mcleish - University of Hawaiʻi Maui Collegemaui.hawaii.edu/mauieva/docs/mcleish.pdf ·...
Transcript of mcleish - University of Hawaiʻi Maui Collegemaui.hawaii.edu/mauieva/docs/mcleish.pdf ·...
Maui Electric Vehicle Alliance Don McLeish: The path that took me to EVs 1
The Path that Took Me to EVs Don McLeish
November 2012
Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s was an exciting time. It was commonly felt and expressed that the sky was the limit. In other words there really were no limits.
The country embraced the race to space resulting in a man walking on the moon. Technology was advancing, and I recall one supporting argument for advancements in technology being that it would shift the burden of production from the shoulders of man to machine and allow man to be more productive in less time, gaining leisure time.
But in the 70’s and 80’s there were signs of limits and finite resources creeping in. The dream of a single income household where the breadwinner only need work four out of seven days wasn’t coming to be. There were problems with pollution and a hole in the ozone but these were just bumps in the road and issues we could fix.
Living in southern California I embraced the freedom and joy of having an auto at my disposal and driving at will, up and down the coast in search of waves at no significant cost. While in college in the early 70’s we suffered a gas shortage and in California this was dealt with having a rationing program where one could purchase a limit of gas on odd or even days as based on the license plate of the car.
Clearly one way to minimize the impact of this rationing was to own a fuel efficient vehicle and the door to smaller and lighter import cars was opened, never to be shut again. I think at this point we experienced a real shift in market supply and demand where Detroit and other domestic established producers opted to tell us what we wanted as opposed to us perceiving what we needed. Perhaps this was going on all along and I was just slow in recognizing it.
In the mid ‘70’s my brother and I opened a Vespa and Moped store in Orange County. We were convinced that there would be demand for fuel efficient and fun alternatives to autos. What we discovered was there was demand for fun at the time but only a few people purchased our offerings based on the economy they provided.
By the 80’s I realized that the quality of life was not what I had been led to expect and there were more people around with growth and development starting to encroach and crowd the landscape. Roads and highways were congested and speed limits were often no limit at all; the car’s brake light in front of
you kept you well below any speed limit. Although the sky might still be a limit, other limits were starting to surface. It seemed technology was advancing well but the quality of life was not really in step.
By 1980 I had moved from a house in Southern California onto a small sailboat and was residing in the SF Bay Area, Berkeley Marina. I spent the next 25 years involved in the marine industry, focusing on boat repair and maintenance. Most of the customers I dealt with had fair amounts of disposable income, prerequisite to owning a yacht. Many were quite intelligent and successful and in a position of being able to pursue their dreams as well as “do the right thing” even at a premium.
The focus of my work in the marine industry was primarily on sailboats. Now sailing is a form of transportation that has been around well before the industrial revolution or the advent of the internal combustion engine. The energy used to propel a sailboat under sail is obviously free energy in the form of wind but the cost of the vehicle was hardly trivial and the limits of where you could go, when you could go and how fast you could get there were significant.
Before I get too far off track, let me just say that for years my focus was on pleasure craft but ultimately these boats were vehicles on the water, a mode of transportation and a mode that used alternative energy, not petroleum. Granted they were not viable for the majority of people as a means of commuting to work or stopping by the store. There are all kinds of parameters regarding performance and power in a sailboat but miles per gallon (MPG) and horsepower are not among them.
I aided any number of folks who sold their homes, quit or retired from work and planned to sail the oceans. They were faced with limited income and the reason they opted for sailboats over, say, an ocean going powerboat was simple. The cost for fuel and availability of fuel on the high seas simply ruled them out. The simple underlying concept was once the boat and sails were purchased, the energy needed for propulsion was free and not a budget consideration.
I had a few friends in the industry who embraced alternative lifestyles and alternative solutions and when the first round of electric vehicles (EVs) became available, a couple of them leased the General Motors (GMC) EV1s. I had the opportunity to experience these cars and appreciate what they
Maui Electric Vehicle Alliance Don McLeish: The path that took me to EVs 2
represented in the potential of an alternative to gas powered vehicles.
I was also involved in the sales of early photovoltaic (PV) panels which were very expensive and low on efficiency. But for a sailboat in the middle of the Pacific that needed some electricity for running lights, radio and what have you, there were really few options.
In my opinion, technology has allowed us to increase and multiply in staggering numbers and exploit and consume limited resources on the planet at levels well beyond any notion of sustainability. Arguably technology has allowed us to become an unrestrained cancer feeding relentlessly on food stocks, land and materials available (and the means to make them available). Realistically we can’t or won’t go back to pre-‐technology times but we can’t continue into the future on the same paths we presently follow. I believe technology is not only the bane on our existence but also the only hope for viable change. But change must be embraced and brought about.
Energy is really the currency of all living things and our mechanical machines that work for us. Energy can be measured in calories, watts, horsepower and lumens and to lesser and greater degrees energy can be converted from one form to another.
There is energy stored in the planet in various forms and we have tapped these resources through the ages, Europe burned wood for heat and cooking until it became scarce but fortunately coal was available when the wood ran out. More recently we found we could use oil for energy and we have passed peak oil by most estimates and yet our demand for energy is another hockey stick poised to kick our collective ass.
Technology has provided us a means of using the energy from the sun in more recent times and clearly we need to exploit this source. I find it ironic that for the most part all life on earth uses the energy from the sun either directly or indirectly as its source of energy and prior to the industrial revolution mankind essentially did as well.
When we entered the machine age we used horses and steam and wood for energy. We use coal and petroleum which are in finite supply and once consumed, gone. The future will have use for these resources beyond burning them up for energy but will we leave any for the future?
When I moved to Maui in 2006, I was fortunate enough to have the financial ability to put a significant down payment on a home. I was also in a position to plan ahead with regards to monthly expenses not limited to the mortgage but also utilities, food and transportation expenses. I opted to put a bit less down on the home and buy a home that cost less than I ultimately could have afforded.
I also placed a priority on new home improvements that were not typical in nature. I wanted to be comfortable in the house and keep the windows closed to keep out the red dust from the pineapple fields so an air-‐conditioning system was called for. I contracted for a system that cost about 30% more than “standard” but this premium bought me greater efficiency in terms of energy requirements as well as a longer useful life.
My next priority was a PV system on the roof that would use the ever present sunlight as a source for my household energy needs. I also purchased a solar water heater which is really a no brainer! When I had the solar installers quote and size my system I had them increase its capacity in anticipation of owning and charging an EV.
There were no EVs available on the market at the time but I was confident that they were coming. I was on a waiting list for a couple cars that never panned out and got on the waiting list for a Nissan LEAF as soon as I found out they were in the works.
In the mean time I had purchased an electric scooter on island as an alternative to my GMC van and for trips to the grocery or beach. Unfortunately the electric scooter developed problems and the manufacturer in Germany went out of business. I reluctantly traded it in on a Vespa scooter which I knew would provide dependable service and at a fuel cost below that of my van.
After waiting a bit over a year for my LEAF the time finally came that it was destined to arrive. I realized that as much as I enjoyed riding the Vespa and the ease of finding parking for it, once I got the LEAF I would be hard pressed to use the Vespa as it required stops at the gas station and money out of pocket whereas the LEAF would be fueled at home at no additional cost to me.
I sold the Vespa to a friend at a good price for him, and I knew he could make good use of it. I then purchased a Zero electric motorcycle from the factory in Santa Cruz, Ca. and had them ship it to me.
Ironically I ended up taking delivery of both the bike and car in the same month and for the first couple months I hardly drove the LEAF because the Zero provided all I needed.
Maui Electric Vehicle Alliance Don McLeish: The path that took me to EVs 3
When winter and the surf came I finally started driving the LEAF in earnest. I haven’t been to a gas station now for over a year and take pride in the fact. I still have the GMC van as a backup and make it available to friends and visiting family and they get to take it to the gas station as needed.
I didn’t need to purchase the PV system on the roof, the LEAF or the Zero motorcycle. I could have gotten by without any of these purchases. They were not trivial upfront expenses by any means. I bought them because I was fortunate enough to be able to do so and ultimately I will be financially better off due to not paying for the gas and electricity I would have purchased otherwise. I would have purchased them regardless of federal and state incentives in place but I did enjoy a reduction in actual cost because of state and federal incentives. My decisions can be supported on financial grounds but that is just benefit to me and ultimately, who but me cares?
But my decisions to purchase as I did had impact on others as well as the planet we all share. The excess energy that my PV system generates goes out into the grid and gets used by other households or businesses. That is energy that doesn’t have to be generated by burning fossil fuels. The companies who sold and made my vehicles and PV system can use that income to further their business and provide similar vehicles and PV systems to others. I am convinced that where we spend our dollars has a real and significant impact on shaping the future; dollars are votes that do count and get counted.
I believe climate change, or global warming if you prefer, is real and a threat to life as we have come to know it. Reducing one’s CO2 footprint is something we all need to attempt. For some of us who can afford the luxury of doing it now, shouldn’t we? It helps pave the way for others less fortunate to do so in the future. And it’s not without real benefit for us!
There are so many aspects that can be viewed as win-‐win when it comes to some of these alternative energy solutions that it just doesn’t make sense not to pursue them if they are
within reach. The PV system on my roof takes energy that would otherwise have bounced back in to the atmosphere warming it as well as baking the roof and heating the house up and instead, converts it to electricity. As a result my air conditioner has an easier job of cooling my house and requires less energy to do so. My fuel station is now at my home and it doesn’t run out of fuel.
Technology has allowed our species to get into some serious trouble, and we are presently stealing from the future in a bubble that will ultimately burst causing damage we can’t begin to fathom. But technology can provide us with alternatives that might well minimize that future bubble burst. I would like to think we can avoid an ultimate failure as a species but I see no indication we are changing quickly and sufficiently enough for that.
I may not have been clear in expressing my thoughts and ideas. I could be in error. The train of thought may have derailed along the way. But that doesn’t alter the fact that I own and drive an electric car and electric motorcycle and they get the job done. I have no idea what the cost of gas is these days. I wish I could say I don’t care what fuel costs but that isn’t the case because so much of what we buy and consume has to be transported here, and we do pay for those transportation costs.
When I was in college and prior to the first gas shortage in the ‘70’s I had a used Porsche and would take an occasional drive just for the pure joy and freedom it allowed. It was fun and carefree. Times have changed. Now with my Nissan LEAF I can once again take the occasional pleasure drive, carefree and simply fun. Anyone who hasn’t driven an EV can’t relate to its perky response and the smile that invariably follows.
Not many have followed the path that brought me to EVs but in time and with commitment in proper infrastructure, others will be able to embrace EVs as viable alternatives and perhaps we can move forward on a new course and away from future bankruptcy of our finite resources.
Advice to would-‐be EV owners: The main difference between an EV and a typical car is the relatively short driving range and added time required for refueling. The EV has numerous advantages but it needs to be viable for the owner/ user, which may or may not be the case depending on anticipated as well as unanticipated travel distances. The availability of charging stations as well as time required for a charge are realities best factored in and anticipated in advance. As the infrastructure improves and quick charge stations are strategically placed as well as increases in the range of the EV batteries, this will be less of an issue. Once a person experiences an EV it is difficult to go back to the internal combustion engine (ICE). Holding off on this experience until the anticipated needs can be met can help one avoid frustration and disappointment.
About the author
Don McLeish lives in Honokowai on the West Side of Maui. He got on the waiting list for a Nissan Leaf in April 2010 and received delivery of it a year later in April 2011. He was the first owner on Maui to register a Zero motorcycle. On a sunny day, you can catch him taking underwater photography.
For more first-‐hand testimonies like this, visit Maui Electric Vehicle Alliance website at http://www.mauieva.org