SmartPress

It’s been a good week for electric cars — a pleasant break from all the fretful talk of low sales. While consumers may be having a difficult time making the leap from fuel-efficient cars to all-electric plug-ins, it appears manufacturers — and even the rental car companies — are full speed ahead.

Volkswagen will unveil a one-seat experimental electric car this September in Berlin. And CEO Martin Winterkorn said VW is aiming for their battery-powered vehicles to account for 3 percent of sales by 2018.

Three percent doesn’t seem like much, but when you consider that VW plans to sell more than 10 million cars in 2018 alone, that’s more than 300,000 electric cars entering the market from one single manufacturer.

Ford and Toyota also announced this week plans for a line of hybrid trucks and SUV’s to compete among the next generation of green cars. These heavy lifters won’t be rearing their cleaner engines anytime soon, but the step reflects the auto industry’s acceptance of their role as leaders and playmakers in the clean energy marketplace.

“This is the kind of collaborative effort that is required to address the big global challenges of energy independence and environmental sustainability,” said Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally.

With Ford’s reputation in pickup trucks and Toyota’s leadership in hybrids, we can expect some high-selling, high-energy-saving vehicles from this automotive matrimony.

As all of these car companies are gearing up for the next era of green four wheelers, many are concerned that demand will not be able to keep up with supply — especially once you consider that fuel efficiency and electric more often than not = $$$.

Our friends Hertz, Avis and Budget may have the answers.

Hertz will begin renting electric cars in China as soon as tomorrow, and the Avis Budget Group has started renting several hundred electric cars to drivers in France, England and other European countries.

We’re not too sure what it is with U.S. drivers that has rental car companies withholding the goods from us, but we’re glad to see that some of the excess EVs can be put to good use.

A bike meeting in Traverse City: (left to right) SmartPower Program Assistant Pat Doherty, SmartPower Vice President Jonathan Edwards, SEEDS Project Manager Mike Powers, SEEDS Executive Director Sarna Salzman, and Michigan Land Use Institute Policy Specialist Brian Beauchamp.

SmartPower staff members Jonathan Edwards and Pat Doherty recently visited Traverse City, Michigan, where SmartPower is providing marketing support for TC Saves, our third BetterBuildings program.

TC Saves is gearing up for fall energy efficiency canvasses in select neighborhoods. To get a sense of what’s ahead, Jonathan and Pat joined a few of our partners from SEEDS and the Michigan Land Use Institute for a moving meeting - literally, biking through Traverse City communities, getting a sense of the work ahead and laying the groundwork for a successful sweep! 

SmartPower is also providing marketing support to Energize Northern Westchester and the Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge, both part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s efforts to create models for residential energy efficiency programs. To learn more, visit the BetterBuildings website, or read up about our efficiency programming on SmartPower.org.

SmartPower Ventures, the leading marketing firm solely dedicated to energy efficiency and renewable energy in the United States this week announced a strategic partnership with Welectricity Inc, based in Kingstown, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, to promote household energy efficiency across the Caribbean. The partnership combines the award winning and nationally acclaimed marketing of SmartPower and SmartPower Ventures with the award-winning, social web platform for consumer energy efficiency created by Welectricity.

The combination is intended to foster a new approach to residential energy efficiency across the Caribbean that will focus on motivating consumers to be more energy efficient.

“The savings potential from energy efficiency across the Caribbean is enormous,” stated Brian F. Keane, President of SmartPower Ventures. “Behavioral modification alone can help an individual save a lot of energy in their homes and those actions and savings will give someone the incentive to find more and more ways to save. That is real money in individual pockets, real value to the Caribbean economies and a real benefit to the environment.”

SmartPower Ventures has won numerous national and regional awards in the United States for energy efficiency and renewable energy marketing. Last year, the firm received the highly coveted Clean Air Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and in 2007 SmartPower received the Green Power Pilot Award from the United States Department of Energy.

Welectricity is an innovative, multiple award-winning and free social platform that helps users track, compare and reduce energy consumption at home, without the need for smart meters or in-home electricity monitoring devices. Its founder, Herbert A (Haz) Samuel, notes that “the vast majority of Caribbean countries depend on imported fossil fuels to power their economies, and households account for a large proportion of electricity end use – as much as 60% in some countries. Our low-carbon, behavior-based approach to reducing consumption is particularly suited to the regional situation and in fact Caribbean consumers are already using Welectricity to deliver significant savings on their electricity bills. This partnership facilitates a much larger impact.”

The partners will seek to engage with Caribbean governments that have made the commitment to promote and deliver energy efficiency to households.

“Working with energy sector officials across the Caribbean, we can save households in the region a lot of energy and a lot of money,” said Keane.

About SmartPower

SmartPower Ventures is a national leading marketing firm dedicated to promoting clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency. Our mission is to build the clean energy and energy efficiency marketplace by helping the American public make smart energy choices.

Our work has been recognized with awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (above), the U.S. Department of Energy, the Service Industry Advertising Awards and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.

Learn more at www.smartpower.org.

About Welectricity

Welectricity, a free social web application (at www.welectricity.com) that allows users to track, compare and reduce their electricity consumption at home was launched on April 22nd 2010 (the 40th anniversary of Earth Day) and to date has registered users from 93 countries worldwide.

Welectricity has won multiple international innovation awards and recognition, including awards from GE, Knowledge@Wharton and a 2009 IDEAS Energy Innovation Contest award, which was sponsored by GVEP International, GTZ, the IDB and the Korean Government. GVEP International (Global Village Energy Partnership) is an international non-profit organisation seeking to reduce poverty through accelerated access to modern energy services. The funding for the Energy Innovation Contest was provided to GVEP International by the Dutch Government (DGIS).

ABOVE: Russell Vare of Nissan North America addresses stakeholders at the July 26 meeting.

Arizona SmartPower held its second electric vehicle (EV) stakeholder meeting on July 26. Fifty people participated in this follow-up meeting, launching even more constructive discussions about EVs and their potential in Arizona. (Read about our first meeting here.)

The meeting, facilitated by Arizona SmartPower State Director Toni Bouchard, began with a review of survey results from the previous meeting. The group then discussed tentative topics for future meeting agendas and drafted the charter and mission for the stakeholder group. The meeting also had two special guest presenters: Russell Vare, EV Regional Manager for Nissan North America, whose presentation covered all of the important aspects of the 100% electric Nissan LEAF; and Robert Yuhnke from the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP), whose presentation highlighted the economic analysis of EVs in Arizona.

Arizona SmartPower worked closely with APS, Governor Jan Brewer’s Office of Energy, and a diverse group of stakeholders – including utilities, car dealerships, state government departments, non-profit organizations and educational institutions – to highlight issues covering policy infrastructure and community collaboration. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at ASU Sky Song.

Interested in an electric car that you could power with the sun? Then consider Ford’s all-electric Focus, which - through an innovative partnership with solar provider SunPower - will include an option to install a 2.5 kilowatt solar system on the car owner’s roof. 

Solar panels, to be mounted on the car owner’s house, wouldn’t necessarily directly charge the electric car’s batteries.

Rather, they would provide juice from the sun to the house equal to offset about 1,000 miles of driving a month in the electric Focus, a plug-in version of the new compact sedan. Electric cars are typically recharged overnight.

This clever co-marketing effort will expose consumers to clean energy products they may have not considered otherwise. But it could be costly. USA Today reports that, after a federal rebate, the option alone will set Focus buyers back $10,000. 

Would a solar option sway you toward the Focus, or electric cars in general? Let us know in the comments.

It’s getting windier in Texas: Duke Energy is planning a 200MW wind farm.

From PennEnergy:

Duke Energy Renewables, a commercial business unit of Duke Energy, will build, own and operate the 200-megawatt (MW) Los Vientos I Windpower Project in Willacy County, approximately 120 miles south of Corpus Christi and 20 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico.

Duke Energy will sell all of the output from the wind farm and associated renewable energy credits to CPS Energy under the terms of a 25-year agreement. CPS Energy already buys all of the electricity generated at Duke Energy Renewables’ 14-MW (16-MW direct current) Blue Wing Solar Project in San Antonio. The Blue Wing solar farm, which consists of approximately 215,000 photovoltaic panels, achieved commercial operation in November 2010.