Friday, December 10, 2010

Cuomo wants electric car infrastructure

From City Hall:

With Chevrolet’s new hybrid electric Volt car set to begin rolling off the assembly line, Governor-Elect Andrew Cuomo’s plan to install electric car-charging stations across the state is receiving a closer look by transportation and environmental advocates.

The response? Nice idea, now how are you going to pay for it.

The initiative, outlined in Cuomo’s last policy book “Greener Cleaner NY,” calls for erecting an unspecified number of charging stations in urban areas, thruways and along the I-95 corridor by the year 2015. New York City began installing charging stations this past summer, but Cuomo says that electric cars will not catch on with consumers unless these plug-in stations exist throughout the state.

Charging stations in New York are to be installed at no cost to the city, paid for in part with federal stimulus funds, but there is no explanation of what to do after that stream dries up. Automakers like Toyota recently announced plans to develop electric cars; the Cuomo plan, though vague, is intended to get out ahead of what transportation advocates see as an expected shift in the way New Yorkers get around.

The plan, like most of Cuomo’s policy books, is vague on details, lacking specifics on how the stations will get built, or who will pay for them.

17 comments:

Gary the Agnostic said...

Yeah. I can see these being put in all over town. Right.

Anonymous said...

How much is the city going to charge us for charging centers and how many times will this charge go up in price?

Anonymous said...

Streetside charging is a longshot. It's too prone to vandalism and the charging times require one to stay at the vehicle for some period of time, or risk someone stealing your charge.

What will happen is that areas with formal lots such as shopping, diners and garages will now be able to get into the "refueling" business w/out any of the risks and costs inherent in oil storage.

A new revenue stream is being born.

ew-3 said...

Very green.

Now where does the electricity come from?

Anonymous said...

Sure, let's pay billions for this and then, when we have to pay for it, Andy will just lay off thousands of state workers.

Unanimous said...

This is something gas stations and energy companies should be thinking about and not the state goverment.

Anonymous said...

"Now where does the electricity come from?"

Ooh! Ooh! I know the answer to that one! By burning fossil fuels?

Anonymous said...

Very green.

Now where does the electricity come from?
---------------------------

From anyplace you may like. Solar, wind, hydro, etc.

However, even in the case of using fossil fuels, it s *FAR* more efficient to generate power at a single source than it is to have a million small car engines all over the place.

Unknown said...

You know that some homeless organization will figure out a converter or some other thing so the homeless can steal the power. They already do it to the light posts.

Now lets take a trip down memory lane....
When I was a kid our old car had a tank heater that needed to be plugged in when parked so you could start your car in the cold. Maybe NY didn't have this but I grew up in Montana. I wonder what ever happened to all of those plug in stations and can they now be switched over to power these new cars.

Anonymous said...

However, even in the case of using fossil fuels, it s *FAR* more efficient to generate power at a single source than it is to have a million small car engines all over the place.

I don't disagree about cutting back on car emmissions. But if your "single source" is the Con Ed plant in Astoria, I'll have to go with "bad idea" on Cuomo's part.

ew-3 said...

"From anyplace you may like. Solar, wind, hydro, etc. "

Hydro is tapped out, no more can be generated because of enviro concerns. In fact the greeners want to shut down some important dams.
Solar is useless 6 months of the year.
Wind power is simply not close to sufficient and not nearly available 7x24x365.

Remember that 1 gallon of gasoline has the equivalent of 34.7 KWH of electricity. U

Now when we get everyone OK with the idea of putting 3 or 4 more reactors at Indian Pt and a reactor or two on Long Island, maybe then we can think about electrical cars.


However, even in the case of using fossil fuels, it s *FAR* more efficient to generate power at a single source than it is to have a million small car engines all over the place.

neversleep said...

Go back and look at the pictures of the accident at Hillside Avenue and the Clearview Expressway.

Now imagine your loved ones were in one of these kiddy cars at that place and time.

On the environmental bright side, their carbon footprints would certainly be reduced.

Velvethead said...

Infrastructure?
Power sources?
Oh, come on. Trivial stuff.
Just plug it in!
Greenies will be the death of us.

Missing Foundation said...

Zero population growth.

Never did understand how shoehorning more people on my block helps me.

ew-3 said...

Zero population growth is not an option. Politicians abhor that idea.
Reason is that if you had zero population growth and the tax rate stayed the same you could never pay for an ever growing government.

dan 83 said...

I used to take the LIRR from Little Neck Station to NYC. I remember many years ago, that they had put up an electric charging station at the Little Neck station. After several months and very little use, it was removed. Does anyone else remember this charging station in Little Neck ????

Anonymous said...

Yes, dan83 I recall that Little Neck LIRR lot recharge station, but it seemed like they gave it more than a few months...more like a year or more...was it a multi-make recharging station? That part I am not totally clear in recalling.