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 EnergÃa (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)
Apr 16, 2014 - 08:32 am
EU, Japan, China, Tesla, E-mobility NSR, Kyocera.
EU prefers multi-standard chargers: The European Parliament has adopted the final draft for the directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure. EU members are advised to erect sufficient charging points on a non-discriminatory basis. Even with choosing Type 2 and Combo 2 as an European standard, existing charging points and cars with other standards such as CHAdeMO should not be affected and multi-standard chargers should be installed.
europarl.europa.eu (directive), chademo.com (statement)
Japanese charging alliance: Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Honda will form a joint venture as early as next month to simplify EV charging in Japan, Nikkei reports. The decision follows the goal set last July to install 4,000 quick-charge and 8,000 standard stations with a unified payment system.
asia.nikkei.com via inautonews.com
Tesla to partner with petrol stations? Reportedly, Elon Musk is visiting China this month to speak to Sinopec (China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.). The aim is to integrate charging stations into Sinopec’s existing networks of petrol stations across China.
marketwatch.com via blog.sfgate.com
Follow up: The Epic American Roadtrip (we reported) on which Recargo manager Norman Hajjar is driving a Tesla Model S for approximately 12,000 miles in 20 days has now started. The team set up a website, where you can follow the journey.
roadtrip.plugshare.com (Epic website) via fastcoexist.com
Another epic electric trip has just come to an end. In only 78 hours and 14 minutes, a team managed to drive from London, UK to Oslo, Norway in two Model S.
80dr.com
EV as backup: Japanese Kyocera (KCCS) has installed a ‘Solar Cycle Station for EV’ at the headquarters of Shintec Hozumi in Japan, who planned the system. The station charges EVs with solar power which then cannot only be used as cars but also as disaster energy-backup.
electriccarsreport.com
Apr 15, 2014 - 08:25 am
ITM Power, Kentfa, Tesla, Sri Lanka.
Three H2 stations: ITM Power has been contracted by London to build three hydrogen refueling stations for 2.8 million pounds (4.7m dollars). The stations are part of the HyFive project (we reported) and expected to go into operation by 2015. In February, ITM received planing permission for five hydrogen stations on the Isle of Wight.
fleetnews.co.uk, itm-power.com
Battery swapping works better with electric scooters than cars it appears. Kentfa has installed 30 stations in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, where buyers of the company’s Isuda e-scooter can change their batteries. The system has been running smoothly since last August, so now Japanese and UK companies are showing interest.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Pro-Tesla bill: The governor of Washington state signed a bill allowing the Californian carmaker to keep its stores open and also to open new ones. This right is in fact exclusive to Tesla as it only applies to manufacturers who had a state dealership license before January 2014.
green.autoblog.com
Fast forward: Will the number of EVs in Sri Lanka raise from today’s 60 to 100,000 in only two years? Yes, says the CEO of E-Lanka Automotive, Anuruddha Lihinikaduwa, who hopes the installation of charging infrastructure in Sri Lanka will be the main driver of this development.
thesundayleader.lk
Apr 14, 2014 - 09:03 am
Tesla, Austria, California, Pihsiang.
Tesla Airport Taxi: Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam wants to add 100 Model S destined to serve as cabs for flight passengers by the end of the year. The fleet will be run by three Dutch cab companies with concessions starting from June.
schiphol.nl (in Dutch), streetinsider.com
Carsharing and taxis in Austria: The Austrian Climate and Energyfund is calling for concepts for electric carsharing and electric taxis. Four concepts will compete in a first step before a final decision on which idea to put into practice will be made beginning of next year. The winning project might then be ruled out in Vienna, Graz and Klagenfurt with funding of six million euros.
oekonews.at (in German)
California to cut EV rebates: The California Air Resources Board is discussing to reduce tax incentives for EV buyers by 500 dollar as its Clean Vehicle Rebate Program is 30 million dollars in debt this year. Another option is to exclude EVs costing more than 60,000 dollars from the programme which would mean taking Tesla’s Model S and the Caddy ELR out of the game.
green.autoblog.com
Shoprider goes EV: Taiwanese company Pihsiang, owner of the scooter brand Shoprider, is marketing its new range of EVs under the name of Achensa. The electric cars have a price tag at around 11,000 pounds (18,400 dollars) and are capable of just over 50 miles on a single charge with a top speed of either 28 mph or 50 mph, depending on the model.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Apr 11, 2014 - 08:19 am
RWE, Volvo Buses, Volkswagen.
RWE goes USA: The German utility provider and Daimler together with two American partners have installed 26 charging points at the campus of the University of California in San Diego. Here, they want to test the communication standard ISO/IEC 15118 with electric Smarts for the next three years.
timesofsandiego.com
Plug-in hybrid bus: As of May last year, plug-in Volvo buses have been undergoing field tests in Gothenburg. The results show that the buses are popular with passengers and drivers and with residents at the route. The hybrid buses are recharged at the two end depots and capable of an all-electric range of 7 kilometres. Volvo wants to start commercial production early 2016.
automotiveworld.com
VW e-load Up for airports: Volkswagen’s cargo-carrying small EV has been on display at the Hannover Messe industrial fair this week equipped as a ‘Follow Me’ airport vehicle. The cargo version of the e-Up had been shown for first time last month in Berlin and is said to make it into production eventually.
indianautosblog.com
Apr 10, 2014 - 08:23 am
CarCharging, GE, CARB, France.
E-roaming made in USA: The states discover interoperability with the CarCharging Group (Blink) and GE (WattStation) allowing consumers easy access to each others stations. At the same time, GE has opened its electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) Connect software platform to app developers.
automotive-business-review.com (cooperation), electriccarsreport.com (apps)
CARB’s new ZEV regulations might be bad news for Tesla as rules for zero emission credits changed. While the maximum number of credits one vehicle can gain went up (7 to 9), it is now harder to qualify as the EV in question needs to be capable to refuel to 95% within only 15 minutes and battery swapping does not count.
chargedevs.com, green.autoblog.com
EVs in France: Last month a total of 1,130 plug-in cars were sold in France with the Renault Zoe (279 units) being the most famous model. On second and third position were the Renault Kangoo Z.E. (195) and the Bolloré Blue Car (194), whereas the Tesla Model S only found 25 buyers in March.
ev-sales.blogspot.co.uk
Apr 9, 2014 - 09:00 am
Paris, Chargemaster, E-Mobility NSR, Norway.
Paris goes all e: Paris’ public transport provider RATP plans to electrify its whole bus fleet by 2025. A call for bids for as much as 4,500 electric buses will be started this year. The e-buses will join Bolloré’s BlueTram (we reported) in the streets of the French capital.
lemonde.fr (in French)
Pay by phone: Chargemaster is simplifying access to its Polar Network. Instead of registering and paying via RFID card, EV drivers can now download a free app which enables them to charge and pay via their smartphone.
fleetnews.co.uk, thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
London to Oslo: On Friday, five teams in five Tesla Model S will start a journey going from the British capital through Gent, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen and Gothenburg to Norway. The tour is part of the EU project ‘E-Mobility NSR’ and shall only take 80 hours.
e-mobility-nsr.eu
The good news from Norway never seem to stop as the country hits yet another EV milestone. Currently, there are 26,886 plug-in vehicles of which 25,710 are electric. The latter, make for a market share of 1%, together with hybrids it is even 1.1%.
gronnbil.no (in Norwegian) via greencarreports.com
Apr 8, 2014 - 09:14 am
SLAM, My Electric Avenue, Toyota, Tesla.
SLAM presented: The fast-charging network for Germany (we reported) has been officially introduced to the public at Hannover Messe. The first 20 SLAM stations are said to be erected at banks by the end of September this year. By 2017, a total of 400 AC and DC quick charging points are planned. All stations will use the same billing system and are to be integrated with other projects of the ‘Nationale Plattform Elektromobilität’ (NPE for national platform e-mobility).
idw-online.de (in German)
Street of the future: The first neighbourhood cluster of the My Electric Avenue project (we reported) has now received its Nissan Leafs. Marlow, UK, is one of eleven areas to take part in the trial designed to monitor the charging demand of EVs on the grid. In total, 111 participants have agreed to lease the electric Nissan.
puregreencars.com
Half of all Auris sold in the UK in the first quarter of 2014 are hybrids, says Toyota. The Britain-built C-segment car is now accounting for almost 6% of the family car segment sales.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Carmaker or grid-storage company? Considering Tesla’s plans to build the Gigafactory and thus being able to supply battery packs with a total annual output of 50 gigawatt-hours, this a valid question to ask. Why not head over to John Voelcker at Green Car Reports and join the discussion.
greencarreports.com
Apr 7, 2014 - 08:17 am
Nissan, ChargeLounge, Hubject, Electric Highway.
400 Nissan Leafs have been acquired by Avis Denmark, thus boosting the Danish EV market by 60%. With the support of the Danish Energy Agency, the rental car company will be able to offer the electric cars for only 3,495 kroner (642 dollars) per month. Also, the installation of a charging station on the business’s premises is possible with this ‘mini-lease.’
electriccarsreport.com
ChargeLounge: The name of Fraunhofer IAO’s latest concept says it all. It offers all four quick-charge standards – CCS, CHAdeMO, Tesla and Type 2 in one place, as well as a space for EV drivers to relax, use WiFi or even schedule meetings. The ChargeLounge premiers at the Hannover Messe today. Ten prototypes will then be tested under real life conditions before being available in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 2015. Fraunhofer plans to install 600 stations by 2020.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk, transportevolved.com, chargelounge.de
Hubject goes to Scandinavia: The latest addition to the e-roaming platform is Fortnum. The Scandinavian utility provider plans to integrate its charging stations in Norway, Sweden and Finland to the Hubject platform. This will grow the pan-European intercharge network by 150 stations.
hubject.com (press info)
Electric Highway to be improved: UK utility company Ecotricity announced it will double its CHAdeMO charger network along the British motorway M4. Additionally, the Electric Highway is said to be equipped with CCS DC quick chargers. Ecotricity further pledged to improve reliability by exchanging faulty parts and upgrade all existing stations.
transportevolved.com
Apr 4, 2014 - 09:35 am
Electric Avenue, Hubject, Nissan, UK EVSE.
Electric Avenue officially launched: The Electric Avenue trial is seeking to understand the impact of electric cars on a neighbourhood, both technically and socially. To control the demand on the local grid, EA Technology’s Esprit software will be monitoring loads and temporarily halting charging if necessary.
transportevolved.com
eRoaming for Austria: Four Austrian energy providers are opening their respective charging stations for eRoaming. 150 stations of Kelag, Salzburg AG, illwerke vkw and Wien Energie are now integrated into the intercharge network by Hubject. And because BMW’s ChargeNow card is already using the intercharge network, drivers of the BMW i3 are now able to roam most stations in Austria and about 1,000 charge points in Germany.
hubject.de, oekonews.at (in German)
Nissan to expand DC charging in Germany: The Japanese carmaker has signed a contract of cooperation with the Berlin-based Omexom to install another 100 CHAdeMo stations within the next two years. The chargers will be erected at Nissan dealers, partners and fleet customers. Omexom will also be responsible for project management and service while Nissan will integrate the new stations into its Carwings telematic system.
motor-exclusive.de (in German)
No to DIY charging stations: The UK Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (UK EVSE) association has expressed its view in a letter to Zero Carbon World, a charity that used to supply DIY kits over their web page and through resellers. UK EVSE sees a serious safety risk in home build charging equipment while existing providers point out that to date no problems have been reported.
transportevolved.com
Apr 3, 2014 - 08:36 am
Polar Network, Balearic Islands, London.
Polar late start: The Polar Network charging provider in the UK, had planned to switch its billing scheme from flat-rate charging to charging per use two days ago. However, users found they could still charge their cars as usual while the new website appears anything else but ready. The few infos found by Transport Evolved leave room for speculation whether personal data of future Polar users will be shared with BMW.
transportevolved.com
Charging stations on Balearic Islands: With two million euros funding from the institute for alternative energy (IDAE), the Spanish government wants to install 2,000 EV charging points on Mallorca and other islands. The bidding process is soon to begin.
finanzas.com (in Spanish), mallorcazeitung.es (in German)
Testing the new cab for London: Finally, the Range Extended Electric Metrocab (we reported) got into the right hands – its future drivers. According to the video of the first rounds of testing, the cabbies are loving it.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk, newspress.co.uk
Apr 2, 2014 - 08:35 am
Green eMotion, Hungary, Rio de Janeiro, Ankara, Tesla, Jeju.
Controlled charging: As part of the EU-supported project ‘Green eMotion,’ Malaga utility Endesa has commissioned ten intelligent charging stations by Siemens. In a software-managed process, the amount of electricity being charged is controlled and split among the individual EVs.
diariosur.es (in Spanish), greenemotion-project.eu (overview)
Hungarian e-volution: Also part of the project is the installation of ten charging points in Budapest. But that is only the beginning. Some 68,000 chargers are said to be commissioned across the country by 2020. Incentives for EV-buyers are also on the agenda.
bbj.hu, kormany.hu
BYD put to the test again: More and more cities take a fancy to BYD’s all-electric buses. Following LA, New York, Bogota, London and Copenhagen, Turkey’s capital Ankara and Brazilian mega city Rio de Janeiro are trying the buses for themselves.
electriccarsreport.com (Rio), electricvehiclesresearch.com (Ankara)
Tesla gets to stay in New York: The EV manufacturer will be allowed to keep its five stores but had to agree not to open any further point of sales in the state. Recently, a number of U.S. states passed measures preventing Tesla from owning its stores and selling directly to customers.
treehugger.com
Double the incentive: South Korea’s island of Jeju offers EV-buyers incentives worth 7,000 dollars. That is on top of the governmental rebate. That way, the cost of an electric vehicle can almost be cut in half.
green.autoblog.com
Apr 1, 2014 - 09:37 am
Massachusetts, Highway Code, Polar Network, Hamburg.
EV incentives in Massachusetts: Governor Deval Patrick announced plans to start offering rebates for electric car and plug-in hybrid purchases similar to those in California. Buyers could thus get 2,500 dollars at the point of sale. At the same time, Massachusetts will continue to provide funding for institutions and businesses in its existing EV programme.
greencarreports.com
Highway Code update: RightDriver.co.uk has found that almost 65% out of 1,056 driving instructors would like to see hybrid vehicles included into the standard UK driver’s guide. More than a third believe that specifically all-electric vehicles belong into the Highway Code while 68% wish to see more information on alternatively-fuelled vehicles in general.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Charging for charging: Just ahead of the launch of new tariffs for charging at Polar Network stations in the UK today, the company seemed to have lowered its prices. However, customers are still indignant with some considering boycotting the network altogether.
transportevolved.com
Leafs for bus company: The Hamburger Hochbahn company has acquired eleven electric Nissans. The Leafs will be driven by mechanics and supervisors in the German city of Hamburg. There, they will certainly catch some attention as they bare the slogan “Wenn ich groß bin, werde ich ein Hochbahn-Bus” (“When I grow up, I will be a Hochbahn bus”). The company already has 36 alternatively-fuelled buses in its fleet.
newstix.de (in German)
Mar 31, 2014 - 08:23 am
InitiativE, Belgium, CARB, Long Beach.
Electrifying commercial vehicles: In the German model region Berlin-Brandenburg, the project ‘InitiativE’ is offering funding for businesses wishing to acquire an electric vehicle. To ease the higher costs of EVs compared to gasoline powered vehicles, the government pays up to 45% of the price difference. The programme is open to businesses, fleet operators and both private and public institutions in the region.
bundesregierung.de (in German)
Belgian EV sales: February was premium month with the BMW i3, Tesla’s Model S and the Porsche Panamera plug-in being the most sold electric cars out of 178 in total. BMW enthused 41 Belgians, closely followed by Tesla with 34 and Porsche’s 31.
ev-sales.blogspot.de
Waiting list for rebates: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) now had to start a waiting list for incentive funds due to the high demand for clean vehicles in the sunshine state. Applications are still being accepted and CARB plans to expand its programme further but has to deal with the workload in the meantime.
greencarcongress.com
No e-buses for Long Beach, yet: BYD and Long Beach Transportation (LBT) had to mutually agree to terminate their contract over the delivery of ten BYD e-buses. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) had to withdrew funding, blaming errors during the application process. The bidding will start anew, with both FTA and LBT agreeing that BYD is now formally eligible to win (back) the contract.
puregreencars.com
Mar 28, 2014 - 10:17 am
Austria, SLAM, Northumberland, Ohio, Palo Alto.
Together for Austria: Four Austrian energy providers will join their respective charging networks to offer free roaming between Vienna and Vorarlberg for their customers. Details will only be presented next week.
oekonews.at (in German)
CHAdeMO update for SLAM? The fast-charging network SLAM (we reported) which is dedicated towards the erection of about 400 CCS DC chargers at strategic locations throughout Germany might also get CHAdeMO outlets. According to electrive.com sources, the Japanese are considering to pay the extra costs on their own.
Source: own research
Nissan for Northumberland: The council of the English has added two Leafs to its fleet, which will be available to more than 1,000 employees. Because the cars proved to be very popular during trials, Northumberland Council is already thinking about adding more.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk, fleetnews.co.uk
Tesla deal in Ohio: The Californian carmaker has reached an agreement with the Ohio Automobile Dealers Association to keep its two stores in the state open and to launch just one more. Still, the deal needs approval from Ohio state legislature and would be exclusive to Tesla.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
The Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley in Palo Alto now offers EV charging via a Blink Level II station. The station is part of their partnership with the Car Charging Group.
finanznachrichten.de
Mar 27, 2014 - 09:56 am
USA, Suzuki, Renault, Tesla.
Yet another EV boost? The Obama administration proposed to increase the tax break for EVs and other alternative vehicles from 7,500 to 10,000 dollars. However, this would only benefit cars cheaper than 45,000 dollars and therefore not the Model S.
detroitnews.com, thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Swift to sweep over India? Apparently, the Indian government has big plans for Maruti Suzuki’s latest plug-in hybrid, the ‘Swift Range Extender,’ which was designed in India but uses parts from Japan. How many Swift plug-ins will be ordered is not disclosed yet, due to the upcoming elections, but details are set to be revealed at the start of the new financial year 2014/15.
autocarpro.in, indianautosblog.com
Connecting Austria: Renault finally offers the so-called emergency cable to Austrian drivers of its electric Zoe. With the cable it is now possible to recharge the car at standard household outlets. The ‘Green Up’ package costs an extra 600 euros and allows for slow charging with ten or 14 A. For maximum safety, Renaults recommends to have an extra socket (with fuse and RCD) installed, commissioned by Alpine Energie.
oekonews.at (in German)
DC wars: Referring to recent statements, it becomes obvious that not everybody is happy about the fact that Tesla is pushing forward by using its own proprietary DC charging system. Both Managers from Daimler and car supplier Bosch would have liked Tesla to adopt existing standards.
chargedevs.com
Mar 26, 2014 - 09:52 am
Denmark, Georgia, Texas.
Danish charging network: After utility provider E.ON bought the charging network from bankrupt Better Place in September of 2013, the company has now introduced its new charging products and tariffs. Charging starts at 99 kroner (18.30 dollars) a month and 3.25 kroner (0.60 dollars) per kilowatt-hour. The network currently has about 700 public charging points with fast-charging stations to be added along Danish motorways and strategic locations by 2015.
eon.dk (in Danish)
Tax credits for EVs will still be granted in the U.S. of Georgia – at least for another year. It looks like the proposal to cut the incentive (we reported) simply came too late to be put in place this year.
cleantechnica.com
EVs in Texas: According to Navigant there are about 5,000 electric cars in oil-rich Texas. The researchers predict that this number will grow to nearly 100,000 by 2023. The full report shows the diversity when it comes to plug-in car sales in North America. No surprise: California, New York, Washington, and Florida will lead the way in PEV, says the report.
plugincars.com (Texas), navigantresearch.com (North America)
