Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition -- News

Vehicle Technologies Office FY21 Tribal Transit Service Support

The Federal Transit Authority  announced the availability of up to $10 million in Fiscal Year 2021 competitive grant funding to support transit services for American Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages in rural areas. Application submissions to Grants.gov will open on Thursday, May 27, 2021 and the application period will close on Wednesday, August 25, 2021.
 
FTA’s Tribal Transit Program is authorized by Congress to support public transportation for federally recognized Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages, groups, or communities, as well as to meet the needs of older adults, people with disabilities, and youth in rural areas where there are important transit needs.
 
The Tribal Transit Program advances the Biden Administration’s commitment to modernize our nation’s transportation infrastructure, advance racial equity and support underserved communities.
 
Links:

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Economic Impact Analysis of Clean Energy Development in NC-2021 Report

The NC Sustainable Energy Association has just released their biennial Economic Impact Analysis of Clean Energy Development in North Carolina Report. 

RTI International conducted the report to identify associated economic impacts of clean energy development (renewable energy and energy efficiency) in North Carolina and identified that, from 2007-2020, the total economic impact of clean energy and energy efficiency project development in the state was $40.3 billion, with 17 percent of the cumulative clean energy investment over the last 14 years occurring in 2019 and 2020.

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McAbee Trucking Propane Success

Join Lisa McAbee on a virtual tour of McAbee Trucking as she explains how they utilize propane vehicles to power their fleet and ensure deliveries arrive on time. McAbee Trucking completes over 38 trips overnight from Charlotte, NC to Greenville, SC, and local runs within Blacksburg, SC.  The McAbee Trucking fleet contains 46 vehicles, including two compressed natural gas trucks and six propane trucks. They are in the process of converting more of their diesel box trucks into propane and their semis’ into CNG. McAbee Trucking Inc. was part of a demo with the ROUSH CleanTech Propane Autogas to experiment how these would fit with a USPS contracting fleet.  

Hear from experts all over the region including, Steve Whaley, Director of Autogas Business development at PERC, Derek Whaley, Business Development Manager at ROUSH CLEANTech, and Mitch Rose, Branch Manager of Blossman Gas as they outline the benefits of propane autogas for fleets. Learn more about McAbee Trucking Inc. and how propane autogas can benefit your fleet in the McAbee Trucking Alternative Fuel Fleet Success Video. 

CLIENT: McAbee Trucking

WEBSITE: https://mcabeetrucking.com/

PROJECT COMPLETION:  2021

ALT FUEL UTILIZED: Propane & CNG

A Special Thanks to:

Steve Whaley, PERC; Derek Whaley, Roush CleanTech; Mitch Rose, Blossman Gas; Happy Fox, Alliance Autogas; Matt Abele, Capital City Creative and Mr. & Mrs. McAbee, McAbee Trucking for making this success story happen!

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Volterra Electric Fire Truck

Truck Manufacturer Pierce Releases First Electric Fire Truck

The Pierce Volterra Platform of Electric Vehicles will help create a more sustainable future for communities around the world, while providing firefighters what they need to do their job safely every day. The zero-emission Pierce Volterra Pumper and Oshkosh Airport Products Striker Volterra performance hybrid Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) vehicles feature patented Oshkosh Corporation battery electric vehicle and hybrid vehicle technologies.
 
This new battery electric fire truck has a patented parallel-electric drivetrain with a electro-mechanical infinitely variable transmission allowing for zero-emission operation when powered by the integrated onboard batteries. It can be coupled to the internal combustion engine for continuous power to the pumping or drive systems and is equipped with a battery pack that recharges using on-site recharging infrastructure. More information about the Pierce electric fire truck can be found here.
 
The Volterra Platform of Vehicles was designed through close collaboration with Oshkosh fire department partners to provide all the safety, functionality and performance needed by first responders while also helping protect the planet. For more information about the Volterra Electric Vehicle Platform, visit the Oshkosh site here.

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Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition -- News

Right to Repair and EV Owner Implications

by Chris Facente, CCFC chair

Massachusetts has paved the way for independent repair shops to have access to the same information to repair vehicles as dealerships.  In 2012, Massachusetts (MA) passed the “Right to Repair” law.  Tesla and other EV manufacturers were able to avoid providing their information due to language in the law stating independent shops had to have access to the same information.  Many EV manufacturers have direct sales, have no dealerships and used this to their advantage.  The new law passed by MA prevents this loop hole from being used and allows for over the air data to be provided to all shops.

The history of repair began long ago in California.  Ralph Nader published the book “Unsafe At Any Speed” (November, 1965) resulting in a huge change in the automotive industry, including how we look at emissions. Several emission devices including the Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) and Catalytic Converters were a direct result of the new study of emissions.

With emissions on the rise and more equipment being installed on the vehicles, vehicles began more complicated emission devices in the late 1970s.  Computers to control these devices began to show up in cars and each manufacturer had their own diagnostics.  No two systems were the same, requiring expensive tools and guides to be written.  Manufactures did not have to supply any information to ensure accuracy.

California

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) began to regulate on board diagnostics in 1988.  By 1994 CARB had employed the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) to write the protocols for onboard diagnostics (OBD) level 2 or OBD II. All vehicles sold in the United States had to have the OBD II connector and standard fault codes with standard data streams.  There are many aspects to this law too numerous to cover here, but in the law, independent shops had the right to access to repair data for all vehicles. The information is not free but it is available.   

OBD II connector for accessing vehicle data 

Massachusetts

The new Massachusetts law requires manufactures selling vehicles in the state to offer open source standard data platforms and closes the loop holes.  Many EV manufactures, not just Tesla, have taken advantage of the loop hole but it appears companies are allowing data to be accessed.  

Example of data achieved through the OBD II data link.  This vehicle has an issue with the Camshaft Position Sensor with the abbreviation CMP.  All abbreviations are standardized among all vehicles with OBD II protocols. 

As an EV owner myself, this means better service and more options to get your EV to be repaired.  If the computer needs to be accessed to change the brake pads, a Goodyear or Firestone will be able to do the service, not just the dealership.  Issues such as battery pack failures after warranty; independent repair places such as the EV shop (a franchise EV repair service center) will be able to help.  As with the service driven economy, more choices mean better pricing and better service for all.

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Statesville EV Charger Ribbon Cutting

Centralina was very excited to attend the ribbon cutting of an EV charger in Statesville on Thursday, 5/27! This fast charger is courtesy of Energy United, ChargePoint, Banner Drug Co, the NC Electric Membership Corporation and funding was provided by the NC VW Settlement through the NC Department of Environmental Quality. Great to see more alternative fuel infrastructure (and vehicles) coming to our region. This charger ribbon-cutting marks the first charger built using VW Settlement funds in our region.
 
Randy Marion Chevrolet in Mooresville was able to bring around two Bolts and a Mustang Mach E to complement Energy United’s two Tesla Model 3s.
If you’re looking at your own sustainability plans and need funding to implement them, it’s not too late for your municipality or business to get funding for your own alt fuel vehicles/stations through Phase 2 of the VW Settlement. 
Visit the NC VW Settlement website here for more information and to subscribe to their updates.

Event: Statesville DC Fast EV Charger

Project Completion:  2021

Notable Achievement:  First DC Fast charger funded by NC VW Settlement installed/operational in the Centralina region

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