Have a great day, we are on holidays, for a week, please enjoy the day in history untill we return.
Today in history: August 22 1932
The BBC experiments with television broadcast
Category: Enterprize
A crew is at work on the new transmission line to the Highland valley from Merritt. A source says that 80 percent of the cut line was already in place before starting the current round of work. “We are dealing with Christmas tree size stuff now”. The work of placeing lines and poles will begin in October with “twin poles” placed by cranes.
Not to be confused with the new 500 KV line to the lower mainland that is currently being completed. That is the 3rd 500 KV line to the west from the interior of BC, and the first in a decades long hiatus from that sort of construction.
Today in history: August 12 1992
Canada, the US and Mexico complete free trade negotiations.
Nissan Leaf, gets DC quick charge in Merritt Sunday July 13th/14
Photo KD
The owner and operator of this EV says that he gets a hundred and 10 kilometers on a 1/2 hour charge at the DC quick charge station. The charge is free now but he expects that to change soon. Then a trip like the one from Merritt to Kamloops will cost him about 6 dollars at a quick charge station and a dollar and a half if he charges up over night at home on 120 volts.
He showed us a card that he said came from BC hydro that would allow him to pay for power at the DC charger. BC hydro has a serious amount of PR going into EVs right now with incentives for buying coming up and a 500 dollar rebate for a dedicated charger in your home. http://www.bchydro.com/news/conservation/2011/charge__electric_vehicles.html
Today in history: July 15th 2006
Twitter is, operational and goes on to be the largest Social Media platform in the world.
Gas price, the availability of fuel
Photo KDG
On July 4th there was another step in the ladder for approval of the twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline to Burnaby, the company a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan has operated a pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby for 60 years. The line goes by Merritt by the local airstrip. the twinning is to accommodate Tar sands bitumen and is still controversal. To see the regulatory timeline and construction schedule visit: http://application.transmountain.com/whats-next?utm_source=Trans+Mountain+Today+Jul+3rd+2014+&utm_campaign=TM+Today+07%2F03%2F14&utm_medium=email
The July 4th step was the filing of intervener requests and supplemental filings asked for by the NEB of Trans Mountain. this is leading up to the NEB Public hearings in January 2015.
The Nicola Valley will be having a music festival this summer in August ,on the 21,22 ,23rd and 24th at the old Merritt Mountain Music festival grounds. There is a veterans preference and they say you don’t need to have a motor cycle to come. The site shows the controversial pastime of sitting in the river cooling off with more then just the river water.
The bus of the organizer has been seen about Merritt many times in the last weeks.
Photo KDG
Today in history: June 23 1958
The Dutch Reform Church accepts women ministers.
Today in history: June 24th 1918
The first airmail service in Canada begins, Montreal to Toronto
Nissan Leaf
At 500 volt 120 amp charging station
Photo KDG
The 500 volt 120 amp DC charger is getting use on Voght street, the owner of this car stopped the charge at 86 percent as he said that’s” better for the battery”. He had charged up in Hope about an hour to the west of Merritt. The approximate 1/2 hour charging stop, was on his way to Salmon Arm, ” I also use the 2 hour charger at my home”
One year ago, electric vehicle drivers in British Columbia would have been hard pressed to find a public charging station to top up their battery. Today, they have access to nearly 500 electric vehicle charging stations located throughout the province: source : One year ago, electric vehicle drivers in British Columbia would have been hard pressed to find a public charging station to top up their battery. Today, they have access to nearly 500 electric vehicle charging stations located throughout the province. source: http://blog.wwf.ca/blog/2013/11/14/charging-bc/
Charging stations have a number of capacities needing more or less time and attention:
New Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
UVic’s two new electric vehicle charging stations come into operation the week of April 2nd. These level 2 (240 volt), 60 amp stations from Sun Country Highway are available for use by the campus community and guests 24/7 outside the Campus Security Building in parking lot #2. They are located in metered parking spaces for a fee of $1.50 per hour (a $.25 premium over our regular parking rates) for a maximum of 2 hours. Funding for these stations has been provided by the BC government’s Community Charging Infrastructure Project, an incentive program that has funded over 500 electric vehicle charging stations across BC. Find out more about the program at the Plug In BC website.
Also note that the province recently announced an extension of the its Clean Energy Vehicle Incentive Program which provides BC residents with up to $5,000 off the pre-tax sticker price of qualifying new battery electric cars. source: http://www.uvic.ca/sustainability/home/news/current/EV%20Charging%20Stations.php
Editors note: The quotes above are dated. However this week sees the arrival of the BMW version of electric vehicle to the Vancouver market. The E1 is being sold as a mid range EV. The Province paper is reporting that it is a carbon fiber body usually only available at ” bank account breaking prices.” The BMW website is promoting a turbo charge cord as a quick and easy way to charge an EV. The cord has an adapter that can access 120 and 240 volt house wiring, Electric ranges and dryers have a 240 volt capacity, the 240 volt system depending on the amperage can increase charging conveinece by bringing time down to about 2 hours. It appears that the cord can be brought on trips where access to friends outlets may be available. There is no free power from private homes and they are metered in the normal way. The charging net work of public access remains free to users.
Access to some charging stations may require a key fob, particularly in the US, some universities are adding 25 cents an hour to the parking fee for charge stations. Key fobs are available at a monthly rate on AV sites and a visit rate.
Sun Country, EV
Photo KDG
Sun Country Electric Hyway is the business that is most seen in operations in Canada. The roadster seen is a discontinued Telsa model, its production was taken over by the Tesla model S with a range up to near 500 kilometers. A jaguar model Ev up to near 1.5 million is coming in the fall of 2015. the sun country website lists numbers of EV models from numbers of companies: https://suncountryhighway.ca/evfinder/
Sun country has an EV with a 1.5 liter gasoline charging engine that can be driven for hundreds of KMs and the vehicle used to run electric tools.
The Tesla model S has been involved in a couple of fires, the all aluminum body is flammable at high heat.
Watch out for proprietary adapters especially on Tesla roadsters, The Sun Country network 30 to 90 amp chargers are only accessible with an adapter, not free, for some Tesla products.
For the record, there were 187,500 “highway vehicle fires” in the US in 2011 (the last year for which data is available), according to the National Fire Prevention Association. But there was a fire yesterday that is starting to catch some attention, and we’re pretty sure you all know why. Electric vehicle fires – whether they be in China or the US, started while moving or stopped – often become comment fodder, even when we learn after the fact that the electric part of the powertrain has nothing to do with with the blaze. source:http://green.autoblog.com/2013/10/02/tesla-model-s-fire/
Today in history: June 17th 1994
OJ Simpson is arrested for the alleged murder of his ex-wife and boyfriend, after a slow speed chase.
June 11th saw a recruiting drive for oilfield jobs hosted by work BC at the Merritt Civic Center. A work BC representative said that there was over 100 interested people in attendance standing room only for the room rented.
“27 dollars an hour base rate” was heard from the power point presenter. We were not sure of the context as we cautioned about going into the room by a workplace BC official. registration was requested in the full-page ad ASCO an international oilfield company put in the local newspaper. They said that attendance was mandatory to arrange an interview. They also advertised that they would have on the spot hires.
They were offering jobs as class 1 and 3 drivers, mechanics, pickers , supervisors. 20 days in 10 out , accommodation provided. The jobs are in the oilpatch, ASCO bills itself as an international operator but the feeling was the session was geared to Alberta.
ASCO lists its headquarters, as: Regent Centre ,Regent Road ,Aberdeen, AB11 5NS United Kingdom on its linked in page.
The job fair is on the same day as a job action by the local school teachers, and the high school being not in service.
Today in history: June 12th 1776
The Virgina resolution, for the Declaration of rights is adopted.
Today in history: June 13th 1933
The Great Depression home owners refinancing act as part of the new deal increases amortization of mortgages to 20 – 25 years.
Today in history: June 13th 1970
The Beatles Long and Winding Road, song becomes their first number 0ne hit.
The old court house building in Merritt on the 1800 block of Nicola avenue is going to have its dance studio back. The studio had closed over immigration problems with the principle, who had to move back to South Africa, now the difficulties are resolved and there will be ballet and dance in the upper floors of the building that hosts the art gallery.
The old court-house on Nicola avenue in Merritt.
Photo KDG
Today in history: June 11, 1184 BC
Troy is sacked according to calculations by Eratosthenes.
The Teck operation at Highland Valley Copper are not offering tours now, as a cost saving measure. However they are hosting a get together on June 5th from 12:00 to 2:00 at the Spirit square in Merritt. Spirit Square is also known as legacy square, is on the corner of Voght and Granite avenue here in Merritt and is a legacy project from he recent winter olympics held in BC.
Billed as a barbecue the event is a get to know the company and its operation. Teck has a community relations office on the adjacent corner with publications and access to about a dozen officials of the company four days a week.
Hamburger or hotdog by donation: all proceeds to local charities; Contact is mellisa.pinyon@teck.com.
Today in history: June 4rth 1988
Born: Li Mann Chinese actor
The 2010 Tesla sport car that was brought into Canada as a first by John Henderson was here getting a EV charge on the weekend. The bright orange car with black bold lettering covering the sides was at the charging station on Voght, near the Merritt City hall. And in the parking lot used by the Farmers market on Saturdays ( watch EV users as Saturday may be hard to have access to the chargers), there are others on Mamet. The roadster was delivered to Canada May 13th 2010. The 2700 lb car has a maximum range 350, 288 HP.
The sports car is not in production and went out to make way for the model S, ( $75,000) the model S has four ranges and battery options and is a family style sedan. The car needs to be preordered.
Other manufacturers include Chevy Volt, Toyota Leaf, Sun country auto PU that have been seen passing through and using the charging stations here.
Source information posted on the car being offered for sale.
The 500 Amp DC quick charger may not always be available here , there are adapter issues with the Tesla S, however the 90 amp and 30 amp chargers at the city public parking lot are without complaint.
Today in history: May 28th 2011
Malta votes on the issue of divorce.
Kevin Griffiths
percypaschal
The Proprietor Review 