StreetScooter goes Austria: Deutsche Post/ DHL expands its electrification across the German border, where Vienna’s 5th district will see electric only mail delivery with StreetScooter vans. Margareten is thus the first “DHL Green District” in Austria and shall not be the last. While DHL operates in Austria only since 2015, Germany already got a fleet of 3,000 StreetScooter and another 100 home-made electric vans serve in the Netherlands. wirtschaftszeit.at (in German)
U.S. subsidiary RWE subsidiary innogy has founded a new subsidiary to enter the States. Dubbed innogy e-mobility US LLC will be based in Los Angeles and offer both services and technology. They opted for local Cameron Funk as CEO. electrive.net (in German)
Open street charging: Sacramento wants EVgo to install six pay-to-charge stations in the Californian city. An initial three chargers and four electric-only parking spots are expected to be in place by mid-2018, with expansion dependent on their success. The city already has over 400 chargers installed on public and private property. govtech.com
Nissan Leaf comes to Chile: 25 Leafs have arrived in Santiago de Chile, where they will be used by Enel employees. The utility is also a major V2G partner to Nissan in Europe and now in Chile. Here, the 25 Nissan EV mark the start for availability for fleet owners exclusively. insideevs.com
Heavenly help: Freiburg’s achdiocese proves forward thinking and took charge of 17 Renault Zoe. With their arrival, the EV flock grows to almost a third of the entire fleet and shall serve at different locations. electrive.net (in German)
Electric shuttle in Hamburg: VW’s mobility company MOIA and the Hamburger Hochbahn AG are developing a new mobility service for the Hanseatic town. Part of the project is an app-based on-demand electric shuttle service that allows people heading in the same direction to connect. Moia is building fully electrified vehicles with space for 6 passengers for this purpose specifically. The service shall be launched after a trial period next year with approximately 200 cars. Later on, the initiators intend to enlarge the fleet and to expand in other cities. moia.io
Proterra joins CharIN: Proterra is the first U.S. electric bus maker to enter the fast charging initiative CharIN. According to Proterra, its electric buses accumulated 3.3m miles charging with CCS to date. greencarcongress.com, proterra.com
Fastned doubles issue: Within 2 weeks, the Dutch fast charging company has issued bonds worth around 7.7m euros to more than 600 investors. Due to high demand, the board more than doubled the issue, initially limited to 3.3m euros. With the new capital Fastned seeks to extend its charging network in the Netherland as well as abroad. fastned.nl
EV sharing in LA: Bolloré’s will kick-off its BlueLA pilot programme tomorrow as planned. The EV sharing starts with 100 electric cars and 200 charging stations in so-called disadvantaged communities. ngtnews.com
German software meets U.S. hardware: RWE spin-off Innogy and BTCpower entered a partnership. The software allows coordinated charging that avoids load peaks. First charging points have already been equipped with the new software. news.innogy.com
Reading tip: Forbes has a recommendable summary, that illuminates the U.S. strategies of Innogy and EV-Box as well as ChargePoint‘s plans for Europe’s EV infrastructure among others. forbes.com
Click tip: Architect office Ennead in New York designed a space-saving concept for EV charging in big cities like Shanghai. Their idea is a charging tower that staples EVs. While the lower places are reserved for quick charging, the upper level is for cars that park and can thus charge longer. digitaltrends.com
Massive rebates for electric cabs: British taxi drivers may rejoice. Not only has production of a brand new electric taxi started yesterday but its acquisition will be subsidised by the UK government as it announces a 64m pound electric taxi incentive scheme. 50m GBP will be handed out in chunks of 7,500 pounds to anyone buying a TX5 cab. The remaining 14m GBP will be spend on erecting dedicated taxi charging infrastructure across 10 UK counties but with £5.2m headed for London. autocar.co.uk, gov.uk
Complete fleet electrification: RWE subsidiary innogy will drive entirely electrically within four years time. The board has decided to replace all 1,000 vehicles in its fleet with either plug-in hybrid or electric cars. Already, the only options available to company directors, executives and frequent drivers are climate-friendly models. From 2018, driving a PEV will be mandatory for all innogy employees but the board has a dedicated budget to even out the higher cost for electrified models. innogy.com
Incomplete fleet electrification: British Gas has missed its target to have 10 percent of its commercial fleet electrified this year. Instead of the planned 1,300 electric vehicles, the utility currently has just 113 on fleet and is now pushing back the 10% goal to 2020. British Gas claims London’s infrastructure problems as one reason. commercialfleet.org
Easier access: ChargeMap will launch its charging-point access system in the next few weeks. About 100,000 users will be able to set up payments in their ChargeMap account and order a RFID access badge for (some) European charging networks. chargemap.com
Charging oasis: Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA) that oversees the free zone technology park, has opened the EV chargers on its premises to the public. Electric car drivers can charge at no cost until the end of the year. thenational.ae
Hydrogen boost in UK: The British government has announced a new 23m pound funding programme for FCV and H2 infrastructure. Grants are to go to partnerships between fuel providers and fuel cell vehicle makers with a competition to be launched this summer. Toyota has welcomed the move – if it influenced its UK investment decision (see news above) is uncertain but the Isles are one of the selected markets for the Mirai FCV. gov.uk
European roaming may leap forward as Innogy presses ahead with its plans. Up to 1,000 Blockchain EV charging stations could be installed this April, German Wirtschaftswoche reports. Hundreds more charge stops may be updated to the tech platform within months. wiwo.de (in German)
Charging Dominican Republic: South Korea’s state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) said it signed a MOU with Dominican Republic’s National Energy Commission to help to build EV charging infrastructure. A pilot project shall connect the capital Santo Doming to Punta Cana on the east coast. pulsenews.co.kr
FedEx expands green fleet: FedEx has introduced electric delivery vans in Belgium, where five Nissan e-NV200 will serve in Ghent, Brussels, and Antwerp. postandparcel.info
Twizy sharing in Japan: Nissan and the city of Yokohama have started a round-trip car sharing service with (renamed) Twizy Evs. Called Choimobi Yokohama, it is part of Nissan’s New Mobility Concept. Users register online and can pick-up the EVs at 14 locations but the service will include guided tours and long-term car rentals for businesses, too. electrek.co, greencarcongress.com
European roaming: RWE’s Innogy plans to set up a pan-European charging network that will use its Blockchain solution. It is a technological platform that allows for payments and the protocol is particularly suited for decentralised networks. In a next step, the e-Wallet is to be integrated. It simplifies payment and includes not only charging but road tolls, car sharing and other services. power-eetimes.com
Fortum to expand in Poland: Polish utility Energa chose Scandinavian Fortum to equip its future charging stations with its cloud-based Charge & Drive solution. Energa will retrofit its six existing EV charge points by March. fortum.com
ChargePoint and Renault: Infrastructure provider ChargePoint announced the integration of its GeniePoint Network with Renault’s Z.E. Pass App. Renault EV drivers can now locate, charge and pay for recharging their electric car with their mobiles. chargepointservices.co.uk
3D-printed electric scooter cabs: Etran Group will set up a taxi service in Bangkok this September that includes 10,000 electric scooters. The two-wheeler called Etran Prom is 3D-printed (partially at least) and runs on a network of battery swapping stations. Expansion beyond Thailand may begin by 2019. nationmultimedia.com
Singapore set up an electric cab service already. The first 50 of a total of 100 electric cabs now roam the city state. They were delievered by BYD. asiaone.com
Fast-charging motorbikes: Energica will invest 1m euros to set up fast-charging infrastructure for its electric motorbikes. The initiative is to start in 2017 and concentrates on motorways in Italy and California. In the Netherlands, Energia will work with Fastned that offers 4 years of free charging. insideevs.com
30 kW wirelessly: Researchers from TH Deggendorf launched the first inductive EV charging system with a traffic permit. It charges at up to 30 kW – faster than any other – and is currently being tested at two locations, one in a parking garage, the other outdoors. sueddeutsche.de, pnp.de, antenne.de, th-deg.de (all articles in German)
Pit stop charging: 82 fuel stations will be upgraded with EV fast-charging stations by innogy SE. Already, they installed 50 such juicy multi-standard spots at motorway service stations by Tank & Rast. The latter plans to equip 400 of its locations with fast-charging stations. emobilserver.de (in German)
Quebec makes ZEV mandatory: The Canadian province adopted a ZEV mandate that requires carmakers to sell EVs for credits in order to compensate for their ICE sales or to buy the credits from others. This is why Tesla had a say in the legislation and made considerable lobbying efforts. electrek.co
Commercial e-shuttle service: Ten electric buses by Proterra shuttle commuters in Chicago. The fleet was leased by real estate firm JLL and will serve between train stations and iconic buildings managed by JLL. The service is in part funded by Drive Clean Chicago and replaces diesel buses. greencarcongress.com, cleantechnica.com
Renault with charging app: The French carmaker and Bosch have developed the Z.E. Pass, allowing Zoe drivers to use an RFID card or app to plug in at some 4,000 chargers in Germany. The app also provides information on pricing and enables cashless payment directly at the charger. The offer will soon be expanded to other European countries. firmenauto.de, n24.de (articles in German)
New e-carsharing in Germany: RWE subsidiary Innogy now offers e-carsharing and charging infrastructure together under the brand eCarSharing. For a monthly fee, users can book a BMW i3 or Nissan Leaf for when they need it. The cars will be provided German Drive CarSharing. While the offer is mostly addressed at businesses and communities, individuals may also make use of it. flotte.de, presseportal.de (in German)
Clearing the air: The city of Taiyuan, the capital of Chinese province Shanxi, will replace no less than 8,000 ICE taxis with EVs. Instead of getting behind the wheel of a VW or Santana, drivers will swop for subsidised BYD e6. Moreover, the region will set up 1,600 charge points. bloomberg.com
Peak power for EVS : Dutch project “Living Lab Smart Charging” is looking to charge electric vehicles when there is an excess of renewable energy, effectively using the former as mobile energy storage. Some 325 communities that provide a total of 80 percent of the Netherlands’ chargers are said to have already have joined the initiative. prnewswire.com
New chargers: Australian infrastructure provider Tritium will present three new DC chargers at the eCarTec in Munich this week. The Veefil UT 50kW DC fast-charger is designed for utilities and connects directly to the grid, while Veefil WP 12kW DC is made for workplace and fleet applications. The Veefil 22kW DC is produced for locations with a lower power supply. greencarcongress.com, reneweconomy.com.au
Innogy chargers in California? Following its IPO, RWE subsidiary Innogy is looking to in invest in the U.S. Next to solar and wind energy, the company is also focusing on charging infrastructure there. Innogy CEO Peter Terium told German Welt am Sonntag that they were “able to convince the California regulating authority to adapt German standards and norms for EV charging infrastructure.” welt.de (in German) via reuters.com
Chinese-Swiss charging alliance: Chinese company AVIC Jonhon and Swiss start-up Juice Technology have formed a strategic joint venture for the European market. Together, the two companies want to develop “groundbreaking” AC and DC charging infrastructure. moneycab.com (in German)
Air Liquide informs: The hydrogen specialist has launched a website, outlining the benefits of H2 for the public. Together with California Fuel Cell Partnership, Air Liquide also started the “Hydrogen Station Finder” – an app for H2 infrastructure. greencarcongress.com, letscleartheair.com (website); itunes.apple.com, play.google.com (app)
H2 in Norway: Norwegian company Uno-X Hydrogen has received just under 20 Mio. krone (about 2.45 Mio. USD) in funding, to set up a hydrogen production facility as well as two fuelling stations in Bergen. Financier is the Norwegian public enterprise Enova SF, who is looking to expand the country’s H2 network. greencarcongress.com
Electric delivery Down Under: The Australian postal service is looking to use electric vehicles for deliveries in cities starting next year. The EVs can hold up to 100 parcels at a time – three times more than the motorbikes currently in use. newsroom.com.au
30 kW wirelessly: Researchers from TH Deggendorf launched the first inductive EV charging system with a traffic permit. It charges at up to 30 kW – faster than any other – and is currently being tested at two locations, one in a parking garage, the other outdoors.
New e-carsharing in Germany: RWE subsidiary Innogy now offers e-carsharing and charging infrastructure together under the brand eCarSharing. For a monthly fee, users can book a BMW i3 or Nissan Leaf for when they need it. The cars will be provided German Drive CarSharing. While the offer is mostly addressed at businesses and communities, individuals may also make use of it.