Dutch infrastructure provider Fastned has placed a successful bid to install two rapid-charging stations in the UK. Both Newcastle and Sunderland will benefit from 6 charge stops each, with some getting ready for ultra-fast charging.
Weiterlesen
Fastned has installed their first fast charging stations capable of 350 kW charging performance at the Dutch service station “De Watering” on the A8 near Amsterdam.
Weiterlesen
The Dutch fast-charging provider condemns Shell’s strategy to sell electric power for EVs at service stations where Fastned has already installed charging stations respectively has already concessions for. That’s why the company wants to bring the responsible authority Rijkswaterstaat to court.
Weiterlesen
Autocharge with Fastned: You may forget about those charge card/s, they are a thing of the past, and the apps too. At least at Fastned carging stations. The Dutch have introduced Autocharge, a function of CCS that recognises the electric vehicle and initiates charging automatically and also credits the session without further ado. Autocharge has been rolled out to a few selected users but soon, any car with a CCS charge port will be able to register for Autocharge.
electriccarsreport.com, fastned.nl
Self-driving cars in New York City: General Motors wants to become the first company to test self-driving cars in NYC, where it will deploy a fleet of autonomous Chevy Bolt early next year. They will roam in a 5-square-mile section of lower Manhattan. Still an operator will sit behind the steering wheel just in case but Cruise Automation, that developed the software, hopes to learn from the more aggressive drivers and adverse weather conditions that make New York so different from San Francisco, where GM also operates driverless Bolts.
foxbusiness.com
The H2 network grows to 41 stations in Germany as Daimler, Shell, and Linde launch Bremen’s first hydrogen filling station. It is located close to the motor way as well as the Mercedes-Benz plant. Three more stations are planned, in Munich and Cologne this week, then bringing the total number of H2 charging stations to 41 in Germany.
greencarcongress.com, media.daimler.com
Mobile fast-charger: Efacec has developed a mobile fast charger. It is basically built into a towable container and the system can charge three vehicles simultaneously, while fed through the local grid or by a generator. Charging power is up to 320 kW (nominal) and 350 kW (maximum).
chargedevs.com
German-Austrian charging corridor: Smatrics has forged a cooperation with Smartlab so that customers using the latter’s ladenetz.de network can use another 1,200 charge points in Germany from now. The other way around, clients from Smatrics can charge at 400 more charging points in Austria.
electrive.net
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
Fast destination chargers: Dutch Fastned has agreed with hotel chain Van der Valk to install fast charging stations at a few dozen locations in Belgium and the Netherlands. They will become part of the European network Fastned is currently working on and thus joins planned stations in Germany as well as the UK, where they will first serve London cabbies.
fastned.nl
More than 100 charging stations will be updated in Swiss Ticino by Green Motion. The company won the tender put out by the region’s ten biggest utility, which operate the hydroelectric-powered network under the Enerti SA name. Their so-called emoti initiative will also include an app and website.
startupticker.ch
Fleet charging: Fleetdrive Electric has launched a new EV charging system designed specifically for fleets. The Crowd Charge uses vehicle-to-grid technology and a universal vehicle connection so users will have the option to charge depending on energy prices soon.
evfleetworld.co.uk
10m for 10 electric buses: California will award 9.5m dollars to buy 10 electric buses from GreenPower plus solar charging infrastructure to the city of Porterville from early 2018. They shall serve disadvantaged communities with funding from the California Climate Investments (CCI) programme.
greencarcongress.com
Charging NoCal: Mendocino County is opening the second of a planned 14 EV charging stations, seven of which will be located in California State Parks. The project is a partnership with the California Energy Commission, which granted about half a million dollars. Charging is free for park guests.
forbes.com/
Do the Dutch do it better? It seems so considering that they will be the ones to electrify the German Autobahn. Fastned announced its expansion across the border and will line the highway with 14 fast-charging stations open to all electric car types, a first in Germany. In the Netherlands the company has 60 of 201 planned stations operational.
yahoo.com
Reverse to forward: Denmark is taking back its anti-EV policies the conservative government has (re-)introduced only last year, when it phased out the tax break on EVs. Since then sales had become virtually non-existent and so the incentive programme is now being phased back in place – almost. Instead of the tax being capped at 40 percent, it will halt at 20% until sales reach 5,000 EVs at least.
cphpost.dk, electrek.co, dr.dk (in Danish)
East coast all the way: Nissan and EVgo have made plans public to connect Boston and Washington D.C. with 50 fast-charging stations at nine locations. The chargers will support CCS as well as CHAdeMO and be ready by fall. The ‘I-95 Fast-Charge ARC’ will be pre-wired for 150 kW.
electriccarsreport.com
Hybrid Gig in California: The American Automobile Association (AAA) will launch its own hybrid car sharing called Gig in Berkeley and Oakland this month. 250 Toyota Prius C will form the first fleet.
nextmobility.co
Teaming up for electric transport are utility Georgia Power and the baseball club Atlanta Braves. They will install 61 EV charging stations around the SunTrust Park stadium.
bizjournals.com
Millions for e-scooter start-up: Berlin-based Unu secured 7.5m euros in another round of funding and wants to use the money to launch its electric scooters in France and the Netherlands. The circle of backers is international and includes French VC Iris Capital, Silicon Valley’s Michael Baum or NRW.Bank. Apart from the expansion, the three founders announced to be working on a new connected model. The original Unu scooter’s USP is its portable battery that facilitates charging anywhere.
gruenderszene.de (in German)
Electric trucks for charity: San Francisco Goodwill, a not-for-profit organisation, will deploy eleven electric trucks that will pick-up unwanted stuff and electronics in a bid to reduce not only poverty but CO2 emissions too. The test project involves BAAQMD, CARB, the Center for Transportation and the Environment as well as BYD. If successful, the charity may electrify its operations nationwide.
patch.com, sfgoodwill.org
Coming from down under to the UK market is Tritium with its range of Veefil EV rapid chargers. The Australian tech company has found its first UK distributor in Electric World Enterprises (EwE). Tritium believes the “small footprint” of its products may prove particularly fitting for Britain’s narrow roads.
fleetnews.co.uk, reneweconomy.com
Fastned en route to growth: The Dutch infrastructure company announced its Q1 figures. Both volume and revenue grew by 160 and 148 percent year-on-year. Client registrations increased by 62% and Fastned thus counts 3,520 active customers, or about a fifth of all EV drivers in the Netherlands.
fastned.nl
Alternative tracks are what BMW apparently wants to leave in California. The carmakers “Road to Coachella” campaign will see the i3 and X5 40e iPerformance serve as shuttles for the Coachella music festival. The i8 is reserved for VIPs, who will be accompanied by a soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer, who delivered the score for the Dark Knight or Pearl Harbour movies.
bmwgroup.com
VW collaborates with Smatrics: Austrian owners of an e-Up or e-Golf now benefit from a cooperation between VW and the Austrian infrastructure operator. With one charge card they have access to 400 charging points of Smatrics nationwide. In the first year it will be free and first 350 kW charger shall follow before the year’s end. VW clients in Germany, Belgium, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Netherlands enjoy similar advantages, where they can charge at fixed roaming tariffs.
automagazin.at, elektrojournal.at, ots.at (all in German)
Fast-chargers break even: Dutch EV charging company Fastned claims to have broken even with two of its fast-chargers for the first time. This means the fees covered all operating expenses, such as energy, fees for land, lease and license. Fastned estimates more stations will pass break even soon.
fastned.nl
Infrastructure project on track: AddÉnergie has started to install 25 chargers at Canadian Tire Gas+ petrol stations along highways in Ontario as planned. The chargers will be part of the FLO network, the first one was now inaugurated in Milton, the rest shall follow in the course of the year.
newswire.ca
Manila counts on E-trikes: The city parliament has transferred the first batch of 50 E-trikes to drivers in the Phillippines’ capital and seeks to distribute 230 more models until the end of the year. And it is just the beginning as Manila intends to replace all fuel-run tricycles reportedly.
news.mb.com.ph
Charging network for Huizhou: The infrastructure company Beijing E-Star wants to implement 160 EV charging stations in China’s Huizhou city through collaboration with a Chinese property developer.
straitstimes.com
Funding: The UK government announced a 20m pound subsidy programme for electric mobility in the cargo and logistics sector. The money will be distributed to 20 companies to introduce low-emission and zero-emission vehicles. More than 40 companies had a applied for the grant.
businessgreen.com, edie.net, gov.uk
Cheaper charging: From today, the South Korean government has cut the cost of electricity used to charge a vehicle, to incentivise people even further to purchase an EV. The price used to be at 313.1 won per kWh (0.26 USD) and has been lowered to 173.8 won per kWh (0.15 USD). The country will also see 530 new fast-chargers installed this year.
koreajoongangdaily.joins.com
Clean Fuel Rebate: California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) now offers its EV driving customers a so-called “Clean Fuel Rebate” of 500 dollars. The company is passing on money from California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard programme, which gives credits to utilities whose customers use home electricity to charge electric cars. Moreover, PG&E plans to install 7,500 EV chargers in California.
greencarreports.com
Annual closure: Dutch infrastructure provider says revue grew to 81,382 euros in the fourth quarter of 2016, a 174 percent increase to same period in 2015. The number of kWh charged meanwhile increased by 209 percent, reaching 168,381 kWh in Q4. The operator also says it lowered the price per kWh at its chargers, as well as its monthly standard fee.
fastned.de
U.S. manufacturer Flyer delivered a total of 213 electric buses this past year, marking an increase of 48 percent compared to 2015. And with an estimated 255 equivalent units of heavy-duty transit bus deliveries to have been zero emission in 2016, Flyer contributed 83 percent.
electriccarsreport.com, edmontonjournal.com
Local electric transport: Starting this Sunday, all 43 buses in the Dutch cities of Eindhoven and Helmond will be electric. The buses can be charged in just half an hour via a pantograph. Some buses are kept as back-up, in case one ever does run out of power. The fleet’s official presentation is scheduled for Friday.
prnewswire.com
Raising capital: Dutch infrastructure provider Fastned raised 2.5m euros with a limited issue of bonds to the public over the weekend. The money will be invested in further developing its fast-charging network. Due to the success, Fastned will offer additional bonds in the future.
fastnedcharging.com
Rewarding emobility: Toyota has teamed up with five Japanese utilities, offering its new PHV Connected Power Service. The idea is to animate Prius Plug-In Hybrid drivers to use the EV modus more often, by offering rewards based on the all-electric distance travelled.
greencarcongress.com
Promoting electrification: New Zealand’s government will invest 6m dollars per year in the promotion of electric vehicles. The goal is to increase the number of EVs on the road from now 2,000 to 60,000 in five years. A key focus will be company fleets and the electrification of bin lorries in the coming years.
newshub.co.nz
Dubai goes hybrid: The city’s transportation department has taken delivery of 20 Toyota Prius. Dubai previously announced that it wants to electrify or hybridise 10 percent of its fleet in order to cut carbon emissions.
constructionweekonline.com
Domestic smart charging: Finnsih Virta introduced its home charging unit that charges electric cars depending on tariffs. Owners can also allow others access to the charging device either for free or for a fee. Virta has recently set up shop in Berlin to coordinate its German operations.
uusisuomi.fi (in Finnish), virta.global (Berlin office)
Urban fast-charging: The Hague and Fastned opened the first of five EV fast-charging stations. The urban location completes the Dutch company’s offering that so far was concentrated along motorways.
fastnedcharging.com
More chargers in London will go up in the vicinity of Westminster council. From next January, existing charge points will be upgraded and 20 new ones installed, including rapid chargers. Operators will vary.
airqualitynews.com
Electric buses wanted: The utility of the German city of Osnabrück, Stadtwerke Osnabrück, is calling for tenders for 13 electric buses including charging infrastructure. The call is Europe-wide. The company aims to operate a fully electric line by 2018 and will make its decision in June 2017.
hasepost.de (in German)
Zero Emission Research Opportunity: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) made another 2.75m dollars of funding available for its ZERO programme. FTA is looking for nonprofit consortia to facilitate zero-emission public transportation vehicle technology and related infrastructure.
greencarcongress.com
e-clearing.net grows its network: Dutch roaming network eViolin will add its 140,000 charge card holders and 40,000 charging stations to Smartlab’s European roaming-platform “e-clearing.net.” For Smartlab, it will open the door of the Dutch market, giving its customers access to one of the largest e-mobility networks worldwide.
pressebox.de
Fastned with intelligent trip planer: The Dutch charging network provider now offers a trip planer in its app (and on the desktop) that not only shows the quickest way from A to B, but will also add stops for fast-charging at Fastned locations to the calculation. The planer will also take remaining range, car efficiency and traffic into account.
fastnedcharging.com
E-Trike programme scrapped: The Philippines had planned to use 500m dollars to replace some 100,000 old trikes with electric ones. But due to the lack of interest from buyers and high production cost, the undertaking has come to a halt. More than the 1,600 units already built will not be produced.
thestandard.com.ph
car2go leaves San Diego: The carsharer had replaced its electric Smarts with conventional ones in Mai (we reported), hoping to make the offering more attractive to customers. But the change in drivetrain did not spur a change of heart. car2go now announced that it will leave the California city at the end of the year.
autoblog.com, 10news.com
EV plus charger: Enel and Nissan now offer the “E-go All Inclusive” in Italy. For just 299 euros per month for three years, customers will get a 30 kWh Nissan Leaf and homecharger from Enel, including installation. The two even through in a new charging app. At the end of the agreement, customers can decide to return the Leaf or refinance the remaining cost.
newswiretoday.com
Video tip I: Robert Llewellyn is churning them out fast these days as he uploads another episode of Fully Charged. It finds him at a solar rapid charging station in the Netherlands. There, he meets the maker of the stylish application, Fastned founder Bart Lubbers.
youtube.com
Video tip II: Edna strikes again. This time Atieva plays its electric van against the BMW i8 and a Dodge Viper. A previous promo race saw the valorous e-van beat Tesla and Ferrari.
youtube.com via electrek.co
Apple puts charging on the map: Apple is partnering with Parkopedia, integrating their data on more than 40m parking possibilities in 75 countries into Apple Maps. The service is said to also include information about the availability of charging spots.
9to5mac.com, cnet.com
V2G with Greenlots chargers: Greenlots has received an order for 200 EV charging stations in public areas, as well as private homes and businesses in Washington state. Utility Avista is planning to integrate Greenlots’ SKY platform into a V2G pilot project in the eastern part of the U.S. state.
prnewswire.com/news-releases
Fastned gets ready for Tesla: The Dutch charge point provider has fitted all 50 of its fast-chargers with Tesla adapters. According the company’s annual report, it saw turnover go up an average 10 percent per month, while the provided amount of electricity and number of users rose 11 and 7% per month, respectively.
fastnedcharging.com
Baton Rouge in Louisiana wants to install eleven chargers for street level parking and in parking garages. Both the infrastructure and the installation will be paid for by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation (BRAF), while the city-parish will pick up the yearly maintenance bill. Moreover, non-EVs blocking the stations will be fined 50 dollars.
businessreport.com
Emobility grants: Pierce Transit in the U.S. state of Washington will use federal grant money to purchase its first two electric buses from Proterra. The U.S. city of Choasset in Massachusetts spend its grant money on three electric and hybrid vehicles for the municipal fleet, as well as charging stations.
thenewstribune.com (Washington), patriotledger.com (Massachusetts)
White House EV announcement: The Obama Administration has announced both private and federal sector actions to accelerate electric vehicle uptake in the country. This includes a 4.5m dollar loan option to support commercial scale-deployment of charging facilities and an “Electric Vehicle Hackathon.”
whitehouse.gov, greencarcongress.com
1,500 EVs in China: The Kandi Electric Vehicles Group, a joint venture of Kandi Technologies and Geely Automobile, plans to sell 1,500 EVs in the Chinese cities of Tianjin and Jiangyin. The cars should be delivered by the end of the year.
globalnewswire.com
Fast-charging rates: The new Fastned Power subscription allows Dutch drivers to charge vehicles at any of the company’s 51 locations for 19 cents per kWh, with a 24 euro monthly subscription fee. Prices therefore drop to the same rate as if an EV were to charge at home, making it especially attractive to the many electric car owners who don’t have a garage or driveway to install a home charger.
fastned.de
Inverness fleet: U.K. bus operator Stagecoach has modified their Inverness fleet of electric vehicles to run longer, reaching distances of 130 mi on one charge as opposed to the previous 95 mi per charge. This could mean each bus will be able to run for an entire day before needing to plug-in.
airqualitynews.com
UK businesses top plug in? The British government may have a subsidy programme for EV chargers at workplaces up its sleeve. At least Chargemaster CEO David Martell says they do. Details about the amount and organization will be announced at an official meeting in July.
businesscar.co.uk
Electric bus route in Paris: With line 341, the French capital has kicked off its first all-electric bus route. A total of 23 e-buses from Bolloré will go into service until the end of the year.
automobile-propre.com, lefigaro.fr (articles in French)
Fastned gets competition: Dutch utility NLE wants to set up its first fast-charger along the A13 motorway in June. It also teamed up with EV leasing company MisterGreen to reserve 1,000 Tesla Model 3, hoping the carmaker will prioritise the Netherlands in terms of the Model 3 delivery schedule (we reported).
groen7.nl, rtlz.nl (articles in Dutch)
H2 push in Japan: According to Nikkei, automotive and energy companies in Japan are looking to form a joint venture to push for more hydrogen filling stations in the country. Toyota, Nissan and Honda are part of the team. Investments could reach over 90m dollars and the Japanese government has agreed to generously subsidise the effort.
nikkei.com
Tesla’s mobile charger: After the Wall Connector, the EV maker also reworked its Mobile Connector charging cable. It only has half of the wallbox’s charging capacity, but is portable and can be connected to different outlets. Moreover, Tesla cut the price to about 550 dollars – 100 dollars less, than before.
electrek.co
Fast-charging at the pump: Russian oil company Tatneft has fitted its first petrol station with a rapid charger for electric vehicles. Tatneft operates nearly 700 petrol stations in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. It is unclear whether it will set up EV charging points at other stations as well.
interfax.com.ua
3m euros were raised by Fastned in the first five weeks of its listing on the new stock exchange Nxchange. 307,473 new certificates of shares each worth 10,000 euros have been issued. The Dutch EV infrastructure provider will use the funds to expand its network abroad, in cities, and along highways.
marketwatch.com
EV fleet encouragement: Stronger together is the idea of the partnership between EV charging provider Elm EV and the Zero Carbon Futures consultancy. Together, they aim to support businesses and organisations to roll-out large-scale EV programmes and charging networks across multiple sites.
fleetnews.co.uk, autovolt-magazine.com
H2 hybrid bin lorry: Two hybrid hydrogen-diesel lorries have been introduced by Scottish Fife Council. The converted garbage trucks are part of a project that will also see the transformation of five Ford Transit vans and ten Renault HyKangoo vans to hybrid electric and fuel cell operation.
commercialfleet.org
Transition to electric: Proterra launches the EV Simulator designed to point fleet managers to electric buses. It visualises mass transit networks and assesses cost savings, performance, and environmental impact of BEVs in comparison to diesel, CNG and hybrid technologies on specified routes.
prnewswire.com
Hangzhou homes in on charging: The Chinese city issued a law that requires all newly built homes to incorporate for the installation of EV charging facilities. From June 8th, parking lots in new housing projects must reserve a space for a charging post for every unit.
shanghaidaily.com
The Charge Ready programme is good to go. The pilot will see the utility reportedly build as many as 1,500 EV charging stations at spots where EVs are parked for an extended period of time. Participants will own, operate and maintain the stations, while SCE takes care of the supporting electrical infrastructure for free. SCE hopes to get California’s approval to build 30,000 such spots after the trial’s completion.
greencarcongress.com, ngtnews.com
SCE is not alone in its endeavour to electrify California. San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) says it will invest 7.5m dollars in a campaign designed to inspire EV uptake over the next five years. The promotion complements the utility’s plan to install a network of 3,500 EV charging stations in the state.
greencarcongress.com, prnewswire.com
Extra incentive: Colorado adds 5,000 dollars to the existing 7,500 federal tax incentive for EV buyers. The tax credit is assignable to a car dealer or finance company and can thus effectively be turned into a point of sale incentive. The initiative was supported by Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP).
electriccarsreport.com
Harmonised home charging: British CarConnect seeks to understand how plug-in electric vehicles charge at home in harmony with the grid. Funded through the Network Innovation Allowance, the project shall prevent costly changes to existing infrastructure and will serve as testbed for V2G technology.
fleetnews.co.uk, trl.co.uk
Harmonised roaming: Fastned cooperates with The New Motion. The TNM charge card can now be used at all Fastned quick-charging stations once the number of the card is entered in the Fastned app.
thenewmotion.com (in Dutch)
Stuttgart electrifies: The local government decided to replace 45 of its old combustion engine cars with electric ones and announced that all new vehicles added to the city’s fleet will be fully electric. Of course, Stuttgart will also set up the charging infrastructure needed for its initiative. The German city already raised an alert due to particulate matter on more than one occasion this year.
stuttgarter-zeitung.de, stuttgart.de (articles in German)
Charging France: Some 117 municipalities in the French Département Bouches-du-Rhône will install a total of 200 chargers by the end of next year. That is 400 charging points with 22 kW each. 80 chargers are said to go online this year. Half of the 2m euro bill is footed by the Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Énergie (ADEME).
avere-france.org (in French)
Fastned cooperates with Dutch railway: Fastned has signed an agreement with Dutch railway operator NS (Nederlanse Spoorwegen) to install EV charging stations in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Den Haag. The locations are all property of the Dutch railway.
nltimes.nl
Superchargers plough ahead: The announced expansion of the fast-charging network is already well underway. Some eleven new locations with some 90 parking stalls have been confirmed since the unveiling of the Model 3. In some cases, installation already kicked off. The new Superchargers are located across the globe in i.e. China, Australia, the U.S., the Czech Republic and Germany.
electrek.co
Washington adjusts incentives: Washington state, USA, expanded its sales tax break in order to include news EVs like the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3 in the scheme. From July, the tax break applies to the first 32,000 dollars of the selling price. Moreover, electric cars with an MSPR of 42,500 dollars now qualify.
opb.org
Tripe the fast-chargers: Moreover, the state’s capital Seattle is looking to install another ten rapid-chargers within the next year. These will be located on city as well as some privately owned grounds. Seattle currently has five fast-chargers. The city is also looking to kick off an in-home charging pilot programme, were EV drivers can rent chargers for their garage on a monthly basis.
king5.com
Open bus charging standard: Bus manufacturers Irizar, Solaris, VDL and Volvo team up with ABB, Heliox and Siemens to introduce an open interface for electric bus charging. The interface will be open to all market participants and works for fast charging at end stops and for overnight charging using CCS. CEN/CENELEC and ISO/IEC are already working on standardisation that could come into effect in the EU by 2019, followed by international standards a year later.
siemens.com
Missing out: Fastned may not receive the second half of a 2m euro grant from the EU, as it did not fulfil the plan to set up fast-charging chargers along the German Autobahn. The Dutch infrastructure provider however matched its obligations to expand the fast-charging network in the Netherlands.
rtlz.nl (in Dutch)
H2 network expansion: Hydrogen supplier Iwatani wants to increase its network of H2 charging station to 30 in Japan until March 2017. That means another ten stations will have to be build, costing about 3bn yen (26m dollars). Iwatani will focus on smaller cities and highways.
asia.nikkei.com
Push for electric rickshaws: The Indian city of Ranchi finances 135 electric rickshaws, which are to replace hand-pulled models. Pullers can apply for 75 percent financing, but will have to carry the rest of the cost and undergo testing of their “handling” abilities.
business-standard.com
Banking on charging: Société Générale has asked G2Mobility to install 400 EV charging stations at the bank’s branches in France. They will serve to charge electric fleet vehicles, as Société Générale plans to introduce 50 vehicles a year. The target is a 5 percent electric share in the fleet by 2017.
avere-france.org (in French)
Fastned adapts to Tesla: All 50 of the Dutch infrastructure provider’s fast-charging stations will be equipped with Tesla-to-CHAdeMO charging adapters by the end of the month. Fastned thus significantly expands the Californian’s network, as there are only seven Superchargers in the land of tulips.
electriccarreport.com, insideevs.com, fastned-en.pr.co
Smart City: Nissan envisions a future where cars charge at the curb and swap charge bays autonomously before driving up to homes to share their power. This extremely connected vehicle-to-grid scenario was developed together with architecture firm Foster and is on display in Geneva.
autocar.co.uk, youtube.com
Free to roam: British Columbia is getting ready to allow EV drivers to use HOV lanes, following California’s example. While the rule would go into immediate effect, the Canadian province still has to provide decals to clearly mark the privileged.
ctvnews.ca
Electric Highway: Nevada opened another EV charging location that now enables electric cars to go the 450 miles from Las Vegas to Reno. The stop provides six charging spots, including one for fast-charging. More stations are to follow as part of the government backed project.
reviewjournal.com, kolotv.com
Free charging: Florida joins Nissan’s ‘No Charge to Charge’ programme, which offers Leaf drivers free charging. The Sunshine State is the 27th market the Japanese carmaker has added to the scheme.
electriccarsreport.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
BYD’s buses highly sought after: Shanwei has begun operating 300 of BYD’s eight metre long K7 buses. The Chinese city even wants to increase the number of electric buses to 1,810 by the end of next year and 3,010 by the end of 2019. The city of Wuhan has meanwhile ordered 74 BYD K7.
byd.com
Cost-covering from mid-2016: Charging infrastructure provider Fastned has covered operating costs for the coming three years with new and extended credits. The company reports a monthly growth of more than ten percent throughout 2015 and expects first rapid-chargers to pass break-even by the middle of this year.
newswire.com
Massachusetts incentivises: The U.S. state spent some 2.5m dollars on rebates for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles as part of the Massachusetts Offers Rebates for Electric Vehicles (MOR-EV) programme in 2015. The scheme kicked off in June 2014 and since offered a total of 3.8m dollars in rebates for 1,606 vehicles.
boston.com
Elm EV expansion: The British company has started a crowdfunding campaign to raise 200,000 pounds to further develop its product range and expand its business internationally. Elm EV is one of only a handful companies certified to install rapid chargers in the UK and has worked with i.e. Nissan in doing so.
businessgreen.com, fleetnews.co.uk, seedrs.com
More BlueIndy: After a difficult start, the electric carsharing scheme in Indianapolis could see more EVs being added to its fleet and expand outside of the metro area. New chargers are already being set up. BlueIndy currently consists of 50 EVs, but Bolloré hopes to at one point expand to include 500 electric cars.
theindychannel.com (with video)
BMW charges U.S. faster: Together with EVgo, the German carmaker will expand the ‘ChargeNow DC Fast’ in the States. 500 more rapid-chargers across the U.S. will join the existing 100 stations in California by 2018. 50 will be installed this year already. BMW i3 drivers can use the network free of charge for two years after purchase. We do wonder why BMW has not launched initiative of a similar scale on its home market yet…
greencarcongress.com, transportevolved.com, insideevs.com
Charging COP21: Renault-Nissan will install 90 new charge points in and around Paris together with EDF, Schneider Electric, Aéroports de Paris, the Paris municipality and transport agency SNCF. They will power the electric shuttle service set up for delegates of the UN climate change negotiations (we reported).
alliance-renault-nissan.com, cleantechnology-business-review.com
Electric cabs in Canada: Montreal officially unveiled the announced electric taxi fleet. Operated by Téo, Nissan Leafs, Kia Soul EVs and Tesla Model S will hit the road next week. Only 500 selected users will be able to book the cars during a trial run until March 2016. After that, the 50-car strong fleet will be available to the public and is expected to grow to 2,000 taxis by 2019.
montrealgazette.com
Fastned for cities: Five fast-charging stations will be installed in The Hague by next year. The Dutch infrastructure provider says that more cities are to follow.
fastned-en.pr.co
An additional two million dollars will be poured into Connecticut’s CHEAPR programme that offers a cash rebate of up to 3,000 dollars to buyers of an electric, hydrogen or plug-in hybrid vehicle. Since the programme was launched in May, 278 such vehicles have been purchased or leased.
ctpost.com, fairfield.dailyvoice.com
Electric emergency service: The North East Ambulance Service in Britain adds five Nissan Leaf to its fleet, replacing five conventional gas guzzlers. They will be charged at nine charging points said to be capable of smart charging installed by Dutch ICU.
evfleetworld.co.uk
England charged: Cumbria will see the installation of 14 rapid-charging points. They are part of a total of 24 stations to be installed across the region by the Middlesex-based firm APT Control Group.
nwemail.co.uk
Freedom Plan: A 4-tier vision for electric mobility has been presented by Dutch Fastned. First, Fastned plans to grow its number of fast-charging station in the Netherlands from 50 to 130 by 2017. Secondly, European expansion as well as the increase of power from 50 to 150 kW is to happen until 2018. Furthermore, prices have to decrease while Fastned plans to invest in its own solar power facilities.
fastned.nl
Driverless e-minibuses: The Greek city of Trikala is testing autonomous electric minibuses as part of an EU project. Trials with the CityMobil2 built in France started already and will last until the end of February. The 10-seaters are guided by GPS and other sensors but limited to 20 kph.
hometownstations.com
Edmonton too is testing electric buses to see if they can withstand the Canadian cold climate. The buses will be tried in regular service in wintry conditions but with drivers steering.
edmontonjournal.com
Hybrid double-decker: Bus builder Alexander Dennis secured an offer from London for its new Enviro400H bus. 19 of these hybrid double-decker buses incorporating BAE technology are due to enter service in the British capital before the year’s end.
alexander-dennis.com
Smart EV charging: eMotorWerks has teamed up with ClipperCreek to integrate the JuiceNet platform for smart grid EV charging. JuiceNet transforms EVSEs into connected, smart appliances which are controlled via the cloud-based, self-learning software platform that includes an app.
greentechlead.com
300-kW charging: Dutch Fastned is preparing for faster charging at 300-kW, ensuring that all its locations have grid connections with at least 630 kVa available. FastNed operates 38 station in the Netherlands but aims to install a new one every week.
chargedevs.com
Tough love: China’s central government is reinforcing its push for electrification, urging local governments to comply with the 30 percent rule, meaning more than 30% of new cars purchased should be new-energy vehicles. Failure to comply will result in the reduction of fuel and operating expenses.
chinadaily.com.cn
Growing alliance: The International ZEV Alliance, which aims to promote electric vehicles worldwide, has eight new members. In Europe, Norway and the UK pledged allegiance, while U.S. states Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont also signed up.
ngtnews.com
Dine & Charge: The Electric Circuit and dining chain St-Hubert agreed to install ten new EV fast-charging stations in partnership with Nissan Canada. All will be located in the Quebec province.
newswire.ca
Plugless in Sweden: Evatran is about to start a test run with its wireless charging system Plugless. More than 20 inductive chargers will be delivered to the Swedish cities of Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Uppsala as part of the 18-month research project WiCh. The goal is to determine what effect wireless charging has on EV usage.
fleetsandfuels.com, pluglesspower.com
Sharing is charging: Dutch Fastned is trying to win investors by offering free charging for a lifetime. The offer is valid for everyone who buys at least 2,500 shares, priced at 10 euros each.
fastnedpr.pr.co
Renault goes to Seoul: Renault-Samsung has won the bid to deliver 40 electric taxis to the Korean capital this year. The SM3 Z.E. will help the government reach its own goal. It had announced that of 25% of newly acquired vehicles for government and public-service use will be electric.
whowired.com
Green sightseeing: British York put a newly converted electric bus into service. The City Sightseeing open top bus, formerly a diesel, is now available for city tours. If successful, another five electric buses might follow.
yorkpress.co.uk
Extended fleet: The University of Dundee is expanding its electric fleet, adding three more electric vans and 12 electric bikes. The vehicles are paid for with a 70,000-pound funding package (108,558 USD) from Transport Scotland. The university now has seven electric vans, one electric car and a hybrid flatbed truck. The bikes are available to students as well as staff.
evfleetworld.co.uk
Cleaner air-port: A ten-point-plan designed to improve air quality around London’s Heathrow Airport and the introduction of an ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) by 2025, could affect 8,500 airside vehicles operating at the airport. The proposal also includes a 5 million pound investment to improve EV charging infrastructure and to partly electrify the airport’s fleet by 2020.
airqualitynews.com
Fastned flatrate: The Dutch start-up says it will introduce EV charging price plans similar to mobile phone tariffs. EV drivers will be able to choose between unlimited fast charging for 100 euros a month, fast charging at a reduced rate for 12 euros a month or charge as you go.
fastnedpr.pr.co
Tesla chargers in Japan: Tesla plans to quintuple the number of Superchargers in Japan this year, increasing the number to 30 on the main island of Honshu. Currently, there are only 6 fast-charging stations. All Japanese Superchargers are to be fully powered by solar energy.
asia.nikkei.com
Five electric buses by BYD will soon be tested in LA for six months. The vehicles, which were built in California, have been delivered to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) that holds an option of 20 more electric buses from the Chinese company.
shanghaidaily.com, autoconnectedcar.com
EV sharing in China: Lingang New City launched an electric car sharing scheme under which drivers can rent a Roewe E50 for 30 yuan (4.80 dollars) an hour. Currently, 30 EVs are available but the fleet is said to grow to 50 later this year with an app to be introduced in June.
shanghaidaily.com
Dutch to charge Germany: Fastned is to build 60 charging stations along German highways as it has received a 2 million euro subsidy by the European Union. The initiative by the Dutch company will take several years as it requires German permits.
nltimes.nl, fastned.nl
Green cabs in York: Streamline Taxis has traded in a number of diesel taxis to replace them with ten hybrids and one electric car. The move was supported by the city council as part of a scheme launched in 2013 which offers taxi companies discounts off the purchase price of green taxis.
yorkpress.co.uk
9 million dollars could be saved if Edmonton would replace its transit with 250 electric buses, a new report suggests. Edmonton Transit has been testing two electric buses since May and so far they have proven successful. Testing is to continue for another two years.
edmontonjournal.com
Car sharing in India: Zoomcar or Myles are just two of new Indian car sharing start-ups which are becoming more common in the ‘Tiger State’. Zoomcar operates a fleet of 300 vehicles in Bangalore and Pune, including some electric Mahindra Reva e2o.
eco-business.com