Electric car rental company UFODrive expands further in the USA. Customers in seven major US cities can now rent Teslas and other premium electric vehicles (EVs) online without requiring paperwork, upselling, or keys.
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In the USA, public transit agency Pace Suburban Bus that services the Chicago area, has awarded a $26.5 million dollar contract (worth around 24.26 million euros) to Proterra to acquire 20 Proterra ZX5 Max electric transit buses and two Proterra megawatt-scale fleet chargers. The first Proterra electric buses are slated to be delivered to Pace […]
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Hyzon Motors announced plans for the construction of a factory for fuel cell membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) for use in commercial vehicles. They claim the plant will be the largest of its kind in the United States.
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The Chicago Police Department has ordered 200 Ford Police Interceptor Utility Hybrid vehicles. So far, law enforcement agencies across America from New England to Southern California have ordered 3,700-plus units of the hybrid vehicle, marking 19% of current orders.
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A Twitter account has surfaced covering the proliferation of electric kick scooters in Chicago which seem to mainly find parking in most unusual places. Think trees or bins to start with.
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Elon Musk is looking into the circular economy it appears as his Boring Company releases a video that points out an actual use for dirt dug up in their tunnels.
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Elon Musk’s Boring Company has been selected to build a “Loop” transit system between the O’Hare airport and the downtown area. 80 to 100 vehicles will be used in the underground system.
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Korea’s Hyundai has put the updated hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of its Sonata on display at the Chicago Auto Show. The 2018 Sonata is made in Asan, South Korea and both hybrids are set to launch this year in the States.
Read moreShell acquires NewMotion: Oil giant Shell takes over charging infrastructure specialist NewMotion, a company with access to 50,000 public charging stations and according to own information, provider of the biggest charging network in Europe. Thus, Shell is the first oil group to enter the charging infrastructure market on a large scale. As part of the Shell group, NewMotion shall be further in charge of supplying charging solutions for private households, companies and public areas.
reuters.com, newmotion.com
Deutsche Bahn kicks off EV ride sharing: The German railway company presents a new brand for on-demand mobility and autonomous driving: ioki will provide electric shuttles, autonomous electric buses and electric tuktuks. After starting operation in Bavaria-based Bad Birnbach this month, ioki will launch a ride sharing shuttle service linked to the public transport system in Hamburg next year. Additionally, Hamburg will see a trial area close to the railway station to test autonomous electric buses. sueddeutsche.de, car-it.com, deutschebahn.com (all in German)
Oxford to ban combustion engine cars: The British city wants to keep petrol-powered and diesel-powered vehicles out of its territory by 2035. The ban shall be implemented in several stages. Already by 2025, the access to several streets shall be limited to cars with electric powertrain only.
theguardian.com
Electrifying Chicago: The third biggest city of the States wants to electrify 25 percent of its passenger fleet until 2023. In a first step, Chicago is going to purchase 182 EVs, 9 fast-charging stations and 182 lower-level chargers. The costs will be covered by a 15.5m dollars federal grant.
sacbee.com, sfchronicle.com
100 EV charging stations for Malaysia: Petronas Dagangan, a subsidiary of the country’s national oil and gas group, teams up with Asia’s biggest energy provider Tenaga Nasional and a state green technology firm to erect 100 charging stations across the peninsula. The beginning of the project is scheduled for 2018.
asia.nikkei.com
CA sees first electric school buses: Adomani has founded a subsidiary called School Bus Sales of California and just received an order, worth 1,1m dollars. The Calaveras Unified School District seeks to add three zero-emission electric 72-seat school buses to its fleet.
nasdaq.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
Electric bus fleet: Chicago’s Transit Authority (CTA) has got permission to use an 8.1m federal grant to buy 27 electric buses instead of the initially planned 26 hybrids. CTA intends to further its experiences with electric buses to ultimately decide on the bus mix for its next procurement in 2020, when 1,000 new buses will have be purchased. If the EVs prove worthy, more than half of the fleet could be electrified at once.
fox32chicago.com
Charging conflict: 41 of Northern Ireland’s 336 chargers are not working. Furthermore, some of the remaining chargers stand on premises that close over night or in privately owned carparks, even though the stations were paid for with public money. Authorities are investigating the issue.
belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Taking Liberties: New Hampshire’s Liberty Utilities turned to the Public Utilities Commission for questions about the resale of electricity at its EV charging stations, as EV drivers felt they paid too much when charged by time. Current regulation forbids the resale of electricity at a per-kWh-rate by third parties and Liberty wants to change that.
unionleader.com
Business case: Toyota offers two new versions of its RAV4 in the UK, targeting the fleet market. The Business Edition and Business Edition Plus offer Cruise Control and satellite navigation, while the Plus version also features LED lights in the front and rear. The Japanese hope to sell 1,250 diesel and just as many hybrids.
fleetnews.co.uk
Fast growth: Dutch infrastructure provider Fastned, says it increased its revenue by over 340 percent in the last quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2014. The volume of kWh delivered at its 50 fast-charging stations in the Netherlands increased by 374%.
fd.nl
Gothenburg goes electric: The city’s first route for electric buses has gone into service. Gothenburg´s bus route 55 has three completely electrically driven buses and seven electric hybrid buses, all of them from Volvo Buses. The buses are equipped with onboard wi-fi and phone charging facilities.
multivu.com
Chicago electrifies: The city has started a “Drive Clean Taxi program,” paying cab companies up to 10,000 dollars for each EV purchased. Chicago hopes to soon count 120 alternative powered taxis on its roads.
bnd.com
Uni of Alaska Fairbanks shuttles electric: The Moto Electro Transit Buddy is the newest addition to the UAF fleet that also includes 10 electric carts for landscaping and recycling. The shuttle had already been delivered before Christmas, but is just now allowed to hit the university roads.
newsminer.com
Aylesbury gets three rapid-chargers: 75 percent of the installation cost was covered by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), the rest of the bill was picked up by Nissan and Charge Your Car. EVs can be charged up to 80 percent in 20 to 30 minutes.
mix96.co.uk
Taking charge: According to a new deal with Transport for London (TfL) and London boroughs of Sutton and Southwark, BluepointLondon will take over operations and maintenance of 60 charging stations from TfL as part of the Source London scheme. The goal is to have 6,000 chargers across the city by 2018.
electriccarsreport.com, puregreencars.com
Hamburg charges fast: In the coming three years, 50 rapid-chargers will be installed in the northern German city. Traffic development and locations of existing chargers will be taken into account to determine the location for the new charging points. The project “HansE” is supported by the local government, the Technical University Aachen (RWTH Aachen) and utility provider E.On. The total cost amounts to 3.4 million euros (3,7m dollars), while 1.4 million will be founded by the German government.
t-online.de, .ndr.de (articles in German)
350Green accused of fraud: Only 17 of the 280 fast-chargers promised in 2010 in the city of Chicago are up and running. Still, 350Green, the company responsible for the installation, received 3 million dollars in funding, with which they allegedly paid subcontractors and vendors. Following an FBI investigation, the president and CEO of the company have now been accused of fraud.
chicagotribune.com, greencarreports.com
Vehicle-to-Grid pilot: San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has started a V2G pilot project, using five EV fleets and local stationary energy storage systems to balance electricity supplies. Charging needs and on demand grid balancing are remotely controlled. Moreover, when agreeing to feed the grid during peak hours, fleets will be paid the marginal energy price.
chargedevs.com
CA utilities to invest in EV infrastructure: Energy providers had since 2011 been banned from funding public charging infrastructure, to allow smaller companies to compete. As the U.S. state considers lifting that ban, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison are gearing up to invest a total of around 500 million dollars in new charge points.
theenergycollective.com
Chicago fast-chargers: NRG eVgo and Chicago-based JNS Holdings have partnered to restore the existing DC fast chargers in Chicago. In the coming months, eVgo will also add additional DC fast charging sites to the Chicagoland area.
electriccarsreport.com
University carsharing in China: General Motors will provide a fleet of all-electric Chevrolet EN-V 2.0 to the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, to be integrated into a multi-modal transportation system. The goal is also to evaluate the benefits and challenges of carsharing schemes.
greencarcongress.com
Electrifying tourism in Malaysia: The city of Putrajaya will soon offer Ecoride, a car rental service for tourists with two Renault Zoe and ten Renault Twizy. The initiative was launched alongside the second round of the Formula E racing series, which this time took part in the Malaysian town.
thestar.com
V2G project: The Air Force unveiled the Department of Defense’s first non-tactical vehicle fleet composed entirely of plug-in electric vehicles in Los Angeles. The PEV fleet includes both electric and hybrid vehicles ranging from sedans to trucks and a 12-passenger van. The vehicles include vehicle-to-grid technology, allowing them to feed energy back into the grid when not being used.
puregreencars.com, greencarcongress.com
200 hybrid buses for Manila: Operator Green Frog said it will be investing 1.2 billion Philippine peso (26.7 million USD) to service 20 more routes with electric-diesel buses in the Philippine capital of Manila. The company currently operates eight hybrid buses.
mb.com.ph
Free charging in Chicago: Nissan has kicked-off its “No Charge to Charge” programme in the mid-western city. Buyers of the Nissan Leaf will have free access to 17 rapid-chargers installed in the region for two years. By mid-January about 30 chargers will be operating.
chicagotribune.com, businesswire.com
EVs charge for free: An Indiana utility charges homeowners nothing to charge their electric car at home overnight. Moreover, the Northern Indiana Public Service Company offers a subsidy of up to 1,650 dollars to registered electric-car owners who install a separate meter just for EV charging – a grant that in some cases covers the entire installation.
greencarreports.com
Smart Cities: Indiana-based Mahindra Tech has teamed up with The Open University and Milton Keynes Council to transform the British city Milton Keynes into a smart city. The focus is on transportation, electric vehicles, connected ecosystems and internet of things.
cbronline.com, myiris.com
Munich supports EVs: The Bavarian capital wants to launch a 23 million euro programme to fund the adaptation of electric cars. Individuals will receive a 2,500 euro grant when they buy an EV. Businesses will even get 4,000 euros. 500,000 euros will be reserved for electrifying the city’s fleet, and the number of installed charge points will be increased to 2,000 by 2017, according to the announcement.
sueddeutsche.de (in German)
Transport Scotland funds EV expansion: Giving one million pounds in funding, the organisation adds a total of 50 EVs to Car Clubs in Scotland. 20 EVs will be available from City Car Club branches in Edinburgh and Glasgow and smaller car club chains across Scotland will share another 30 EVs.
heraldscotland.com
Volvo plug-in buses premiere: “Hamburger Hochbahn” officially presented the new Volvo 7900 Electric Hybrid, three of which will enter service in the northern German city in December. The plug-in buses will be rapid-charged by Siemens technology.
innovations-report.de (in German)
Boston rides hybrid: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has rolled out the first of 60 hybrid buses by New Flyer. The other 59 buses are expected to be delivered by the end of March and will replace the outdated bus fleet in Boston.
metro.us
Alternative fuel at Chicago Airport: The Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) called on Clean Energy Fuels to build a 4,000 square meter “Alternative-Fuel station” at the O’Hare airport. It will feature EV charging points, as well as compressed natural gas and biodiesel.
aviationnews.net, nacsonline.com
EVs are a must: South Korea’s government yesterday announced that starting next year, all government agencies and national universities must choose from electric cars for over 25 percent of their new purchases and rentals. The goal is not only to protect the environment, but also to create new jobs.
yonhapnews.co.kr
Charging on route: Swiss Multi-Contact has developed an automatic charging system for electric buses. While at a stop, a flexible plug clicks into the bus’s charging socket, allowing for charging current of up to 900 ampere. According to Multi-Contact, the stops of existing bus lines can easily be retrofitted.
multi-contact.de
Coke hybridises: Coca-Cola is adding 140 additional gasoline-electric hybrid Chevrolet Express 3500 vans converted by XL Hybrids by early 2015 to go with the 103 it already has in the fleet. 70 of the new vans are currently being delivered, a further 70 will follow.
puregreencars.com
Chicago gets two electric buses: The New Flyer Industries buses are said to go between 80 and 120 miles on one charge and save 25,000 dollars in fuel cost per year. The electric buses cost one million dollars each and were funded by a 2.2 million dollar grant from the Federal Transit Administration. Moreover, 300 of Chicago’s 1,800 buses are hybrid.
chicagotribune.com, breakingnews.suntimes.com
CARB to cut ZEV? Back in 2012, the California Air Resources Board decided that six Large Vehicle Makers will be required to sell a certain number of zero emission vehicles (ZEV). Afraid not to be able to meet requirements, Immediate Vehicle Makers called for the rule to include plug-in vehicles. The measure is said to be passed in the coming days.
greencarreports.com
Zero emission chauffeur fleet: Late Chicago gangster Al Capone has reason to be jealous. Now one can hire one of six Tesla Model S, ready to hit the street of the Windy City. Chicago’s first all-electric fleet is operated by E-Motion Chauffeurs and Hires of Chicago.
insideevs.com
University of Hannover goes electric: The German university received six VW e-Caddy and will test the lightweight delivery vehicles during the upcoming 12 months. Data collected about energy consumption, servicing and battery capacity will be send to VW for evaluation.
vwvortex.com
Fast-charger from Down Under: The Australian charging infrastructure provider Tritium has signed a deal with E-Wald. The pilot scheme will be the first European client to use the “Veefil Electric Vehicle Fast Charger,” which supports CCS as well as CHAdeMO.
electriccarsreport.com
New market for BYD: At the IGEM 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, BYD presented the first electric bus for Malaysia. Manufactured in China, the K9 has already found buyers in Malaysia – Panorama Melaka has ordered 40 units and Sunway BRT 15 units.
paultan.org
An all-electric bus line might soon enter service in Indianapolis. The city is granting two million dollars for a feasibility study and soon will release more details. The e-bus would fit in well with Indianapolis’ plans to install the biggest electric car sharing of the States together with Bolloré (we reported).
theindychannel.com
America’s first electric garbage truck will help keep Chicago clean. The ERV (Electric Refuse Vehicle) is made by Motiv Power Systems and the company plans to build 20 of these for the city over the next five years.
insideevs.com, prnewswire.com
H2 roadmap: the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) has published a road map showing the planned hydrogen infrastructure. The accompanying report called Hydrogen Progress, Priorities and Opportunities (HyPPO) points out the next steps.
greencarcongress.com
High EV market share: Georgia currently has the lead in the race for EV adoption as 1 in 60 vehicles in the state are now electric, helped along by a generous tax rebate of 5,000 dollars. That is a market share of 1.6%, which puts Georgia ahead of California (1.4%).
insideevs.com
Supercharged Europe: Tesla plans to expand its fast charging network on the continent extensively over the coming year. A new map shows Superchargers as far south-east as Istanbul, Turkey, and up north as Finland while Eastern Europe is part of the expansion, too.
twitter.com (map)
Video tip: VW puts an end to EV “myths” such as low range, low speed, complicated charging and funny looks in a new video series featuring its very own e-Golf.
youtube.com (low range), youtube.com (complicated), youtube.com (slow), youtube.com (ugly)
Click tip: The City of Chicago has launched a new section on its website designed to encourage people to drive electric and informs about available incentives and rebates.
cityofchicago.org via evworld.com
