Waste not, want not…
After the end of the e-car-sharing BlueIndy in Indianapolis, drone pictures now show the sad end of the perfectly good electric cars: They are being scrapped.
Read more
Alas for the unfortunate people of Indianapolis
In an update on the dispute between BYD and Indianapolis, it seems that now – because BYD’s very popular buses did not provide the promised range – IndyGo has ordered 13 diesel buses elsewhere and cancelled an order placed with BYD in December 2019 for five more electric buses.
Read moreUK, Royal HaskoningDHV, Greenspot, Indianapolis, New Zealand.
EV privileges in UK? Clean Air Zones to be introduced in Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby, and Southampton could see electric cars getting road priority. Proposed privileges include use of bus lanes, exemption from one-way systems and priority at traffic lights for EV. The latter in particular appears a recipe for chaos. Environmental lawyers and campaigners claim the British Government’s initiative to be “too little, too late,” esp. as it is limited to five cities.
bbc.co.uk, theguardian.com, consult.defra.gov.uk (clean air zone draft)
Fleet electrification: 26 BMW i3 are the start of a 100 percent electric fleet for Dutch engineering company Royal HaskoningDHV. The electric cars replace internal combustion engine vehicles and the bureau plans to operate its entire leasing fleet of 625 cars purely electrically by 2020.
eco-business.com
Chevy Volt sharing: Ten EV charging stations were unveiled in Jersey City by infrastructure provider Greenspot. Two are reserved for GM’s Maven electric car sharing with Chevy Volts. Jersey thus has the first Maven in the New York Metropolitan area.
jerseydigs.com
Airport electrification: 12.6m dollars have been awarded to the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA) for upgrades that include six electric shuttle buses. It would be the largest electric fleet at any U.S. airport.
ibj.com
Kiwis to go green: Thirty of New Zealand’s largest companies, among them Air New Zealand and Mercury, have agreed to electrify 30 percent of their fleets by 2019. The move will put close to 1,500 electric cars on the road, thus doubling the number of electric vehicles in New Zealand.
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India, Indianapolis, SemaConnect, Kyocera, Tesla.
India ups subsidies: Starting in April, the country wants to increase subsidies for electric cars from around 10.5m euros to at least 70m euros as part of its FAME programme. More than half of the money will be earmarked for buying incentives for electric and hybrid cars, while the rest will be used for research grants and building up charging infrastructure.
hindustantimes.com
IndyGo electrified: Indianapolis has received all of its 21 electric buses, each with a driving range of about 130 miles. The first bus was already delivered in July. The purchase was funded by a TIGER grant.
modbee.com
Colorado plugs in: Company Arrow Electronics installed a total of seven EV chargers from SemaConnect at its corporate headquarters in Englewood and Centennial, Colorado. Though the company does not say, whether these stations will be open to the public.
prweb.com
New solar chargers in Japan: Kyocera installed two new public solar chargers in the city of Kyotango. Due to the stations’ independence from the power grid, they can also double as central hubs for back-up power during emergencies.
renewablesbiz.com
Tesla expansion in Australia: The California EV pioneer sold 600 Model S in its first year Down Under and installed seven Superchargers. Another five are said to follow this year. There are already dozens of Destination Chargers installed across the country.
businessinsider.com.au
BYD, DLR, Pacific, Gas and Electric, Indianapolis.
News from BYD, part I: The Chinese manufacturer has secured the largest contract for the delivery of all-electric buses in the U.S. to date. The Washington State Department of Transportation awarded BYD 10 out 12 available categories of a contract allowing for a total of 800 buses to be purchased.
electriccarsreport.com, theautochannel.com
News from BYD, part II: BYD signed a deal for the delivery of 10,000 electric, hybrid and conventional vehicles to Sudan. Power systems and key components will be shipped to Sudan and the cars will be assembled there at a later date.
chinadaily.com, chinadaily.com
Online tool for fleet managers: As part of the Incentives for Cleaner Vehicles in Urban Europe (I-CVUE) programme, German Aerospace Centre (DLR) has made an online tool for fleet managers available. It is said to help them calculate the final cost of an EV, based on the fleet’s individual conditions.
dlr.de (online tool) via renewableenergymagazine.com
No charger network in Cali? The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is putting a damper on Pacific Gas and Electric’s plan to install 25,200 chargers in Northern and Central California. Only 10 percent of the stations will be allowed to go online in the first two years, as PUC looks into whether the utility has an unfair advantage.
mercurynews.com
Indianapolis likes electrification: The city is looking to begin operating the U.S.’s first all-electric rapid bus transit system by 2018. The line will be constructed in three phases and span 13 miles, says transport agency IndyGo.
indianapolisrecorder.com
Kandi, Indianapolis, Car Charging Group, Electric Highway.
Kandi 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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USA, China, Germany, Indianapolis, PG&E.
Executive order to electrify: U.S. President Barack Obama intends to reduce the government’s CO2 emissions by 40 percent until 2025 compared to levels in 2008. He has therefore issued an Executive Order to Federal Agencies to electrify a fifth of their fleet by 2020. Until 2025, 50 percent of all new official vehicles are to be either all-electric or plug-in hybrids.
greencarcongress.com, ngtnews.com, whitehouse.gov
Public electrification: Chinese Transport Minstry last week announced its plan to add 200,000 buses and 100,000 taxis powered by alternative fuels, including electricity, until 2020. Last year alone, 15,000 “alternative fuel-powered” buses were added to China’s public transport services.
autoblog.com
German Mayors for mobility: Three cities in Lower Saxony, namely Brunswick, Wolfsburg (where VW is from), and Salzgitter together developed a strategic paper outlining ways to improve mobility in the region. Not only public transport is to intensify in frequency and connectedness but also new rental stations for electric vehicles and bicycles are part of the plan.
braunschweigeranzeiger.de (in German)
Unlikely match: Nissan has teamed up with gas station provider Ricker’s to expand its “No Charge to Charge” programme to Indianapolis. EV charge stops will be conveniently located at Ricker’s fuel stations and convenience stores while Nissan provides two years of free charging to Leaf owners.
automotiveworld.com
Credits to rebates: Pacific Gas and Electric Co. proposed an one-off rebate for customers driving electric cars. The rebate needs to be approved by the California Public Utilities Commission as PG&E plans to use money earned from selling carbon credits to oil companies.
sfgate.com
Japan, Proterra, Indianapolis, Beijing, Puget Sound.
Honda, Nissan and Toyota announced to jointly support the Japanese government’s efforts of promoting the installation and operation of hydrogen filling stations. Toyota says the specifics, including investment amount and the number of stations to be deployed, will be “determined at a later date.”
wsj.com, autoblog.com, toyota.co.jp
28 new electric Proterra buses: Six of the ten recent winners of Federal Transit Administration´s grants will use their funds to purchase 28 Proterra electric buses and seven charging stations, bringing Proterra’s total number of orders to 97 buses from 14 different transit agencies in North America.
greenvillebusinessmag.com, chargedevs.com
BlueIndy thwarted: The future of Bolloré´s electric car sharing in Indianapolis is uncertain after state regulators denied a 16 million dollars rate increase to Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) to pay for charging stations. IPL now has 20 days to accept or appeal the commission’s decision.
indystar.com, ibj.com, sunherald.com
Mobile chargers for Beijing: The Chinese capital plans to introduce portable electric car chargers in April to benefit those who find it difficult to install charging facilities in housing complexes where they live. So far, the city has built 1,500 charging stations for private users.
cri.cn
Home charger rebate: EV drivers in the Puget Sound region in the state of Washington can qualify for a 500-dollar rebate when installing one of the most common level 2 chargers at their home. The offer is good for the first 5,000 applicants and includes plug-in hybrids.
insideevs.com, pse.com
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Audi inductive charging, BlueIndy electric car-sharing.
Video tip: Whilst everyone’s eyes are on Detroit now, it is worth to take a look back at CES. To tease its appearance in Vegas, Audi released a video featuring not only the A3 e-tron but also inductive charging. No details were given but obviously the Germans have something coming.
youtube.com via insideevs.com
Reading tip: John Tuohy tried the BlueIndy electric car-sharing in Indianapolis. While the city’s and French Bolloré’s joint efforts are currently up in the air, Tuohy enjoyed his demo drive but is not a big fan of the small size and prominent branding of the rental EVs.
indystar.com
Indianapolis, Belgium, New Zealand, Tesla, Dundee.
With its “Freedom Fleet,” Indianapolis plans the largest electrification of a communal fleet in the US. A total of 425 petrol-powered vehicles will be replaced by EVs and PHEVs by 2016, the first 100 will even be replaced by the end of the year. Due to low maintenance costs, the city wants to save 8.7 million dollars over the next ten years.
greencarcongress.com, electriccarsreport.com, indystar.com
Topping that, Belgium’s nursing service “Solidariteit voor het Gezin” has ordered 729 Toyota Yaris hybrids and Auris Touring Sports hybrids, provided via leasing company Alphabet. Deliveries have already started and are said to soon be completed.
avem.fr (in French)
Tesla instead of petrol BMW: New Zealand government is ready to give its fleet an overhaul. 34 BMW 7 series limousines will need to be replaced. The Green Party suggests the Tesla Model S.
3news.co.nz, radionz.co.nz
Tesla’s CHAdeMO adapter is still not available, but it looks as though it will be a lot cheaper than originally announced. Instead of 1,000 dollars it will be available for just 450 dollars.
teslamotors.com via insideevs.com
Tripling charging points: Scottish city of Dundee will increase the number of charging possibilities from now seven to 21, spread across the city centre. The charging stations are funded by Transport Scotland.
thecourier.co.uk
Indianapolis, Chicago, California, Georgia, Tesla.
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)
California, H2USA, BYD, BMW, NREL, Indianapolis, Bolloré.
H2 campaign: The California Energy Commission supports the installation of 28 H2-fuelling stations, investing 47 million dollars in the project. 27.6 million dollars are allocated for a total of 19 Toyota and FirstElement Fuel joint projects, some of which will be installed at existing gas stations. Linde LLC plans to set up a H2-fueling station in San Ramon.
toyota.com, just-auto.com
California joins H2USA, a public-private partnership headed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE). The goal is to push commercialisation of clean energy technologies and especially fuel cell technologies and H2-fuelling infrastructure.
electriccarsreport.com
News from BYD: The Chinese manufacturer kicks off production of one of its e-buses at its new plant in California. Some 200 electric buses are set to roll off the production line there every year. The first will hit the streets of LA in August. Meanwhile, BYD has delivered three units to Taiwan.
chargedevs.com (California), automobiledistribution.automotive-business- review.com (Taiwan)
Sun(ny) roof: BMW Designworks USA has developed a solar carport, especially designed to the BMWi models. Using the BMWi Wallbox Pro, a live readout of the power generated from the panels vs. taken from the grid is possible.
bmwblog.com
Interim results: The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has begun its evaluation on the first results collected during six months into a 12-month trial of 10 medium-duty Smith Newton electric vehicles (EVs) and 10 comparable conventional diesel vehicles operated by Frito Lay in the Seattle area. The test focuses on fuel economy, maintenance and durability.
nrel.gov
16 million dollars for car-sharing: The city of Indianapolis and utility provider Indianapolis Power and Light want the state to foot the bill for installation of charging infrastructure and power lines for a proposed EV-sharing programme. French Bollore will supply all 500 EVs as well as invest 35 million dollars in the programme.
indystar.com
