Vail's Mountain Haus Views -
“Environmental Stewardship” is the responsibility for environmental quality shared by all those whose actions affect the environment. Everyday, more than 300 million Americans make countless choices that can impact our environment. By being an active environmental steward we can reduce those impacts and make a difference in the kind of world we live in today and pass it on to future generations.
Vail’s Mountain Haus works in a variety of forums to promote sustainable energy technologies – such as solar and wind power – in order to help reduce our carbon footprint.
Our dedication reaches far beyond recycling paper and using Energy efficient light bulbs. From the LED Holiday lights to our paperless office to our fully electric company car, we strongly believe in exceeding the environmental programs with which we participate. Vail’s Mountain Haus is leading the way for the hospitality community within the Vail Valley, and are determined to be the prominent environmental advocates into the future.
What is this?
Vail’s Mountain Haus EV has an all-electric version of the popular RAV4 SUV. It is powered exclusively by NiMH batteries. Not a Hybrid, but exclusively electric(BEV/ZEV).
The EV has a governed top speed of 78 miles per hour (126 km/h), 0-60 time of 12 seconds (depending on state-of-charge on the batteries) and a range of 130 miles. The RAV4EV has 24 12-volt 95Ah NiMH batteries capable of storing 27.4kWh of energy. One gallon of gasoline contains the equivalent of 35kWh.
The batteries can be recharged from being fully depleted to fully charged in about 5 hours. Charging is supplied via magnetic induction by a 6000-Watt charging unit on 220 volt, 30 amp service.
Our EV has a charge timer built into the dashboard that enables the vehicle to start charging at a specific time. The price of electricity at night depends on the carrier, but is usually in the range of 60% of the normal rate. In the use of charging the RAV4EV, this equates to a cheaper cost-per-mile, roughly equivalent to a vehicle capable of 208.25 mpg, based on a price of US$4.00 per gallon. The average American automobile gas tank holds 17 gallons; this would take the EV 3540.25 miles on a single tank of gas. That is the equivalent to driving from Boston to L.A. and back to Salt Lake City!
There are only 328 privately owned RAV4 EVs in the U.S. The MSRP in 2001 was $42,000; but in California, ZIP-grant rebates of $9,000, decreasing in 2003 to $5,000, and a $4,000 credit from the Internal Revenue Service brought the price down to a more palatable $29,000 ($33,000 for some 2003 deliveries). The RAV4EV was manufactured by Toyota Motor Corporation between 1997-2003.
Vail's Mountain Haus was the first property in Vail VIllage to use LED lghts.
Vail Daily Article written June 25, 2008
9 News Brief June 26, 2008
Mountain Haus Charging Stations
Compact Fluorescent Lights(CFL) bulbs have also revoltionized energy-efficient lighting. CFLs are four times more efficient and last up to 10 times longer than incandescents and use 50 - 80% less energy. If everyone in the U.S. used energy-efficient lighting, we could retire 90 average size power plants.
