ChargeCar open house this Friday. June 8

What: ChargeCar open house

When: Friday, June 8, 6-8PM

Where: The Electric Garage, 4621 Forbes Avenue, Oakland 15213 (100 yards east of Craig Street)

Why: To celebrate our eight new, Eaton, level-1/level-2 electric vehicle charging stations, now available for free public use!

Who: Everyone welcome. If you have an electric vehicle, bring it!

Parking: Limited parking is available at the Garage. Car-pooling and other fuel-saving alternatives are encouraged. Additional parking will be available at the Morewood lot on Forbes Avenue, just east of the Electric Garage.

For more information about the Electric Garage and ChargeCar project, please visit www.chargecar.org.

The Charge Car: First Impressions on my First Ride

I didn't know what to expect for my first ride in "the charge car." It was definitely QUIET as others have reported.  It is so quiet you don't even realize when the car is running unless the driver announces that it has started. I was one of a group of teachers touring the "Electric Garage" as part of an Educational Robotics Graduate Course that was offered this summer at CMU.The Electric Garage was a sight to see in itself. It's an exhibit of the different stages of the car's development. Having a peek under the hood finding open spaces where you would expect to see the engine,  seeing an electrical outlet where the gas cap would be, and noting that this vehicle has some "junk the trunk," or batteries, made this a surreal experience.  I was in the second group of riders, so I got to see and hear the first group of riders drive away from the Electric Garage...in silence.  For some reason, the Electric Garage sign made think of the "Electric Slide" but we didn't do any line dancing while we were waiting for the car to return. You do need to be alert when the car is backing up, because you really can't tell when the car is going to move.  The only sounds you can hear from the outside are the wheels gently rolling over the pavement, like when a car is in neutral and you have to get out and push it.  So, no noise pollution and since there are no exhaust fumes - no air pollution either! When the car returned, I took the front passenger seat and used a Flip Camera to document the ride. (Illah Nourbakhsh, Professor of Robotics is the driver.) You can ride along virtually with the rest of us...it's a smooth ride ...check out this video.

https://picasaweb.google.com/zee.poerio/July272011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Zee Ann Poerio
Teacher, St. Louise de Marillac School

Charge Car Open House and Demonstration

 

When: Friday March 25, 3:00-6:00 PM

 Where: Electric Garage (old University Exxon) 


Come to the Electric Garage to inspect the first production prototype ChargeCar. We will have our technical staff on hand to describe the car's technologies, provide rides in all of the ChargeCar electric vehicles and discuss the costs of conversions locally. 

We will also open the very first Pittsburgh ChargeCar waiting list for signatures and will be ready to take the name of those serious about purchasing/converting their own electric vehicles at a local garage. The waiting list reservation requires a $50, fully refundable deposit.

There will be a special community participation call for suggestions in identifying a deserving nonprofit in this region that could benefit from an electric vehicle that ChargeCar could produce early in 2011. 

Refreshments and light snacks will be served. 

Read more about this event

Learn more about charge car at chargecar.org


ChargeCar's Electric Garage is located at the former Exxon Gas Station on the 4600 block of Forbes Avenue, next to CMU.
A map of the area can be found: here

Last Summer ChargeCar Event: Fri July 30

We would like to invite you to our final community event and cookout of the summer on Friday, July 30th at 7pm, at the Electric Garage.

We will be hosting a public policy community day. In addition to invited members and representatives from local government and Pittsburgh's Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP), CMU professor and former NASA astronaut Jay Apt will be giving a presentation on the electric grid.  Professor Apt will begin at 8:30pm.

     

    The Electric Garage is located at the former Exxon Gas Station on the 4600 block of Forbes Avenue, next to CMU

    Map and directions here

    pre-garage Street view:


    View Larger Map

     

    To stay up to date on all things ChargeCar, please visit www.chargecar.org and join our forum and mailing list.

    ChargeCar July 23rd Community Event and Cookout

    Join us at the Electric Garage this Friday evening at 7PM.

    We will be hosting a town-hall-style meeting/forum. This week, in addition to our normal open house, we'd like to switch it up a bit and invite everyone to suggest future community events and projects, as well as talk about anything that is EV related.

    To get the gears turning, here are a few questions that we've already brainstormed: 
    • Roughly ten years ago, electric vehicles gained a lot of visibility and popularity when car companies offered EVs to consumers and corporate fleets. Today, we can easily see the momentum gaining again, so how can we prevent a repeat of the last EV boom's decline?  Ten years later, what is different that would make it easier (or more difficult) us to do so?
    • While car companies are making large strides in the direction of EV production, some of them say that the future success of EVs will be largely based on collaboration between car companies.  Others can argue that competition is a large factor in moving the auto industry forward.  Is the EV going to foster a new age of automotive collaboration, or will competition lead the way?
    • On the policy side of progress, some countries are mandating that a certain percentage of public transportation use alternative fuel by a certain date. Can EVs be a part of this ideal, or should popularity and usage be left up to consumers?
    • How is ChargeCar different from the solutions from auto makers both now, and in the future?  What can we do to make ChargeCar a viable option?

     

    The Electric Garage is located at the former Exxon Gas Station on the 4600 block of Forbes Avenue, next to CMU

    Map and directions here

    pre-garage Street view:


    View Larger Map

     

    To stay up to date on all things ChargeCar, please visit www.chargecar.org and join our forum and mailing list.

    ChargeCar July 9th Community Event and Cookout

    Join us at the Electric Garage this Friday evening, July 9th:

    7pm

    Members from the West Virginia University Electric Vehicle Association are bringing their Formula Lightning open-wheel race car
    Electric Vehicles from the Three Rivers Electric Vehicle Association on display
    We will be serving grilled fruits and vegetables. 

     

    8:30pm

    Pennsylvania State Senator Jim Ferlo's Policy and Projects Liason, Mikhail Pappas, will be speaking about the proposed moratorium on Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania.

     

    9:00pm

     Outdoor screening of the documentary Gasland followed by a short discussion.
    Please bring chairs and blankets for seating during the movie

    Feel free to invite your friends and family.

     

    The Electric Garage is located at the former Exxon Gas Station on the 4600 block of Forbes Avenue, next to CMU.

    Map and directions here

     

    pre-garage Street view:


    View Larger Map

    Charge Car Open House

    Want to learn about electric vehicles? Want to share what you already know with excited community members?

    Mechanics, students and community members interested in converting vehicles from gas to electric power are invited to look under the hood of the ChargeCar Project’s electric vehicle program during an open house at 4:00 p.m. Friday March 26 at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute.

    A prototype ultracapacitor-battery electric vehicle, a converted 2006 Scion xB, will be on display in the Planetary Robotics Center high bay on the first floor of the Gates and Hillman centers, 4902 Forbes Ave., together with a RAV4-EV all-electric commercial vehicle. Talks aimed at students, mechanics and community members who would like to be involved in creating a new industry of electric car conversions in the Pittsburgh region will begin at 4:30 p.m.

    What: An introduction to our new region-wide electric car initiative
    When: Friday, 26 March, 4PM – 6PM
    Who: Everyone who wants to revolutionize electric car transportation in our region
    Where: Planetary Robotics Center Highbay, Gates Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
    Contact: Byron Spice, 412-268-9068, bspice@cs.cmu.edu

    For driving directions, go to www.ChargeCar.org and follow the link on the front page.

    Bring the whole family!