TeraWatt Infrastructure, founded by ex-Google energy strategist Neha Palmer, has announced what it will do with its recent billion-dollar funding. Among the most concrete projects is a corridor for ultra-rapid charging of electric trucks.
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Gridserve and Ecotricity have completed the major upgrade of the Electric Highway in the UK. The partners say they have now replaced all legacy motorway chargers on the network along UK freeways and trunk roads.
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Gridserve and Moto have opened the first high-powered EV charging hub in Wales. The advanced Electric Hub, part of the Gridserve Electric Highway and located in Swansea, initially boasts six 350kW high-power charge points, with the option to add six more.
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In the UK, Gridserve has just revealed its expansion plans for the Electric Highway charging station network along British highways and trunk roads. These plans include the installation of 50 high power charger (HPC) hubs.
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British green energy company Ecotricity has just sold its charging network to Gridserve. The company had previously taken on upgrading the Electric Highway, one of the oldest fast-charging networks in the UK.
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Motorway service station operator Moto has confirmed plans to install ultra-rapid EV chargers at all its UK sites. The installations will form part of the Electric Highway, which is among the oldest fast-charging networks in the UK.
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The Electric Highway, tge UK’s longest-standing fast-charging initiative, has opened its largest high power charging site at a Moto pitstop, Rugby Services, at Junction 1 of the M6. The new facility includes 12 ultra-rapid chargers from Tritium, able to charge supported vehicles at 350kW.
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In the UK, Ecotricity’s network of charging stations that form the ‘Electric Highway’ one of the oldest charging networks in Britain, is to be comprehensively modernised. This will include contactless payment and multiple charging options.
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Germany’s electric highway project Elisa is experiencing delays. Five cantenary trucks i.e with overhead current collectors are to collect data on the A5 in order to sound out the opportunities for tomorrow’s freight traffic. Less than five months after the start of the project, only two trucks are in operation.
Read moreKandi sells: The Chinese manufacturer signed a deal with Zhejiang Shi Kong Electric Vehicle, which will acquire more than 4,000 Kandi EV to resell them online. Another 2,000 vehicles will be delivered to the Chinese city of Kunming to be used in Micro Transportation.
chargedevs.com (Zhejiang), marketwatch.com (Kunming)
Indianapolis’ first electric buses are rolling through the city’s streets. They are run by the Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation (IndyGo), which aims to have 21 electric coaches funded by a TIGER grant by the year’s end. Maybe it will help BlueIndy get some love, too.
masstransitmag.com, insideindianabusiness.com
Charged if charged: The American Car Charging Group will enforce a new de-ICEing policy – this time for EV drivers. Everyone leaving their car at a charger for more than 15 minutes after being fully charged will have to pay 8 cents/minute. The new rule will be put in place starting Monday.
transportevolved.com
Electric flyway: Both Birmingham and Liverpool Airport now offer fast-charging and have became part of the Electric Highway in Great Britain. They are the first aerodromes to join the network, set up by green utility provider Ecotricity.
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2nd life project: Mitsubishi is joining forces with EDF, Forsee Power, and PSA Peugeot Citroën to set up a demonstration project for deploying used EV batteries in energy storage. The partners will look at energy management practices based on electricity storage, charging and generation technology with i-MiEV, Peugeot iOn and Citroen C-Zero batteries.
greencarcongress.com, puregreencars.com
Park only when you charge: British Bedford is cracking down on non-electric cars parking in front of charging stations, ordering its wardens to hand out tickets. Irish Limerick is only setting up six of such sole EV parking spaces but might soon be forced to do the same.
bedfordshire-news.co.uk (Bedfordshire), limerickleader.ie
Electric Highway: Australia’s Royal Automobile Club (RAC) is going ahead with its Electric Highway Plan in Western Australia. Six EV fast-charging stations have been erected, another six will follow. Charging is free of charge until the end of the year.
chargedevs.com
From Australia comes a prototype of a 50 seater electric bus. Transit, the Australian company behind it, hopes to produce locally but partners with the Malaysian government that already invested 170 million dollars in infrastructure based on the new bus.
couriermail.com.au
EV incentives limited: Washington State extended its plug-in vehicle tax breaks for another year but plans to exclude electric cars that cost more than 35,000 dollars. That means Tesla, as well as the BMW i3 would then have to be paid in full. The bill has yet to be signed.
autoblog.com
British government plugs in: The UK government yesterday announced the purchase of 140 ultra-low emission vehicles as part of a five million pound investment scheme. The all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles will be used by 15 government departments and agencies.
clickgreen.org.uk, gov.uk
Electric Highway update: Operator Ecotricity announced that the about 50 AC chargers currently out of order will be serviced in the coming months. Ecotricity also plans on doubling charge points at current locations and expanding along “A-routes.” Moreover, the company is working on an app to show the availability of chargers in real-time.
autovolt-magazine.com, transportevolved.com
E-bus in Hungary: An eight metre long electric bus by Hungarian manufacturer Evopro has gone into service in Budapest. It is still a prototype called Medio Electric and is a first step toward the country’s goal of becoming a leader in the electric bus market in Central Europe.
hungarytoday.hu
DoE funds EV acceptance: The U.S. Department of Energy earmarked 6 million dollars for a total of 11 projects aimed at improving potential buyers’ experiences with alternative fuel and plug-in electric vehicles. The so-called Clean Cities programme will focus on the areas of “on-the-road demonstrations, safety-related training, and emergency preparedness.”
greencarcongress.com
EV drivers asked to loosen purse strings: Starting in July, Oregon will become the first state in the U.S. to collect road fees based on miles driven instead of a state tax added to petrol prices. The reason is the increasing number of electric and hybrid vehicles on the road that will now have to pay up as well.
hybridcars.com
Police, fire fighters to go electric: A five million pound government scheme in the UK aims to increase the use of ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV). Now, police, fire fighters and NHS could apply for grants to electrify parts of their fleets. Some 200 plug-ins are expected to hit the road amid this next phase of the scheme.
businessgreen.com, fleetnews.co.uk
Rapid-charger in Cornwall: As of Friday, Britain’s South will also be connected to Electric Highway. The fast-charger at the Cornwall Services site in Victoria has a Type 2, as well as a CHAdeMO connector. For members of the Electric Highway, charging is free.
evfleetworld.co.uk
Zoe sets record at home: A record total of 1,182 Renault Zoe were registered in France in December, bringing the number of total sales there to 5,970. That is an increase of 8.3 percent compared to 2013 and means, more than half of all EVs sold in France last year were Renault Zoe.
insideevs.com, generation-nt.com (in French)
Supercharger vs CHAdeMO: The former wins 884 to 776 in terms of charging points in the U.S. However, there are still more CHAdeMO stations, as Superchargers generally count more connectors. Moreover, Tesla has another 500 so-called destination chargers (not Superchargers), located at hotels or other points of interest.
cleantechnica.com (charge points), insideevs.com (destination chargers)
In the UK, 515 plug-in vehicles were registered in August, up from 118 just twelve months ago. 234 of them were pure electric vehicles. In August 2013, it were just 71. Meanwhile, the usage of Ecotricity’s Electric Highway has quadrupled in nine months, counting 15,152 charging events in the second quarter.
smmt.co.uk (registrations), evfleetworld.co.uk (Electric Highway)
Putting hybrid buses to the test: Eight Volvo plug-in hybrid buses will enter service in Stockholm, Sweden, this autumn. The buses’ battery packs can be quick charged in just six minutes. The trial is part of the EU project ZeEUS (Zero Emission Urban Bus System), which is conducted in a total of six EU countries.
volvobuses.com
New charging points in Denmark: E.ON wants to install 13 new charging stations along the national motorway, which will support “all off the brands of electric cars commonly found in Denmark.” The stations should be operational by the end of 2014, with twelve of the stations located between Copenhagen and Aarhus and one near the Farø Bridges.
cphpost.dk
Two new charging points on ‘Electric Highway’: Ecotricty added stations at Peterborough and Baldock Extra Services in England. According to EVfleetworld, the company has now installed 161 DC charging stations along its ‘Electric Highway’ from London to the South of Scotland. The plan is to have a charging point at every motorway service station by the end of the year.
evfleetworld.co.uk
Hamburg electrifies public bus lines: Starting this December, the German city will use only buses with an electric drivetrain to service its bus route 109 from the city centre to Alsterdorf. Moreover, Hamburg says that all new buses bought after 2020, will be emission-free.
newstix.de (in German)
CHAdeMO in Europe: A total of 1,181 quick charging stations supporting the CHAdeMO standard have been installed throughout Europe. With 261 chargers, the UK currently has the most installations. Looking at the per-capita numbers, Norway once again proves to be the EV friendliest place.
transportevolved.com
Texas embracing EVs: The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will pay up to 7.7 million dollars in financial incentives for electric cars. Also plug-in hybrids are eligible for the incentive of up to 2,500 dollars. Applications will be taken until June 2015.
electriccarsreport.com, puregreencars.com
H2 fuelling: A new project led by the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Laboratories will work in support of H2USA. The ‘Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure Research and Station Technology’ (H2FIRST) project aims at facilitating the construction of more H2 fuelling station as well as improving the fuelling experience.
share.sandia.gov, phys.org
Half a million electric miles: British drivers travelled more than 500,000 miles on the Electric Highway over the last twelve months, says Ecotricity. The utility provider that erected the charging stations along British motorways is expecting a further increase of users in the future.
electriccarsreport.com
Every 5th Kiwi fond of EVs: A survey by the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, found 20% of those questioned and willing to buy a car within the next five years would choose electric. However, high prices, limited range and rare infrastructure still stand in the way of potential EV sales.
victoria.ac.nz
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
Click tip: Eight million euros (10.9m dollars) are available in the EU’s Horizon programme for electric two-wheelers. Additionally, the ‘Green Vehicle’ initiative holds 129 million euros (175m dollars) for projects in battery research and other related fields. Get digging!
ec.europa.eu (List), ec.europa.eu (Horizon PDF)
Video tip: In this video mainly addressed to rescue workers, you can learn safe handling of an electric vehicle, namely a Tesla, in case of an emergency. Or you can just watch it to take a closer look at the batteries of the Model S.
youtube.com (Video)
Video tip: Fully Charged proudly presents its trip up the electric highway between London and Edinburgh. 13 hours are boiled down to 13 minutes, so take a virtual seat in the Nissan Leaf and enjoy the scenery.
youtube.com (Video) via electric-vehiclenews.com
Select events for the upcoming week: Auto Expo New Delhi (02-07-2014 – 02-11-2014, New Delhi, India) ++ SAE 2014 Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Technologies Symposium (02-11-2014 – 02-13-2014, La Jolla, USA).
You can find a complete list of upcoming industry events at electrive.com/calendar