Plug-in sales jump 77 percent in Europe: EVs and plug-in hybrids are doing well compared to the same period last year. Especially Norway had EV sales grow (+302%), while France saw a small drop (-12%). The Nissan Leaf remains the best-seller among EVs, followed by the Tesla Model S and Renault Zoe. thinkprogress.org
Stuttgart gets electric taxis: Four Mercedes B-Class ED and one Vito E-Cell will roam the streets of the German city. Daimler, Bosch, the University of Stuttgart, the Research Institute of Automotive Engineering and Vehicle Engines Stuttgart (FKFS), Dekra and local taxi companies are all part of the project named ‘Guest.’ The trial is also supported by the German Ministry of Transport with 1.12 million euros. stuttgarter-nachrichten.de, badische-zeitung.de (both in German)
ElectrAA-fying the UK: A group of motorists from the British town of Malvern (just south of Worcester) has founded the Malvern Hills Electric Automobile Association (ElectrAA) to promote the use of electric vehicles. It says that the area is especially equipped to swap nuzzles for plugs, since six charging points were installed there that people can use for free. worcesternews.co.uk
EVs to the rescue: In order to make up for lost power sales, utility companies should focus on providing power to electric vehicles and push for the electrification of the transportation sector, says Peter Kelly-Detwiler of Forbes. There is a lot up for grabs – to date, about 93% of power in that industry still comes from petroleum. forbes.com
Google drive: The residents of Mountain View will soon be able to hop on and off an electric shuttle bus sponsored by the internet company. The pilot project is set to start this autumn with four 16-seaters that also come with bicycle carriers. The service will run every 30 minutes and is free. bizjournals.com, losaltosonline.com
Who is to pay for BlueIndy? Apparently, the city of Inidianapolis has urged its utility provider to apply an extra charge to help finance the planned electric car sharing by French Bolloré group. Obviously, this plan has now sparked opposition by ratepayers, who would never have anything to do with the electric cars. indystar.com
Special edition P1: McLaren’s Special Operations team has been commissioned by a North American customer to outfit his hybrid super car to unique specifications for the Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach. While the “regular” P1 is limited to 375 pieces, now only 374 of them will be left alike. autoblog.com
EV license plate: Rhode Island created a special license plate for EVs. Its aim is not primarily privileges but to give first responders an indication that they are approaching an electric car. Instead of “Ocean State” the words “Electric/Hybrid” will appear on the plate. valleybreeze.com
EV sharing in Yokohama: The Japanese branch of Mercedes-Benz will be offering a one-way car sharing service called Smaco in Japan from September. Together with Orix and Amano, the carmaker will deploy 20 Smart ED which can be collected and returned at eight stations in the metropolis. orix.co.jp
Linde’s global H2 technology: In Japan, Iwatani has opened the country’s first commercial hydrogen fuelling station in Amagasaki. Its components are made in Germany by Linde. The North American branch of Linde has meanwhile erected two new H2 stations in California. hydrogenhq.com (Japan), green.autoblog.com (California)
Electric Jeepney: In the Philippines, the “jeepney,” a decorated bus-like vehicle, gets electrified. The task has been taken on by domestic Global Electric Transport together with its partner Pangea Motors from the States. They now started serial production of the COMET (City Optimized Managed Electric Transport) and plan to build 20,000 of the 18-seater over the next five years. wheninmanila.com, green.autoblog.com
Hydrogen at Heathrow: Air Products, the operator of the London airport’s H2 station, has introduced an additional SmartFuel hydrogen high pressure tube trailer to its fleet. It will add a 700 bar refuelling capability to the public hydrogen refuelling station. fleetnews.co.uk
Hurry up, if you happen to live in North Yorkshire. The Richmondshire District Council together with Yorkshire Energy Partnership is offering to set residents up with a free charging facility to those with off-street parking space. However, the ‘Electric Richmondshire’ scheme is only available until August 18. thenorthernecho.co.uk
OMV looks into hydrogen: The Austrian energy corporation is looking to invest about 20 million euros into further developing hydrogen technology. In 2012, OMV opened its first H2-station in Vienna and another one is set to follow in Innsbruck this year. Furthermore, the company is part of an initiative that aims at erecting 400 public hydrogen stations in Germany by 2023. kurier.at (in German)
Plug-in only: The Arizona Department of Transportation redefined access to the HOV lanes. Whereas before Toyota Prius, Honda Civic hybrids and Honda Insights were eligible, now only plug-in hybrids and range extended models are allowed to use the extra lanes on the road. azdot.gov (full list) via azcentral.com
MEA for business: The My Electric Avenue project extended its scope to enclose trials at the workplace. In the North East of the UK, Your Homes Newcastle (YHN) became one participant. The company has now six chargers on its premises to be used by 13 employees who leased the Nissan Leaf privately. bdaily.co.uk
Sales of used EVs double: Experian Automotive reports an increase in the purchase of used electric and hybrid cars in the UK. In the first quarter of this year, EV sales rose by 47.10% while used hybrids were bought 24.16% more often than in the same period in 2013. fleetnews.co.uk
Charging design flaw? Like with most multi-system charging stations, at Ecotricity’s stations only one charge unit can be used at a time. That means that EVs with standard AC chargers (Type 2 with 3.7 kW) keep others with AC 43 kW or CHAdeMO and CCS from fast charging. Reason enough for some frustration. transportevolved.com
BYD built the biggest charging station for e-buses to date in Nanjing, China. Up to 300 electric buses can be recharged there at once. This is a realistic scenario, as the city recently ordered 600 electric buses from BYD (we reported). 20 more of these charging sites are to follow. wantchinatimes.com
Supercharger density: Tesla is keeping busy putting up new charging stations and has just announced five new ones in Europe. For Belgium, it is definitely the first one and also Slovenia now has a (red) spot on the Supercharger map. twitter.com, teslamotors.com (with maps)
Greece to promote EVs: The Greek Ministry of Energy aims to promote e-mobility in the country. A first step will be the establishment of the ‘Network of Electric Mobility’ to start a public campaign. To date, only 25 EVs have been registered in Greece, putting the country far off the EU’s agenda. greekreporter.com
Electric tour guides: On Malta, the start-up Xception Malta has started the ‘Rolling Geeks’ service. Electric cars of the same name take tourists on a pre-designed trip around the island while voicing information about the attractions along the way. timesofmalta.com
Walmart to stock up on fuel cells: The company just extended its deal with Plug Power to receive additional 286 GenKey units on top of their initial order of 1,783 units (we reported). The GenDrive fuel cells are used in electric forklifts and Plug Power will also provide refuelling and servicing infrastructure to a total of now seven sites. online.wsj.com
Multi-million fuel cell deal: Intelligent Energy says it signed a two-year “multi-million” pound contract with an unnamed Japanese automotive company. The British fuel cell maker already works with Suzuki and will use the money to further develop its products. bloomberg.com
40-A charge connector: Leviton officially introduced their 40-amps charge connector assembly. This single-phase Type 1/J1772 connector will allow for charging rates of up to 9.7 kW and is used in Leviton’s Evr-Green 400 Charging Station. In the U.S., Levington is the preferred level-2 charging supplier for Toyota, greencarcongress.com
E-Up joins German army: The Bundeswehr has taken delivery of ten electric Volkswagen. The E-Ups are part of a newly set up carsharing project in Koblenz/Lahnstein where they will serve the ‘Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support’ (BAAINBw). firmenauto.de, autoflotte.de (both in German)
A world with superchargers: The Verge has published three animated maps showing the planned growth of Tesla’s Supercharger network in North America, Europe and China. In the states the company plans to cover 98% of the population with its charging stations by 2015. theverge.com
E-buses in London: Optare, the British subsidiary of Ashok Leyland, has delivered four electric buses to the city of London. The low-floor Optare MetroCity buses are funded by Department of Transport’s Green Bus fund and shall prove the feasibility of zero emission transport in the British capital. indianautosblog.com
More funding needed: The Swedish rebate program for electric vehicles is coming to an end. Only 800 EVs or hybrids are left to be partially funded and the trade group Bil Sweden is asking the government to top up its incentives quickly. adn.com
Car sharing in Korea: According The Korea Times, the country’s youth who often studied abroad is missing a car sharing culture in their homeland as not many offers are available yet. However, Green Car, Korea’s largest car sharing service is seeing constant growth since its introduction in Seoul in 2011. koreatimes.co.kr
Anonymous EV charging: A*STAR from Singapore has designed and electronic payment system that protects the privacy of EV drivers recharging their electric vehicles at public chargers. It is based on an in-car unit similar to a smartphone or tablet that allows two-way anonymous payments. sciencedaily.com
Where to charge for free? PlugShare is now showing Nissan EV drivers the way to the next charger taking part in the ‘No Charge to Charge’ programme. A filter within the PlugShare app will list only stations where charging is free for Leaf drivers for two years after purchase. puregreencars.com
Cloud grid: The Electric Power Research Institute, eight carmakers and 15 utility providers are working on a cloud based platform to integrate EVs, plug-in hybrids in the grids. BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Mercedes, Mitsubishi and Toyota are taking part in the two-way communication approach. electriccarsreport.com, greencarcongress.com
E-Trike Network: The Philippine’s capital Manila is looking to fully electrify its electric trike taxi network. The 500-million dollar program is funded by the Asian Development Bank as well as the central and local government and will see 100,000 electric tricycles on the road by 2016. fastcoexist.com
Hong Kong counts 1,000 charge points already and is planning to add another 100 next month. This means the metropolis has more chargers than it has EVs as there are currently 650. Only ten of all charging stations come with quick chargers. scmp.com
Ireland’s charging network: On the island, there are now 1,200 public charging points, according to the Electricity Supply Board (ESB). That means on average, there is a charger every 60 kilometres on the main roads with all big Irish towns and cities having at least a few. independent.ie
Geo-fencing electric mode: Switching to electric on demand is the latest idea of London’s mayor Boris Johnson. Geo-fencing technology will enable hybrid buses and taxis to automatically go into electric mode as soon as they cross into a highly-polluted zone. From 2018, any new cab in the city has to be ‘zero emission capable’. dailymail.co.uk
Manchester gets e-buses: Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has taken delivery of its first three electric buses from Optare. They will serve on the free Metroshuttle routes in the city centre and are supported by the Department for Transport Green Bus Fund. The three e-buses join 17 hybrid buses already serving Manchester. businessgreen.com
Diesel is next on the list of London’s Mayor Boris Johnson’s air-improvement plan. From 2020, all diesels might be charged an extra ten pounds to enter the low emission zone in the inner city. The same goes for petrol vehicles from before 2006. Only diesel vehicles vehicles that meet the Euro 6 emissions will be exempt from the congestion charge. At the same time, more cities in the UK, among them Birmingham and Bristol, are also considering to introduce low emission zones. dailymail.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk
Fast chargers for Maryland: In June, the Maryland Energy Administration began its ‘Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Grant Program’ (EVIP). One billion dollars are reserved for the installation of quick chargers in the state and applications will close on October 1st this year. maryland.gov, stardem.com
Electric school buses: The consultancy National Strategies (NSI) has received a 1.4-million dollar grant from the California Energy Commission to start a demonstration project for V2G technology. Together with earlier funding, a total of 2.2 million dollars is now available to develop six electric school buses to be deployed in The Golden State. chargedevs.com, nsi.publishpath.com
Better living with charging: Civita is a newly developed community in Mission Valley with about 5,000 homes. Developer Sudberry Properties said it is working together with NRG eVgo to install EV charging stations there. More EV chargers are planned as the city within the city grows. By late summer, twelve charging stations will be in operation, which can also be used by car2go San Diego. timesofsandiego.com
The first of 124 charging stations were installed at the Seacombe Ferry terminal and mark the beginning of Merseyside’s charging infrastructure development. The project is funded by the UK government and led by Merseytravel, which plans to erect the public chargers at key locations in the metropolitan county. Shropshire in the West Midlands also inaugurated its first charging point. It was erected in Church Stretton together with Co-Op, the Councils and has received a grant from ‘Plugged in Midlands.’ wirralglobe.co.uk (Merseyside), shropshirestar.com (Shropshire)
Nissan sold 124,000 Leafs worldwide so far and expects EV sales to take ten percent of its total sales by 2020. In general, the Japanese carmaker’s sales rose by 6% globally, carried along substantially by China and the USA in the first quarter of this year. fortune.com
BMW charging in the USA: Californian drivers of the i3 can now charge their EV for free at NRG eVgo chargers through 2015. There are currently 50 DC chargers in the Golden State but BMW hopes to grow this number to a 100 by the end of next year. It has also developed its own DC charger together with Bosch. The compact box can be mounted to a wall, charges with 24 kW and costs 6,548 dollars. chargedevs.com, greencarreports.com (Wallbox)
Tesla Taxi in Quebec: Christian Roy from Quebec, Canada, claims to be the first taxi driver in North America who uses a Model S for his services. His biggest problem is the lack of charging stations which forces him to charge his car at home. sunnewsnetwork.ca
Go & See Tour: A team of employees from German utility provider RWE travelled 3,471 kilometres in a Tesla Model S and blogged about their experiences. They visited several new-energy projects along their route through the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Great Britain. rwe.com
The ‘MBAs across America’ programme will receive twelve Chevy Volt, all sponsored by GM. The EVs will be driven by MBA students from Babson, Columbia, Harvard, Stanford, Uni. of California Berkeley and Uni. of Michigan. The non-profit organisation will offer free counselling to small businesses in 25 U.S. cities this summer. electriccarsreport.com
154 Superchargers worldwide: Tesla is widening its network of Superchargers. China now has nine installed in urban hotspots like Shanghai or Beijing. In the U.S., Model S drivers can quick charge at 103 locations while Europe got 42 Superchargers in different countries. teslamotors.com
EV rebates extended: Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection has prolonged its alternative fuel vehicle rebate programme. The 2,000-dollar incentive will now be granted for 500 additional plug-in hybrids and EVs, or run out at the end of this year. citizensvoice.com, ngtnews.com
Long-stay chargers: Piedmont Triad International Airport, North Carolina, is ready to install eight charging stations. The EV chargers are set to go into operation by August and will be free of charge though standard parking fees apply. Depending on demand, the airport authority might install more charging stations at a later date. coastalnc.twcnews.com, journalnow.com
EV encouragement: Wright State University is setting up four charging stations at their campus. The installation has been initiated by a retired professor of automotive technology who donated 10,000 dollars while the rest of the cost is being shouldered by Dayton Power and Light. fairborndailyherald.com
50m for infrastructure: The California Energy Commission has approved 46.6 million dollars in grants for H2 refuelling and 2.8 millions for EV charging projects which had been pre-selected in April and May. The money will be used to erect 28 H2 stations and 175 EV chargers all over the sunshine state. greencarcongress.com
Energy companies could foster EVs: The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is encouraging utility providers to spend at least 5% of its annual fleet budget on plug-in electric vehicles to accelerate EV uptake. Currently, only 1.7% of their fleets are electrified, the EEI’s White Paper states. greencarcongress.com, eei.org (White Paper)
Plug & Play: Caesar’s Entertainment Corp. installed 48 charging stations at 13 Caesars’ resorts and casinos together with NV Energy. Guests in Northern and Southern Nevada can now charge their EVs for free, as well as guests of the Harrah’s Resort in Southern California. The gaming company plans to expand its charging network further. marketwatch.com
Haibikes in India: Winora has found a distributor for its performance bike brand in India. Suncross Bikes, which is already selling three other brands of Accell Group to which Winora belongs, thinks it will be able to sell 15,000 to 20,000 Haibike mountainbikes annually on the Indian market. bike-eu.com
New fuel cell buses for Hamburg: Public service operator Hochbahn ordered two Urbino articulated electric buses from Solaris. These will be especially equipped with a fuel cell range extender to offer about 250 kilometres of range. Hochbahn already has four Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCell in service and is steadily expanding its fleet with diesel-hybrid and plug-in hybrid buses from Volvo. nahverkehrhamburg.de, newstix.de (both in German)
Charging at Macy’s: Volta Industries will install new free-to-use electric vehicle charging stations at 17 of the retailer’s location in the Los Angeles area by this autumn. This brings the total number of charging stations at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s in California to 33. businesswire.com
Charge points by law: From August 10th, new commercial building projects in Tacoma, Washington, will be required to install EV charging stations at 1 to 3% of their parking spaces. Even though requirements won’t apply to residential projects, the City Council recommends to reserve 50% of spaces there. bellinghamherald.com
No Charge to Charge in LA: Nissan added the Los Angeles market to its free charging programme. Buyers of the Nissan Leaf in LA will now receive the EZ-Charge card, giving them access to various charging networks and letting them use most of the stations for free in the first two years. businesswire.com
Open Charge Alliance growing: After implementing Open Charge Point Protocol already last year, German utility provider RWE now also joins the Open Charge Alliance. With 3,200 charge points in several countries, RWE is seen as an “especially valuable addition” to the consortium. openchargealliance.org
Home chargers not free anymore: The UK Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) has reduced its grant by a 100 pounds from former 1,000, causing British Gas to now install EV home charging stations for a charge of 115 pounds. Renault UK announced however, that its 7-kW wallbox will remain free of charge, even though it is installed by British Gas. fleetnews.co.uk, electriccarsreport.com
Electric cabs for England: It seems as Nottingham is ahead of Londonas local taxi company DG Cars adds six Nissan Leafs to its fleet. In total, the firm is running with 650 cars and plans to add more EVs over time depending on customer reactions and actual savings. nottinghampost.com
Free charging points for companies is utility provider Public Service Electric & Gas giving away in a programme in New Jersey. Its pilot project is designed to encourage companies to erect charging stations at the workplace. In two years, up to 150 units are set to be installed with no cost for the employer. njspotlight.com, marketwatch.com
Nebraska on charge: South Sioux City already has a Leaf in its fleet and is about to add three more with the help of a government grant. The then four electric cars will have to share the only two public charging stations in the city: one at the Billion Auto dealership, the other at the Hy Vee supermarket. siouxlandmatters.com (EVs), siouxlandmatters.com (stations)
The BMW i3 REx is to be exempt from New Jersey’s usual automotive sales tax. The decision comes last-minute, as before the electric BMW was to be taxed because of its on-board petrol engine. Some dealerships in the state had offered discounts effectively taking out the tax before the law changed. transportevolved.com, state.nj.us (list of cars exempted from tax in New Jersey)
Malaysians to travel electrically: A private initiative is bearing fruits with the public transport provider of Malakka, Malaysia, having successfully tested an e-bus by BYD. Now, RapidBus plans to lease five buses from BYD and another 15 next year. Furthermore, electric car sharing initiatives are set to pop up in Klang Valley with Renault Zoes while Langkawi will share Twizys. thestar.com.my
E-truck for fragrances: Speed Distribution Logistique started a test of Renault’s fully electric Truck D in Paris. In the next two years, the 16-tonne vehicle will collect products at the facility of renown perfumer Guerlain about 200 kilometres from Paris and deliver them smell-free to stores in the French capital. electric-vehiclenews.com, thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Electricians electrified: Sky Electrical from Twickenham has added the Smart Fortwo electric drive in its fleet. The branded Smart ED is now used to carry electricians to their assignments all across London and its surrounding areas. wallstreet-online.de
Truly Tesla: Members of the Tesla Motors Club (TMC) will travel from all over America to attend the annual ‘TMC Connect’ meeting in California. One group (@TeslaRoadTrip) even gathered beforehand to go ‘Supercharging Across America’ together and documented their pilgrimage. teslamotorsclub.com via cleantechnica.com
Alternative fuels funding: The U.S. Department of Energy will grant 4.5 million dollars to innovative projects designed to increase the acceptance of alternative fuel vehicles (AFV). Hydrogen and electric vehicles will have to share with natural gas and other fuel types while approaches addressing safety as well as training for first responders are eligible for funding. greencarcongress.com
Nissan meets Manchester City: The carmaker has signed a 5-year sponsorship agreement for the British football team’s portfolio of clubs which includes the Japanese F Marinos already sponsored by Nissan. For about 20 million pounds, the company’s logo will now also be seen on the back of Manchester City’s women team and Leafs be used at Man City’s training academy. theglobeandmail.com
Copenhagen by e-bike: The BBC’s Lara Lewington tried the Danish capital’s public pedelec sharing for the Click technology show. The rental e-bikes, which can be booked via smartphone, come with an in-built tablet to help the user navigate via GPS and to find the next docking station. bbc.co.uk (with video)
Alpiq to serve Volvo: Alpiq E-Mobility has installed a Mennekes charging station at Volvo’s Swiss headquarter in Zurich and will supply other Swiss branches of the carmaker. The cooperation includes the deployment of Mennekes’ home chargers to Swiss buyers of the Volvo V60 plug-in. alpiq-intec.ch (in German)
Leading by example: The British government is making use of its own 5-million pound ‘ultra low emission vehicle (ULEV) readiness’ programme for the electrification of government fleets. From autumn this year, about 300 electric cars and plug-in hybrids, including vans, as well as infrastructure will be acquired. gov.uk, businessgreen.com, smmt.co.uk
Charge & Fly: San Francisco International Airport has asked Greenlots to install four 480-volt quick charging stations. These will be the first DC fast chargers using the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) at the airport and are funded by the California Energy Commission. chargedevs.com
Fully electric supply chain: In Berlin, the biggest electric truck approved for road use to date has made its maiden voyage. It is part of the “Schaufenster” project KV-E-Chain that strives to transport goods electrically over long distances. Containers are brought by train from Western Germany to Berlin’s Westhafen port before then being distributed further by EVs like the electric truck. morgenpost.de (in German), emo-berlin.de (KV-E-Chain project page)
Swiss charging confederation: Abonax, distributor of charging stations and Groupe E agreed to cooperate to expand the Swiss charging network Move. Abonax will integrate its charging stations into Groupe E’s move network which currently entails 64 charging stations in twelve cantons. Move members can charge via membership card or smartphone while non-members can pay via sms. tagblatt.ch (in German)
DIY electric highway: Chinese When Zong built his own network of Tesla charging stations from Beijing to Guangzhou for 730,000 yuan (117,700 dollars). The Model S owner was tired of waiting for the Californians to cover the 3,570-mile stretch but had to resort to slow chargers on private grounds. mashable.com, carbuzz.com
Shanghai electrified: The Chinese metropolis plans to erect 1,800 charging stations by the end of the year and has another 2,400 in the pipeline for late 2015. The uptake of EVs in the city with 23 million inhabitants has doubled (from 581 in 2013) in the first half of 2014. ecns.cn
Sri Lanka is to build 40 charging spots next to supermarkets by August. More are to follow. The chargers will serve the Mahindra E20, which is now offered in Sri Lanka (we reported). The country hopes to quickly increase the number of EVs from currently 100. lbt.lk
Proterra launches 2nd generation: The company just sealed its first sale of its updated electric bus to its long-standing customer Foothill Transit in California. To acquire new sales, Proterra has went on an U.S. tour, promoting its offering to transportation officials. greencarcongress.com (sale in California), timesunion.com, albany.twcnews.com (tour stop in Albany)
Switching pays: The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is to give 7.7 million dollars to individuals, businesses, governmental organisations and schools willing to exchange their old diesel vehicles with new alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles. Grants may cover up to 80% of the purchase cost. starlocalmedia.com
Helsinki takes car sharing a step further and might make car ownership redundant by 2025. Its new concept for “Mobility on Demand” is taking into account all forms of transport and integrates them in a single payment system. However, this is very much future talk while their ‘Kutsuplus’ minibus can already be ordered via smartphone and personally scheduled. theguardian.com
Luxembourg plans carsharing: The scheme is set to start in the capital by 2015 and will receive 1.5 million euros by the City of Luxembourg in the first ten years of its existence. For the start, only 15 (“low emission,” not fully electric) cars will be deployed by the newly founded Carsharing SA, which the city owns by 97% while partners Cambio and ACL get a 1% share each. wort.lu
Renault goes Uruguay: The French company has just delivered 30 Kangoo Z.E. to the state-owned utility provider UTE. They will be used in the capital Montevideo and elsewhere in the country, which already gets 84% of its energy from renewable sources. greencarcongress.com, evfleetworld.co.uk
Rungis to be electrified: SEMMARIS, that manages Rungis International Market in Paris, added seven Renault Zoes to its fleet. The partnership with the French carmaker is aimed at the 1,200 market sellers and their 25,000 customers. Together with the City of Paris, several charging stations are set to be erected at the market. electriccarsreport.com
Austrian H2 pumps: Linde has started a small-series production of hydrogen fuelling stations which feature their energy-efficient ionic compressor IC90. The facility in Vienna will make 50 units per year. 28 of these H2 stations have already been sold to the Iwatani Corporation with the first put in service in Japan. greencarcongress.com
Cologne to get e-bus: Cologne’s public transport (KVB) acquired eight electric buses by VDL Bus & Coach. The 18-metre bendy buses are set to be delivered in the second half of 2015. The government of North Rhine-Westphalia will help finance the six million-euro project. KVB is one of the first companies in Germany to employ battery-electric articulated buses. newstix.de (in German)
Gujarat to get electric bus: The government of the Indian state plans to electrify public transport service between the state capital Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad. State-owned Gujarat Power Corporation Limited (GPCL) is now looking for private investors to be able to purchase between 15 and 40 electric mini buses as well as charging infrastructure. indiancarsbikes.in
The first Canadian Supercharger stands in Squamish, BC and has just been opened. Tesla identified “Priority Routes” in Western and Eastern Canada, connecting major cities like Toronto and Montreal or Vancouver and Whistler, and hopes to begin construction in Toronto this month already. teslamotorsclub.com, teslamotors.com
Electric car specialists: More than half (60%) of Mitsubishi dealers in the UK have signed up to become a ‘company car specialists’ targeting business customers. The scheme’s importance has been increased by the arrival of the Outlander PHEV and training includes sessions on tax benefits. fleetnews.co.uk
Electric lorry on trial: Fuso, Daimler’s subsidiary in Japan, is also responsible for the Canter E-Cell, which is built at Tramagal plant in Portugal. Now, eight evaluation vehicles were given to Portuguese customers to test the lorries under real-life conditions. puregreencars.com, electriccarsreport.com
Nissan’s No Charge to Charge Programme has ChargePoint back in the game, reports ChargedEvs. That is because the EZ-Charge card will also grant access to charge points not included in Nissan’s two-years free-charging scheme – with a charge for a charge. chargedevs.com
The hybrid ferries from Scandlines could soon be followed by fully-electric ones. After the carrier had been granted 2.3 million euros from the European Union for their conversion of two ferries to hybrid drivetrains. Scandlines’ CEO Søren Poulsgaard Jensen is considering the electrification of one vessel of its Helsingør-Helsingborg route. fehmarn24.de, 02elf.net (both in German)
Tesla supports Tesla museum: The latter refers to the pioneering researcher of alternating currents, Nikola Tesla. His workplace will be turned into a museum with funds from an Oatmeal online campaign. In another cartoon, the company then asked Elon Musk to get involved. Mission accomplished – Tesla (the carmaker) will pay one million dollars and donate a Supercharger to the museum. theoatmeal.com via greencarreports.com
VW is preparing for the USA: Volkswagen is cooperating with Bosch and ChargePoint in the American market. Bosch Automotive Service Solutions will take over installation and supply of home chargers for e-Golf drivers who will also get access to ChargePoint’s network and app. puregreencars.com, electriccarsreport.com
New energy home opens up: After receiving great interest in its Californian ‘Honda Smart Home,’ the carmaker is taking the project open source. On the project’s homepage, various building plans can now be downloaded (in PDF and CAD format) free of charge. earthtechling.com, forbes.com, hondasmarthome.com
EVs enter fleets in UK and Italy: Oldham Council is taking seven Nissan Leafs into service across the borough. They will be shared with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and Greater Manchester Police. Meanwhile, Turin-based carsharing provider IoGuido is bringing six Fiat 500e home to Italy. fleetnews.co.uk (UK), insideevs.com (Italy)
Renault’s Zoe finished 2,500 kilometres through the UK without any mayor problems. The ‘Charging around the UK’ tour, organised by Pod Point and sponsored by the French manufacturer, went to 15 British towns in 17 days in June. Starting in London, the Zoe travelled as far north as Scotland while using 72 charging stations. thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Boris Cars à la French: In the run-up to the introduction of the BlueCar electric car sharing in London next year as ‘Source London,’ the Guardian’s Paris correspondent Jon Henley took a closer look at Bolloré’s offering. Apart from his own, reassuring experience (“That’s my car”) he also takes into account history and other user experiences. Promising! theguardian.com
Centralised EV order: Ten San Francisco Bay Area local governments have jointly ordered 90 electric cars to be used in their fleet. This deployment is facilitated by the Bay Area Climate Collaborative (BACC) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). The latter funded the purchase with 2.8 million dollars. greencarcongress.com, newsday.com
Regular, premium or hydrogen? A study by Sandia National Laboratories took a look at existing gas stations in California to see which could safely store and dispense hydrogen. From 70 examined stations, the researchers found 14 could already become H2 stations, while 17 could be converted rather easily. sciencedaily.com, green.autoblog.com
Hybrid ferry fleet Together, Corvus Energy and Scandlines operate what they say is the biggest hybrid ferry fleet worldwide. The ‘Prinsesse Benedikte’ was the first and is now being joined by three more vessels serving between Puttgarden (Germany) and Rødby (Denmark). electricvehiclesresearch.com, energy-daily.com
Veefil to be sold worldwide: The funky Veefil Fast Charger by Australian Tritium has been certified as UL compliant for the U.S. and Canada. As it is already compliance certified in Europe and Australia, the DC charging stations can now be offered globally and will be produced by the Chinese Surpass Sun Electric. chargedevs.com
Fastned to go public: The start up Fastned plans to erect 200 fast chargers by ABB along dutch motorways (we reported). To achieve their goal within the next three years and raise enough capital, Fastned currently prepares for its stock market launch. sprout.nl (in Dutch)
Iceland to be charged up: In Iceland, similar plans are being hetched by Even. The company is tired of waiting for the government and plans to erect 200 fast charging stations on the Nordic isle. Iceland intends to have a 10-percent EV share by 2020. icelandreview.com
Renault EVs in Argentina: The French manufacturer is offering test rides with two Kangoo Z.E. and two Twizys. Renault hopes to be able to sell its first EVs in Argentina by the end of this year, even though the Twizy has yet to be categorised. Charging points shall be erected by the local utility provider Edesur. buenosairesherald.com
Eco tourist transport on Seychelles: Seychellois company Ecars plans to introduce electric cars by GEM to the Seychelles’ third most populated island, La Digue. The vehicles are already a success on Praslin and tourism enterprises have shown vivid interest in the EVs with a range of up to 50 kilometres. seychellesnewsagency.com
French quickies: Auxerre is home to France’s first Tesla Supercharger and the station will not be lonely for long. Tesla plans to erect up to 25 more Superchargers across the Grande Nation until the end of this year. Meanwhile, Tesla’s Supercharger homepage lists 32 locations in Europe including latest openings in Denmark and Sweden. tesla-mag.com (in French), teslamotors.com (list of superchargers)
Borderless charging: Smatrics and The New Motion announced their international cooperation. From now on, users of both systems will be able to charge their EV at about 1,000 charge points throughout Austria, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Until September, Smatric customers can use the charging stations free of charge. smatrics.com, thenewmotion.de (both in German), smatrics.com (list of stations)
Bhutan means EV business: The country is on course to become the kingdom of EVs as the latest plans far exceed the goal of 2,000 electric cars in its streets. Instead, prime minister Tshering Tobgay is thinking of making Bhutan an EV-only land and has already been to Japan to talk to Nissan and Mitsubishi about his ambitious plan. green.autoblog.com
Mitsubishi in Mongolia: The Japanese manufacturer has just donated two electric cars to the administration of Ulaanbaatar to bring a cooperation for importing electric cars to Mongolia on the way. The authorities will try the cars first before eventually signing an import agreement with Mitsubishi. mongolnews.mn
EVs for Summerside: The Canadian city of Summerside purchased three electric vehicles for its electric department. The two Nissan Leafs and one Ford Focus Electric will also be made available in a car-share programme open to the public when the EVs are not used by the department. journalpioneer.com
Call for charging solutions: In the country’s first “Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) competition,” the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is calling for ideas for charging solutions for multi-story as well as underground car parks. The winner will receive 200,000 euros (271,700 dollars) to develop a prototype. businessandleadership.com, siliconrepublic.com
50 charging points and growing: UK city of Sunderland is investing 500 million pounds (857m dollars) in getting people to switch from petrol to electricity. Money will flow into research, as well as into the extension of the city’s charging network – already one of the best in the country. The goal is to become a national hub for the low carbon economy. sunderlandecho.com
Scotland gets three new public charging stations: The new locations are funded by the Scottish Government through Transport Scotland. While the charge point in Dumfries most likely is a DC quick charger, the sites in Annan and Castle Douglas seem to offer AC charging only. gallowaygazette.co.uk
EmiD kick-off: The showcase project “Electric mobility in Dresden” (EmiD) is headed by Fraunhofer Institute IVI and is supported by the city of Dresden, the Technical University of Dresden and local government bodies. Together, they have purchased and will test an electric fleet consisting of 16 electric vehicles to find out what is keeping people from using electric cars. saena.de, elektromobilitaet-verbindet.de (both in German)
Putting hybrid buses to the test: Eight Volvo plug-in hybrid buses will enter service in Stockholm, Sweden, this autumn. The buses’ battery packs can be quick charged in just six minutes. The trial is part of the EU project ZeEUS (Zero Emission Urban Bus System), which is conducted in a total of six EU countries. volvobuses.com
New charging points in Denmark: E.ON wants to install 13 new charging stations along the national motorway, which will support “all off the brands of electric cars commonly found in Denmark.” The stations should be operational by the end of 2014, with twelve of the stations located between Copenhagen and Aarhus and one near the Farø Bridges. cphpost.dk
Two new charging points on ‘Electric Highway’: Ecotricty added stations at Peterborough and Baldock Extra Services in England. According to EVfleetworld, the company has now installed 161 DC charging stations along its ‘Electric Highway’ from London to the South of Scotland. The plan is to have a charging point at every motorway service station by the end of the year. evfleetworld.co.uk
Hamburg electrifies public bus lines: Starting this December, the German city will use only buses with an electric drivetrain to service its bus route 109 from the city centre to Alsterdorf. Moreover, Hamburg says that all new buses bought after 2020, will be emission-free. newstix.de (in German)
CHAdeMO in Europe: A total of 1,181 quick charging stations supporting the CHAdeMO standard have been installed throughout Europe. With 261 chargers, the UK currently has the most installations. Looking at the per-capita numbers, Norway once again proves to be the EV friendliest place. transportevolved.com
Perfect for the island: Mahindra is directly eyeing the latter as the perfect market for its E20. The EV will be shipped to Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bermuda and the Seychelles in the coming weeks. Next stop is Europe in 2015, where the E20 will first be made available in the UK and Norway. hindustantimes.com
Electric mobility in Berlin, take two: The German capital’s “Eco-Mobility Festival,” planned for 2015 had to be cancelled, due to too much opposition from residents and politicians (we reported). The plan was that, for a whole month, only electric cars were to be allowed in parts of city. Now politicians hope to give it another go – this time without forbidding the use of petrol cars and in closer cooperation with local residents. morgenpost.de, tagesspiegel.de (both in German)
New ‘CarCharging’ station in Illinois: The company has partnered with Roundy’s Supermarket, a leading grocer in the Midwest, installing a Blink Level II EV charging station in Frankfort, Illinois (U.S.). Drivers can pay by using their Blink InCard, as well as directly by credit card. prnewswire.com, wsj.com
Is it time for a new Volt? At least that is what the U.S. sales figures for June could stand for. While the Nissan Leaf with 2,347 units is in its sixteenth straight month of record sales, Chevy only sold 1,777 Volts, which is 34% down from the 2,698 sales in June 2013. Still, last month was the strongest of this year for the Volt so far. greencarreports.com, green.autoblog.com
ZAP finds bulk buyer in China: The California-based EV manufacturer has signed a strategic partnership, as well as a purchase agreement with China’s Xinri Electric Vehicle Company. The latter wants to sell 1,000 of ZAP’s URBEE via its distribution network in China – per month! hybridcars.com,online.wsj.com
Japan to charge its capital: Starting in December, companies Mitsui Fudosan and NEC Corporation will install 125 charging points at the Tokyo Midtown, which is one of the most recognised high-rises in the Japanese capital. It is home to numerous apartments, offices, as well as shops and even hotels. greencarcongress.com, japancorp.net
Venson Automotive to electrify South Yorkshire: The company is helping some 80 businesses in that part of the UK to switch from gas to green, encouraging employees to lease electric vehicles for their commute to and from work. The scheme is supported by Sheffield City Council and could be adopted by others is successful. fleetnews.co.uk, fleetworld.co.uk
Japanese carsharing to debut in France: 70 Toyota i-ROAD and COMS ultra-compact EV as well as 30 charging stations will go into service in Grenoble in Southern France this October. For this three-year trial, Toyota has formed a partnership with the City and the Metropolitan Area of Grenoble, as well as EDF, whose subsidiary Sodetrel will operate the charging points. greencarcongress.com (with video), electriccarsreport.com, hybridcars.com
Nissan almost triples fast-charging points: The carmaker reports that it has 633 functioning CHAdeMO charging stations in the U.S., 180 of those at dealerships. January of last year, Nissan counted only 160 DC quick chargers. That means, the company is right on target, having promised to triple its number of or add 500 charging points by mid-2014. In comparison, Tesla just installed its worldwide 101st Supercharger. greencarreports.com, transportevolved.com
First female for the Formula E: The Amlin-Aguri team has chosen Katherine Legge as one of their drivers in the electric racing series. The 33-year-old former Champ Car racer is the first of the team’s two drivers to be announced. fiaformulae.com
Llewellyn gets behind the wheel of Nissan’s e-NV200 and traveled to Barcelona, just to do exactly that. Robert Llewellyn was impressed with Nissan’s second fully-electric vehicle and the fact that it will serve as a taxi in the Spanish city as of sometime this year. And electric taxis are “exactly the thing every city needs” he concludes. thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Electric Jeepney: In the Philippines, the “jeepney,” a decorated bus-like vehicle, gets electrified. The task has been taken on by domestic Global Electric Transport together with its partner Pangea Motors from the States. They now started serial production of the COMET (City Optimized Managed Electric Transport) and plan to build 20,000 of the 18-seater over the next five years.
Fully electric supply chain: In Berlin, the biggest electric truck approved for road use to date has made its maiden voyage. It is part of the “Schaufenster” project KV-E-Chain that strives to transport goods electrically over long distances. Containers are brought by train from Western Germany to Berlin’s Westhafen port before then being distributed further by EVs like the electric truck.
