DECEMBER 2011 - Electrical Business Magazine

Hydro-Quebec proceeds with 3rd
phase of all-electric i-MiEV project
Hydro-Quebec announced the 10 Boucherville
businesses selected to participate
in a trial of the all-electric Mitsubishi
i-MiEV. The 10 vehicles will be delivered
to their respective drivers in December.
The 10 businesses whose employees
were selected to take part in the third
phase of the trial (following a call for
expression of interest issued last June) are:
Astral, Boutique Mère & Mousses, Collège
Èdouard-Montpetit, Bell, La Résidence
des Berges, Bombardier Transportation,
Les Entreprises Hamelin, Metro, Pratt &
Whitney Canada and Sandoz Canada.
Employees from the selected business
will test the all-electric i-MiEV in their
daily activities. Like the participants in the
first two phases of the program, they must
drive an average of 50 km per day using
both highways and local streets. They will
have access to charging stations at their
homes and workplaces.
“Hydro-Québec is proud to welcome
these businesses to its program and
offer them the possibility to test the first
i-MiEVs designed for the North American
market,” said Pierre-Luc Desgagné, senior
director strategic planning at Hydro-
Québec. “The needs and driving patterns
of these 10 new participants will provide
valuable information, in addition to what
has already been obtained from the 20
current participants. All of this data will
help us complete the Boucherville trial.”
The program will continue until the end
of 2013. The initiative follows the Action
Plan for Electric Vehicles unveiled by the
Quebec government last April 7.
“It is with great pride that the city of Boucherville
will have welcomed, since the beginning
of the trial program, a total of 30 electric
Tempo Industries converts entire
California HQ to LED lighting
Tempo Industries Inc. (www.tempoindustries.
com), a 25-year-old manufacturer of LED lighting,
has converted its California U.S. headquarters
facility completely to LED lighting, including
offices and manufacturing areas.
“As a pioneer and leader in entertainment, architectural
and commercial LED lighting, Tempo
believes it has a responsibility to use the same
LED technology which we promote to customer
markets,” said Tempo founder and chairman,
Dennis Pearson. “It is important for us to ‘put our
money where our mouth is,’ step up and embrace
the most advanced LED technology for all of the
energy and maintenance savings it delivers, as the
epitome of sustainable ‘green’ lighting technology.”
“Since its change this year to all LED illumination,”
he added, “Tempo has experienced
a 42% reduction in lighting-related energy
usage. The energy-saving benefit is ongoing,
and Tempo will reap those benefits for years to
come. Close to one-year in with the now completed
changeover, lighting maintenance and
lamp replacement costs have dropped from an
ongoing, constant annual expense to zero.”
Pearson pointed out that the main hurdle for a
vehicles to its streets, collecting data that will help
evaluate the needs of drivers of this type of vehicle,”
said Jean Martel, mayor of Boucherville. “Boucherville
will be the first city in Canada to take part in the
country’s largest electric vehicle trial, along with
Hydro-Quebec and Mitsubishi. We are happy to
have contributed to developing a greener economy.”
In December 2010, as part of the first phase of the
electric vehicle testing program, five i-MiEVs were
delivered to the city of Boucherville, the Centre
de santé et de services sociaux Pierre-Boucher and
Hydro-Quebec. In June 2011, 13 Boucherville businesses
took part in the second phase of the program
and shared an additional 15 i-MiEVs.
industry news
company in an LED lighting conversion is the
“natural skepticism” associated with adopting
any new, different technology. However, according
to Tempo, employees claimed to see a dramatic
improvement in working conditions after
the LEDs were installed.
“Both manufacturing and office employees
experience less eyestrain and fewer headaches
with LED lighting. Plant assembly and office
tasks were improved because of a more diffuse,
shadow-free workplace environment, with more
efficient LED lighting products,” it said.
Tempo was founded in 1986 as a developer
and manufacturer of advanced specialty- and
LED-based lighting systems for the cinema, theatre
and other entertainment market segments,
which today includes commercial, institutional
and industrial markets as well.
Over the next three years, Hydro-Quebec will
oversee road tests to evaluate the performance
of 30 i-MiEV vehicles. The trials are designed to
study charging needs, driving habits and driver
satisfaction as well as the interaction between the
vehicles and the electric grid.
The i-MiEV, which stands for Mitsubishi
Innovative Electric Vehicle, is based on the
Japanese i-Car platform. It is an all-electric,
highway-capable, charge-at-home commuter car
with zero tailpipe emissions. Capable of travelling
120 km on a single charge, Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV
can be recharged in 6 hours using a 240V outlet
(or 13 hours using a 120V outlet).
www.EBMag.com • December 2011 • 7