First-Volt-owner-in-AVl-DSC_0220.jpg

James Brazell, the first owner of a Chevrolet Volt in Asheville, speaks as his car gets charged up at a July 28 news conference. Daily Planet Staff Photo

From Staff Reports

The electric-drive Chevrolet Volts were officially introduced and plans were discussed for the installation of 25 recharging stations in the area for the vehicles during a a July 28 news conference at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Among the most enthused persons speaking at the gala was James Brazell, who proudly claims the title of the first owner of a Volt in Asheville

About 1,000 electric vehicles are projected to be on Asheville-area roads by 2015, officials said.

After the ceremony, test drives of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt were offered to elected officials and the news media.

The Volt and other new electric vehicles are pricey — about $40,000. However, a $7,500 federal tax credit drops the price down to about $32,500. Recharging costs for the electrics averages about $1.50 per day. An estimated 400 Volts are on the road in the U.S. now.

The estimate for electric vehicle use was provided by Land of Sky Regional Council. Buncombe County already has the second-highest number of hybrid car-owners in the state, lagging only Wake County, officials said.

By year’s end, the network of charging stations should be completed around the area. The project is being financed by a $150,000 federal grant.

Biltmore Town Square has two recharging stations that were constructed locally by Eaton Corp., while Buncombe County plans to install stations at the Department of Social Services on Coxe Avenue and at the county parking deck across from the county courthouse.

About 50 people attended the 45-minute ceremony that featured speeches by local elected officials, Asheville chamber President Kit Cramer, sponsoring organization representatives and GM officials. The event was hosted by the Land-of-Sky Clean Vehicles Coalition, Clean Air Campaign, North Carolina Division of Air Quality, General Motors and the chamber.

Cramer welcomed everyone to Asheville — and particularly singled out General Motors’s representatives and the Chevrolet Volt. She said chamber officials “are thrilled to welcome” the Volt “because it means green jobs in Asheville. Cramer noted that the city emphasizes energy efficiency, sustainability and green jobs. She then quipped, “In fact, we’d like to have one of the first charging stations in Asheville” at the chamber’s Visitor Center on Montford Avenue.

Next, Bill Eaker, of the Land-of-Sky Clean Vehicles Coalition, spoke of the regional electric vehicle initiative and the charging station deployment for the electric vehicles.

He also noted that the 2011 Chevrolet Volt was the choice for the green vehicle for Bele Chere.

“Back in the mid-’90s, those of us at Land of the Sky Council first started hearing about an air-quality issue in Western North Carolina,” he said. “We did research” and, in the late ‘90s confirmed that ground-level ozone pollution, especially in summer, formed a haze in the mountains and also acid rain, or acid decimation ....

“The solution is to use less electricity ... There’s been a lot of publicity about these plug-in vehicles.” He said great strides are being made in making the plug-ins operate efficiently.

To that end, he said the first of two charging units in the area were installed earlier this year in front of the Hilton Hotel at Biltmore Park in South Asheville. “They (the remaining charging stations) should be installed by the end of the year, hopefully by November,” he said.

Giving the Buncombe perspective and plans was David Gantt, chairman of the Buncombe Board of Commissioners, who said, “I am so thrilled to be here and talk about something good ... We have to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We have to have energy independence.”

He said the county has a large fleet of energy-efficient vehicles. “We’re using way too much energy, way too much gasoline ... We’ve got to go solar. If it makes sense, we (the county) are going to do it. If it’s close,” Buncombe will go solar.

City Councilman Jan Davis provided Asheville’s perspective and plans, noting, “It’s been very important to make our fleet” of vehicles energy-efficient.

“We’ve made a commitment (on council) to reduce our (the city’s) carbon footprint 4 percent per year. “We strive to be clean and green.” He noted that Asheville has five hybrid buses, “thanks to Congressman (Heath) Shuler. We’ve also gone to clean lightweight diesels for the result of our fleet.”

Davis added, “We’ve partnered on regional transportation with Buncombe, Henderson and Haywood counties.”

“The City of Asheville is changing all (9,000) of its street lights from standard bulbs to LED (light-emitting diode) lights. That will take a lot of carbon down.” (The city estimates that the change will represent $600,000 in annual energy cost savings.)
Davis also asserted, “I think public access to charging stations is important.”

At that point, James Brazell, Asheville’s first Volt owner, spoke of “Living With a Volt.” Regarding the vehicle, he said, “It’s an engineering marvel. I love it. Each time I get home, I plug it in the charger.”

He spoke of driving 2,500 miles in the last several months, 98 percent of which was accomplished via battery power. “With an electric car, you’re taking the filling station and putting it in your garage.”

With a laugh, Brazell quipped, “I’m looking forward to Eaton putting an electric charging station in my garage.”

Prior to his retirement, Brazell said, “I did work 40 years for Texaco ... I wanted to be one of the first electric car owners because I feel it’s important” that his generation set a good example for the younger generation on the need to change transportation modes.

“I think the Volt, the Leaf and all of the electric cars that come out — you’re going to love them.”

He concluded by saying “oil was good for many years, but now” battery power is the direction in which to go.

The program concluded with a discussion of the Volt by GM District Sales Manager Katey Yeates, who noted that “the Volt was designed and delivered to customers in only 29 months.”

Technically, she said, the Volt is “an electric vehicle with extended range. She said it gets 40 miles on battery power before a gas engine starts up to help power the electric generator. “The Volt, which can reach a maximum speed of 100 mph, goes from zero to 60 mph in nine second,” she said. Combining the battery and the gas engine, the Volt has a range of 379 miles.

One of the major elements of the Volt is its 5.5-foot-long, 435-lb. lithium ion battery, Yeates said. “It’s a huge battery that runs down the middle of the vehicle. We stand behind it for eight years or 100,000 miles.”

She added, “You can plug it into any 110-volt outlet, but we recommend a dedicated outlet. Using a wall socket in one’s garage, it takes 10 hours to recharge the Volt, but with a “supercharger,” the recharging time is cut to four hours, Yeates noted.
GM recommends filling the Volt with premium gasoline “because it lasts longer,” she said. In the electric-only mode, the Volt gets an estimated 93 mpg(e), and gas only, 37 mpg(e). In combined gas-election operation, it records an estimated 65 mpg(e).

With a laugh, Yeates asserted, “Individual results may vary, depending on terrain, technique and temperatures ... It comes with very comprehensive warranties.” As for safety, she said “we use high-strength steel” to protect those in the car. “It received an overall five-star rating for safety.”

The Volt is a sophisticated engineering achievement, she said, because “there’s over 10 million lines of code written for this vehicle.” While the Volt “is still in its infancy,” Yeates noted that it was honored as Motor Tends’ 2011 Car of the Year.

, as well as in a number of other independent ratings.

GM officials noted that the Volt in not a hybrid. Instead, they billed it as a “one-of-a-kind, all-electrically driven vehicle designed and engineered to operate in all climates, with a range of up to 379 miles.

Powered by GM bills as “its revolutionary Voltec propulsion system,” it consists of a 16-kWh lithium-ion battery pack and electric drive unit that provide pure electric range between 25 and 50 miles, depending on terrain, driving techniques and temperature.

When questioned immediately afterward, a state official, Keith F. Bamberger,  told The Tribune, “even if you’re using a dirty coal (to produce electricity), it’s on average 20 percent better than using” gasoline to power vehicles. (Bamberger is an information and communication specialist for the division of Air Quality for the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.)

He added, “When you use cleaner coal,” the calculation is even better. “Coal is about 60 percent of our electricity.” As for the advantages of the Volt and other electrics, he said, “One of the biggest gains is because the electric infrastructure is much more efficient” than using gas.

Specifically, he said electric motors are 80 to 90 percent efficient, while gas motors are 20 to 30 percent efficient.

When pressed by The Tribune, Bamberger said, “Certainly, as part of the technology, we’re still using coal — and it’s a relatively dirty fuel.”

Further, he noted, “It’s really important that we manage the end of the (Volt) vehicle, as much as the beginning.” He explained that it is critical that GM makes sure that the Volts’ huge batteries do not end up in landfills, but instead are recycled.

When asked afterward about the possible problems with the burning of more coal to produce electricity to power the cars, plans for the batteries after the cars are retired and a possible lack of demand for the Volt, GM’s Yeates told The Tribune, “This vehicle was never meant to be mass-produced. This is a niché, or halo, vehicle.”

As for demand for the Volts, Yeates said, “From a dealer’s perspective, they say they can sell all they can get.”