movie / Picnic 7pm
After our ride, we will be settling in at McCambridge Park where FREE food and refreshments will be awaiting: sandwiches with vegetarian options available, a snack and water. MEGAMIND! Kid friendly and fun for adults too.

The Burbank BikeStop is a high-capacity indoor bicycle parking facility located at the Downtown Burbank Metrolink Station. The facility is designed to meet the growing demand of commuters that bike to/from transit. The Burbank BikeStop helps us promote a healthier, more sustainable Burbank!

Electric Cars Are The Buzz

Electric cars are the buzz
Institutional customers are pitched the alternative technology at an event at Burbank's airport.
Burbank Leader: 6.08.2012 by Maria Hsin

Movie studios, car rental companies, government agencies — all were wooed by proponents of electric cars, test drives and all, at Bob Hope Airport this week in an effort to increase the use of the zero- and low-emissions vehicles.

“An airport and a studio can serve as living laboratories of these technologies,” California Energy Commissioner Carla Peterman said after addressing the audience at a hangar at the airport, where several models were on display Thursday. “I would encourage airports and studios to not only adopt electric cars [and] alternative vehicles, but also alternative energy: solar panels, fuel cells.

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Michael Walbrecht, vice president of public affairs for Warner Bros., said the studio has installed five electric charging stations in two parking structures that are available to employees and visitors.

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The California Energy Commission manages a fund of $100 million annually for investments in alternative fuels, vehicles and infrastructure, and electric vehicles are a part of that, she said.

So far, the commission has invested $65.6 million in electric-vehicle-related projects, and of that, $21 million has been in the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena area, Peterman added. READ MORE !

BUR: Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

December 1: Plug-In Ribbon Cutting
Town Center Mall (near Sport Chalet)
10 am

Electric vehicles can charge for no charge

Stations opening this week will be free to EV drivers until July 1, when the rate will become $2 an hour.
Burbank Leader: 11.26.2011 by Maria Hsin

Eleven new electric vehicle charging stations will debut in Burbank this week, and until July 1, motorists will get to plug in for free.

After the “holiday rate” — approved by the Burbank City Council this week — the price to charge a vehicle will be $2 per hour. But any other charging stations that come online after January will also feature a six-month grace period, according to the city.

The purpose of the grant is to promote and facilitate the use of electric vehicles by encouraging the development of EV charging infrastructure across the country, Xavier Baldwin, assistant general manager at Burbank Water and Power, said in an email.

The three-year demonstration project will also help set pricing. READ MORE !

BWP - Burbank Charging Stations:
Bob Hope Airport Economy Lot A
Bob Hope Airport Lot D
Burbank Town Center Mall (near Sport Chalet)
Burbank Public Works/CDD – 333 E Olive
Costco – 1051 Burbank Blvd
Fry’s – 2311 N Hollywood Way

All Charging Locations in Los Angeles County

Electric Cars: Roadside Assistance

If your electric car poops out on the road,
AAA can save the day
examiner.com Long Beach: 7.21.2011 by Jon LeSage

Plug-in electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt, Mini E, Tesla Roadster, and do-it-yourself conversions, are slowly starting to become mainstream. There may not be any more infamous GM EV1s on the roads, but don’t be surprised to see an electric car getting charged at your workplace, shopping mall, or neighbor’s garage.

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But what happens if your electric car poops out on the highway, and you’re two hours from home? Call a tow truck? That’s where AAA has stepped in, announcing that its roadside assistance trucks are capable of fast charging stranded electric vehicles.

During the Plug-in 2011 conference in Raleigh, NC, AAA said electric vehicle drivers can get a 15-minute jolt of either Level 2 (240-volt), or Level 3 (480-volt) fast charging to get them to the nearest charge point. And there’s good news for Californians – AAA says it will roll the trucks out initially in Los Angeles and San Francisco; beyond that, Portland, Ore.; Tampa Bay, Fla.; and Knoxville, Tenn. Other areas will follow later.

For the fast chargers, the standards haven’t yet been finalized, like they have with Level 1 and 2 stations. So far, only the Nissan Leaf and the upcoming Mitsubishi i are the only electric cars that can use the fast chargers. READ MORE !

Industry Watch: Hybrid Cars

Hybrid Scorecard 2011

Hybrid Scorecard for 2011 Shows Automakers Not Delivering Enough 'High Value' Models
Stronger Vehicle Efficiency Standards Needed to Make the Most of Hybrid Technology

WASHINGTON (July 6, 2011) – The current crop of hybrid vehicles demonstrate automakers know how to provide dramatic fuel savings and pollution reductions, but have yet to fully deliver those benefits, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) announced today.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (USC) released its 2011 Hybrid Scorecard that rates 34 Non-Luxury and Luxury cars for their fuel efficiency, environmental improvement, consumer value, and the “forced features” automakers install that artificially inflate the cost of some models.

Green Day Planner: Carfree Day

World Carfree Day
September 22

An annual celebration of cities and public life, free from the noise, stress and pollution of cars. Each year on September 22, people around the world organize events of all sizes to showcase alternatives to the automobile.

World Carfree Network invites organisations and individuals everywhere to join !

As the climate heats up, World Carfree Day is the perfect time to take the heat off the planet, and put it on city planners and politicians to give priority to cycling, walking and public transport, instead of to the automobile.

Industry Watch: Electric Vehicles

Coulomb Technologies to install 4,600 electric vehicle charging stations
LA Times: June 7, 2010 by Tiffany Hsu

California will receive about a third of the 4,600 electric vehicle charging stations that Coulomb Technologies plans to install for free around the country.

The company, based in Campbell, Calif., will immediately start setting up public and private stations in Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Jose and San Francisco Bay Area. The stations will also go up in Austin, Texas; Detroit; New York; Orlando, Fla.; Redmond, Wash.; and Washington, D.C.

Once installation launches in the coming weeks, more than 1,000 stations are scheduled to be put in by December, with the rest to be in place by September 2011.

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The installations are part of a $37-million project called ChargePoint America, funded partly by a $15-million stimulus grant administered by the Department of Energy through the Transportation Electrification Initiative. Once the stations are in place, Purdue University and Idaho National Labs will analyze data about vehicle use and charging patterns.

Coulomb already has 700 stations operating around the country, with 130 customers. READ MORE !

Business Watch: American Lightning Motor Co.

Lightning in a vehicle
Rock musician is hoping to grow business converting gas-powered cars to electric. Council isn’t interested in providing seed money.
Burbank Leader: April 23, 2010 by Christopher Cadelago

Six years ago Danny Blitz bit through his tongue and cracked an industrial-strength office chair on his way to the floor.

Heralded as a “future icon” by a popular music magazine, the rock musician was selling well, appearing on television and getting radio ads across the country.

Suddenly, he couldn’t walk, could barely talk, and his left arm was out of its socket. Worse, his left hand was paralyzed.

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So began the second act in the life of a self-described “unlikely environmentalist.” Blitz grew up in Houston, the son and stepson of oil executives.

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That enthusiasm has led to American Lightning Motor Company, a fledgling gas-to-electric conversion company in search of seed money and a brick-and-mortar location. The search will have to continue after Burbank officials on Tuesday rebuffed his proposal, which sought $750,000 and up to 8,000 square feet of work space.

The Burbank City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, panned the business plan, contending that the risk was too high and the plan not specific enough. The company in exchange had pledged to convert from gas to electric a city fleet, 1955 Chevy, lighting chopper and produce a feature-length documentary in the first 180 days.

City officials referred to the plan as “glaringly inconsistent,” maintaining that it would be unwise to commit taxpayer money and serve as an incubator for a company still in concept stage.

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The roughly $20,000 conversion starts with pulling out an engine, transmission and other parts and replacing them with lithium ion nanophosphate batteries, a large electric motor and a dimmer switch where the gas pedal was.

“We are told by the auto industry to throw away our cars. But can you imagine the environmental catastrophe?” he said. “We believe that the model of the electric-car industry is flawed. Junkyards themselves are an industrial-age artifact.” READ MORE !