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Ford F-150 Lightning owners in California can use the EV to power homes
The automaker has teamed up with PG&E for a bidirectional EV charging project.
800,000 Californians could be without power by the end of the day
By the end of the day, more than half of all California counties could be without power. In an attempt to prevent wildfires, the state's largest utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is rolling out a planned power outage. Once fully implemented, it will leave an estimated 800,000 customers in the dark and span from Silicon Valley to the Sierra.
Lyft offers free EV charging to Portland drivers
Lyft might have a way to recruit more EV drivers: top up their cars for free. The ridesharing service has teamed up with Portland General Electric to offer free EV charging in the Oregon city's metro area to eligible drivers from July 1st onward. There will only be a "number of locations" that support it (including Hillsboro station). Still, it could be easier for drivers to work for Lyft knowing they won't have to wait for recharges and spend some of their hard-earned pay.
California is set to hit its green-energy goals a decade early
California is both the nation's leading renewable-energy proponent and one of the few states to actually put its power where its mouth is. In November, the California Energy Commission released its annual Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) report which found that the state's three investor-owned utilities -- Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric -- are on track to collectively offer 50 percent of their electricity from renewable resources by 2020. That's a full decade faster than anyone had anticipated. Reports like these have been used to promote clean-energy production throughout the US and the rest of the world since the 1970s. However, it wasn't until 2002 that California codified the practice. But despite being in effect for only 15 years, California's mandatory reporting has become a potent tool in fighting greenhouse-gas emissions throughout the state.
BMW pays i3 owners to charge their cars at non-peak times
Electric vehicles could be our salvation from traditional gas guzzlers, but mass adoption poses new challenges. If millions of homeowners start charging their cars every night, will the power grids be able to keep up? California utility company PG&E is partnering with BMW for a trial -- announced in January but starting this month -- that solves the problem by compensating i3 drivers for non-peak charging. Here's how it works: PG&E will contact BMW when they want to curb consumption. The car company will then select drivers based on their "desired departure time" submitted in the BMW i Remote app. So if you have a flat battery and need to make a trip in the next couple of hours, BMW shouldn't throttle your home and leave you without a ride. Those that are affected will receive a notification and have the option to "opt out" of the one-hour delay, should it prove to be a bad time.
The world's largest solar power plant is now up and running
Solar power just hit one of its biggest milestones, in more ways than one. First Solar recently finished building Topaz, a 550-megawatt plant that represents the largest active solar farm on the planet. And we do mean large -- the installation's nine million solar panels cover 9.5 square miles of California's Carrizo Plain. It's an impressive feat that should power 160,000 homes on Pacific Gas and Electric's grid, although it won't be alone at the top for very long. First Solar's Desert Sunlight farm will match that capacity once its last solar cells go online, and SunPower's 579MW Solar Star is due to go live in 2015. Not that there's a problem with that, of course. These solar plants have been a long time coming, and they promise eco-friendly energy for hundreds of thousands of Golden State residents. [Image credit: Center for Land Use Interpretation]
GAEMS G155 Sentry suitcase for Xbox 360 hands-on
Gamer on the go? Sure, Nintendo's 3DS or Sony's PS Vita might get you by, but neither can quite deliver the full-bore experience of a home console. To get their fix, Xbox 360 gamers with room for one more carry-on will want to turn to GAEMS. The company is showing off its G155 Sentry "personal gaming and entertainment environment" at E3 this year -- a so-called PGE. It's basically a suitcase into which you strap an Xbox 360 before connecting it to the integral LCD and more powerful stereo speakers (complete with Bose-style bass channel). That LCD is a 15-inch, LED-backlit 720p model with pretty terrible viewing angles, just like the older G155. In fact, we're hard-pressed to see many differences here between the currently available G155 and this beyond what looks to be a shinier logo on the back -- which you can replace with custom ones for a bit of customization. It does appear to be very well constructed, a suitably safe way to lug your console about. Check out some more pictures in the gallery below, and tune back in soon when we check out the so-called Project Vanguard, which we're told is a properly all-new design. GAEMS G155 Sentry suitcase for Xbox 360 hands-on Gamer on the go? Sure, Nintendo's 3DS or Sony's PS Vita might get you by, but neither can /quite/ deliver the full-bore experience of a home console. There's nothing like the real thing, and Xbox 360 gamers with room for one more carry-on will want to turn to GAEMS. The company is showing off its G155 Sentry "personal gaming and entertainment environment" -- a PGE, they call it. It's basically a suitcase into which you strap an Xbox 360 before connecting it to the integrated LCD and stereo speakers (complete with Bose-style bass channel). That LCD is a 15-inch, LED-backlit 720p model with pretty terrible viewing angles, just like the older G155. In fact, we're hard-pressed to see many differences here beyond what looks to be a shinier logo on the back -- which you can replace with custom ones for a bit of customization. Check out some more pictures in the gallery below, and tune back in soon when we check out the so-called Project Vanguard, which we're told is a properly all-new design.
North America's first public-use quick-charge station opens in Portland: 3-handed politician not included
What's being hailed as North America's first public-use quick-charge station for electric vehicles has just been unveiled in Portland. The station, built by NEC subsidiary Takasago, is installed in a PGE headquarters parking garage and will charge electric vehicles with lithium-ion batteries to 80% in about 20 to 30 minutes. So yeah, it's public, as long as you've got a PGE badge apparently. Anyway, the grand opening was led by Governor Ted Kulongoski, pictured above carefully maintaining a safe distance while charging a Nissan Leaf. Guess you can never be too careful when pumping 50kW into a pre-production vehicle. Click through to see a video demonstration of the future, if we're lucky. Update: We're being told that the quick charge station is installed in a public parking garage that is part of the World Trade Center building in downtown Portland (where PGE's headquarters are). It costs $3 to park, but charging is on the house. Thanks, Chris!
Mitsubishi's i MiEV electric car to be tested in California
Mitsubishi's i MiEV electric car has spent some serious time on the streets of Japan, but before long, the fuel-shunning vehicle will be roughin' it here in the US of A. The auto maker is teaming up with Southern California Edison and PG&E in order to see how it fares in LA traffic and how to best integrate it with the power grid. As of now, the whips should be cruising down the carpool lanes in Q4, though a few modifications may be needed in order to comply with US laws. Plans are to test the i MiEV for three solid years, and hopefully the $30,000 ride will be made available for purchase shortly thereafter (or earlier, if we're fortunate). What now, MINI?[Via Wired]
