Will Los Angeles Drivers Ever Switch to Electric Cars?

Electric cars have been driving L.A. roads in large numbers since 2003. The Toyota Prius is a type of electric vehicle (EV), a “hybrid.” Despite a price tag of about $36,000, Toyota says that by December 2009, it had sold over 800,000 Priuses in the U.S. Its engine is powered by both electricity from a battery and by burning gas in its internal combustion engine. The battery is charged whenever the driver puts a foot on the brake. Braking triggers a mechanism that generates electricity and stores it in the car’s battery. In 2009, the Toyota Prius was rated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the most fuel-efficient car on the road, averaging 50 miles per gallon.

The Big Leap Forward – Plug-in Electric VehiclesA plug-in EV can be plugged into a regular electrical outlet or special charger to charge the battery. It is currently not possible for drivers of a Prius to charge the battery by plugging into anything, only by stepping on the brakes. There is a big change coming this year when the new plug-in electric cars, the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt, are fully launched.

The Nissan Leaf, at about $33,000, began deliveries in L.A. in December 2010. The Chevy Volt at about $40,000, will begin deliveries in L.A. early in 2010. While these prices may seem high, they’re effectively lowered by government tax and rebate incentives.

President Obama, in his 2011 State of the Union speech, set an objective of one million EVs on the road in the U.S. by 2015, four years from now. The Administration’s goals, of course, are to reduce our dependence on oil, deal with air pollution and climate change, and create new, green jobs. The federal government gives a tax credit of up to $7,500 to buyers of the Leaf and Volt. The State of California, on a first-come-first-served basis has limited funds available to give EV buyers up to an additional $5,000 as a rebate on purchase. These incentives can lower the effective price of EVs so that they’re competitive with similar gas-burning cars, especially when considering the savings on fuel year in and year out.

The Leaf had a waiting list of 40,000 buyers when it started delivery in L.A. in late December 2010. The Chevy Volt is expected to start delivering vehicles to L.A. buyers early in 2011. Several other car companies are developing EV models. By 2012, there will likely be a dozen different EVs for sale in L.A. including a plug-in version of the Prius.

The actual number of electric vehicles that will be sold in L.A. is hard to predict. A 2009 University of California study determined that even if gas prices rise only slightly, by 2030 about 75% of new car sales will be electric. If gas prices jump, we’ll start hitting 75% of new car sales a lot sooner. The safest thing one can say about plug-in EV sales in Los Angeles is that they’re starting now in a big way and they will be increasing over the years.

We at The Electric Connection install chargers for electric vehicles. Click here for more information on installation of EV chargers. 

Whether you own a business or a commercial space used for residential living, there are a number of things you are responsible for doing to ensure the safety and well-being of the building’s tenants. This includes providing proper lighting both inside and outside the space. Your building, complex, or shopping center’s parking lot lighting is a huge part of this, and it’s not just about safety, either.

First off, if you have a business that’s open during nighttime hours, then having bright and inviting parking lot lights will help attract customers. Poorly illuminated areas increase risks such as theft, or worse. This is going to deter a lot of people from even attempting to come to your commercial space.

Employee safety is also a big deal. Your employees should be able to approach their cars without the worry of nighttime risks, or injury due to not being able to see where they are going clearly enough. As a business owner, you have a responsibility to your employees. Focusing on this also reduces your financial liability should something unfortunate happen.

Too often, business owners and retailers neglect their parking lot lighting fixtures because of high costs associated with repair and energy consumption. The benefits far outweigh the risks, however. Besides, today’s lighting options show a vast improvement in efficiency and affordability.

With LED and induction parking lot lighting alternatives, you can effectively illuminate your entire parking lot without hurting your bottom line. Our professional electricians are happy to discuss your options with you, and are well equipped with the tools and the training necessary to get the job done right.

Outdoor LED Decorative String Lights

When paired with vintage LED bulbs, these LED string lights add a spooky feel to your patio. The 21-foot LED light socket strings hold 10 LED bulbs with standard E26 bases. They’re available in in-line styles and are linkable up to 500 watts maximum.

Use this submersible RGB LED Accent Light to give your fountain an eerie glow. Place it under spooky glass decorations or inside a pumpkin, and use the included IR remote to select colors and color-changing modes. This LED Halloween light offers 13 static color modes and two dynamic color-changing modes.

30- or RF Touch-Color Remote (sold separately) or with a Halloween product category.

For anyone who is in control, manages, or even owns a facility that has a parking lot for either employees, customers and clients, or both; you know that security and protection of everyone is paramount.

With outdated, inefficient, and low quality output per watt, which is all that matters when it comes to getting the most efficient lighting. The reasons behind this is because let’s say you have two different LEDs products, one outputs 135 lumens per watt while the other is at 120 lumens / watt. To power a light that outputs at 18,000 lumens; the 120 lumen per watt fixture will take 150 watts to reach 18,000 total lumens. While the 135 lumen per watt fixture will only require approximately 133 watts to generate same exact amount of light that the other higher watt fixture products.

See the important of lumens per watt? It’s everything, and we believe

Here’s another project of ours where we retrofitted an existing fixture in a parking lot (before and after):

The image list could go on, but the gist is this: LED has and will always improve your facility’s lot. Just look at the images yourself for the proof!

By choosing LED parking lot products for your facility, you are choosing higher quality along with higher efficiency products. LEDs (more specifically MyLEDLightingGuide’s) offer a better Color Rendering Index rating talked about before is about lumen depreciation. Metal halide and HPS experience greater and quicker depreciation in lumen output than any LED product does. So while a brand new and freshly installed metal halide fixture may look the same as an LED to start off its life; give it a few years and watch the difference. LED is almost guaranteed to be brighter for longer.

On the topic of saving money, how about the final benefit that will make you fall in love with LED technology and what it can do for your business.

While you need to be careful which LED products you purchase and from where you buy them from; commercial LEDs are just as open to rebates as any other.

Something called DesignLights Consortium (DLC for short) qualifies products and lists them on their site if they pass vigorous tests set by them. They offer two types of listing: commercial rebates but they also prove to be lesser of quality. Think; if a company offers quality lights what’s their reason not to get qualified? There isn’t, and that’s exactly our point.

Thankfully there are many DLC qualified products out their on the market, including ours. You can always take a look around just to say hi!