Tag Archive for: electric vehicle

 

Colorado CarShare is pulling our weight to mitigate climate change in an even bigger way now, thanks to the vehicle-to-building partner project with Fermata Energy and Denver’s Alliance Center.  

To reduce energy use and costs, along with carbon emissions, the pilot was designed to stream electricity between one of Colorado CarShare’s electric vehicles (EV), and one of downtown Denver’s historic buildings, The Alliance Center. Fermata’s vehicle-to-building (V2B) technology allows the Leaf’s battery to charge from the building when needed and at other times, the building receives excess electricity stored in the Nissan Leaf’s battery. By gathering usage data, the system learns how to ensure that the building’s stored energy charges the EV during the vehicle’s window of peak energy usage, and vice versa. Both regain charge without tapping into the electric grid, therefore reducing energy consumption.

In just five short months, the project is already exhibiting great success. As of December, the system “has resulted in over $950 in savings on its electricity bills in just four months using one Fermata Energy 15kW bidirectional charger and one Nissan LEAF. This savings was generated by reducing the Center’s demand charges by nearly eight percent. At this rate, the annual economic gain at this location is projected to be over $3,000 just through demand charge management” (Fermata Energy).

Since The Alliance Center now utilizes stored energy from the EV’s battery, it extracts less energy from the electric grid. Helping power this highly used establishment, combined with providing an alternative to car ownership, means Colorado CarShare is further reducing the carbon emissions that are so destructive to our planet.

 

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About Colorado CarShare: Colorado CarShare is the state’s first, only – and one of the nation’s longest-running – nonprofit carshare organizations. Our mission is to empower our community to live a car-free lifestyle and have a positive impact on our health, wealth, and shared environment. We aim to make Colorado a “cooler,” healthier, and more socially equitable place to live. This includes setting the goal to become the country’s first nonprofit Electric Vehicle (EV) carshare program, while providing subsidies to low-to-mixed income (LMI) communities that are typically underserved when it comes to affordable mobility options.

For more information, visit https://carshare.org/, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

 

About Fermata Energy: Fermata Energy’s proprietary vehicle-to-everything (V2X) software and bidirectional hardware technology turns EVs into energy-storage assets, and makes it possible for EVs to combat climate change, increase energy resilience, and reduce energy costs. For more information, visit www.fermataenergy.com, and follow us on Twitter (@FermataEnergy), LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

 

About The Alliance Center: The Alliance Center is a Denver-based co-working space, event venue, and nonprofit harnessing the power of collaboration to create a more sustainable future. We demonstrate sustainability in action and mobilize change agents to accelerate equitable climate solutions. Our Living Lab pilots innovative solutions to sustainability challenges, while our Regenerative Recovery Coalition works across sectors to create shared prosperity on a healthy planet. The Alliance Center is a model for green building practices, collaborative working techniques, and capacity building programming—all designed to scale up the sustainability movement. For more information, visit thealliancecenter.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

 

2020 Blue Chevy Bolt

Together the City of Boulder, Colorado CarShare has launched a new electric car share vehicle at the 1500 Pearl Street Parking Garage.


A new mobility option is rolling into a downtown city parking garage. Beginning today, an all-electric shared vehicle will be available to Colorado CarShare members at the 1500 Pearl parking garage.

“We are thrilled to partner with Colorado CarShare to offer an all-electric shared vehicle to our community,” said Director of Transportation and Mobility Erika Vandenbrande. “We’re working to build a mobility future that’s connected, shared and electric. This effort is a glimpse into that future.”

The shared electric vehicle is a new addition to the fleet of shared cars in Boulder. Colorado CarShare offers more than 50 vehicles in the Denver metro area, including several hybrid and electric vehicle options in Boulder.

“When it comes to reducing transportation emissions, there’s no one-size-fits all solution. We’re moving forward on several fronts, including electrification, investing in transit, supporting microtransit and exploring the benefits of car sharing.” – Director of Transportation and Mobility, Erika Vandenbrande.

How the Program Works

The City of Boulder is providing one reserved parking spot to Colorado CarShare. Colorado CarShare will pay the costs to charge the electric vehicle and will pay one-third of the costs for the vehicle’s annual parking pass. The city will fund the remaining portion of the parking pass.

Colorado CarShare members will reserve the car, pay associated rental fees and return the car to the same spot. Sign up to become a member at: carshare.org/sign-up/.

“We thank the City of Boulder for supporting car share,” said Colorado CarShare CEO Peter Krahenbuhl. “Downtown Boulder is a great location to demonstrate the benefits of a car-light lifestyle. Since one car share vehicle replaces up to 13 individually owned vehicles, using a fully electric shared car amplifies those benefits.”

The new electric CarShare station at the 1500 Pearl parking garage adds another sustainable travel option to the garage’s four existing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, with four fast EV chargers planned for installation this fall. The recently completed on-site rooftop solar panels help power the building’s garage, commercial spaces and the EV chargers.

“The City of Boulder is working to make it easier for our downtown visitors and employees to reduce their carbon footprints and expand access to our most popular commercial areas, while meeting the city’s climate impact goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said City of Boulder Community Vitality Deputy Director, Cris Jones.

“This effort requires collaboration and commitment from many partners.”

 

-Original Press Release Published August 23, 2021 by Samantha Glavin

bouldercolorado.gov/news/city-colorado-carshare-bring-shared-electric-vehicle-1500-pearl-parking-garage 

Boulder County and Colorado CarShare Partner to Boost Transportation Options for Community of Affordable Homes in Louisville

 

Colorado CarShare - Silver EV

One of Colorado CarShare’s new electric vehicles!

 

Boulder County, Colo. – Boulder County Mobility for All, Boulder County Housing and Human Services (BCDHHS), and Colorado CarShare are thrilled to announce the launch of a pilot car share program into Louisville.

Located at Kestrel, a community of affordable homes in Louisville located just northwest of Highway 42 and South Boulder Road, the pilot program will support an inclusive, multi-generational community development to help meet the region’s growing demand for accessible and connected transit serving neighborhoods of affordable homes. The new carshare service will complement existing transit at the Kestrel community in Louisville, which includes 71 permanently-affordable homes for adults 55-and-over and 129 multi-family homes.

“This is a first in Louisville and a great opportunity to make it easier than ever to save money on transportation expenses,” said Angel Bond, Mobility for All Program Manager. “We are really excited to add carsharing to the suite of transportation options that help Kestrel residents meet all of their transportation needs without having to own their own car. Residents have access to RTD FlexRide228 & DASH Routes with a free RTD EcoPass; Boulder County offers a new on-demand, Ride Free Lafayette service that can take residents to Lafayette; Via Mobility Services and RTD Access-a-Ride provide paratransit services for older adults and individuals with disabilities; pedestrians and bikes can travel by trail to Waneka and Harpers Lakes; so this provides a natural complement.”

The pilot car share program, which is currently funded through 2021 by Boulder County, is expected to continue into next year, with the hope that funding can be secured to provide a shared electric vehicle (EV) with a charging station that may be available for both the Colorado CarShare EV and local residents. The initiative will include free carshare credits and deeply discounted membership and rates to Kestrel residents. This initiative is complemented by a similar carshare program in downtown Longmont that is also supported by Boulder County.

The Kestrel CarShare launch event in Louisville, Feb. 7th, 2021.

“It has long been a fundamental tenet of Colorado CarShare to serve our community in mixed-income areas, and we are excited to take this step forward in sustainability with Boulder County,” said Colorado CarShare’s CEO and Executive Director, Peter Krahenbuhl. “We expect this initiative to act as a catalyst for additional car share vehicles and hopefully shared EV charging stations in the community,” Krahenbuhl continued.

The Kestrel carshare launch event in Louisville was held on Feb. 7, and included children of Kestrel families, who were able to hand stamp the parking space in bright paint colors.

“Carsharing is such a needed service for neighborhoods all over Boulder County, and especially for communities such as Kestrel, where older adults and busy working families live,” said BCDHHS Property Manager Haley Jory, who is helping organize the launch event. “We are proud to partner with Colorado CarShare and Boulder County’s Mobility for All Program to help bring more transportation options to our residents.”

Click here to sign-up for Colorado CarShare!

*If you or anyone you know lives in a BCHP or other qualified affordable housing program, please contact [email protected], as you may qualify for a greatly discounted carshare service!

About Boulder County Housing and Human Services:

The Boulder County Department of Housing and Human Services is a 500-person integrated services delivery organization that is focused on supporting whole families and individuals through a Two-Generation, Social Determinants of Health approach. BCDHHS serves more than 90,000 distinct clients with a wide range of wrap-around services, including food, housing, health coverage, childcare, safety, education and skill building, parenting supports, and much more. Follow Boulder County Housing and Human Services via social media at www.Facebook.com/BCDHHS and visit www.BoulderCountyHHS.org to learn more about BCDHHS’ prevention-based wrap-around community supports and services.