Drivers Plugging In to a New Way to Commute

An experimental program that lets motorists tap a pool of electric cars at the Irvine train station is gaining popularity among Orange County companies and institutions interested in alternative means of transportation.

The pilot project allows commuters and their employers to share as many as 50 low-emission vehicles for trips to and from the Irvine Transportation Center and for errands during the workday.

So far, UC Irvine and three high-tech companies -- the FSG division of Quantum, Orthodyne Electronics and CTG Energetics -- have signed up for the ZEV-NET program, which was launched in April. The project -- whose name is an acronym for Zero Emission Vehicle, Network Enabled Transport -- is sponsored by local government, Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. and UC Irvine’s National Fuel Cell Research Center.

Participants use 12 to 15 cars per day, including the small, egg-shaped Toyota e.com. One executive uses the more exotic Toyota Highlander, a sport-utility vehicle equipped with hydrogen fuel cells that generate power for an electric motor. Six other corporations are interested in becoming part of the program.

“We want to get these vehicles out there,” said Kim Bergland, an outreach director for the National Fuel Cell Research Center and the ZEV-NET program. “The interest is definitely there, and participants like the program.”

Under the shared-use concept, a commuter from, say, Riverside who works for a company in Irvine can arrive at the transportation center in the morning, pick out a car and drive to the office. While the worker is on the job, the vehicle can be used for business-related trips.

At the end of the day, the employee drives back to the train station, where the car is recharged or left for other participants -- perhaps a later-arriving commuter returning from Los Angeles who could use the vehicle to get home.

In the morning, those commuters return the cars to the transportation center to keep the cycle going. Motorists can recharge the electric vehicles at work or at the train station, which is equipped with chargers.

“I like the communal idea. You don’t have to worry about parking, gas or wear and tear on your own car,” said Kurt Buckland, a mechanical design engineer at Quantum who drives one of the program’s Toyota RAV-4s to make the last part of his commute from Yorba Linda.

Buckland picks up the car after his Metrolink train arrives in Irvine at 7:30 a.m. The ZEV-NET parking lot is next to the station platform. He unplugs the charger cable, and he and his co-workers, Brian Grant and Lien Luu, both of Corona, make the 15-minute drive to the office.

A few parking spaces away, Mike Crespin, a technician at UC Irvine’s Advanced Power and Energy Program, heads toward his car, a Toyota e.com. The novel two-seater with its bulbous body and tiny wheels looks like something out of the circus.

“Shouldn’t you be wearing a clown nose?” Grant asks Crespin.

The hand-built e.com, which costs about $300,000, has a maximum speed of 50 mph and a range of 30 miles. Drivers have been told not to take it on the freeway because it might distract other motorists.

“My friends laugh at it all the time,” says Crespin, of Riverside, “but it’s a whole lot better than taking the bus.”

He turns the key. The car beeps and a green “Ready” light comes on -- the only indication the motor is running. Almost without a sound, Crespin accelerates out of the parking lot.

“This is a new transportation strategy. It is not a substitute for freeway commuting. It is an alternative to freeway commuting,” said G. Scott Samuelsen, director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center.

ZEV-NET had planned to have cars in the hands of 10 companies and institutions by the end of December. Bergland said the effort is only slightly behind schedule and that as many as six companies might enter the program in the next few months.

If all goes smoothly, there are plans to expand the fleet to almost 200 vehicles placed at six train stations in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

ZEV-NET participants generally get a choice of three Toyota vehicles -- an electric RAV-4, a small sport-utility vehicle; a Prius sedan that combines a conventional gasoline engine with an electric motor; and the e.com. The only fuel-cell Highlander available in Orange County is leased to the chief executive of Orthodyne, Gregg Kelly.

Businesses can lease two of the cars for $5,000 a year or four vehicles for $10,000. The terms of the Highlander lease have not been disclosed. Because of the relatively high cost, the program is being offered only to employers, not individuals.

As a pilot project, ZEV-NET will last at least three years and provide an opportunity for researchers to study transportation-related computers, the latest electric vehicles and the shared-use concept.

All ZEV-NET cars have electronic tracking devices to monitor their use, and diagnostic sensors to alert a UC Irvine control center of any breakdowns or mechanical problems. Participants say there have been few problems with the vehicles.

Several other shared-use programs with either low-emission or conventional vehicles are operating around the country, including Flex-Car in Seattle, Zip-Car in Boston and the Motion and Mobility project in Atlanta. They usually operate out of transit centers or other public areas.

In California, automakers participating in programs such as ZEV-NET can earn credits toward state requirements that, eventually, 10% of all cars sold in California be zero-emission vehicles.

The program also involves the city of Irvine, the Irvine Co., the Orange County Transportation Authority and the California Air Resources Board. Among the partners from UC Irvine is the Institute of Transportation Studies.

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