Tesla’s first XL Supercharger stations with 20 charging points are soon opening in Albany, New York and Burbank, California. The installation of significantly bigger charging stations represents the EV maker’s current strategy for the States but also a readiness for the Model 3 roll-out. electrek.co
40 charging stations for Romania: E.ON Romania and Hungarian MOL agreed on erecting 40 EV charging stations in Romania until 2020. The project partners count on support through European funds. seenews.com, petrolplaza.com, business-review.eu, romania-insider.com
Debut of VW’s infrastructure project in the U.S.: Volkswagen has started the installation of its charging network in the States, following the company’s court settlement for the diesel-gate. The first quick charging station under the label “Electrify America” recently opened in Washington D.C. and marks the beginning of the first stage, that will see 50 DC charger installed in 10 cities until September. electrek.co
BYD enters partnerships in Chile: Chinese BYD has signed an agreement with Enel Chile in order to deliver 90 electric buses to the Latin American country. Additionally, the company teams up with the Federico Santa María Technical University as both seek to improve the education of teachers and students when it comes to EV tech and to support electric mobility research. byd.com (electric buses), byd.com (university cooperation)
Korea halves EV’s toll charges: The country’s transport ministry intends to halve highway toll charges for EVs and FCVs from September to boost EV sales. Korea’s government raised its electric mobility objectives generally and now wants 1.5m electrified cars to populate the country’s roads by 2020. english.yonhapnews.co.kr
Two Honda BEVs to come: This autumn, Honda intends to introduce a fully electrified vehicle based on the manufacturer’s new EV platform. More details have not yet been provided, but it will likely be the Clarity BEV and it will most likely debut at the IAA in Frankfurt. For the Chinese market, Honda is to launch an additional BEV in 2018. Furthermore, the Japanese carmaker confirmed that by 2030 it wants two-thirds of its global sales to be made up of electrified cars. This strategy also includes research on fast and wireless charging systems. autoexpress.co.uk
Renault to challenge utility companies? Renault-Nissan and British Powervault recently announced their cooperation to give EV batteries a second life and stationery home. Now the French carmaker goes a step further and plans to team up with energy storage specialist The Mobility House in order to build a huge power storage plant in Europe reusing batteries from EVs. With a capacity of 100MW, the “mega battery” shall be big enough to power 120,000 homes and could thus replace a coal power station. The project is at “study phase” according to Renault to determine where to build the plant. reuters.com
Semi serious: Serial production of Tesla’s electric truck Semi could start in 18 to 24 months, states Elon Musk with the prototype to go on display this September as planned. Meanwhile, the EV maker’s stock reached another record high with shares being worth 360 dollars each. It thus comes as no surprise, Tesla made it on the Fortune 500 list of companies with the highest-revenue worldwide. electrek.co (Tesla Semi), electrek.co (shares, Fortune 500)
New capital for Alta Motors: The Californian electric bike manufacturer raised a total of 27m dollars in its latest rounds of financing. The funds shall be invested in an expansion of a manufacturing and R&D facility in Brisbane and in further research of the company’s light electric vehicle technology. prnewswire.com
Number plates for EVs in Korea: BEVs and FCVs shall be easy to identify in South Korea and that is why they get to bear blue number plates. Thanks to sensors recognising the colour, drivers of these vehicles are supposed to automatically pay less parking and toll charges. koreaherald.com
Electric Tata Tiago? Tata Motors’ first EV reaching market maturity could be an electric version of the Tiago hatchback, Autocar India has learnt. More details have not been revealed, but it seems obvious that India’s recent push towards electric vehicles has hurried Tata’s plans to launch an electric line-up. autocarindia.com
All-electric car sharing in Stuttgart: Daimler’s fleet of 500 shared electric smarts in the Swabian capital will receive reinforcements by mid-April when 50 Mercedes B series Electric Drive will join. The 5-seater electric cars will be a little more expensive with 34 cent per minute, that is 5ct more than for a Smart ED. Once the EVs are added, Stuttgart’s Car2Go fleet will be the largest fully electric flexible car sharing fleet worldwide, according to Daimler. daimler.com
Eco Tour di Sicilia: 200 Renault Zoe will soon roam the south of Italy during the Eco Tour di Sicilia the French carmaker launched together with car rental company Sicily by Car and utility Enel. The latter will add 400 charging stations to the offer designed to explore Sicily in a most climate-friendly manner. autovolt-magazine.com, automotiveworld.com
Korea wants to have 1,450 fast-charging stations across the country before the year’s end and has just added another 100 over the last three months. This means there are 200 standing by now but also that the pace of installation has to accelerate to reach the energy ministry’s target. koreaherald.com
PlugSurfing and Allego cooperate: The companies have launched a peer-to-peer connection using the Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI). EV drivers with Plugsurfing’s app can thus access real-time data from Allego stations in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Source: PI via email
Talking charging stations: A range of smart electric vehicle chargepoints from Ensto Chago that can communicate with each other through cloud software has been approved for support by the UK Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). The aim is to distribute energy evenly between multiple charging EV. itsinternational.com
Ultra-fast-charging the Nordics: The partnership of E.On and Danish Clever reaps its first fruit, a cooperation with Norwegian pit stop provider XY. 20 of its service stations will be equipped with fast-chargers that deliver 150 kW but can go up to 350 kW if required. But E.On and Clever are not alone in their endeavour. Fortum Charge & Drive announced its plan to open a rapid-charging corridor connecting capitals. Electric cars travelling between Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki would be able to charge at 150 kW in-between. The first four of such fast-charging stops shall be erected this year. eon.com (Norway), iwr.de (Fortum)
Fast-charging along the Autobahn: 100 fast-charging stations will be installed by German utility EnBW together with service station operator Tank & Rast. The EV pit stops will offer charging at 50 kW (AC 43 kW) with the option to upgrade to 150 kW. They are multi-chargers that connect to Type 2, CCS and CHAdeMO and will line motorways in Germany’s south and southwest. enbw.com (in German)
Charging Switzerland faster: The Swiss-wide fast-charging network initiative GOFAST found a new investor in Energie 360°. Gotthard Fastcharge (GOFAST) reportedly wants to install at least 150 EV charging station offering 150 kW and more across Switzerland. gofastcharge.com
Korea’s first FCV sharing is about to start in the city of Gwangju. 15 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell are available to book online and form a fleet with another 27 battery-electric cars. The programme is a government initiative and serves as testbed. yonhapnews.co.krh, koreatimes.co.kr
PEV sales in Korea rose by 63.9 percent from 2015 to 2016. The hybrid and electric market registered sales of 68,774 green cars in total last year. Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association believes this increase to be the highest proportional growth worldwide. koreaherald.com
Toyota’s future begins: The Mirai (Japanese for “future”) has now been officially introduced and marks the start of Toyota’s fuel cell era. On-sale is set in Japan already this year at a price of 7,24 million yen (63,000 USD) – before government subsidies. Europe will be next in early 2015, followed by California in summer next year before the Mirai will be made available in more U.S. states by 2016. forbes.com, bloomberg.com (price), youtube.com (promotional video)
Honda’s future delayed: The Japanese carmaker unveiled its FCV model on home soil. However, instead of the expected production version Honda just showed a modified concept. Consequently, the launch has been pushed back from 2015 to March 2016 in Japan. electriccarsreport.com, autoblog.com
Lexus promises passion: Alain Uyttenhoven, VP of Lexus Europe, has confirmed a production version of the LF-LC concept, Auto Express reports. While he did not give any details on timing and drivetrain, the study which was first shown in Detroit in 2012 featured a 500-hp hybrid system. autoexpress.co.uk
Tesla discounts: As the new 2015 Model S range is just around the corner, 2014 Model S are to become increasingly cheaper, Consumer Reports quotes a Tesla insider. Discounts will apply to remaining Model S including display cars. The 2015 Tesla will be available with all-wheel drive, new power and range specs, and the so-called “Autopilot” function (we reported). consumerreports.org via greencarreports.com
Folding e-bike: The ‘Impossible Electric Bike’ is said to weigh only 5 kilos and to fit in a backpack. The Kickstarter crowd seems inclined to believe the engineers’ claim even though the somewhat bizarre design is still missing pedals and a chain. Minor details when making the impossible possible… cnet.com, kickstarter.com
Korea is to cut down hybrid subsidies after a recent budget revision. Instead of the originally allocated 40 billion won (36 million USD) only 32.5 billion won (29.5 million USD) will go to buyers of hybrids next year which will help finance 32,500 units. The government is further asked to provide EV infrastructure. koreaherald.com
E-buses in London: Optare, the British subsidiary of Ashok Leyland, has delivered four electric buses to the city of London. The low-floor Optare MetroCity buses are funded by Department of Transport’s Green Bus fund and shall prove the feasibility of zero emission transport in the British capital. indianautosblog.com
More funding needed: The Swedish rebate program for electric vehicles is coming to an end. Only 800 EVs or hybrids are left to be partially funded and the trade group Bil Sweden is asking the government to top up its incentives quickly. adn.com
Car sharing in Korea: According The Korea Times, the country’s youth who often studied abroad is missing a car sharing culture in their homeland as not many offers are available yet. However, Green Car, Korea’s largest car sharing service is seeing constant growth since its introduction in Seoul in 2011. koreatimes.co.kr
Anonymous EV charging: A*STAR from Singapore has designed and electronic payment system that protects the privacy of EV drivers recharging their electric vehicles at public chargers. It is based on an in-car unit similar to a smartphone or tablet that allows two-way anonymous payments. sciencedaily.com
Where to charge for free? PlugShare is now showing Nissan EV drivers the way to the next charger taking part in the ‘No Charge to Charge’ programme. A filter within the PlugShare app will list only stations where charging is free for Leaf drivers for two years after purchase. puregreencars.com
Toyota’s fuel cell vehicle has just been presented revealing some ground-breaking figures. In April 2015, The FCV will first debut in Japan before it goes on sale in the US and Europe a few months later. The price for customers in Japan is set at about 7 million Yen (69,000 dollars). The FCV is said to go as far as 700 kilometres on one tank filling on the Japanese cycle. bloomberg.com
Ferrari is going hybrid: The EU requires any carmaker to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent by 2021 – that also applies to luxury carmakers like Ferrari. Vittorio Dini, responsible for engine technology at Ferrari plans to reach that goal through hybridisation of its V12 models. autonews.com, greencarreports.com
Toyota is Korea’s sole supplier of hybrids, or almost as it holds a marketshare of 97.1 percent of all imported hybrids. That is a total of 2,558 vehicles the Japanese manufacturer sold in the Asian country this year. Already in 2012 and 2013, Toyota has been equally successful in South Korea. businesskorea.co.kr
Electric MG review: Autocar was allowed to drive MG’s EV concept on the Silverstone circuit. The electric mini car is based on the Roewe E50 and is already being sold in China. Apart from the rather confined space, Autocar was impressed but only sees a future for the mini MG if it is offered notedly cheaper than its competitors VW E-Up and Nissan Leaf. autocar.co.uk
Premium hybrid competition: Auto Express has compared the Mercedes S300 hybrid with the Lexus LS 600h. While the Lexus beats Mercedes “hands down for performance,” in the end the reviewers got lulled in by the luxury a Mercedes’ S-class has got to offer. autoexpress.co.uk
Two Honda BEVs to come: This autumn, Honda intends to introduce a fully electrified vehicle based on the manufacturer’s new EV platform. More details have not yet been provided, but it will likely be the Clarity BEV and it will most likely debut at the IAA in Frankfurt. For the Chinese market, Honda is to launch an additional BEV in 2018. Furthermore, the Japanese carmaker confirmed that by 2030 it wants two-thirds of its global sales to be made up of electrified cars. This strategy also includes research on fast and wireless charging systems.
Toyota’s future begins: The Mirai (Japanese for “future”) has now been officially introduced and marks the start of Toyota’s fuel cell era. On-sale is set in Japan already this year at a price of 7,24 million yen (63,000 USD) – before government subsidies. Europe will be next in early 2015, followed by California in summer next year before the Mirai will be made available in more U.S. states by 2016.
Toyota’s fuel cell vehicle has just been presented revealing some ground-breaking figures. In April 2015, The FCV will first debut in Japan before it goes on sale in the US and Europe a few months later. The price for customers in Japan is set at about 7 million Yen (69,000 dollars). The FCV is said to go as far as 700 kilometres on one tank filling on the Japanese cycle.