ShareReadyAn Electric Vehicle Pilot Program

Nova Scotia Power2

BACKGROUND ShareReady was a Nova Scotia Power pilot program developed to learn more about electric vehicle transportation issues in Nova Scotia. The program looked at the operation of electric vehicles, their environmental efficiency, the cost of driving, and the readiness of both of our electric grid and the service panels of our customers to accommodate electric vehicles.

ShareReady’s fundamental goal was to increase the understanding of electric vehicles (EVs) and how they might meet transportation needs in Nova Scotia. To accomplish this objective, ShareReady needed two things: electric vehicles and partner organizations to test and promote them. A partnership was created with nine organizations in the province that were keen to explore the use of electric vehicles in their fleets. The ShareReady team, through a partnership with O’Regans

Automotive Group, secured 10 all-electric Nissan LEAF™ vehicles from Nissan Canada, Each partner organization, including Nova Scotia Power, also installed a charging station at the location where the LEAF™ vehicle was usually parked.

THE SHAREREADY PROGRAM IN ACTION Throughout the pilot, ShareReady partners provided vehicle information, program details, challenges, and successes. Each partner organization determined where and how to use the vehicle in their fleet, with the goal of getting as many employees behind the wheel as possible. Through the experiences of their employees, the partner organizations were able to help one another get the best use out of their respective vehicles.

Here are a few examples of how the vehicles were used: Avis Rent-A-Car in Dartmouth had previously offered Hybrid electric vehicles for many years. Through the ShareReady program they officially began offering a 100% electric vehicle as a rental option. When the vehicle was not rented to customers, the staff would regularly use the car as a customer shuttle, taking advantage of the low emissions and fuel economy offered by the Nissan LEAF™. Avis ultimately purchased the vehicle and plans to continue to offer it for rental and as well as using it as a low emissions shuttle vehicle.

DHS Engineering, based in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, regularly used the vehicle for both local community travel and long distance trips from their North shore location to Halifax and surrounding areas. DHS Engineering has since purchased an additional electric vehicle for business use.

Nova Scotia Power purchased two cars as part of the program, using one as a meter reading vehicle for the HRM (Sackville) area, and the other for general use by all employees at their head office location.

CBCL, Eastlink, Encanex, Port of Halifax, Saint Mary’s and Wilsons used their vehicles in a variety of roles supporting employee transportation needs in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.

At the conclusion of the program, a survey was conducted to gain an understanding of the partners’ experiences.

FINDINGS After nearly three years in operation, the Nissan LEAF™ vehicles purchased and leased by the ShareReady partners have seen a combined driving distance of a quarter million kilometers. 250,000 km in a conventional vehicle would have taken 18,000 L of gasoline emitting 74 Tonnes of CO2, while in the electric vehicles this same 250,000

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km used 52,000 kWh and emitted only 40 Tonnes of CO2.

On average the vehicles travelled 25,000 km, with the highest-use vehicle travelling 46,000 km. During the program, more than 300 people had a chance to drive one of the vehicles.

Although the vehicle generally performed extremely well, partners also reported that reduced winter driving range posed some difficulties in trip planning and, on occasion, prevented drivers from using the vehicle on some longer distance trips. With the exception of range (particularly winter range), surveyed drivers rated the vehicles driving performance very highly in areas of speed/acceleration, noise, comfort, and layout. Partners felt that the vehicle was able to satisfy the transportation role for which it was selected and many of the partners are

continuing to use the vehicles past the originally selected program end date.

Publicly accessible charging stations are an important part of enabling convenient and wide-spread use of electric vehicles. The ShareReady partners rated the availability of charging infrastructure as inadequate for completing both day trips and longer distance (highway) trips through the province. Fortunately, one of the ShareReady partners was so encouraged by the project that they worked diligently to increase the number of AC charging stations in the province, and continue to this day to work on growing the network. Through the provincial government’s Sustainable Transportation Grant Program, this ShareReady Partner helped more than 10 other organizations to install AC charging stations. As a result, the AC charging network now spans

from Yarmouth to Sydney, and there are plans to have as many as 50 stations installed in Nova Scotia by the end of 2015.

Although there has been success with growing the level 2 charging station network which helps enable local and community travel, the fast charging (level 3, DC) network is practically non-existent making long distance trips and highway travel challenging. With only a single fast charger installed in Nova Scotia at the Truro Power Centre, the ShareReady partners were not comfortable completing long distance highway trips, particularly during winter months.

Overall, all partners saw a positive future for electric vehicles, anticipating increasing range, decreasing cost, and overall increase in awareness of EVs, ultimately leading to increased uptake and use of EVs across the province. The ShareReady partners were pleased with the learnings and successes of the program and very proud to have enabled over 300 people to experience driving an electric vehicle.

Aside from the practical knowledge gained by driving the EVs, the ShareReady program also commissioned two technical studies – one through Dalhousie University under guidance of Dr. Larry Hughes,

10 Year Cost of Ownership Nova Scotia specific for 28K/year distance driver

EV (leaf)

Compact Car

Average NS Vehicle

Fuel

Capital

Maintenance

$0 $20,000 $40,000 $60,000 $80,000 $100,000

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and a second performed by a local consultant.

The Dalhousie report titled Do electric vehicles make carbon sense in Nova Scotia? explored the emissions characteristics of electric vehicles and conventional combustion vehicles operating in Nova Scotia. Although electric vehicles have zero tailpipe emissions and significantly reduce localized pollution and improve urban air quality, the Hughes report

also considered the emissions at the generating station and upstream fuel delivery emissions. The report highlighted the carbon emission advantages of electric and hybrid vehicles, finding that carbon emissions for electric vehicles are lower than conventional vehicles even considering the use of coal and other fossil fuels in the generating plants. The report goes on to show that emission levels of electric vehicles will continue to improve as

the electricity grid in Nova Scotia is “greened” through increased use of renewable energy in place of coal-generated electricity.

The second report completed for the ShareReady program was a charging and usage dynamics study conducted by DHS engineering. The report provides insight into the charging behavior of two of the ShareReady partners’ AC charging stations. Findings include the relative winter and summer performance of the charging stations and vehicles. The study also assessed vehicle use and power demand profiles of vehicle charging at various times of day, in various discharge conditions and varying temperatures. The results of this study, as well as the PHEV-CIM tool available from NRCAN, can now be used to better understand the impact of electric vehicles on the demand profiles of transmission and distribution grids in Nova Scotia.

Emission Intensity gCO2/km

240

184

104

Average NS Vehicle

Compact Car

EV (leaf)

Reference: Dr. Larry Hughes

CONCLUSIONS The ShareReady program was an excellent tool for organizations to test electric vehicles in their fleets, but the true benefits of the program lie in the additional interest and activity that it has generated in EVs, acting as a stepping stone for future development in the sector.

The technical learnings from the program will build a foundation for electric vehicle planning within the partner organizations, and provide an example for consideration at the provincial level. Numerous AC charging stations have been

installed by ShareReady partners and other organizations that were encouraged and facilitated by the program partners. The first fast charger (DC, level3) was installed in Truro earlier this year, spearheaded by a ShareReady partner to aid in long distance highway travel using electric vehicles. Additionally, ShareReady spurred the availability of electric vehicles in Nova Scotia, encouraging dealership availability of electric vehicles.

The momentum continues, with Canada’s national electric vehicle organization, Electric Mobility

Canada (EMC) selecting Halifax as the site for its May 2015 electric vehicle conference assisted by a ShareReady partner involvement with EMC. This is the first time the conference has been held east of Montreal.

Most importantly, the program has shown that electric vehicles can work in Nova Scotia and fulfill real transportation needs in a more environmentally friendly manner than conventional vehicles and can do so with comparable lifecycle economics.

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SHAREREADY PARTNERS