Hozon Auto’s Chinese electric car subsidiary Neta started constructing its first production facility outside China. The facility in Bangkok is scheduled to go into operation at the end of January 2024. The new plant will become Neta’s key location for manufacturing and exporting right-hand drive electric cars to ASEAN countries.
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The Mercedes plant in Bangkok has started local production of batteries for Mercedes-Benz plug-in hybrids. The new battery factory building announced last year sits on a 50,000 square meter site.
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TÜV SÜD is participating in the construction of a battery test centre near Bangkok in Thailand. The German testing and certification service provider has now signed a corresponding cooperation agreement with the local Ministry of Industry and the Thailand Automotive Institute (TAI).
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The German manufacturer Torqeedo has delivered the first electric propulsion system for ferries in Thailand. The electric passenger ferry picked up operations in Bangkok as part of the city’s efforts to improve air quality.
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China’s major new energy vehicle maker BYD is heading into Thailand. They delivered 101 electric cars of type e6 to Bangkok and a thousand more are yet to come. The new EVs will serve as VIP taxis and as part of a car sharing service in the Thai capital.
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Daimler is advancing its global EV offensive as it incorporates its Thai facility into its network of production hubs. Together with local partner Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant (TAAP) they will invest 100 million euros in Bangkok.
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Toyota has launched its Ha:mo car-sharing in Bangkok and wants to study motorist behaviour in Thailand’s capital over the next two years.
Read moreShell plans EV chargers: The oil giant will kick off construction of EV chargers this year, starting in the UK and Netherlands. More markets could follow. The number of planned chargers has not been released.
ft.com (paid content) via heise.de
200 e-buses for Bangkok? The Thai capital’s plan to replace 200 conventional buses with electric ones is getting more concrete. If the cabinet gives the green light in February, those 200 electric buses could already go into service before the end of the year.
bangkokpost.com
Charging toll roads: The U.S. state of New Jersey passed two bills to push EV charging along toll roads. The first requires the installation of places to plug in at three service areas on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, and two Atlantic City Expressway service areas. The second bill will see the installation of EV chargers along to toll roads as part of a public-private partnership.
nj.com
Charging renewables: Jedlix, a subsidiary of Dutch utility Eneco, is making its #ichargesmart charging app available to Tesla drivers. When charging at home, it helps increase the amount of renewable energy used to charge the battery, as well as keep costs low, by selecting optimal charging moments.
greencarcongress.com
New home charging solution for Canadians: Nissan is working with FLO in Canada, recommending the FLO Home charging station to its customers there. Nissan will even offer a 500-dollar discount on the charger when purchased with a new Nissan leaf by March 31st.
greencarcongress.com
Solar home charging: BMW partners with Loxone to introduce solar charging stations with smart home integration in the DACH region, as well as the UK, the Netherlands and Czech Republic. The so-called E-Mobility Starter Kit is said to be open to any EV manufacturer and costs 599 euros with solar charging already installed. The Wallbox Pro will cost an additional 2,200 euros.
wiwo.de (in German)
Zero-emission delivery: Austria’s postal service is adding more electric vehicles to its 1,111 strong fleet, bringing the number to 1,300. In Vienna alone, 90 EVs will be added to enable a 100 percent emission free delivery of mail and newspapers by the end of the year.
ots.at (in German)
6,000 EV charging stations will be erected in Beijing this year. The 5,880 smaller EV charging stations will supply urban areas while another 14 large stations will go up at service stops along highways, utility Beijing Electric Power announced.
chinadaily.com.cn
Electric bus in Bangkok: An electric bus by BYD is to serve in the Thai capital during a three month trial. If successful, Bangkok will replace 200 of its 3,183 conventional buses with electric ones, and plans to eventually electrify the whole fleet.
automotiveworld.com
H2 for Fukushima: The nuclearly devastated Japanese prefecture turns to hydrogen production from renewable sources. The ‘Fukushima new energy society initiative’ will produce enough energy to power about 10,000 fuel cell vehicles, which will also be used during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
the-japan-news.com, japantimes.co.jp
Québec unveils electrification plan: The government will spend 420 million dollars on its new vehicle-electrification plan to get 100,000 electric and hybrid cars on Québec’s roads by 2020. The plan includes the installation of 785 charging stations and purchase rebates of up to 8,000 dollars for electric or hybrid vehicles. Furthermore, the government promises to introduce 1,000 EVs to its own car pool and to give EV drivers permission to use reserved car lanes and exempt them from toll fees after January 1, 2016.
cbc.ca; ici.radio-canada.ca (in French)
China announces charging network: The Chinese government plans to build a nationwide charging-station network that will fulfil the power demands of 5 million electric vehicles by 2020. The network will cover residential areas, business districts, as well as inter-city highways.
chinadaily.com.cn
Hilton charges up: Hilton Worldwide launches a major electric vehicle charging program, which will be available at 50 U.S. hotels by the end of this year and will expand to 100 U.S. hotels by the end of 2016. In order to cover all types of electric vehicles, Hilton will team up with Tesla and General Electric.
electriccarsreport.com
500 e-buses for Bangkok? The government of the Thai capital has greenlighted the plan of Bangkok`s Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) to buy 500 electric buses. However, the purchase still needs final approval by the cabinet. There are also plans to set up an electric bus assembly facility in Bangkok.
bangkokpost.com
EV boost in Shanghai: Shanghai’s electric-car rental program EVCARD recently extended its network by opening 10 new outlets. The e-car hire scheme plans to launch up to 300 service outlets in central Shanghai by the end of this year to offer a total of 3,000 electric cars.
shanghaidaily.com
EV fleet for climate conference: The United Nation’s COP21 climate conference in Paris this December will use a 200-strong electric fleet to shuttle 20,000 delegates from 195 nations through the French capital. The electric cars and vans will be deployed by Renault-Nissan while the alliance also plans to install 50 new charging stations in Paris to power the EVs.
greencarcongress.com, ecomento.com
GM pilots electric car sharing: General Motors and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University started a pilot project in Shanghai. 16 small-size EV called Chevrolet EN-V 2.0 (Electric Networked Vehicle) are now integrated into the campus’ multi-modal transportation system while usage data is being collected.
greencarcongress.com
GoDrive electrically: Ford’s car sharing pilot GoDrive will now become available to the public in London. A total of 50 vehicles are put into service, half of them are Ford Focus Electric. They are available at 20 locations throughout the British capital and can be ordered and paid for via an app. Ford hopes to convince 2,000 users by September.
greencarcongress.com, europe.autonews.com
Electric bus in Bangkok: King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) and the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) now run an electric bus route. The pilot serves to see if some of the +3,000 diesel buses roaming the Thai capital might be replaced (we reported).
eco-business.com
Europe´s biggest Supercharger station to date has been finished as planned in Italy where a total of 14 chargers now await Tesla Model S drivers in the border region with France and Switzerland.
twitter.com
Shop and charge: Simon, a retail real estate company, and NRG EVgo have installed fast-charging “Freedom” stations at two Western Washington Simon shopping centres. Two more are to follow at two more outlets. The stations support CHAdeMO as well as Level 2 charging.
money.cnn.com
Korea’s EV Line: Seoul has come up with an infrastructure solution that is strikingly simple. The city plans to hand out charge cables fitted with RFID readers. Designed by Power Cube, the portable charging connectors could enable EV drivers to charge their cars at about 100,000 standard power outlets across the city by 2018, while the city will provide 10,000 designated charge spots already this year.
cio.com, businesskorea.co.kr
EV hire: DriveNow in London added 30 BMW i3 to its fleet. Together with Sixt, the EVs can now be picked up and left standing anywhere in North and East London. Further coverage in the British capital and expansion to other European cities is planned.
fleetworld.co.uk, transportevolved.com
Hybrid taxis in Thailand: A new cab service has launched in Bangkok. All Thai Taxi already entertains a fleet of 100 Toyota Prius and plans to expand that fleet to include 500 PHEVs by this summer.
bangkok.coconuts.co
Hungary ponders EV privileges: 150 charging stations will be installed in the next year, Hungarian minister for economy Mihaly Varga announced. Moreover, the government is also thinking about opening bus lanes to electric vehicles and about offering free parking.
dailynewshungary.com, bbj.hu
Comet shuttles: Five electric shuttles will be tested at Manila airport in July. The ‘City Optimized Managed Electric Transport’ (Comet) vans will ferry up to 16 passengers each from Naia Airport’s Terminal 3 to designated drop-off points in Metro Manila. If the project with Global Electric Transport (GET) is successful, the service might continue.
newsinfo.inquirer.net
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Massive change in Bangkok? Up to 2,694 of 3,183 buses serving in the Thai capital could be exchanged for electric ones. So far, new buses bought by Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) are powered by CNG but new calculations see electrification as the better option, at least in the long run. For the move to become true, traffic minister Prajin Junton needs to nod his approval next week.
bangkokpost.com
Prescribed change in Berlin? The senate of the German capital has passed an energy transition bill which demands all buses bought in or after 2020 to be emission free. Berlin’s public transport provider, BVG, however says, that 2020 is too early as battery-electric or fuel cell buses are not yet reliable enough. Furthermore, BVG pointed out that Berlin is yet missing infrastructure to run a green service.
rbb-online.de, welt.de (articles in German)
United States Postal Service has received quite a few responses regarding the planned replacement (electrification?) of its 180,000-vehicle strong fleet. 15 companies already have expressed interest, among them Daimler, Nissan and Mahindra.
carscoops.com
Parisian fire brigade electrified: Firefighters in the French capital are now testing four BlueCar and two BlueUtility by Bolloré. If the trial is successful, they could become an integral part of the fleet and would be used as service vehicles – painted in red, of course.
avem.fr (in French)
Hybrid learners: British driving school car supplier CA Cars has ordered more than 40 Toyota Yaris Hybrid equipped with dual controls which are to be deployed to driving schools. The latter hope to save money on fuel and running costs.
fleetnews.co.uk, toyota.co.uk
Off-peak programme: Hawaii Energy together with OpConnect has started a new pilot scheme to see if saving money could encourage people with PV systems to charge off-peak. Participants receive a 60 percent discount on charging through the OpConnect network.
chargedevs.com
Electric carsharing in Malaysia: Klang Valley will get its first electric carsharing scheme Cohesive Mobility Solutions (COMOS) featuring 16 Renault Zoe in May. The scheme will be expanded to other Malaysian cities and is said to include more than 1,000 EVs by 2020.
thestar.com, paultan.org
Electric busses for Bangkok? Thailand’s Minister of Transport Prajin Juntong has called for a feasibility study to see whether the current diesel and natural gas-powered buses used by the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) could be replaced with electric buses.
thaivisa.com
U-Turn on route to electrification: Once Governor Deal signs on the dotted line, U.S. state Georgia will scrap its 5,000 dollar incentives for the purchase of electric cars as of July 1st, and EVs and other alternative-fuelled cars will have to pay a yearly license fee of 200 dollars.
transportevolved.com
TransPower celebrates milestones: The company has received nearly 9 million dollars from the California Energy Commission to realize new electric truck and tractor projects across the states. TransPower already conducted a demonstration of four fully functional battery-electric Class 8 trucks.
electriccarsreport.com, pennenergy.com
UK funds H2: The Department of Transport has earmarked 6.6 million pounds for seven new hydrogen projects across the UK. The money will be used to form a network of 12 hydrogen refueling stations, including new stations built in Brentford and Croydon and a mobile station. The fund will also support upgrades to the existing network of demonstrator stations.
autovolt-magazine.com, fleetnews.co.uk/, businesscar.co.uk
