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Electric Vehicles
_____________________________________________ Latest news: Feb.
27 2013: Progress on hydrogen fuel-cell cars. Hyundai says it will become the world's first car-maker to
mass-produce fuel-cell cars powered by hydrogen. Initially just 1,000 units
will go to companies and public organisations by 2015,
________________________________________ Below
 October 2012: 100 mpg Ford hybrid announced. Ford is poised to roll out the C-MAX
Energi plug-in hybrid utility vehicle that can travel up to 620 miles powered
only by its lithium-ion battery and one tank of gas. The
C-MAX Energi is also America’s most fuel efficient plug-in hybrid. The EPA certifies the C-MAX Energi for 108 mpg equivalent in city
driving and 92 MPGe on the highway, for a 100 MPGe combined rating. linkFord, with the Focus model, will quite possibly lead the breakthrough in acceptance of electric vehciles, challenging the Nissan Leaf. (For other challengers in the market, see "Selection" lower down.) Tesla could be a serious market success later this year also. Tesla may be the company that makes the breakthrough on electric cars for the masses. In one way, it is not a car-maker in the traditional sense, but more like a company such as Apple - starting from scratch, with a product not based on conventional gas-engine vehicles. So, different completely from the Nissan Leaf or Volt. There have been huge risks, but staying with a plan that required first the expensive roadster to provide funding, it is coming closer to reality. As batteries become cheaper, and gas prices stay high, transition time for electric vehicles is getting within sight.
The Model S is sold out for 2012 - all 5000 cars have buyers. Now it's selling next year's cars, an estimated 20,000. It only makes cars for buyers, who can reserve a car for $5000 down. March 2012: Ford's Focus could be leader in sales soon. Ford
is taking a different approach to other EV manufacturers in producing the Focus
EV on the same production line as the gas,
February 2013: Estonia installs “world’s first” nationwide fast-charging network. Estonia has become what is thought to be the world's first country to launch a nationwide fast-charging network with 165 web-connected direct current chargers can recharge an electric vehicle in just 15 to 30 minutes, a fraction of the eight hours standard chargers typically require. Highway chargers are never more than 60km (37 miles) apart, making it possible for electric vehicles to travel across the country without running out of power. link June 2012: Alternative to plugging in electric cars 3 years away. A number of companies are developing ways to cut the cord, to replenish the battery wirelessly with a mat that sits on the floor. Coils on the underside of the car engage the charger when the car is parked over them. The mats are plugged in while the car isn’t. Automakers and suppliers expect to have the chargers ready for sale around 2015.link February 2012: Major advance in lithium-ion battery packs. Joint investment between the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors has enabled a breakthrough in lithium-ion cell technologies that could cut the price of electric vehicle batteries in half. Armed with $7 million from General Motors’ venture investment arm, G.M. Ventures, and $4 million from the Energy Department’s advanced energy research program, ARPA-E, California-based Envia Systems announced that it had created a battery pack with cells with energy density far greater than other technologies on the market. Envia says its new manganese-based cathode design allows lithium cells to store almost three times the amount of energy per charge than today’s commercial lithium-ion battery packs. link March 2011: A 5-minute fill up at the gas station? Imagine being able to charge your
cell phone in a matter of seconds or your laptop in a few minutes. That might
soon be possible, thanks to a new kind of nanostructured battery electrode
developed by scientists at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The
researchers found that their electrode can charge and discharge up to 100 times
faster than existing devices while holding the same amount of energy. High-storage
batteries that could charge and discharge quickly might make a number of
still-marginal technologies much more attractive. For example, if you could
recharge an electric car in minutes rather than hours, filling up your battery
at a charging station would take no longer than the amount of time it takes to
buy a tank of gas. link February 2011: 30-minute charging arrives. A San Diego, California-based company called 350Green LLC is installing 480-volt fast chargers that can fully replenish a lithium-ion car battery in less than 30 minutes, while 240-volt Level 2 chargers can take 90 minutes to four hours. Home chargers destined for garages have around 120 volts and can take up to eight hours for a full charge.link
July 2012: Hope for widespread adoption of EV’s by 2020. Anyone watching the electric vehicle industry’s progress over the past few years has probably been dismayed at the glacial adoption rate of EVs. It’s still rare to spot an EV on the road, even in major metropolitan areas. But take heart: even if we don’t reach some sort of gas price tipping point for EV adoption, research from McKinsey suggests that the price of lithium-ion batteries could plunge by 2020, creating a space for the EV market to flourish. link August 2012 update on EV sales in U.S. - link And further into the future, lithium air batteries. link Leap forward on lithium-air batteries. link The global market for plug-in vehicle charges will soar to $11.75 billion by 2015 to support the anticipated widespread distribution of electric vehicles in the coming years according to research by ABI Research. Their report entitled Plug-In Vehicle Infrastructures, projects a surge in the installation of charging station infrastructure, from just over 20,000 stations at present to approximately 3 million by 2015. In five years, the U.S. will represent 54% of the global market. link January 2011: J.D.Power market research company predicts the prospects for electric vehicles are low however. link
January 2012: Electric vehicles could soon be cheaper than conventional cars. This week, Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu gave a speech at the Detroit Auto Show about the progress being made on bringing down the costs of batteries - the biggest cost for EVs. He expects the cost for electric car batteries to drop 70% by 2015, down from a whopping $12,000 in 2008 to $3500 by 2015 and $1500 by 2020. link American taxpayers have pumped more than two billion dollars into electric drive vehicles. What are U.S. car companies doing? Jeff Young interviews writer Jim Motavalli on the future for America's big 3 and Asian companies in the coming years. read here October 2011: Plan to boost electric cars in eastern USA. Only about 1,000 of the 15,000 E.V.s on U.S. roads are in eastern states. A new collaboration aims to boost that number with more charging infrastructure. Based on population size some 200,000 electric vehicles, or 20% of President Obama's call for one million plug-in cars, could hit the region by 2015. link July 2011: The National Clean Fleets Partnership, announced by President Obama in April, is a public-private partnership that helps large companies reduce diesel and gasoline use by bringing electric vehicles, alternative fuels, and fuel-saving measures into their daily operations. Energy Secretary Steven said, "This initiative will support the nation's largest commercial fleets as they move to adopt fuel-efficient vehicles that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and improve our energy security." The Partnership furthers the Obama administration's goal to cut U.S. oil imports by one-third by 2025. Although the U.S. lags behind China and Japan in battery technology, President Obama wants the US to be at the forefront of electric vehicle production. President Obama has set a goal to have 1 million plug-in electric vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015. This is promoted by a federal tax credit of $7,500 for the purchase of plug-in electric vehicles. Obama’s vision is backed by $2 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with $1.5 billion earmarked for U.S. battery manufacturing. October 2010 : Portugal on track to be first nation with EV recharging network. In the first half of 2011, it will be possible to drive anywhere in the country without problems of recharging. Portugal plans to replace 10% of all vehicles with electric cars by 2020. link April 2011: Market to expand for 2-wheel electric vehicles. Market analyst Pike Research says two-wheel electric vehicles could number 138 million by 2017. Based on growing demand for and use trends in electric motorcycles and scooters, electric vehicles could be one of the world’s most widely used vehicles years from now. At present there are 17 million electric motorcycles and scooters on the road globally, with an annual growth rate of 9%. Plug In America is an advocacy group for electric vehicles.
September 2010: The future? Battery charging made simple. Pull up to a station, a mechanical arm installs a new fully charged replacement in less than 5 minutes. In Tokyo, a battery-changing station has been in operation for 90 days using 17kw lithium-ion batteries and accounted for more than 15,000 km (9,300 miles) of total mileage link  Lithium Batteries.
In order to mine the resource from the salt flat, technicians need to get a
brine to the surface, where it is evaporated in pools to expose the lithium. Half of the world's known lithium reserves lie in a remote salt flat in the
southern Andean plane of Bolivia which is not a country known to be friendly
to foreign businesses. Accounting for an estimated reserve of 5.4 million tons, the Salar De Uyuni
salt fields - predicted to become the Saudi Arabia of lithium - is being eyed by
the world’s largest auto companies. Compared with lithium reserves of 3 million tons in Chile, 1.1 million in China
and just 410,000 in the United States, the Bolivian reserve indicates the
leverage Bolivian President Evo Morales has.July
2012: US seeks return to lithium leadership. Two plants in North Carolina and Nevada
are the beneficiaries of the Obama Administration's quest to reclaim a
leadership position in lithium manufacturing, a key component of electric
vehicle batteries and consumer electronics. The US was a leader in lithium
production during the 1990s, but it now imports the majority from sources in
South America, just as demand for lithium has risen rapidly. link The Lithium Chase - worldwide sources being sought with battery potential uncertain.
October 2010: Alternative technology to recharge batteries
without plugs.
The problems presented by the need to recharge electric vehicles could become a
thing of the past, thanks to a new wireless charging technology which promises
to recharge a car's battery while it is being driven. Using an approach
reminiscent of a giant Scalextric without the wires, two New Zealand firms have
developed a wireless charging system where cars simply position themselves above
a charging pad rather than using a conventional plug. Cars fitted with a
receiving pad can be charged via a magnetic field created using an advanced
version of the Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) technology commonly found in
electric toothbrushes. Electricity can be transferred over gaps as large as
400mm, meaning that recharging pads could feasibly be fitted beneath asphalt
roads. Poor parkers can position their vehicles 250mm either side of the pad,
which would then power up the car overnight without drivers having to
remember to plug it in. Pilot systems have been
successfully tested on buses in Italy and Holland. link June 2010: Nanotubes expand lithium battery prospects. A lithium-ion battery with a positive electrode made of carbon nanotubes delivers 10 times more power than a conventional battery and can store five times more energy than a conventional ultracapacitor. The nanotube battery technology, developed by researchers at MIT and licensed to an undisclosed battery company, could lead to batteries that improve heavy-duty hybrid vehicles and allow faster recharging for electronic gadgets, including smartphones. link July 2010:General Electric introduces a new electric vehicle charger to accelerate adoption of plug-in electric vehicles. link March 2010: A group of Japanese vehicle manufacturers move towards standardizing how electric vehicles are charged to speed up adoption of clean energy cars around the world. link October 2009 : US utility companies pledge to aggressively pursue the creation of infrastructure to support the full-scale commercialisation and deployment of plug-in vehicles. link November 2012: Formula One electric motor racing series
is scheduled to begin in 2014, and help accelerate the development of electric
vehicle technology. link
China is now the largest global auto market. A report by McKinsey & Co predicts the Chinese electric vehicle market to be worth up to $220 billion by 2030. The government is adding fuel to the fire by offering local governments and taxi fleets up to $8,800 in subsidies for every electric or hybrid vehicle. Electric charging stations will soon be constructed in Beijing, Shanghai, and Tiajin. Even if powered by electricity generated from coal, electric cars will decrease carbon emissions by 19% and reduce urban air pollution. First time car owners comprise a whopping 80% of the market. link Currently Japan is the market leader in hybrids today with cars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight which run on both electricity and gasoline. Chinese leaders have adopted a plan aimed at turning the country into one of the leading producers of hybrid and all-electric vehicles within three years, and making it the world leader in electric cars and buses after that. China wants to raise its annual production capacity to 500,000 hybrid or all-electric cars and buses by the end of 2011 (from 2,100 in 2008). By comparison, CSM Worldwide, a consulting firm that does forecasts for automakers, predicts that Japan and South Korea together will be producing 1.1 million hybrid or all-electric light vehicles by then and North America will be making 267,000. link
Electric buses.
Better Place, a firm started by Shai Agassi, a 41-year-old Israeli and
co-founder of Project Better Place, is seeking a fundamental
challenge to petrol-driven cars. Better
Place, which will run the scheme with Renault are planning to market
around 160,000 cars annually by 2011 in Denmark and Israel. The car
maker is developing three models: a sedan, a compact city car and a
panel van. In Denmark, a car will cost up to 200,000 kroner ($37,600)
to buy. February
2013: Better Place struggling. Perhaps because of dramatically increased
competition in the electric car charging market, pioneer Better Place is
struggling to gain traction. On its third CEO in recent months,
Better Place announced it would be pulling out of the US and Australia, and focus
on its original markets, Denmark and Israel, where it has yet to sign
up enough subscribers. link November 2012: Success looking problematic for Better Place. Starting in Israel always
looked like one of the soundest elements of Better Place’s plan. But of the 64,000
totally electric vehicles that would be on the road in Israel by 2015, only 500
cars have sold in the first six months for a multitude of reasons. 27 battery-switching
stations are in place, and rows of lithium-ion blocks that can be lifted in and
out of the rear of a four-door Renault in a bit more than the time it takes to
fill up at the pump. link
Chevrolet's Volt.
(August 2009) GM is putting a lot of its faith in the Volt with a claim of 230 mpg.
However the Volt is still trailing alternative choices in mpg and cost
and could prove to be no more than PR and hope for GM read (Under current EPA guidelines for mileage ratings the Nissan Leaf rates 99 mpg compared to the Volt's 60 mpg.) New Nissan Leaf unveiled - August 2009 - Nissan announces the long-awaited Electric Mini one-year trial period. (August 2009) Two months into its pioneering field trials of electric-powered automobiles, MINI USA is gathering valuable, real-world data from 450 drivers of MINI E electric-powered vehicles. These vehicles are now in daily use in metropolitan New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles, where they are being driven by private customers, municipalities, universities, public utilities, non-profit and commercial organizations. The 100-mile range on a single charge that is being reported in the trials is an accurate reflection of the typical range of the MINI E on a full charge driven in the variable conditions of the real world. One contributor to a dedicated MINI E Facebook group has reported that he has achieved 141.2 miles on a single charge. link What's it like to live with an electric Mini? After 6 months driving an all-electric mini, a British businessman reports on what life is like with an all electric car. link
Fuel cell vehicles are basically electric vehicles that use hydrogen tanks rather than batteries for energy storage. With current technology, fuel cell cars tend to have greater range than pure electric cars. Hydrogen tanks are lighter than big battery packs and take much less time to fill. However, electric cars have the advantage of an existing charging infrastructure - a hydrogen station infrastructure has yet to be built. Sept. 15 2009: Hydrogen-powered vehicles are slowly gaining traction, first with an announcement last week that auto companies are spending billions on fuel cell vehicles, and now with news that Germany is planning with to launch a countrywide hydrogen fueling network by 2015. A total of eight companies (Daimler, EnBW, Linde, OMV, Shell, Total, Vattenfall and the NOW GmbH National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology) are working to bring the fueling network to fruition. link October 2012: Hydrogen fuel-cell cars re-emerge. Just when it looked like the
"hydrogen highway" had taken a permanent detour, automakers are once
again feeling lighter than air about prospects for the fuel. Nissan became the
latest to say it is ready to mass-produce cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
Honda, Toyota and Hyundai say they will have fuel-cell cars ready to go on sale
by 2015. link January 2011: Japanese carmakers in push for hydrogen
vehicles. Japan's top three automakers Toyota, Honda
and Nissan have united with Japanese energy firms in a push to commercialize
greener hydrogen fuel cell cars and build a network of fuelling stations. Along with 10 Japanese
energy groups including natural gas refiners and distributors, the companies
are aiming to build 100 filling stations by 2015 in Tokyo. link July 2010: Honda switches from hydrogen. Honda, which had previously favoured hydrogen fuel cells to batteries as the future technology for cars, revises its plans to concentrate on batteries claiming inadequate infrastructure development for hydrogen. link
Hydrogen fuel-cells not a solution for USA: Links to other alternative fuels: biodiesel hydrogen natural gas electricity propane ethanol supplied by the Department of Energy. |
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Commercial vehicles.
zero-emission cars being developed with Renault. Designed as a four-to-five seat, front-drive C-segment hatchback, Nissan says
the Leaf is not just for use as a specialty urban runabout, but rather, it was
designed as an everyday vehicle – a "real car" whose 160-kilometer+ (100 mile)
range meets the needs of 70% of the world's motorists. In the case of U.S.
consumers, Nissan says that fully 80% of drivers travel less than 100km (62 miles) per day, making the Leaf a solid fit for America's motoring majority. 
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