BMW plans to invest up to £600 million to ready its Oxford plant for building electric Mini cars. The BBC broke the news without naming specific sources. The British government has offered BMW 75 million pounds in subsidies to keep the Cowley plant going.
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BMW is reportedly negotiating with the British Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to receive a 75 million pound (about 84.5 million euros) grant in order to continue production of the electric Mini at its plant in Cowley on the outskirts of Oxford.
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The Oxford Bus Company, which is part of the Go-Ahead Group, has ordered 104 electric buses from Irish manufacturer Wrightbus. The order comprises five single and 99 all-electric double-decker buses. Eight double-decker will have an open top and can be used as sightseeing buses.
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BMW will apparently continue to have electric cars produced in England for the Mini brand and will convert the plant in Oxford for this purpose – or is at least considering it. According to a media report, the board of directors wants to make a decision to this effect before the end of the year.
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In the English city of Oxford, Pivot Power, Fastned, Tesla and Wenea have commissioned the Energy Superhub Oxford, which enables the simultaneous charging of 42 electric cars. Other HPC hubs from Pivot Power are to follow.
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Oxford City Council has today launched the UK’s first ‘Zero Emission Zone’ (ZEZ), which will mean daily charges on drivers of all petrol and diesel vehicles as well as hybrid cars.
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The Russian invasion of Ukraine has a devastating impact on the local population and is also affecting global supply chains. Missing parts are bringing assembly lines in Germany, the UK and the Czech Republic to a standstill.
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Oxford City Council has announced a new £5000 grant for licenced drivers of Hackney Carriages or black cabs to transition to an electric vehicle. The £5,000 grant is now available as a grant contribution towards the costs of purchasing a new ultra-low emission taxi.
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UK-based Pivot Power has announced a deal with technology company Wärtsilä to deliver two new grid-scale battery storage facilities in the West Midlands. The so-called Energy Superhubs at Coventry and Sandwell will each provide 100MW of battery storage and high power charging facilities.
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The British chemical company Johnson Matthey has opened a “Battery Technology Centre” near the English city of Oxford, which is to play a key role in the development of battery materials of the future. The new battery technology centre expands existing battery technology and testing capacities.
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Oxford City Council has approved the introduction of a zero-emission zone (ZEZ) pilot, which will start in August. The city is also one of two Electric Bus City’s in the UK together with Coventry and will be the first in the UK to introduce a ZEZ.
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Coventry and Oxford could become the first British cities with all-electric bus fleets. As the British government has now announced, it received 19 applications from all over England for corresponding funding. From these, the two cities were selected as finalists.
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The British EV charging startup Urban Electric Networks has announced the completion and results of the trial of their UEone prototype on-street charging hub in Oxford. According to the company, the test of its retractable chargers has proven “a big success”, a fact that the council’s survey confirmed.
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In England, Oxford City Council has received the first six electric vehicles ordered as part of its Energy Superhub Oxford project. A further 27 battery-electric vehicles, including cars, a street sweeper, an excavator and mix of different sized vans, should be delivered over the next 3-4 months.
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Oxford-based Savona Foodservice is the latest company to trial one of Tevva Motors range-extended electric trucks. The food supplier is the first such service to use a multi-temperature truck as part of Tevva’s Electrify initiative.
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A fully retractable charging point has popped up in Oxford thanks to Urban Electric Networks. The startup, founded in 2017, aims to install 18 further ‘demonstrator’ hubs with 100 charging points for overnight charging before full commercial launch.
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On-street charging has become less obtrusive with this solution by British startup Urban Electric. Their UEone which they call a pop-up charge point disappears out of sight when not in use. A trial is underway together with the Oxford City Council.
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The confirmation has come that the new Mini Cooper EV is going into production, however not until November of next year at BMW’s Oxford plant. Hence, delivery will not be taking place until at least 2020.
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The British government has embarked on a funding spree worth almost 30 million pounds to foster vehicle-to-grid technology on the Isles. 21 V2G projects have been chosen among them EDF Energy’s V2GO initiative that takes place at delivery and taxi services in Oxford.
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
York goes full on in: 24 new electric buses shall come to York supported by the British government with 3.3m pounds through the Low Emission Bus Scheme. They will join an 11 strong electric bus fleet already in operation in the English town and 18 of the new models are double-deckers. Once the order is fulfilled, York says its will have the country’s first fully electric Park & Ride fleet.
yorkpress.co.uk, itv.com
Fortum to expand in India: For Finnish Fortum India is its next destination and a pilot with EV charging stations is planned this October. The energy firm has set eyes on large cities like Mumbai and Bangalore to install about 150 charging stations, including DC fast-chargers over the next 12 – 18 months in attempt to “figure out the landscape,” Fortum India’s MD Sanjay Aggarwal said.
economictimes.indiatimes.com
Smart move: Oxford City Council has commenced to install 100 EV charging stations in residential streets across the city. They are part of a trial and their use will be monitored by researchers from the University of Oxford’s Transport Studies Unit (TSU).
oxfordtimes.co.uk
Electrification in Luxembourg accelerates with the government aiming to electrify ten percent of its fleet of 1,700 vehicles. The first 15 – 20 hybrid and electric vehicles have already arrived.
delano.lu
Testing charging in public: Oxford intends to set up 100 on-street EV charging points by 2019 but wants to test at least six solutions by different providers first. Residents of the university town are asked to put their interest forward to have a charging point close to home. The trial is being funded through an 800,000 pound grant from the UK government’s ultra-low cities fund.
airqualitynews.com
Luxembourg is to get hybrid buses as Autobus de la ville de Luxembourg orders 5 from Volvo as a turn-key solution. The 7900 Electric Hybrid is a plug-in that can operate 70 percent of the time electrically. Fast-chargers for the buses come from ABB with all deliveries due by the end of 2016.
greencarcongress.com, electriccarsreport.com
Marseille turns to electric transport: The French city put its first 12 metre electric bus in service. The Irizar i2e has a 374 kWh battery pack, that offers a range of up to 155 miles and needs five hours of charging to be ready for a 14 to 16 hour shift. Marseille is also testing hybrid options.
greencarcongress.com
Fleet renewal: New Flyer is to deliver 267 hybrid and diesel buses to Connecticut’s Department of Transportation (CTDOT). The contract is worth about 122m dollars and includes an option for an additional 218 vehicles. It has not been said however, how many of the buses will be partially electric.
canadianmanufacturing.com, newflyer.com
Pilgrims’ carriage: 18,000 carts will be made available at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia’s capital Abu Dhabi during the holy month of Ramadan. The fleet for worshippers includes at least 300 electric scooters and electric cars as well as special vehicles.
arabnews.com
Gas-guzzler ban? Oxford is looking to only allow electric vehicles in its city centre by 2020, thus effectively banning all petrol and diesel cars. By 2035, the proposed policy could be enforced across the whole city. Only one council member voiced his objection. The vote is due on September 8th.
oxfordtimes.co.uk
Electric travel in Japan: Nissan and the Japan Travel Bureau initiated EV sharing in the country’s rural areas. Until the end of August, 1,622 new charging stations will be installed for relaxed travel. The stations in Matsunoyama are powered by electricity from local hot springs.
greencarreports.com, nissan-global.com, youtube.com (video)
Tesla recharged: Charging a Model S in the Big Apple just became easier, as Tesla installed a dozen destination chargers with another 12 to follow. Also, Manhattan will soon see its first Supercharger. In Australia, things are moving fast with three more rapid-chargers being installed between Sydney and Melbourne.
wsj.com (New York), cnet.com (Australia)
Liberation from Lisbon: The Portuguese government is opening the market for charging stations, previously in the hands of the monopolistic consortium MOBI.E. The latter has been found “inefficient” in regards to the installation and operation of a public charging network.
theportugalnews.com