Electric Vehicle charging at Walt Disney World

[Virtual Toad]

Yeah, my other IT friends geek over their Prius' and other toys. A coworker overseas got the Tesla S which looks neat.

Personally.. I like the thundering herd of my 5.0 coyote motor more Plus, Ford Sync (not my ford touch) has got to be the best voice/media/nav integration I've used yet. Too bad Ford went and screwed it up.. the generation in my pony is near perfect IMO.

Coming from a '99 Honda, gizmos such as a digital driver's display, satellite radio, iPod/iPhone integration and voice recognition are all new and thus insanely cool for me. And the Volt has all of that. The only downside is having to constantly switch energy efficiency / usage displays to satisfy the intellectual cravings of my numerically-obsessed 8 year old.

As far as the coyote motor, I'm (pretty) sure my Volt will lose out to your vehicle in a drag race, but don't knock the Volt's Sport Mode until you've tried it

 

[ford91exploder]

Solar powered electric speedway cars! Yes! I can see this visually appealing for tomorrowland as well.

I've thought for a LONG time that the Tomorrowland speedway cars should be electric, One the future of cars IS electric so it would fit thematically and electric cars would eliminate the stench of small engines, and you could choose your sound effect a rocket whoosh, big engine.

It would make attraction a lot greener as well and reduce overall operating costs and improve safety by not needing flammable fuel storage.

 

[ford91exploder]

Coming from a '99 Honda, gizmos such as a digital driver's display, satellite radio, iPod/iPhone integration and voice recognition are all new and thus insanely cool for me. And the Volt has all of that. The only downside is having to constantly switch energy efficiency / usage displays to satisfy the intellectual cravings of my numerically-obsessed 8 year old.

As far as the coyote motor, I'm (pretty) sure my Volt will lose out to your vehicle in a drag race, but don't knock the Volt's Sport Mode until you've tried it

All electric cars share one characteristic, Torque is effectively infinite at stall so they have plenty of zip off the starting line.

 

[ford91exploder]

In a splintered way.. what you describe is what I've been advocating as the solution.. it just has not been done in a wholistic approach.

Example this very thread... people saying they want EV chargers at WDW of all places as a way of advancing the industry. Balony.. Put that effort instead into the employee side of WDW and the commuter veins of the area.

I'm not saying my vision isn't being used in real world.. I just think it's not being done in a concerted enough way to reach critical mass. Look at the car industry.. every single car is getting bigger and bigger. The C-segment in the US is minute... and the social acceptance of commuter vehicles is still largely missing. Cars like the SmartCar are ridiculed because they see it not as full sized car - it never wanted to be! It shouldn't have to deal with tractor trailers if it were put in a motorcycle/HOV lane, etc.

It's my personal opinion... that the road to electrical dominate will come with the idea of specialized vehicles and acceptance of those in major urban areas.

The SmartCAR is fun to mock, Even the show Eureka mocked it when the sheriff's car was in some alternate universe and he was stuck with one , However in Paris or Milan its PERFECT, On the interstate it will lose if it collides with a Harley!

 

[flynnibus]

I'd have to agree on the 5.0 motor in the pony car is far more fun, But the Escape hybrid with 4x4 and 32 MPG average is not bad when you have unplowed roads and you NEED to be somewhere not a lot of FUN bu VERY practical.

Way too small for us. Wife insisted she needed both 3rd row and usable trunk at same time.. so when we dumped the van I had to upgrade her to a Suburban. That thing is a gas pig I'm not a fan.. but she likes it. I find it a big step backwards from what I have in my pony (and not just in HP).

The crazy thing about the 5.0 is.. it just keeps pulling and pulling.. I mean, it doesn't feel the fastest from the line.. but OMG it's downright scarey to get it to redline in most gears. None of this REEEEE n.. REEEEEEEEn REEEEEEEEE.. no.. it's just GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR n GRRRRRR and off the gas It's too floaty to run hard. My Z before was much more confidence inspiring.. this one is just dukes of hazzard

 

[GoofGoof]

All electric cars share one characteristic, Torque is effectively infinite at stall so they have plenty of zip off the starting line.

Yep. The Tesla Roadster beats a Mustang GT 5.0 off the line. It's just a hair slower 0 to 60 than a Porshe 911 (3.7 vs 3.3 seconds).

 

[flynnibus]

Coming from a '99 Honda, gizmos such as a digital driver's display, satellite radio, iPod/iPhone integration and voice recognition are all new and thus insanely cool for me. And the Volt has all of that. The only downside is having to constantly switch energy efficiency / usage displays to satisfy the intellectual cravings of my numerically-obsessed 8 year old.

Honda just went way too conservative. Even between my Chevy and the Ford... the differences in refinement are down in the details..

• Auto down AND up windows
• bluetooth in my chevy is awful.. its basically just a glorified headset. While in my ford, bluetooth does streaming audio, voice control, phonebook integration, text messaging, etc.
• Sirrus vs XM radio
• dash controls.. etc
• HID vs Halogen lights
• LED vs Incandescent interior lights
• etc

The funny part is when my Chevy dealer kept trying to push Siri off as Voice Control.. the chevy can basically hand it off to the phone where what you say goes right to Siri.. where the Ford it's actually the FORD interpreting the voice and controlling the phone.

The rest is not fair because I have the touchscreen in my Ford and not in the Chevy... but the Chevy XM radio is SUCH a letdown. I know they are overhauling that again tho so hopefully next time they do better.

Of course in all of that.. the best the Honda offered was Bluetooth and little else while everyone else is doing video screens, heated AND cooled seats, multi-memory seats, etc etc.

One thing the chevy does do nice (since it can't fit in the garage)..Remote start and having the heated seats turn on automatically if the ambient temperature is low enough is a nice feature in the winter

 

[OppChg]

Unless you have a perpetual motion machine attached the physics do not work, Gallon of gas has 33KWH of energy...

You're not understanding the basic efficiency of a gasoline engine vs the efficiency an electric motor.

A gas engine is typically less than 30% efficient no matter how you drive it...and electric motor comes in ~92% efficient. Run that through the 33 Kwh in a gallon of gas and see how far you can drive in an electric car (often well over 100 miles) Heck a Leaf battery only holds 24 kWh total, and plenty of people in mild climates drive them over 100 miles before recharging.

The hyperbole about "only going 35-40 miles" in a Leaf in summer is just that, hyperbole. I'm driving my Volt home ~35 miles in a snow storm today, using no gas, and there will still be a few miles left on the battery when I get there. I will post you a picture tomorrow if you like.

 

[flynnibus]

All we are asking is that they put their "money" where there mouth is, otherwise it's just a cheap shot at greenwashing without having to spend a dime or make any effort at all really.

Who is 'we'?

Honestly I tuned out after it appears you're on a campaign.

 

[Virtual Toad]

I'll go ahead and agree with OppChg, if WDW Signed a "green pledge" to install chargers and did a press release on it, they should definitely put their money where their mouth is.

That being said, given the glacial pace of all things WDW lately (gearing up to mention the PI debacle, but I just got out of therapy on that one so I'll give it a pass*), I'm also willing to take their word on good faith and hope that the slow wheels of progress at DisCo will make this happen in the near future. Progress takes time, especially with TDO, so hopefully what we're seeing at Disneyland will become a reality soon here in Florida. BTW, other (upscale) hotel properties very near WDW have already installed charging stations.

* Oh, to heck with it, I'm still ticked off about that. It was Super Bowl Sunday exactly a decade ago that the wife and I got hooked on the Adventurers Club. Sigh. Ten years ago. Sigh.

 

[ford91exploder]

You're not understanding the basic efficiency of a gasoline engine vs the efficiency an electric motor.

A gas engine is typically less than 30% efficient no matter how you drive it...and electric motor comes in ~92% efficient. Run that through the 33 Kwh in a gallon of gas and see how far you can drive in an electric car (often well over 100 miles) Heck a Leaf battery only holds 24 kWh total, and plenty of people in mild climates drive them over 100 miles before recharging.

The hyperbole about "only going 35-40 miles" in a Leaf in summer is just that, hyperbole. I'm driving my Volt home ~35 miles in a snow storm today, using no gas, and there will still be a few miles left on the battery when I get there. I will post you a picture tomorrow if you like.

I'm an EE and I am well aware of the relative effciencies of motors and electrochemical batteries. BTW snow is nowhere near the impediment low temperatures are, You might have heard that the Tesla charging systems could not compensate for the low temps in the midwest.

 

[GoofGoof]

I'm an EE and I am well aware of the relative effciencies of motors and electrochemical batteries. BTW snow is nowhere near the impediment low temperatures are, You might have heard that the Tesla charging systems could not compensate for the low temps in the midwest.

Cold is a much bigger problem for electric cars than heat. That is partially why the most concentrated roll outs have been in warm climates: CA, AZ, TX places like that. Of course one could also argue that a more efficient heater is not a top priority for electric vehicle makers since the markets they are in now rarely require heat...except for this year with the polar vortex. It snowed in Houston.

 

[GoofGoof]

Wrong, do the math. Your college "eduation" seems to not had mathematics in it. No way can a Tesla super charging station be run on pure solar, not even close. A few stations have solar panels for show that is it.

The station could certainly be run on pure solar during the day. Without some kind of battery backup it will pull from the grid at night or on cloudy days. We have 3 chargers in my lot at work and 2 solar canopies over 2 of the front doors that produce more than enough power to run all 3 chargers. Those little solar panels clipped on to the chargers or a light pole are basically for show. They probably produce enough power to run the digital display on the charger.

 

[GoofGoof]

I'll go ahead and agree with OppChg, if WDW Signed a "green pledge" to install chargers and did a press release on it, they should definitely put their money where their mouth is.

That being said, given the glacial pace of all things WDW lately (gearing up to mention the PI debacle, but I just got out of therapy on that one so I'll give it a pass*), I'm also willing to take their word on good faith and hope that the slow wheels of progress at DisCo will make this happen in the near future. Progress takes time, especially with TDO, so hopefully what we're seeing at Disneyland will become a reality soon here in Florida. BTW, other (upscale) hotel properties very near WDW have already installed charging stations.

* Oh, to heck with it, I'm still ticked off about that. It was Super Bowl Sunday exactly a decade ago that the wife and I got hooked on the Adventurers Club. Sigh. Ten years ago. Sigh.

Great point and a nice little dig at the slow pace of things. Let's see, if Avatar is scheduled to open in 2017 then the chargers are probably penciled in for 2020. It will take a while, but they will be disguised with elaborate rock work with trees and waterfalls and of course they will have a cheesy backstory too. Gotta spread the costs out over fiscal quarters...unless someone steps up and agrees to pay for them.

 

[OppChg]

Does your car get 105 miles per gallon?

I'm an EE and I am well aware of the relative effciencies of motors and electrochemical batteries.

And I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Transportation. Both statements only support the logical fallacy of appeal to authority, and mean nothing.

But if you are really an Electrical Engineer, you'll be able to look at the attached picture and be able to quickly calculate (perhaps even in your head) that my Volt did indeed get 105 miles per gallon equivalent in the real world.

You've presented outlandish anecdotal third person stories about ridiculously low driving ranges and/or high driving costs that electric cars will have even in mild weather. I present real world, first person evidence.

Over 105 miles per gallon (MPGe)...at 28 degrees F, in a snow storm, at night, going right over the highest point in the state...at a total cost of $1.94 for the 34 miles (<6 cents per mile).

 

[ford91exploder]

Cold is a much bigger problem for electric cars than heat. That is partially why the most concentrated roll outs have been in warm climates: CA, AZ, TX places like that. Of course one could also argue that a more efficient heater is not a top priority for electric vehicle makers since the markets they are in now rarely require heat...except for this year with the polar vortex. It snowed in Houston.

And there is nothing wrong with that strategy, batteries become more efficient with higher temperatures and there are some upcoming battery technologies like the sodium-sulfur ion battery which operates at 300C and above and has a charge efficiency of 88% so it wastes little of the charging energy as heat.

I expect for cold climates we will probably use hybrid technology for a long time as turbines and ICE systems have good cold start properties. Longer term cold climates will probably use hydrogen fuel cells once they come down in cost.

 

[OppChg]

I'll go ahead and agree with OppChg, if WDW Signed a "green pledge" to install chargers and did a press release on it, they should definitely put their money where their mouth is.

Here's a link to Drive Electric Orlando.
http://driveelectricorlando.com/partners/

You will see Walt Disney World logo prominently featured. So what does this mean? "Greenwashing" or a real commitment? Now 6 months since its launch, at least they could release a statement or have a page on their website explaining their commitment as a partner...no dice: http://search.disney.com/search?q=drive electric orlando

Good news is, it appears that DW has now just recently installed the first (of what will hopefully be many) charging spots for guests, as listed on plugshare.com. "Engineering has installed a plug in the vacation club parking area for EVs....GUESTS ONLY" Confirmed working as of 18 days ago.
http://www.plugshare.com/?location=40014#

(there also appear to be at least one working outlet at the Carribean Beach Resort, though re-purposed on a light pole and only on at night, also fine for overnight guests)

Just a 120 volt outlet...but no complaints, that is awesome and a step in the right direction!

 

[Virtual Toad]

Legoland also has just a 120v outlet but it is at the parking toll structure and can only be used starting around midday. Not sure how familiar you are with the goings-on at WDW, but as of late EVERYTHING they do seems to take 5x longer than it should! That's why I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one. They're still (in general) a pretty forward-thinking company, so I've no doubt they'll be able to move forward with more charging stations as soon as the bean-counters free up the $$$.

edit: In addition to the outlet at Boardwalk and Carribean Beach, someone else on Plughsare metnioned the Fort Wilderness cabins and campsites all have 120v outlets in their driveways for charging golf carts, which would work perfectly for EV charging.