Jun 5, 2014 - 08:38 am
California, Freightliner, Fuji Electric, Charging Around the UK, Tesla.
Charge Ahead California Initiative: With this programme, the U.S. state is gearing up for one million zero-emission vehicles on Californian streets by the end of the decade. It secures funding for governmental rebates and incentives for EVs, making the technology available to middle- and lower income residents.
green.autoblog.com
Daimler truck approved: The Freightliner M2 106 hybrid has been approved for the New York Truck-Voucher Incentive Program, which is meant to reduce half of the incremental costs of technology for trucks and buses. The truck combines a diesel engine with a Eaton electric drive, lowering its fuel consumption and brake wear.
autorentalnews.com
Quick Charger in Manhattan: The publicly accessible 25 kW DC quick charger was installed by Fuji Electric Corp. of America and can recharge an EV in about one hour. It is the first ChargePoint quick charger in the city. At the same time, EV connect announced that it received funding to deploy and manage more than 100 charging stations throughout the Big Apple.
greencarcongress.com
Range is not a problem: Pod Points ‘Charging Around the UK’ is a 2,000 mile trip across the country in a Renault Zoe, leading through 15 towns and cities in 17 days. The goal is to showcase Britain’s charging infrastructure, as well as the capabilities of a modern electric vehicle.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Green energy incentive: German Model S drivers can pocket 250 euros (340 dollars) per year, if they power their Tesla as well as home with renewable energy. This is not a governmental incentive, but one the Californian carmaker will foot itself. Moreover, Tesla announced its cooperation with German SolarWorld, giving Tesla-owners discounts on solar carports.
focus.de (incentive, in German), pv-magazine.de (SolarWorld, in German)
Jun 4, 2014 - 08:30 am
Chariot, Cenex, Real Power, Car2go.
Ultra fast charging e-bus: Bulgarian capital Sofia is currently testing an electric bus designed by ‘Joint Ventures Chariot,’ which uses ultra-capacitors instead of batteries. While this means that the e-bus has to be recharged every 20 kilometres, charging only takes three to five minutes.
chariot-electricbus.com (press info)
Best practice: The Cenex (Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell technologies) will hold a consultation for fleet managers at next week’s ‘Company Car in Action’ (CCIA) event, to inform them about the possibilities of introducing electric cars into their fleets. The ‘Electric Vehicle Surgery’ is said to be personalised and free of charge.
fleetnews.co.uk
Powerful breakdown assistance: Indiana-based Real Power has developed an emergency fast-charger. Their Level 3 portable charger is built onto a Chevy truck, which has an on-board generator that develops enough power to recharge the battery of a Nissan Leaf in 20 minutes to 80 per cent via the DC quick charger. That could come in handy.
hybridcars.com
No more Car2go in the UK: Daimler’s carsharing service stopped operations in Great Britain, where it could be found in London and Birmingham. Reasons for the withdrawal are competition from other car clubs, as well as a strong British culture of car ownership.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk, europe.autonews.com
Jun 3, 2014 - 08:28 am
Oslo, Denmark, BYD, Electric Vehicles InMotion, London.
Oslo Airport EV ready: Norway’s EV fever has now reached the capital’s airport. An increasing number of travellers reach the airport in electric vehicles, which is why it will triple the number of park and charge spaces. The first 74 outlets are already ready for operation, another 50 will follow in September.
osloairports.com (in Norwegian)
Denmark gets Supercharger: Tesla installed its first Supercharger station in Denmark. Four charge points are from now on available to Model S drivers in the city of Middelfart, not far from Odense.
twitter.com, teslamotors.com
BYD good to go: The Chinese company said its 12-metre electric bus has passed the U.S. government’s structural testing programme in Altoona, Pennsylvania. An 18-metre model will have to undergo the same testing procedure before it can be sold in the States.
green.autoblog.com
Electric Vehicles InMotion: This is the name of a new programme offering firms in South Yorkshire, UK, the chance to lease electric cars. The scheme uses all available government grants to keep rates low. A Nissan Leaf can be leased from 212 pounds (355 dollars) a month, Renault’s entire Z.E range and the Zoe are available at similar prices.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Congestion charge to be raised: People driving into London’s centre with combustion engines will now have to pay 11.50 pounds per day (19.25 dollars), instead of the previously 10-pound daily fee (16.74 dollars). The new pricing will go into effect on June 16th, and is the first price increase since 2011.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Jun 2, 2014 - 08:47 am
Nippon Charge Service, ChargeBox, BMW, ZEV Action Plan, Wattmobile.
Nippon Charge Service: This a new company was jointly formed by Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi. It is designed to foster development of charging infrastructure in Japan and is financially backed by the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ). The new company will also introduce a universally-accepted charging card for customers of all four carmakers.
greencarcongress.com, insideevs.com
Fast-charger to go: The ‘ChargeBox’ by Swiss Designwerk promises charging at 22 kW almost everywhere. The box can be connected to Type 2 stations as well as regular industrial sockets and enables fast-charging via CCS and CHAdeMO. This convenience comes at a price however, as the ChargeBox starts at 15,000 Euro (20,000 dollars) or 16,500 Euro for the multi-connector version.
transportevolved.com
BMW’s efforts in China go further: The German carmaker announced that it and the State Grid Shanghai Electric Vehicle Co. will install 50 charging stations in Shanghai. The first CCS stations will stand near the former site of the 2010 Shanghai Expo and will provide charging service for BMW and other brands of electric cars.
online.wsj.com
Roadmap for ZEVs in the USA: The ‘Multi-State ZEV Action Plan’ will see eight states (California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont) try to put 3.3 million Zero-Emission-Vehicles on their streets within the next eleven years. The focus is on three key areas – building the market, improve tracking and provide standards, as well as improve the experience of existing EV owners.
electriccarsreport.com, nescaum.org (download action plan as pdf)
French e-carsharing competition: Bolloré will soon have a competitor on its domestic market. Wattmobile is set to start its electric carsharing service by June 19th, at train stations in Paris, Lille, Marseille and Lyon. Overall, the company plans to operate 20 stations in 15 cities, with six to be set up in the French capital.
technologicvehicles.com
May 28, 2014 - 08:48 am
Hamburg, Toyota, Hertz.
Plug-in buses for Hamburg: Public transport provider Hamburger Hochbahn and Volvo have signed an agreement for the delivery of three plug-in diesel-electric hybrid buses with an all-electric range of about 10 kilometres. The charging infrastructure and technology will come from Siemens.
automotiveworld.com; greencarcongress.com
Hydrogen infrastructure: Toyota will help local authorities in Japan and the U.S. with the development of infrastructure for hydrogen filling stations to speed up the adoption of fuel-cell cars. Next year, Toyota will introduce trailer stations that can be moved to different locations and serve as temporary filling stations.
just-auto.com
Hertz offers Chevy Spark: At Hertz car rental locations at the LA and San Francisco airports, as well as throughout the Golden State, drivers can now rent the .Chevy Spark. The EV was named the most efficient electriv vehicle in the 2014 Fuel Economy Guide released by the EPA and Energy Department.
earthtechling.com
May 27, 2014 - 08:34 am
Renault, BlueIndy, Hamburg.
Renault Kangoo Z.E. Down Under: The all-electric van from Renault has arrived in Australian. As part of a one-year trial, the Australia Post will put a total of four Kangoo Maxi Z.E. into service at its locations in Melbourne and Sydney.
electric-vehiclenews.com
BlueIndy test: John Voelcker got a taste of Indianapolis’ upcoming electric carsharing service when driving the BlueIndy by French Bolloré. With him was Herve Muller, VP of BlueSolutions, which will operate the system when it starts this December.
greencarreports.com
Twizy for a day: Together with parking company Q-Park, start-up Erfahre just opened new rental business in Hamburg, Germany. Located at Q-Parks’s XXL parking garage, customers can simply leave their gas-guzzlers behind and choose from a variety of electric and cargo bikes, as well as the all-electric Renault Twizy to explore the city.
abendblatt.de, dmm.travel (both in German)
May 26, 2014 - 08:29 am
UK, China, ChargePoint, HOV lanes.
Charge point incentive pending: The ‘Domestic Chargepoint Grant Scheme,’ under which home owners in the UK could receive up to 1,000 pounds for the installation of a home charger is on hold. Allegations of abuse through dubious installation providers now led to the programme pending “ministerial review.”
transportevolved.com
EV Sales in China: 2014 might be a good year for EVs in China, as 7,209 EVs were sold in the first quarter. That is almost half of the overall sales of last year (17,642). So far, the BYD Qin PHEV has proven the most popular choice with 3,294 units. Chery’s QQ3 EV came second best (1,600) followed by the BYD e6 (881).
ev-sales.blogspot.co.uk
ChargePoint exits EZ-Charge: Just before its launch, Nissan has lost one of its charging partners. ChargePoint dropped out of the EZ-Charge project, designed to give Leaf drivers access to multiple charging networks when it learned that its competitor NRG will be managing the programme.
greencarreports.com via chargedevs.com
No HOV for hybrids? An amendment to a highway-spending bill would forbid states to allow hybrids with only on driver on HOV lanes. Existing programmes could be continued though and also, plug-in hybrids, extended-range plug-in vehicles and electric vehicles are exempt from the new regulation.
green.autoblog.com
May 23, 2014 - 08:52 am
Ecotricity, Tesla, My Electric Avenue, CarCharging, ClipperCreek, TNM.
UK lawsuit against Tesla: Ecotricity has accused Tesla of a “smash and grab” tactic with regards to the ‘Electric Highway’ the utility provider has erected along Britain’s motorways. According to Ecotricity, it has helped Tesla to design its UK Supercharger network but is now being threatened by the company in an attempt to take over. Tesla refused to comment as the lawsuit at the High Court is now pending.
transportevolved.com
Superchargers in Down Under: Meanwhile, Tesla confirmed plans for a Supercharger network in Australia but not before early 2015, Tesla CTO JB Straubel said in a blog post. Superchargers in Down Under will use the same connector as European Model S.
valuewalk.com, teslamotorsclub.com (Tesla blog)
My Electric Avenue expanded: The British ‘My Electric Avenue’ project now includes two business fleets. Slough Borough Council in Berkshire and Your Homes in Newcastle both will lease Nissan Leafs for the next 18 month for selected employees to use and will also install charge points at their business premises.
fleetnews.co.uk
CarCharging to integrate Nissan stations: The charging provider has teamed up with Gridscape Solutions to develop a software, which will integrate Nissan’s DC Fast Chargers with the Blink Network. In an effort to expand consumer awareness of the electric car market, CarCharging and Nissan initially deployed 48 Nissan-branded quick chargers.
greenpowertrain.automotive-business-review.com
Smart grid enabled charger: ClipperCreek launched its ETL listed utility smart-grid connected charging station, the CS-40-SG2. It has been developed jointly with Itron and includes an embedded revenue grade sub-meter and a variety of smart grid communications options.
hybridcars.com, electriccarsreport.com
The future of parking: The New Motion (TNM) teamed up with Swiss start-up ‘parku’ to ease access to park and charging opportunities for EV drivers. TNM offers about 12,000 parking spaces for EVs which will now be available to book through the parku app. The app furthers enables payment and access to car parks.
dmm.travel (in German)
May 22, 2014 - 09:09 am
Google/GM, California, Arizona, New Orleans, El Hierro.
Electric ride-sharing: GM turned to Google to set them up with a ride-sharing at the internet giant’s HQ in Mountain View, California. The programme includes 30 Chevy Spark EV which Google employees can lend to go to meetings or even to drive home with. GM hopes to gain insights with what it calls his “learning pilot.”
detroitnews.com, greencarreports.com
EV incentives for all: In an updated proposal found by Silicon Beat, it looks like the California Air Resources Board (CARB) renounced its plan to exempt EVs that costs more than 60,000 dollars from its incentives (we reported). This means all future Tesla buyers can take a deep breath and apply for their 2,500-dollar rebate.
siliconbeat.com via green.autoblog.com
Two premieres in two states: The Arizona Office of Tourism has now issued the state’s first ‘Electric Vehicle Travel Guide’ designed to provide locations of all charging stations and combining them with sightseeing opportunities in the state. Meanwhile, Nissan opened a public charging station in New Orleans, the first of its kind in the city.
hybridcars.com (Arizona), greencarreports.com (New Orleans)
Clean energy island: Canary Island El Hierro wants to still all is energy demand autonomously and from renewable sources by the end of the year. Furthermore, all 6,000 vehicles currently on the island will be electrified by 2020, allegedly with the help of Renault-Nissan.
expatica.com, green.wiwo.de (in German)
May 21, 2014 - 08:48 am
BlueIndy, ABB, Tesla, BMW/CarCharging.
BlueIndy introduced: Indianapolis’ new carsharing initiative was presented to the press and public last weekend. The electric carsharing system by French Bolloré Group will become the biggest in the USA with 500 EVs, 1,000 charging stations and 200 service stations to be implemented within the next eight months.
puregreencars.com, greencarreports.com
ABB in China: The Swiss company plans to invest more than two billion dollars into the Chinese market within the next ten years. Apart from energy projects in about 100 cities and the set-up of the ABB industry center, some of the money will go into charging infrastructure. The latter is connected to ABB’s cooperation with Denza for which it produces DC wallboxes (we reported).
chinadaily.com.cn
British Superchargers to arrive: Tesla announced its plans to place Supercharger stations along an “electric highway” stretching from Dover and Bristol to the M25, and north along the M1 motorway. British Model S drivers will thus be able to cross the whole island with just one break.
telegraph.co.uk
BMW to cooperate with CarCharging: Infrastructure provider CarCharging will inform BMW i drivers about all Blink charging station locations in the U.S. through BMW’s ConnectedDrive in-vehicle navigation system and the BMW i Remote app. It will also provide real-time infos on the use status.
electriccarsreport.com
May 20, 2014 - 08:46 am
California, Volvo, Route Monkey, Formula Student.
New money for new energy: The California Energy Commission has approved funding for infrastructure projects. 3.5 million dollars will be spent on 181 new charging stations, 1.2m for operating and servicing fuel cell stations and another 2.3m are reserved for V2G demonstration projects.
electriccarsreport.com, puregreencars.com
Hybrid buses for Sweden: Volvo Buses has received an order for twelve of its Volvo 7900 Hybrids from Bergkvarabuss, a privately owned transit bus operator in Sweden. The buses are destined to serve in the city of Karlskrona from September this year.
Info via email
Forecasting residual value: British Route Monkey is working with Teesside University and Urban Foresight on a project to help EV fleet managers to determine residual EV value by establishing a protocol for the sharing of vehicle and manufacturers’ battery chemistry data to better predict the battery lifetime.
hybridcars.com
Team Amperas: Opel has granted all four of its sponsored teams in the Formula Student an Ampera, otherwise known as Volt. The range-extended EVs will be at the students’ service for the whole season.
noodls.com
May 19, 2014 - 08:21 am
Texas, H2FIRST, Electric Highway, New Zealand.
Texas embracing EVs: The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will pay up to 7.7 million dollars in financial incentives for electric cars. Also plug-in hybrids are eligible for the incentive of up to 2,500 dollars. Applications will be taken until June 2015.
electriccarsreport.com, puregreencars.com
H2 fuelling: A new project led by the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Laboratories will work in support of H2USA. The ‘Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure Research and Station Technology’ (H2FIRST) project aims at facilitating the construction of more H2 fuelling station as well as improving the fuelling experience.
share.sandia.gov, phys.org
Half a million electric miles: British drivers travelled more than 500,000 miles on the Electric Highway over the last twelve months, says Ecotricity. The utility provider that erected the charging stations along British motorways is expecting a further increase of users in the future.
electriccarsreport.com
Every 5th Kiwi fond of EVs: A survey by the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, found 20% of those questioned and willing to buy a car within the next five years would choose electric. However, high prices, limited range and rare infrastructure still stand in the way of potential EV sales.
victoria.ac.nz
May 16, 2014 - 08:25 am
E Valuation, Luxembourg, Mitsubishi, Honda, eMOTION Zürich.
E Valuation is the telling name of a new tool for fleet managers thinking about introducing EVs into their car pool. For this second, simplified version Alphabet teamed up with route planning specialist Route Monkey. The new E Valuation is designed to analyse smaller parts of a fleet and points out where EVs could replace existing vehicles cost-effectively.
fleetnews.co.uk
Luxembourg to be loaded: A new government initiative calls for 40,000 electric cars in the grand duchy by 2020 and is thus investing in charging infrastructure. 750 to 800 charging stations will be erected by Creos. At the stations, customers will be able to choose which utility provider they’d like to charge their EV with.
tageblatt.lu (in German)
Competitive pricing: The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, due to arrive on British shores later this month, will be available to rent for 219 pounds a month. Retail and business customers can further choose the 6.9% APR Finance option which results in monthly installments of 436 GBP for the 28,304-pounds car.
puregreencars.com
Fuel for humans: In a new promotional effort for its FCX Clarity, Honda gave out bottled water branded as H2O in Japan. While the water was not the original exhaust of its fuel cell model, it is anyway doubtful if water in plastic bottles is an appropriate tool to demonstrate ones green endeavours.
green.autoblog.com (with video)
Electric carsharing in Switzerland: Migros subsidy m-way started ‘eMOTION Zürich.’ The 16 project participants will share their electric vehicles when not in use online via the sharoo platform. Ten Renault Zoe, two Renault Kangoo Z.E., four Smart ED and one VW e-Up will be available for the next twelve months.
m-way.ch (in German)
May 15, 2014 - 08:21 am
California, Hino Trucks, GreenWay, One Tonne Life.
Update on investments: The California Energy Commission has published its “2014‐2015 Investment Plan Update for the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program.” 20 million dollars are reserved for H2 stations, another 15m for EV charging infrastructure and 5m for buying incentives.
greencarcongress.com, energy.ca.gov (the plan)
Low carbon commercial fleet: Two of Hino Trucks’s diesel electric cab-over trucks have been selected for the New York Truck – Voucher Incentive Program (NYT-VIP). The programme offers 19 million dollars in incentives to lower the emissions of medium to heavy duty commercial fleets in New York.
automotive-business-review.com
Slovakian quick charging network: GreenWay, known for its battery swapping in Bratislava (we reported), set up 15 CHAdeMO sites throughout Slovakia. The DC stations allow for west-to-east cross-country journeys and access will be given to GreenWay customers as part of their Easy Electric lease agreement.
transportevolved.com
Carbon reduction for real-real: In 2011, Volvo, A-hus and Vattenfall concluded the ‘One Tonne Life’ project in which a family was able to reduce its carbon emissions by 80%. Now, another family, the Jogensjös, has moved into the efficient house to live the low-carb lifestyle. The electric Volvo C30 has been replaced by a Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid.
onetonnelife.com (with video)
May 14, 2014 - 08:42 am
Clean City Alliance, Vienna, Tusker, California.
Opportunity charging: The Clean City Alliance (CCA) has just been launched by the Schunk Group, Heliox and Alliander Mobility Services. It is set to speed up the electrification of public transport by replacing diesel with electric buses and investing into fast charging infrastructure. CAC will further work with public transport authorities as well as manufacturers in all of Europe.
cleancityalliance.nl
Smart city of Vienna: The mayor of the Austrian capital presented the Smart City Wien framework. If confirmed by the municipal council in June, the plan could help to halve the number of cars on Vienna’s streets by 2030. By 2050, only vehicles with alternative drives would be allowed to enter the inner city.
Link (in German), smartcity.wien.at (the initiative’s website
Leading by example: All top executives of British Tusker are now driving electrically. Three of four directors chose the BMW i3, one a Nissan Leaf. The company also installed four charging points at its new office in Hertfordshire.
fleetnews.co.uk
A new H2 station opened in southern California: The latest addition to the cluster stands at California State University’s Hydrogen Research and Fueling Facility, which is not too far from Los Angeles. Nine out of a total of eleven H2 stations are clustered in the south of the Sunshine State.
green.autoblog.com, greencarreports.com
May 13, 2014 - 08:52 am
German fast-charging route, ChargePoint, e-clearing.net, Spain.
Let’s go: Tomorrow, the fast-charging route along the German Autobahn A9 will be opened. Eight fast charging stations are dotted along the 430 kilometres between Munich (Bavaria) and Leipzig (Saxony). The so-called Schnellladeachse (quick-charging axis) is part of the shared Schaufenster project of the German neighbouring states of Bavaria and Saxony. Participating partners are BMW, Siemens and E.ON.
elektromobilitaet-verbindet.de (in German)
ChargePoint funding: Charging network provider ChargePoint raised 22.6 million dollars in venture capital, including an investment from BMW. The startup is still looking for another 4.4m dollars in the current financing round. The money will be used to expand its sales force and to move into residential charging stations.
forbes.com
New roaming platform: A new roaming initiative by Smartlab (Germany), elaad (Netherlands) and Blue Corner (Belgium) called e-clearing.net has already found partners, namely E.ON, Vattenfall, T-Systems and Mitsubishi. Also, the Austrian Verbund AG is thinking about joining the platform, Smartlab says.
elektroniknet.de (in German), e-clearing.net (platform)
EV sales in Spain: A rather unimpressive 64 EVs were sold in April in Spain bringing down the EV share to 0.07% from last years’ 0.16%. Almost half of all sales went to Nissan (29 Leafs) followed by ten BMW i3 and six Renault Twizy. Come on, amigos, you can do better…
ev-sales.blogspot.de
May 12, 2014 - 08:22 am
BYD, Tesla, Leaseplan, UPS.
Record-setting EV order: The Chinese city of Hangzhou has ordered 2,000 all-electric buses and 1,000 electric taxis from BYD – one of the world’s largest all-electric fleets ordered to date. By making special arrangements, BYD will be able to already deliver 1,000 buses and 500 taxis by the end of 2014.
greencarcongress.com
Swiss service centre: Tesla opened a new service centre and showroom in Möhlin, Switzerland, on Friday. The 1,000 sq-metre facility will serve Tesla drivers in the Basel region. It is Tesla’s fifth site in the alpine country (after Geneva, St. Gallen, Winterthur and Zurich), and more locations are to follow this year.
aargauerzeitung.ch (in German)
Trial lease: Fleet management company Leaseplan now offers its clients the Nissan Leaf for a three-month trial period, to let them find out if the car is suitable for their business operations. In return, trial users are asked to give feedback. In total, Leaseplan customers have 150 electric cars in their fleets.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
UPS electric in the Netherlands: A total of four UPS delivery vans have been converted by German EFA-S (Elektro Fahrzeuge Schwaben GmbH) and are now in service in Rotterdam. In October 2013, six of the P80-E had already been put in service in Amsterdam.
electriccarsreport.com, puregreencars.com
May 9, 2014 - 08:41 am
Nissan, DriveNow, Car2go, Malaysia, Eurabus.
Nissan Leaf success story: In one year, C&C Taxis from St. Austell, UK, logged no less than 150,000 miles with their five Nissan Leafs. On average, each car is able to make 40 runs per day, thanks to the company’s own DC quick charger – the only one in Cornwall. Compared to the previous diesel taxis, the company has saved 40,000 pounds (68,000 dollars) on fuel bills.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk, fleetnews.co.uk
DriveNow takes the streets of San Fransisco: BMW’s carsharing service offer street parking in selected neighbourhoods across the Californian city, starting in the Mission District. It will also add another 80 all-electric ActiveE vehicles to its fleet there. DriveNow members can even vote on names for the newcomers.
electriccarsreport.com
Car2go Italy: As of May 14th, Car2go will be available in another Italian city – Florence. So far, the Daimler carsharing service operates in Milan and Rome and with its new addition has conquered a total of 27 cities worldwide. However, Amsterdam, San Diego and Stuttgart remain the only cities with electric Car2gos.
auto.it (in Italian)
EV carsharing in Malaysia: Starting in August, the joint venture between CMS Consortium Sdn Bhd (Comos), Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI) and Malaysian Green Technology Corporation (GreenTech Malaysia) will offer the country’s first EV carsharing programme. The service will start in Klang Valley with about 40 cars of the type Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe.
thestar.com.my
Electric Eurabus: Public transport operator KViP from Pinnerberg, Germany, just leased the latest model of the Eurabus 2.0-300. The 12-metre electric bus from Chinese manufacturer Tewoo has been modified by Berlin-based Eurabus GmbH to meet European specifications. The bus’ battery has a capacity of 314 kWh, enabling a range of more than 250 kilometres when in service.
prignitzer-leasing.de (in German)
May 8, 2014 - 08:19 am
Hyundai, Van Hool, SemaConnect.
Hyundai for European Parliament: For the third consecutive year, the European Commission-backed Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) has chosen the ix35 FCV as a demonstrator. It will be driven by Members of the European Parliament and other EU officials.
hybridcars.com
Van Hool H2 bus: RVK is the first public transport operator in Germany to use Van Hool’s A330 FC fuel-cell buses. The 150 kW fuel-cell together with a Li-ion buffer battery powers two electric motors with 85 kW each. Two of these prototypes will be put in regular service on routes in the cities of Hürth and Brühl.
newstix.de (in German)
Chargers for Connecticut: SemaConnect secured a contract to supply its EV charging stations to the town of Bethel. The new level-2 stations will help extend the state’s current network, with 50 of Connecticut’s 169 communities already offering electric vehicle charging.
automotive-business-review.com
May 7, 2014 - 08:42 am
Schneider Electric/ChargePoint, Madrid, Tuk Tuk Factory, Italy.
EVlink charging stations by Schneider Electric are cloud-enabled and can be integrated into the ChargePoint network. The new stations come either for wall or pedestal installation and feature the SAE J1772 connector (Type 1).
greencarcongress.com, altenergymag.com
Smart parking metres: The city of Madrid is installing smart parking metres that will charge drivers differently depending on their type of car and the current local parking demand. Hybrid cars will receive a 20% rebate on the standard rates, whereas electric cars park for free.
theguardian.com
E-Tuk goes USA: Amsterdam-based The Tuk Tuk Factory has secured a deal with e-Tuk USA, which now is the official E-Tuk distributor for the US. The first three vehicles have reached Denver and are currently in the process of gaining certification from the US Department of Transportation.
traveldailymedia.com
Made in Italy: Bicycles from Italy prove to be very popular among buyers in Europe. General export figures increased by 39% in 2013 compared to 2012. Because of anti-dumping duties on China-made bikes, the numbers on E-bike exports were able to rise by 12%.
bike-eu.com
May 6, 2014 - 08:40 am
Tesla, Voltabox, Klagenfurt, Boulder, EV charging station costs.
Supercharging Europe: Tesla just opened two new Supercharger locations in Austria and Germany. One is located in Austria’s capital Vienna, while the other is suitable located to connect between the two German mayor cities of Berlin and Hanover.
twitter.com (Photos), teslamotors.com (Austria), teslamotors.com (Germany)
Trolleybus batteries: Voltabox, a U.S. subsidiary of German paragon AG, has received a major order for the supply of at least 200 back-up battery systems to be used in combination with Vossloh Kiepe powertrains. Up to 530 of these buses will be put in service in Seattle and San Francisco.
globenewswire.com
Electric logistics: The E-LOG project in Klagenfurt, Austria, aims to set up a decentralised logistics centre to support the use of 200 commercial EVs. The vehicles and charging infrastructure will be commissioned by logistics and service businesses to serve 150,000 residents in the area. Solar panels on the roof of the logistics centre will provide as much as 600,000 kWh annually to power the cars. Almost all of the project vehicles will be EVs made by Renault.
kaernten.orf.at (in German), klimafonds.gv.at (vehicles, in German)
Stand-alone solar charging: The city of Boulder, Colorado has installed two stand-alone solar charging stations. The solar arrays are able to follow the sun and generate approximately 16 kWh a day. When no car is charging, the power is stored in a 22-kWh buffer battery. The use of the stations is free of charge.
chargedevs.com
There is no such thing as free charging: Often, the use of charging stations is free to those charging, but what about the real costs of installing a station? Cleantechnica did some research and put together the numbers for the U.S. As you might have guessed, DC chargers are the most expensive.
cleantechnica.com
May 5, 2014 - 09:18 am
California, H2USA, BYD, BMW, NREL, Indianapolis, Bolloré.
H2 campaign: The California Energy Commission supports the installation of 28 H2-fuelling stations, investing 47 million dollars in the project. 27.6 million dollars are allocated for a total of 19 Toyota and FirstElement Fuel joint projects, some of which will be installed at existing gas stations. Linde LLC plans to set up a H2-fueling station in San Ramon.
toyota.com, just-auto.com
California joins H2USA, a public-private partnership headed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE). The goal is to push commercialisation of clean energy technologies and especially fuel cell technologies and H2-fuelling infrastructure.
electriccarsreport.com
News from BYD: The Chinese manufacturer kicks off production of one of its e-buses at its new plant in California. Some 200 electric buses are set to roll off the production line there every year. The first will hit the streets of LA in August. Meanwhile, BYD has delivered three units to Taiwan.
chargedevs.com (California), automobiledistribution.automotive-business- review.com (Taiwan)
Sun(ny) roof: BMW Designworks USA has developed a solar carport, especially designed to the BMWi models. Using the BMWi Wallbox Pro, a live readout of the power generated from the panels vs. taken from the grid is possible.
bmwblog.com
Interim results: The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has begun its evaluation on the first results collected during six months into a 12-month trial of 10 medium-duty Smith Newton electric vehicles (EVs) and 10 comparable conventional diesel vehicles operated by Frito Lay in the Seattle area. The test focuses on fuel economy, maintenance and durability.
nrel.gov
16 million dollars for car-sharing: The city of Indianapolis and utility provider Indianapolis Power and Light want the state to foot the bill for installation of charging infrastructure and power lines for a proposed EV-sharing programme. French Bollore will supply all 500 EVs as well as invest 35 million dollars in the programme.
indystar.com
Apr 30, 2014 - 08:46 am
Great Britain, Nissan, British Gas, ebuggy, The New Motion, Car2go.
500 more millions: The British government specified the second round of its ‘ultra-low emission vehicle’ initiative. Another 500 million pounds (841.2m dollars) will be invested in the continuation of the 5,000-pounds buying incentive, the creation of green city areas and research and development. 32 millions are reserved for the installation of new fast chargers.
gov.uk, businessgreen.com, transportevolved.com
British Gas convinced by Nissan: After a six-month trial phase of the e-NV200, the British utility provider has now decided to actually place a bulk order. 50 electric vans are due for immediate delivery, another 50 are set to follow by the end of this year.
fleetnews.co.uk, thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Battery trailer: German company ebuggy set out to solve the range issue of electric cars. Instead of recharging at a station, EV drivers just pick up a trailer full of battery cells said to last for 300 miles. When empty, the ebuggy is to be swapped or left at another station. So far, the project is at prototype stage.
ecomento.com (with video) via greencarreports.com
Correction: As we reported yesterday, The New Motion and Alliander Mobility Services will jointly erect a fast-charging network in the Benelux countries. But the 200 multi-system chargers for Germany will be set up solely under the responsibility of The New Motion.
Roam (more) freely: Car2go is opening up its car sharing offers. By next week, users in Germany, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands will be able to use cars in the respective cities with just one account. In a similar move, Car2go will unite drivers in the states and Canada but cross-continental roaming has yet to be enabled…
daimler.com (Europe, in German), cleantechnica.com (North America)
Apr 29, 2014 - 08:22 am
The New Motion, Primove, Tesla.
One for all: As electrive.com has learned, The New Motion and Alliander Mobility Services will install 60 quick-charging stations in the Benelux countries this summer. The ‘3-in-1’ multichargers will feature AC fast charging, CHAdeMO and CCS.
Info exclusive to electrive.com
Primove part II: After Braunschweig (we reported), now also Mannheim is part of the inductively charging e-bus project by Bombardier and KIT. There, construction of the first bus stop with the Primove wireless charging technology has just started. From summer this year, the Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH – Mannheim’s public transport provider – will electrify bus service 63, with two 12 meter e-buses serving the entire route.
newstix.de (in German)
Details on Tesla solar chargers in China provided by Hanenergy reveal the use of extra thin film for its photovoltaic system. This makes the car ports very light and easy to install while the conversion rates of the PV system is said to peak at 20.5 per cent.
cleantechnica.com
Apr 28, 2014 - 08:36 am
Tesla, California, Pennsylvania.
Tesla roll-out in China: Finally, the first Model S have been handed over to Chinese customers. 5,000 more orders remain to be fulfilled. Meanwhile, the Chinese Hanergy Solar Group has installed the first two Superchargers for Tesla. One solar carport stands in Beijing, the other one in Shanghai.
gasgoo.com (Model S delivery), electriccarsreport.com (Supercharger), youtube.com (Video)
California tops up: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) decided to expand its funding of electric cars and plug-in hybrids. The five million dollars currently reserved for the waiting list will be topped up by another 25 million. Since the start of the programme in 2010, CARB spent about 100 million dollars.
arb.ca.gov via greencarcongress.com
New chargers in Pennsylvania: The Car Charging Group has installed two new public chargers. The Blink stations are located at the Bowmansville and King of Prussia service plazas along the Pennsylvania Turnpike where a total of 17 chargers are set to be installed eventually.
chargedevs.com
Apr 25, 2014 - 08:31 am
The New Motion, RAC, eConnect Cars, Vienna, Japan.
Dutch taking over Berlin: The New Motion (TNM) from the Netherlands has installed the first four EV charging stations at Berlin shopping malls run by ECE which has 189 malls all over Europe. The charging cooperation is set to be expanded to other shopping centres in Germany the coming months.
emobilitaetonline.de (in German)
Recharge to the rescue: UK’s breakdown service provider, RAC, is launching its first mobile electric charging system today. The new EVRescue system can deliver around 15 miles of range to an electric vehicle stranded with an empty battery in less than half an hour.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
EV with a driver: The chauffeur service Comfort Executive now cooperates with eConnect Cars to offer its customers an electric vehicle option. Both companies are based in London. eConnect Cars is a start-up which provides business customers with Nissan Leafs.
fleetnews.co.uk
E-Bike charger erected: In Vienna, two solar charging stations for electric bicycles have been erected by SEW Eurodrive. They accompany another eight EV chargers which are part of the Intercharge network in the Austrian capital.
leisure.at (in German)
Sales in Japan: A total of 2,421 plug-in cars have been sold in Japan last month, a little less than in the same month a year ago (3,466). The Nissan Leaf was the favourite among buyers and sold 1,201 times with the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV following in its wake with 736 units.
ev-sales.blogspot.co.uk
Apr 24, 2014 - 08:22 am
BESIC, LeasePlan, MRA-E, ABB, Tesla.
Battery-electric heavy goods vehicles: At Hamburg’s industrial harbour, ten electric HGVs have been in operation since 2011 and are transporting containers between warehouses and ships. Now, a new research project called BESIC (Battery Electric Heavy Goods Transports within the Intelligent Container Terminal Operation) aims to develop a system which will charge the batteries of these container transporters mainly at times when the grid has a surplus of renewable energy generated in northern Germany.
portofhamburg.com
Personal-public charge point: The Dutch LeasePlan now cooperates with the Metropolitan Region Amsterdam Electric (MRA-E) to offer customers the option to install a charging station within 300 metres of their home when leasing an EV. The stations will remain public and charge two vehicles.
e-mobility-nsr.eu
Multi-charger certified: ABB announced that their Terra 23/53 fast charger has been certified according to the new EU standard for DC fast chargers. The ABB multi-standard chargers thus comply with CHAdeMO, the CE standard and industry guidelines.
abb.com
Better place for Tesla? In Isreal, rumours of Tesla reviving the obsolete charging infrastructure of Better Place have been spread. At the same time, Israeli company Mobileye, which plans to test its autonomous-driving technology in a Tesla (we reported), clarified that the system will only enable drivers to switch to autopilot very briefly, i.e. to check or write a text message.
greenprophet.com
Apr 23, 2014 - 08:48 am
Switzerland, Scotland, Braunschweig, India, UK.
Tesla expands leasing: Tesla now expanded its partnership with Sixt Leasing from Germany to Switzerland. Swiss Tesla fans can get the Model S from 810 to 950 francs (920-1,070 dollars) per month, depending on the mileage cap.
wallstreet-online.de
EV for car club in Scotland: The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation together with the City Car Club has launched the first car club electric vehicle in Edinburgh’s Old Town. Three more electric cars to share are set to follow soon.
fleetnews.co.uk
Inductively charging e-bus: In Braunschweig, Germany, the ‘Solaris’ e-bus by Vossloh Kiepe is now in service using Bombardier’s inductive charging system Primove. The vehicle is part of the project ‘EMIL’ (we reported). From October, four more e-buses will follow.
greencarcongress.com
India to ‘decentivise’ diesels: The Indian government has plans to put an additional 30% environment compensation charge on diesel vehicles. At the same time, emission norms might be tightened to follow the European legislation.
eco-business.com
First UK supercharger? Transport Evolved has published a spyshot of what they believe to be one of the first Tesla superchargers in the UK. The charging posts, which are still covered up, are located at South Mimms motorway services on the M25 motorway that orbits London.
transportevolved.com
Apr 22, 2014 - 08:25 am
Electric Motorway, EMILIA, BYD, ITE.
Electric motorway: The UK Highways Agency (HA) plans to test wireless charging of EVs when travelling on a motorway. So far, HA has not given details but has issued criteria like a lifecycle comparable to that of asphalt (+16 years), cost-effective maintenance, and charging at high speeds.
electric-vehiclenews.com, eandt.theiet.org
Urban electric freight: ‘EMILIA’ (Electric Mobility for Innovative Freight Logistics in Austria) is a project by the Austrian Institute looking at ways to electrify freight transport in cities. The Climate and Energyfund and the Austrian ministry of technology support EMILIA with 2.6 million euros. The project will end in 2017 with a demonstration phase implementing all sizes of electric vehicles including electric cargo trikes.
ots.at (in German)
Canada approves BYD e-bus: The electric bus made in China is now allowed to go on sale and operation in Canada as it received the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) certificate and has been put on the ‘Vehicle Manufacturers Registry‘ with Transport Canada.
electriccarsreport.com
Mobile charging system: The Spanish Instituto Tecnológico de la Energía (ITE) says it developed the first mobile charging system for electric vehicles. Simply, what the PREMISE project came up with is a portable EVSE the size of a suitcase.
sciencedaily.com
Apr 17, 2014 - 08:09 am
Nissan, ChargePoint, INEES, National Parks, Copenhagen.
Public charging simplified: Nissan will introduce the EZ Charge card which will give Leaf owners access to chargers on four networks: Aerovironment, Blink (now operated by Car Charging), ChargePoint, and NRG eVgo. Additionally, Nissan’s “No Charge to Charge” promotion has been expanded and will allow new Leaf owners in now 25 states to charge their cars for free in the first two years.
greencarreports.com (charge card), green.autoblog.com (free charging)
ChargePoint partnership: Every new Cadillac ELR now comes with the charge card from ChargePoint charging network included. Drivers can immediately sign up for the service and get access to 16,500 charging stations.
electriccarsreport.com
EV swarm intelligence: INEES is a new project testing how electric cars could work as energy storage in a smart grid. A trial with 20 VW e-Up has now been started in Berlin. SMA Solar Technology AG has developed a wallbox that is able to charge and discharge the e-Up through the CCS outlet. Green utility provider Lichtblick will control the system with, what they call, ‘Schwarmstrom’ (swarm energy). Participants can decide via app on their smartphone, how much energy they want to feed back into the grid to gain credits.
iwr.de (in German)
National Parks to go greener: In a joint effort, the DoE and National Park Service (NPS) announced nine new projects to introduce clean vehicles to nine of the 13 nature reserves in America. Vehicles include electric and hybrids but also other forms of alternative fuel solutions.
greencarreports.com
Clever charging: The Danish e-mobility provider CLEVER will install another eleven 22 kW charging stations in Copenhagen. By summer, a total of 29 CLEVER chargers are set to supply the EVs of the Danish capital. In total, Clever is operating about 110 charging stations throughout Denmark.
emobilitaetonline.de (in German), clever.dk (in Danish)
