Brightfield has a vision: a multi-million dollar regional EV infrastructure roll-out we call the Solar Driven® Experience. During the first phase of this project, BTS will work with EV manufacturers to secure funding to make the Asheville region the nation’s first EV travel destination—3 million visitors to our Blue Ridge Mountain home will have the opportunity to rent an EV and drive on sunshine.
This phase will take approximately 2 years to install 28 Brightfield® Charging Stationsequipped with a total of 162 EV chargers and 140kW of solar fuel capacity, enough to provide 840,000 EV miles traveled.
These Brightfield® Charging Stations will be deployed at travel destinations, hotels and downtown commercial districts. This project will provide the auto industry with unprecedented EV marketing, consumer test drive and market research opportunities.By 2016, it is forecast that over 20,000 EVs will be owned by consumers in Asheville’s primary tourism feeder markets. Given that the consumer demographic and psychographic that the auto industry is targeting for early EV adoption match the demographic and psychographic targeted by the Asheville area tourism industry, Brightfield TS will initiate the second phase of the Solar Driven® Experience: install 12 DC Fast Charge Brightfields® at strategic locations between the feeder markets and Asheville, and install 500 kilowatts of new solar capacity. Completion of this phase will enable consumers to take their new EV on vacation to a destination equipped to provide them with a secure and exciting automobile adventure, and will position Brightfield TS to replicate the Solar Driven® Experience across North Carolina, the country’s 6th most visited state.
The Solar Driven® Experience follows efforts nationwide to create a truly vibrant EV market opportunities. Brightfield TS is bringing together the Asheville region’s economic engine, tourism, with clean tech cluster development efforts, regional municipalities, national parks, hotels, travel destinations, and rental car companies to approach auto manufactures and grant makers for EV infrastructure funding. Brightfield TS is setting the stage for a consumer EV experience that will propel the EV market forward and prove beyond doubt that America can drive on sunshine.
Building off of Brightfield® Transportation Solutions’ Phase 1 success brokering public/private partnerships and deploying publicly accessible grid-tied solar EV charging stations, Brightfield Transportation Solutions (BTS) is launching a multi-stage regional EV infrastructure roll-out we call the Solar Driven® Experience. Phase 2: BTS is partnering with the North Carolina Plug-in Electric Vehicle Task Force, NC Clean Energy Technology Center, Advanced Energy, NC Department of Transportation, NovaCharge and Nissan North America to make North Carolina one of the nation’s most innovative and vibrant EV markets. BTS will install 11 DC Fast Chargers—technology able to charge an EV in under 20 minutes—at strategic downtown locations in cities across the state. This will mark one the largest DC Fast Charger roll-outs happening nationally and position the emerging North Carolina EV market for accelerated growth. In 2013, nationwide EV sales increased 241% adding another 47,600 vehicles to America’s roads. Data shows that EV sales are strongest in states where EV infrastructure has been deployed. By bringing DC Fast Charger technology to key North Carolina markets, Brightfield is driving market growth, which in turn will increase demand for Brightfield Charging Stations. Brightfield will charge consumers to plug into our stations to garner revenue while providing a necessary charging service to EV consumers at approximately $2.20 per gallon gasoline equivalent. Phase 3: BTS will partner with investors to deploy our patented solar-integrated Brightfield Charging Stations around and above the DC Fast Chargers. In addition to the DC Fast Charger units, these Brightfield Charging Stations will be equipped with networked Level 2 chargers and 30 kW of solar panels producing enough solar fuel to provide North Carolinians with 180,000 fossil fuel free EV miles annually. In addition to generating solar fuel, Brightfield canopies protect equipment and consumers from the elements, and create an iconic and innovative charging station. Brightfields are grid-tied, so solar power is generated and put on the grid whenever the sun is shining and electricity is dispensed from the grid to vehicles rain or shine, day or night. Brightfields provide consumers, businesses, and communities with the environmental, social and economic benefits of driving on sunshine.These Brightfield Charging Stations will be deployed at high utilization downtown commercial locations in the greater Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston and Asheville Metro Areas to accelerate state-wide EV adoption and take our innovative zero-emission Solar Driven Experience to scale.This Brightfield DC Fast Charge roll-out will support EV sales while bolstering consumer confidence and excitement by deploying the charging infrastructure needed to ensure a safe, secure, zero-emission driving experience.
Stan Cross, co-founder and principal of Brightfield TS, spoke at the Clean Cities Coalition designation that announced Asheville Metro Area’s inclusion in the U.S. Department of Energy program. The Asheville Citizen Times feature includes some of Cross’ comments:
BENT CREEK —Question: What saved 500,000 gallons of petroleum and kept an estimated 4,000 tons of greenhouses gases from escaping into the atmosphere over Western North Carolina in 2011?Answer: Efforts in the Asheville area to promote alternative fuels, cleaner cars and better air quality for Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania counties.Those efforts, which have been underway for eight years, were recognized last week when the U.S. Department of Energy officially designated the Land-of-Sky Clean Vehicle Coalition as the nation’s 85th Clean Cities Coalition during a ceremony at the N.C. Arboretum. The designation makes the coalition eligible for more grants to accelerate the process of improving air quality.
View the full article on the Citizen Times website.
Asheville Police Department now has a Chevy Volt in their fleet. Brightfield TS installed a charging station at the Asheville Public Works building that is across the street from the police station. One of the goals of this publicly accessible infrastructure project was to create an incentive for both City employees and fleet managers to purchase EVs. Asheville Police Department is the first in the state to go EV and perhaps the first anywhere to be Solar Driven. Brightfield TS is providing free charging to the City for 2 years, so this tax-payer funded cruiser is keeping the peace powered by free and renewable solar fuel!
Brightfield founder Matt Johnson teaches GO participants about EV charger technology
Brightfield TS was awarded a NC Green Business Fund grant because our vision and execution plan are solid and our community partnerships are robust. One of our proudest partnerships is with Green Opportunities:
Green Opportunities (GO) is an Asheville-based community-based development organization dedicated to improving lives, communities and the health of the planet through innovative green collar job training and placement programs. GO is committed to empowering low-income neighborhoods in Asheville by preparing residents for well-paying jobs, completing hands-on projects that make these neighborhoods safer and more sustainable, and linking the residents of these neighborhoods to jobs and other community resources that lead to greater empowerment.
Local youth participating in GO have engaged with Brightfield TS to learn about emerging EV infrastructure technologies and the integration of EV charging and solar power production.
“Its great to teach GO participants about the future of transportation,” says Brightfield TS founder Matt Johnson. “Its inspiring how eager they are to learn.”
Dan Leroy, GO co-founder adds, “What Brightfield TS is doing is revolutionary; merging the alternative transportation and renewable energy sectors to create sustainable transportation solutions that are designed and manufactured here in Asheville. GO is excited to be a part of it.”
As Brightfield TS grows, we will engage more deeply with GO by offering participants apprenticeships so they can learn by doing and acquire the skills needed to be employed in the growing EV infrastructure and solar power installation job markets. In doing so, we will be a part of transforming our city into a more just, equitable and resilient community. From our perspective, that’s what doing sustainability is all about.
Brightfield TS and Eaton teamed up with UNCA to install chargers on campus.
In cooperation with Eaton Corporation and UNCA, Brightfield TS is proud to announce that our Eaton Pow-R-Stations are fully functional. These 2 chargers represent our 4th site in Asheville. “We selected the Reuters Center because a high percentage of Center participants drive hybrid electric vehicles. When we did our site analysis, we found that almost 10% of the vehicles in the lot were hybrids. That indicated to us that the Reuters Center was a likely early EV adopter hub,” commented Stan Cross, Co-Founder of BTS.
These chargers are FREE to use through July of 2012.
Left- Stand-Alone Brightfield Charging Bollard, Right- Brightfield T1. Both equipped with Eaton Pow-R-Station
“As interest in EVs grows, the Brightfield® T1 is a demonstration of the smallest of our Brightfield products, ideal for homes and tight infill locations. Its 2 kilowatt array will create enough electricity to drive the average electric car on sunshine 10,000 miles annually. This is an important installation because it also shows our stand-alone patent-pending Brightfield® Charging Bollard”, reports Matt Johnson, Co-Founder of BTS. The Bollard is an identifiable and durable mounting system for electric vehicle chargers in institutional and municipal settings.
One of the major challenges facing EV infrastructure deployment is the lack of EVs on the road. Leaders and investors are concerned that EV chargers will be left unused and become a target for people skeptical of EV market viability.
Our Brightfield™ Charging Stations were conceived, in part, to deal with this issue. By integrating solar power production, Brightfields™ are productive the moment they are commissioned by banking solar fuel on the utility grid to meet current and future charging need.
But to our pleasant surprise, our Asheville, NC Brightfields™ are getting visited by EV drivers.
Rupert: “ I was so excited to find the charging stations at Charlotte St. I had to do more research and find the source, so I got to Coxe Ave (BioWheels Cycle store) on Fri. They said I was the first public customer! So grateful! Thank you.
Jesse
“I just wanted to write to say thanks for the work you are doing in the Asheville area to support the rise of EVs and renewable solar energy. In November I finished building my own EV by converting an old BMW 325i. It has a pretty limited range, but gets me back and forth from work every day. Now that there are charging stations down in Asheville I am able to make the trip downtown and back home to Weaverville without worrying about killing my batteries. Over the weekend I plugged in at BioWheels. Usually I plug in at home using the energy supplied by our 5.5KW PV installation. I really love the idea of driving my car around every day with the power from the sun. I know there aren’t a whole lot of EVs on the road now, but keep up the good work because they are coming”.
BTS is providing free fuel at al of our Brightfield™ installations through July 2012. We hope this will help incentivize the purchasing of EVs. According to June 2012 motor vehicle data, 60 EVs have been purchased in the Asheville Metro Area!
AdvantageWest CEO Scott Hamilton addresses the crowd at the Asheville City Public Works Brightfield™ ribbon cutting ceremony.
Evolve Energy Partnerships is a new venture in western North Carolina that seeks to deliver the innovation, finance, policy and workforce tools needed to support the expansion of existing clean energy businesses and the formation of new ventures. Through partnership, they are building on the region’s unique assets to develop a clean energy cluster with lasting regional and global significance. The decision to launch Evolve Energy Partnerships—an initiative led by BioWheels RTS partners Land of Sky and Advantage West—comes from the results of a comprehensive economic analysis conducted by Angelou Economics. The 200 page report consists of many findings pointing towards the viability of a thriving regional clean energy cluster including the following:
Employment and establishment growth patterns confirm findings in interviews and focus groups of likely locations for emerging clean energy clusters. Growth in employment and number of establishments in industries relating to clean energy within Western North Carolina has outpaced industry growth in the U.S. as a whole by 4.3% and 1.3% respectively. Despite the harsh recessionary conditions affecting North Carolina and the United States as a whole, the WNC region saw growth in industries that relate to or may support clean energy.
In addition, clean energy sector growth in western NC between 2005-2009 was 15.8% compared to 14.5% nationally. Perhaps most immediately relevant to the region, job growth in the clean energy related sector was 4.9% compared to 7.9% net regional job loss over the same years. Brightfield TS is proud to be an Evolve Energy Partnerships partner and a member of the Clean Tech Executive Committee. We look forward to working together to realize the goal of a vibrant clean energy economy in Western NC.
During the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, I heard outrage. But in 2008, when gasoline supplies were limited, I heard whimpering: “Please, take my money. Just let me fill my tank one more time.” Supply was a far bigger concern than price. We Americans imagine ourselves as rugged pioneers. How did we become such frightened sheep?
Please skip the usual recitation of wolves: OPEC, Obama, National City Lines, NASCAR. They’re out to blame. Big Oil drills in harsh (and sensitive) environments because we buy oil, at any price.
You’d think we have no choice. But, more than anyone on earth, Americans have options. We don’t have to act like helpless victims. It’s time to look in the mirror and embrace our transportation energy problem. Own it, because ownership is power. We can modify things we own, creating the future.
There are numerous paths to sustainable transportation. For the least sacrifice, Americans should take four steps, ranked here by effectiveness:
Go to http://www.solartoday-digital.org/solartoday/20111112#pg16 to read Dave’s four practical steps to quitting oil.
NovaCharge president, Helda Rodriquez, has installed hundreds of EV chargers. This is what she has to say about the one of the added values of the Brightfield Charging Station:
“Brightfields are the perfect solution to improve air quality all the way around. They generate clean energy. They power clean vehicles. They provide shade and shelter making the vehicle safer for the driver because the car is kept cool and heat-generated toxins are not released inside the car. And, by reducing the temperature inside the vehicle, Brightfields increase EV mileage by not requiring the AC system to have to work as hard to bring the vehicle to a comfortable temperature.”
All that adds up to a healthier experience for the driver, less pollution, and greater EV range.
To learn more about the toxicity of car interiors and how to avoid exposure, follow this link:
Brightfield has a vision: a multi-million dollar regional EV infrastructure roll-out we call the Solar Driven® Experience. During the first phase of this project, BTS will work with EV manufacturers to secure funding to make the Asheville region the nation’s first EV travel destination—3 million visitors to our Blue Ridge Mountain home will have the opportunity to rent an EV and drive on sunshine.
This phase will take approximately 2 years to install 28 Brightfield® Charging Stations equipped with a total of 162 EV chargers and 140kW of solar fuel capacity, enough to provide 840,000 EV miles traveled.
These Brightfield® Charging Stations will be deployed at travel destinations, hotels and downtown commercial districts. This project will provide the auto industry with unprecedented EV marketing, consumer test drive and market research opportunities.
By 2016, it is forecast that over 20,000 EVs will be owned by consumers in Asheville’s primary tourism feeder markets. Given that the consumer demographic and psychographic that the auto industry is targeting for early EV adoption match the demographic and psychographic targeted by the Asheville area tourism industry, Brightfield TS will initiate the second phase of the Solar Driven® Experience: install 12 DC Fast Charge Brightfields® at strategic locations between the feeder markets and Asheville, and install 500 kilowatts of new solar capacity. Completion of this phase will enable consumers to take their new EV on vacation to a destination equipped to provide them with a secure and exciting automobile adventure, and will position Brightfield TS to replicate the Solar Driven® Experience across North Carolina, the country’s 6th most visited state.
The Solar Driven® Experience follows efforts nationwide to create a truly vibrant EV market opportunities. Brightfield TS is bringing together the Asheville region’s economic engine, tourism, with clean tech cluster development efforts, regional municipalities, national parks, hotels, travel destinations, and rental car companies to approach auto manufactures and grant makers for EV infrastructure funding. Brightfield TS is setting the stage for a consumer EV experience that will propel the EV market forward and prove beyond doubt that America can drive on sunshine.
