California’s resolve to phase out new gasoline-powered cars by 2035 has increased urgency and efforts for the transition to electric and hydrogen cars.
But precisely how those millions of new cars will get the power they want to move drivers forward is one of the thorniest questions in the zero-emission vehicle industry.
California has fewer than 80,000 public and shared electric vehicle qualifiers lately, according to the California Energy Commission. Energy researchers estimate that the state will want about 24 times longer until 2035 to meet the minimum desires of hybrid and electric cars, which have less diversity and take much longer to refuel than gasoline-powered cars.
A Palm Springs-based startup is entering that void, aiming to upgrade fuel stations by creating a network of zero-emission charging stations and hydrogen refueling stations along the highway, just off I-10 in Palm Springs.
Aptly named ZEV Station, the company also plans to build a fleet of electric vans through a subsidiary that will be leased to “last mile” delivery companies, such as Amazon’s delivery facility in Cathedral City, though the ZEV station does not comment on express customers. . recruitment.
The founder of the ZEV station and local government officials mentioned several points that have made the domain suitable for ambitious blank force companies, and added the availability of local renewable force resources, such as wind strength and zero carbon strength through Desert Community Energy, a non-profit utility company. . in the western Coachella Valley.
Some energy market researchers say the proposal to upgrade ZEV station filling stations is likely to be, in part, a marketing exercise, as electric vehicle chargers can be placed in parking masses just as easily as at compromised stations. Despite this, they say the company’s network, if built, can help drive the adoption of zero-carbon vehicles, thereby alleviating the “autonomy anxiety” of drivers accustomed to easy access to gas stations.
ZEV station founded in April 2021 by Jesse Schneider, a decades-long veteran of the zero-emission vehicle industry and recently guilty of the mobile progression of hydrogen and fuel for electric semi-truck manufacturer Nikola Motor Company.
Prior to Nikola, Schneider spent most of his career working for major German automakers, such as Mercedes-Benz, Daimler Chrysler, and BMW, primarily developing mobile hydrogen and fuel technologies and setting criteria for their use.
“During this time, I kept being dragged into the infrastructure,” Schneider said of his days at Mercedes-Benz. “So I followed a lot of the criteria on hydrogen infrastructure, even though I applied for an automaker. “
He added that he has also spent more than a decade working on electric vehicle charging technologies and standards, giving him a review of the zero-emission vehicle space, his main gaps.
“Everyone is building a zero-emission vehicle” to meet customer demand, Schneider said. “The weak point of this: everyone builds a ZEV vehicle, but who builds the ZEV station?”
Schneider said his inability for years to respond to this query led him to make the decision to leave Nikola and discovered the ZEV station in April 2021. The new concept would combine electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refueling at single stations that would upgrade filling stations along the roads.
Schneider explained that while some see electric power and hydrogen as competitive bureaucracy of blank energy, his paintings have led him to see the two as complementary.
“We think it’s very, very similar to the analogy of fuel and diesel,” he said, noting that diesel is basically used in long-haul trucks, while fuel powers passenger cars to the maximum.
Similarly, the founder of the ZEV station said his company envisions a long term in which small and medium-sized electric cars will pass through hydrogen filling stations for larger cars such as semi-trailers.
The ZEV station was incorporated in Arizona, but temporarily began looking for a homeport in California’s developing zero-emission vehicle market. They moved to Palm Springs for a variety of reasons, according to Schneider, adding the highest volume of passenger and truck traffic. along I-10, the availability of affordable carbon-free energy through Desert Community Energy, year-round sunshine for solar panels at the station and the availability of water to produce hydrogen fuel.
Schneider said the Palm Springs area’s “overflowing” aquifer makes it less intuitive to get a reliable source of water in the desert than in California.
The company moved to 500 South Palm Canyon Drive and began making plans for its first projects. It purchased 3. 5 acres of land on Garnet Avenue, just off I-10 in Palm Springs, in December 2021 to serve as the long-term site for its flagship station, envisioned as an “environmental highway oasis” through the company.
Late last month, the ZEV station opened its first 4 carbon-free “proof-of-concept” chargers in the parking lot of the Palm Springs Museum of Art.
Mayor Lisa Middleton, who spoke at the opening event, said in an interview that zeV station’s resolution to identify its center in Palm Springs validated the city’s efforts to “impact the surrounding area and make those issues when it comes to climate change. “
“Electric cars are an incredibly positive step forward, but they are only as smart as the energy resources that are used to generate electricity,” he said.
Middleton said charging an electric vehicle in a position like West Virginia, where nearly all electric power is generated from coal, is preferable to a gasoline-powered car, but it’s far from the net environmental benefits of electric cars charged with electric power from non-renewable sources. polluting sources. .
Desert Community Energy, which will supply carbon-free power to ZEV chargers, is a nonprofit application that uses Southern California Edison’s existing infrastructure to supply power to Palm Springs consumers. The organization’s default plan supplies carbon-free electricity from a variety of resources such as wind, solar and hydropower. Clean force is more expensive than Southern California Edison’s popular rates, though consumers can opt for a less expensive plan with fewer blank force resources.
The organization faced monetary difficulties after its launch in April 2020, despite Middleton and Desert Community Energy president Geoff Kors saying long-term contracts with power suppliers would continue to reduce rates over time. Kors, who is also an outgoing city council member, said Desert Community Energy recently signed contracts with a geothermal power plant, a solar power provider and 3 new Palm Springs wind farms, which would save consumers millions in zero carbon strength.
Schneider called the nonprofit’s carbon-free energy price lists “probably the lowest in the state,” and cited them as a major draw for his company in the region. Desert Community Energy representative Erica Felci said the organization could not verify where its rates were ranked. among other carbon-free energy providers, however, noted that they were lower than many other similar California nonprofit utilities, known as grid aggregators of choice.
Kors said DCE’s paintings with the ZEV station highlight a broader opportunity for Palm Springs to attract more corporations fighting climate change.
“I need us to do more to succeed in them and try to attract more businesses of all kinds knowing that they have access to a city that offers one hundred percent carbon-free electricity, that most consumers are one hundred percent carbon. “”For free, and that we are taking those competitive steps towards a green city,” he said.
In addition to the herbal benefits of wind, sun and potentially geothermal energy from the Salton Sea, Kors said the Coachella Valley benefits from a population that understands in detail the effects of climate. For action.
Schneider said ZEV plans to open its new flagship station on I-10 in Palm Springs by the end of 2023. He said the company intends to build charging stations on its own first to start generating revenue, followed shortly thereafter through a construction with a cafeteria area, a dining place and storefronts where local zero-carbon vehicle dealers can display their vehicles.
“Maybe it’s carrying a circle of family members and you think about a situation with kids in the back saying, ‘Wow!Look at this car, can we get in?” Schneider said.
The CEO said his company is working with a local architect to design the station’s construction with a “Palm Springs” look, but declined to call the architect or say whether he meant it would have a mid-century fashion style.
Schneider said hydrogen dispensers would be the latest addition and “could go as far as 2024” because their installation takes longer than chargers.
In total, he said the station will have 14 chargers, adding Tesla chargers and CCS1 chargers used by most electric cars, and 4 hydrogen dispensers, split between soft and heavy refueling to serve other vehicle sizes.
“We’re talking about a big station, not anything you see today,” Schneider said. “And the purpose is that we want to start thinking about the call and we want to start thinking about cargo and hydrogen as the (successor) of the gas station. This is the purpose of the ZEV station.
Schneider said his corporate plans to use the Coachella Valley as a “stepping stone” for his ten-year plan to build a network of California bus stations.
“The purpose is to cross the 10th and pass the 5th, and in that order,” he said.
Meanwhile, ZEV Station is also implementing a secondary business of leasing a fleet of “electric vans” (think UPS-type cars) for last-mile delivery through its subsidiary ZEV Fleet.
Schneider said the company had four vans and planned to buy more, but it would remain a limited offering aimed primarily at allowing last-mile delivery operators, who route orders from shipping centers to their final destinations, to “kick the tires” on electric delivery. Fleets
If delivery corporations are inspired enough by electric vans to buy their own, Schneider said, it’s possible that a reliable visitor base will be created for the ZEV station’s main charging business.
“Because it’s hard to say, ‘Okay, we’re going to build this big station next to you with charging and refueling. Why don’t you come and bring your cars that don’t exist yet?”he said.
In addition to the station and delivery fleet, Schneider said the ZEV station also has a provisional agreement to supply hydrogen to ZeroAvia, a hydrogen electric aircraft company, at airports near its stations.
This may potentially mean the start of a zero-carbon air and road transport network starting in Palm Springs, though Schneider said the plans were multi-year and secondary to the main goals of the ZEV station’s bus station structure.
To date, ZEV has raised $2. 7 million in investment through a series of 3 grants from the State of California. Schneider said the company will raise more budget through StartEngine, a platform that allows the public to invest in startups and startups. said ZEV also collects personal budget from undisclosed companies.
Hovig Tchalian, a USC business professor who has studied the emergence and progression of electric vehicle markets, said there is a transparent need for electric vehicle infrastructure in California and that the concept of replacing fuel stations on the roads of ZEV stations appears to be a new proposition.
However, he questioned the need for completely carbon-free power stations for classic fuel stations.
“I would say that fuel stations work more than charging stations,” Chalian said, “because you can have a standalone charging station, the equivalent of a fuel pump, that’s in a parking lot, somewhere that’s very different, structurally and just the practical operational perspective, than setting up a full fuel station.
The professor said the transition to carbon-free energy resources, like the adoption of all new technologies, would require a change in behaviour.
Charging stations, he said, would arguably never be as visual from the road as classic fuel stations, causing discomfort to some drivers worried about running out of charge, a phenomenon known as “range anxiety. “But technologies used like virtual maps can also only make them easy to locate independently, he said.
Despite this, Tchalian said there may be a practical application in analog technique for ZEV station fuel stations.
“All of us, no matter how much we say we love new technologies, are comfortable with what is familiar to us. To some extent, we all rely on habit and routine,” Tchalian said. The reaction of new and ultimate people is that I don’t need to spend the effort, time or power to be informed of that. “
The professor raised several examples of this phenomenon, such as the celebration of the QWERTY keyboard despite its unnecessarily convoluted design. He said many new products, such as plant-based meats, are packaged and presented similarly to their classic opposite. Numbers to mitigate customer considerations about their lack of knowledge, even when it’s almost not necessary. He noted that this is already the case with electric vehicle plugs and charging sockets, which are designed to mimic the appearance and location of fuel pumps and fuel hatches. .
Similarly, he cautioned that replacements for ZEV station fuel stations can cause some consumers to triumph over diversity anxiety by offering apparent places to rate and refuel their vehicles.
“Making things familiar and comfortable at least allows other people to triumph over that initial difficulty and increases the option or option for other people to adopt it, feel comfortable with it and use it to a greater extent than they do today,” he said.
If Schneider’s bet is right and the ZEV station takes off, the founder said he has no plans to move the company to a larger market like Los Angeles. Instead, Schneider said he plans to assemble a team of engineers in Palm Springs to experiment, innovate and help the ZEV station as it expands in California.
“We’re not just other people who buy things through a catalog and put them in,” he said. “We are also the ones who develop them together and make them work. “
The ZEV station founder said that thanks to his company’s paintings and the imaginable more to come, his team sees the Coachella Valley becoming a carbon-free energy hub.
“That’s one of our beliefs,” he said. Because of the ideal location for renewables, there will be a lot of power games here. “
James B. Cutchin covers in the Coachella Valley. Contact him at james. cutchin@desertsun. com.