America's Finest City is one of the five metropolitan area selected to receive money from a$100 million federal stimulus grant for infrastructure to support electric vehicles.
"It's the largest deployment of electric vehicles and electric infrastructure ever, and San Diego's part of the project," San Diego Gas & Electric's Clean Transportation Manager Bill Zobel said.
SDG&E will use some of the grant money to develope technology allowing customers to recharge their batteries at public fueling stations. Instead of swiping your credit card, you will be charged directly on your electricity bill.
"As part of the grant, there will be a series of public charging points that will be placed throughout the county for people to have access to for charging their all-battery electric and hybrid electric vehicles," Zobel said. "Going electric in the vehicle sector helps reduce greenhouse gases by more than 50 percent."
Joseph Gottlieb hopes the new charging stations will turn San Diego into a hotbed of electric innovation. Gottlieb is president of the Electric Vehicle Association of San Diego, and he also runs Electricity Motors, a company that converts gas vehicles to electric. He says a typical conversion will run about $15,000. In addition, the batteries must be replaced every three years. Even so, it will save money over running the vehicle on gasoline. Vehicles can go between 40 and 100 miles on a single charge at a cost of just pennies a mile, he said.
SDG&E is also working with automaker Nissan, which is rolling out the all-electric Leaf passenger car in 2010. The SDG&E electric fueling stations will be up and running in San Diego at about the same time.
"It's the largest deployment of electric vehicles and electric infrastructure ever, and San Diego's part of the project," San Diego Gas & Electric's Clean Transportation Manager Bill Zobel said.
SDG&E will use some of the grant money to develope technology allowing customers to recharge their batteries at public fueling stations. Instead of swiping your credit card, you will be charged directly on your electricity bill.
"As part of the grant, there will be a series of public charging points that will be placed throughout the county for people to have access to for charging their all-battery electric and hybrid electric vehicles," Zobel said. "Going electric in the vehicle sector helps reduce greenhouse gases by more than 50 percent."
Joseph Gottlieb hopes the new charging stations will turn San Diego into a hotbed of electric innovation. Gottlieb is president of the Electric Vehicle Association of San Diego, and he also runs Electricity Motors, a company that converts gas vehicles to electric. He says a typical conversion will run about $15,000. In addition, the batteries must be replaced every three years. Even so, it will save money over running the vehicle on gasoline. Vehicles can go between 40 and 100 miles on a single charge at a cost of just pennies a mile, he said.
SDG&E is also working with automaker Nissan, which is rolling out the all-electric Leaf passenger car in 2010. The SDG&E electric fueling stations will be up and running in San Diego at about the same time.
