Transdev Canada announced the investment of close to CAD$4.5 million in a new fleet of electric school buses with the Quebec company Lion. With a total of 31 vehicles, this move will make them the largest private operator of electric school buses in North America to date.
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Financial cooperative group Desjardins Group and Canadian energy providers Hydro-Quebec have announced the opening of what they call Quebec’s first urban ‘super station’ in downtown Montréal at the Quartier des Spectacles.
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The Canadian manufacturer Lion Electric, known for its electric school buses, is now starting the expansion of its range of commercial electric vehicles with the launch of its first electric truck in the US vehicle category of Class 8.
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Sometimes a little madness goes a long way: The Canadian state of Québec is trying to get more EVs in the country to satisfy increasing demand. Racine has just opened a pre-owned EV division offering a free ride in Québec’s “fastest” EV – a pimped Tesla Model 3 – to inspire electric vehicle ownership.
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The town of Candiac in Québec will see the first real-road trial of autonomous electric shuttles in Canada. Setup by Keolis using EVs from Navya, the trial will run over 12 months. The shuttles will serve on public roads on a 2-km stretch.
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The EV charging network spanning Québec is receiving another extension. Hydro-Québec ordered 50 kW fast-charging stations from AddEnergie to widen the Electric Circuit. It is the fourth successful bid for the local charging equipment provider.
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Volkswagen has founded another subsidiary after Electrify America to construct an EV charging network in Canada. The company is called Electrify Canada and will set up a DC charging network that will include high power chargers.
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Nova Bus has been selected by Quebec to supply most of their hybrid and electric buses. For Nova Bus it is their largest order of the kind to date. It includes 497 hybrid buses and up to 1,028 vehicles on option that will go to the province’s 9 largest cities.
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Canada’s Lion Electric is expanding its portfolio beyond electric school buses. Their latest strike is a minibus designed for paratransit, that is transport for physically challenged persons, and other public transport.
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Up in the far north of the American continent, a new line of electric trucks and smaller utility vehicles is emerging. The new EVs come out of the factory of Lion Electric, a Quebec-based maker of electric school buses foremost.
Read moreGreenway to erect net in Slovakia and Poland: Greenway Infrastructure says it will install numerous charging stations on behalf of the EU’s executive agency INEA in both countries. The order involves 13 ultra-fast charging stations with up to 350 kW. Ten of them will be in Poland, the others in Slovakia. They will be joined by another 60 quick charging stations with up to 50 kW as well as 50 regular charging stations with up to 22 kW in Poland and 20 in Slovakia.
electrive.com
London charges diesel extra: Parts of London’s city centre sees the trial of the so-called D-charge that started just now. Thus, for diesel older than 2015, parking in chosen areas gets more expensive. With 7.35 pounds per hour their fee is 2.35 pounds more costly than for other cars.
standard.co.uk
ChargePoint takes over GE charging net: U.S. provider ChargePoint has announced its acquisition of General Electric’s charging network including all client contracts. The company’s network thus grows significantly towards 10,000 charging points, among them 8,000 at residential buildings.
electrek.co, greencarcongress.com, insideevs.com
New Zealand encourages EV uptake: With an Energy Innovation Amendment Bill, New Zealand’s government seeks to support electrification on the country’s roads. The aim is to exempt heavy EV from charges or allowing electric cars to use special lanes. These measures shall contribute to the government’s strategy to reach up to 64,000 EVs in New Zealand by 2021.
beehive.govt.nz
Also Quebec’s government raises 1.5bn dollars in order to promote clean energy within the next 3 years. In 2020, the parliamentarians hope to see 100,000 EVs in the province. The measures involve subsidiaries for EV buyers, a wider charging net and testing H2 cars.
montrealgazette.com
Bolloré to launch in London: The French firm is ready to roll-out its electric carsharing scheme BlueCity in the British capital finally. Not quite though, as only Hammersmith and Fulham has been bold enough to make the move so far. The borough’s bid for better air quality includes an initial 30 electric vehicles and about 85 on-street charging points set to reach 150 this summer. On top, Hammersmith and Fulham residents will be offered a year’s free membership and 20 hours of free driving. While BlueCity has been three years in the making, Bolloré has met severe difficulties in London due to its reportedly complex political power map and poor charging infrastructure. Still, BlueCity shall eventually include up to 3,000 red electric cars.
standard.co.uk
Electric scooter incentives: Quebecers can now claim a 500 dollar rebate from the province when going for an electric moped limited to 65 kph. The incentive is part of the Ride Electric subsidy scheme that also includes a 2,000 dollar goodie for electric motorcycles.
theqtimes.com
Taking aim at the whole of Canada is Cadillac Fairview, who announced its national EV charging programme that will see networked chargers at 15 CF properties. There will be 45 across Canada in 2017 and continuing into 2018.
cadillacfairview.com
Campus cycling: Six universities in Malaysia will receive a total of 1,200 electric bicycles from the government as it wants to promote electric mobility. The e-bikes are made by a local company.
theborneopost.com
Fluid fast-charging: eVolt has launched its third-generation Rapid EV charger, the Raption 5. It uses four individual power packs delivering 12.5kW each. It thus completes an 80% charge in 30 minutes with simultaneous charging for two EVs at 50kW DC and 43kW AC.
fleetnews.co.uk
62m GBP for low-carbon tech: The Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) has granted 62m pounds in funding to projects overseen by the likes of BMW Motorsport, Jaguar Land Rover, Williams Advanced Engineering, or Ford. The seven collaborative research initiatives revolve around more powerful (BMW) or cheaper batteries (Williams) and a hybrid drive train for niche vehicles like pods.
apcuk.co.uk, greencarcongress.com
4.4m dollars for Quebec’s EV landscape: The Canadian province announced to spend 4.4m dollars to promote research and development as well as design and production of electric cars in Quebec over five years. Behind this is the intention to propose a law by 2018 that would force car companies in the province to make, produce and sell more electric cars – California or China-style. At the same time, the ministers confirmed that EV incentives would continue and are confident that by 2020 about 100,000 Quebecers will have made their move to drive electrically.
montreal.ctvnews.ca
100kW-class inverter: Renesas Electronics launched a new inverter solution for 100kW-class motors as used in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and more compact electric vehicles. Offered as a kit with optimisation software, Renesas hopes to reduce development time with its development.
greencarcongress.com, businesswire.com
Power film capacitors for HEV: AVX Corporation has released the new FHC1 and FHC2 Series power film capacitors, which were received with hybrid and electric vehicles in mind. The firm said the capacitors are “ideal for use in conjunction with IGBT modules, as well as medium-sized motor drives.”
avx.com
Fast-charging motorbikes: Energica will invest 1m euros to set up fast-charging infrastructure for its electric motorbikes. The initiative is to start in 2017 and concentrates on motorways in Italy and California. In the Netherlands, Energia will work with Fastned that offers 4 years of free charging.
insideevs.com
30 kW wirelessly: Researchers from TH Deggendorf launched the first inductive EV charging system with a traffic permit. It charges at up to 30 kW – faster than any other – and is currently being tested at two locations, one in a parking garage, the other outdoors.
sueddeutsche.de, pnp.de, antenne.de, th-deg.de (all articles in German)
Pit stop charging: 82 fuel stations will be upgraded with EV fast-charging stations by innogy SE. Already, they installed 50 such juicy multi-standard spots at motorway service stations by Tank & Rast. The latter plans to equip 400 of its locations with fast-charging stations.
emobilserver.de (in German)
Quebec makes ZEV mandatory: The Canadian province adopted a ZEV mandate that requires carmakers to sell EVs for credits in order to compensate for their ICE sales or to buy the credits from others. This is why Tesla had a say in the legislation and made considerable lobbying efforts.
electrek.co
Commercial e-shuttle service: Ten electric buses by Proterra shuttle commuters in Chicago. The fleet was leased by real estate firm JLL and will serve between train stations and iconic buildings managed by JLL. The service is in part funded by Drive Clean Chicago and replaces diesel buses.
greencarcongress.com, cleantechnica.com
Evatran extends wireless charging offer: The U.S. company wants to offer inductive charging for 80 percent of EV models in the U.S. by 2017. The plugless system can already be ordered for the Chevy Volt and Tesla Model S. Next on the list are the Model X and Model 3, as well as 6.6 kWh charging solution for other manufacturers.
greencarreports.com
Heating technology for more range: As part of the EU-funded project JOSPEL (we reported), researchers have introduced a new heating system for electric vehicles. It is said to use 30 percent less energy than conventional solutions, as it applies ohmic heating principles.
greencarcongress.com
Electric utility vehicles from Québec: The local government is funding the development of electric utility vehicles with 8.6m dollars. The financial aid has been allocated to Autobus Lion, TM4, AddEnergie, Solution Adetel and Alcoa, who are to deliver a total of four prototypes – including two electric trucks and two e-buses.
ctvnews.ca
Johnson Matthey Battery Systems has opened the doors of its new production facility in Milton Keynes. The UK factory will see the production of batteries for hybrid vehicles, as well as e-bikes.
businessgreen.com
150 kW charger from France: French infrastructure provider DBT presented its first 150 kW, multi-standard EV charger in Paris, offering CCS, CHAdeMO and Type 2 charging. The NG 150 is said to be available from spring of next year.
avere-france.org (in French)
Styria presents electric mobility strategy: The Austrian federal state introduced its electric mobility strategy from now to 2030. The goal is to have at least 200,000 charging points by then, while the region now offers a rebate of up to 5,000 euro for private individuals who buy or lease an electric vehicle.
steiermark.at, steiermark.at (in German)
New frontiers: The small autonomous bus Arma from French manufacturer Navya will also be tested in New Zealand next year. It will first be put into operation at the airport in Christchurch, but will eventually be allowed to roam the streets there.
radionz.co.nz, tvnz.co.nz
Last miles for GoDrive: The Ford carsharing pilot (we reported) will terminate at the end of the month. A total of 50 Ford had been made available to the public in London, with half the fleet consisting of the Ford Focus Electric. The carmaker will use gained data to develop new offers.
fleetnews.co.uk
Philly police plug-in: Police in Philadelphia have taken delivery of their first Ford Fusion Energi. The PPD will add a total of 17 part-time EVs to its fleet by January, to be used by the eight police districts and two departments. Another five for municipality purposes will follow.
phillyvoice.com, 6abc.com
Fuel for all: All four regions of the Canadian province will kick off a pilot project early 2018, opening fuelling stations that offer hydrogen, natural gas and electricity. Québec wants to only install these kinds of multi-energy stations in the future.
montrealgazette.com
A Tesla taxi cracked 100,000 electric miles in Québec City. The Model S 85 has been in operation since March 2014 and has obviously been busy. So far, all monthly installments have paid off, the owner says, as he saves on fuel and maintenance constantly.
electrek.co
Diesel restrictions in Seoul: 30 percent of new vehicles sold will be electric by 2020, the South Korean government announced. They will also be limiting diesel-powered vehicles in the Seoul area and replace diesel buses with compressed natural gas vehicles. To accompany the new electric vehicles, the government plans to erect electric charging stations at all expressway rest areas by 2018.
yonhapnews.co.kr, kbs.co.kr
Quebec sales quotas: A proposed bill in Quebec would require car dealerships to make 15 percent of their sales from green vehicles. Dealers who do not meet the quota could face fines. It is unclear whether the bill will pass, and store managers seem sceptical that quotas will lead to more sales.
ctvnews.ca
110,000 stations in China: Chinese companies Chongqing Liangjiang and Laidian Alternative Energy Co., Ltd plan to build 110,000 charging stations in the city of Chongqing, China, by 2020. They are also creating shops for customers to test out vehicles before buying online.
gasgoo.com
Possible bus order for GreenPower: The company says it received nine separate Letters of Intent for a total of 25 GreenPower all-electric school buses in California. Most requests are for Type C school buses, though there is also interest in Type A buses (with wheelchair lift). Both types feature in-wheel drive motors and can go 100 miles on one charge.
greenpowerbus.com
Hotel electrifies fleet: Hotel Icon in Hong Kong has created a fully electric transportation fleet comprised of an electric hotel shuttle, two Tesla Model S and a BMW i3. Select guests can use the Tesla for airport transfers, while the other vehicles can be used for a fee.
asiatraveltips.com
Airport air quality plan: London Heathrow wants to decrease its NOx and carbon emissions. The strategy includes 2m pounds for EV charging infrastructure, while 30 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles will partially renew the fleet. Further measures include testing of hybrid cabs and electric buses.
airqualitynews.com
Hybrid buses for Québec: The city of Québec will purchase up to 32 hybrid buses by Van Hool. The initiative is funded by about 11m dollars from each the province and the state of Canada. The diesel-electric buses are 9 metres long.
news.gc.ca, itsinternational.com
Going greener: The 2018 Olympics in Korea will be used to showcase hydrogen technology with Hyundai fuel cell buses. The move is not only for show only, as the government and carmaker are planning to replace the 26,000 compressed natural gas buses nationwide with H2 powered EVs at a rate of 2,000 units per year. 200 hydrogen fuelling spots at existing gas stations are planned as well.
chosun.com, joins.com
Green gone: Car2Go will replace its 400 electric Smarts in San Diego with petrol-driven ones by May, saying there are not enough EV charging stations for its fleet. Although San Diego Gas & Electric intends to install 3,500 EV charging station within the next three years, development was not fast enough for Car2Go.
sandiegouniontribune.com
BluePillar: Chinese ZTE launched a street lantern that doubles as EV charge spot. The BluePillar also features an LED screen to display urban data (or advertising).
zte.com.cn
Wi-Fi charger: eMotorWerks is seeking crowdfunding for its JuicePlug said to smarten up any L2 charging station. The adapter is Wi-Fi enabled and connects to the JuiceNet platform. It also works with an app. Early supporters get a “Kiss my Amps” license plate holder on top of the plug.
insideevs.com, kickstarter.com
Mega EV rental system: China aims to set up the world’s largest electric car rental fleet as SAIC teams up with Shanghai. The carmaker will deliver more than 5,000 EVs to the city. By 2018, another 100 Chinese and few foreign cities will be included in the system that will then feature 50,000 new energy vehicles. The aim is to have 300,000 EV by 2020, to cover all metropolitan areas of China and some abroad.
autonews.gasgoo.com
Canadian EV quota: Taking California as an example, Québec is working on a law that would require carmakers to offer electric vehicles. The Canadian province hopes the measure will help it reach its goal of having 100,000 EVs on the road by 2020.
avere-france.org, lapresse.ca (both in French)
Smarter Together: The cities of Lyon, Munich, and Vienna are all part of a newly launched EU project. 29m euros are being put towards the Smarter Together initiative that focuses on energy and heat supply and includes electric mobility concepts. 24m euros come from the EU alone.
energylivenews.com
Nissan ecosystem: The carmaker’s French HQ is to showcase EV and V2G capabilities. 100 V2G charging stations will be erected together with ENEL, while Eaton will supply a 1MW stationery storage unit that consists of 64 used Leaf batteries. Energy can be traded between vehicles and the grid.
greencarcongress.com, electriccarsreport.com, nissaninsider.co.uk
Scrappage scheme extended: Malta adds another 400,000 euros to its car scrappage programme introduced last year. It compliments grants offered to those buying an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle (we reported).
timesofmalta.com
Québec unveils electrification plan: The government will spend 420 million dollars on its new vehicle-electrification plan to get 100,000 electric and hybrid cars on Québec’s roads by 2020. The plan includes the installation of 785 charging stations and purchase rebates of up to 8,000 dollars for electric or hybrid vehicles. Furthermore, the government promises to introduce 1,000 EVs to its own car pool and to give EV drivers permission to use reserved car lanes and exempt them from toll fees after January 1, 2016.
cbc.ca; ici.radio-canada.ca (in French)
China announces charging network: The Chinese government plans to build a nationwide charging-station network that will fulfil the power demands of 5 million electric vehicles by 2020. The network will cover residential areas, business districts, as well as inter-city highways.
chinadaily.com.cn
Hilton charges up: Hilton Worldwide launches a major electric vehicle charging program, which will be available at 50 U.S. hotels by the end of this year and will expand to 100 U.S. hotels by the end of 2016. In order to cover all types of electric vehicles, Hilton will team up with Tesla and General Electric.
electriccarsreport.com
500 e-buses for Bangkok? The government of the Thai capital has greenlighted the plan of Bangkok`s Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) to buy 500 electric buses. However, the purchase still needs final approval by the cabinet. There are also plans to set up an electric bus assembly facility in Bangkok.
bangkokpost.com
EV boost in Shanghai: Shanghai’s electric-car rental program EVCARD recently extended its network by opening 10 new outlets. The e-car hire scheme plans to launch up to 300 service outlets in central Shanghai by the end of this year to offer a total of 3,000 electric cars.
shanghaidaily.com
Electric Kangoo with fuel cell: As part of a project lead by the Conseil Général de la Manche, Symbio FCell has delivered the first five Renault Kangoo Z.E. with fuel cell range extenders. Another 35 will follow soon. The Symbio FCell technology supposedly nearly doubles the vehicle’s range.
businesswire.com, greencarcongress.com
Testing electric black cabs: The first range-extended Electric Motorcabs have now gone on trial in London. They are powered by two electric motors and a small combustion engine used to recharge the battery pack or provide power directly to the motors. Metrocab has announced that there will be no price premium over the current diesel-powered black cabs.
dailymail.co.uk
Hybrid bus testing in Quebec: The hybrid bus from Nova Bus has been successfully tested in Montreal already and will now have to hold up against rough winter climate and topography in Quebec City. The bus can switch from diesel to diesel-electric and even run in full-electric mode.
montrealgazette.com
Canadian Electric Circuit continues to grow: During the Montreal Auto Show, the Electric Circuit announced more charging stations to come. While 125 new charging stations were promised during the first few days, Hybrid Cars has made a list of the other smaller announcements.
hybridcars.com
Crowdfunded EV charging: British Pod Point is looking for 1.2 million pounds (1.8m USD) on Seedrs to expand its EV charging network across the UK. The company currently operates 1,300 charging points on the Isle and a total of 17,000 internationally.
fleetnews.co.uk, seedrs.com (campaign)
H2 charging contest: The Hydrogen Education Foundation is asking student teams to hand in business and financing models for hydrogen fueling stations for its 11th annual Hydrogen Student Design Contest. Finalists will get the chance to pitch their plans to investors.
greencarcongress.com
New V2X charger: Princeton Power Systems has introduced its new CHAdeMO-compliant fast charging stations CA-15 and CA-30 which come with 15 kW and 30 kW respectively. They enable bi-directional discharging capabilities for Vehicle-to-Grid or Vehicle-to-Building operations.
sys-con.com
EV sat-nav: Northern Ireland’s South West College and Action Renewables have launched the egomap system. The online journey planner for EV drivers in Northern Ireland and Ireland outlines the most efficient route while taking charging points and charge time into account.
businessgreen.com, egomap.eu (EV journey planner)
Time to recharge: Tesla has teamed up with Canadian Le Germain and Alt Hotels to install 20 so-called Destination Chargers. Also in the program is Shangri-La’s Sanya Resort & Spa in Chinese Hainan Province, where it has installed three Tesla charge spots.
newswire.ca (Canada), asiatraveltips.com (China)
Electric car sharing in Québec? Apparently, car2go plans to expand its service to Canadian city of Québec, a local website reports. About 40 electric Smart ED could soon become available to rent.
lifeinquebec.com
E-mobilization I: France has now put its plans to strengthen electric transport into a law proposal. The current rebate shall be increased by 10,000 euros, if the purchase of a new EV means the scrapping of a diesel. Furthermore, the bill includes plans to install seven million charge points in France by 2030.
insideevs.com, evfleetworld.co.uk
E-mobilization II: Neighbouring Spain is running a similar programme called Movele 2014. There, every EV is eligible for a 6,500-euro rebate. Electric buses are funded with 20,000 euros even. The incentives already seem to be working as EV sales have gone up by 15% since the introduction of the scheme.
handelsblatt.com (in German), movele.es (project’s website in Spanish)
Canada recharges: Le Haut-Richelieu community in Quebec now offers charging to EV drivers at 14 new public charging stations. Those are part of the ‘Electric Circuit’ network which already boasts 300 charge points across the Canadian province.
newswire.ca, hybridcars.com
Range record: The new electric bus from BYD that serves the Antelope Valley Transit Authority (AVTA) in California exceeds expectations. AVTA sent it on a 24-hours run, circling between Palmdale and Rosamond 18 times thus operating for 746 miles. Only three charges, each after about 250 miles, were needed to set up this new best.
businesswire.com, greencarcongress.com
Free home chargers: Chargemaster will continue the free installation of is ‘Homecharge i 3kW’ in the UK. The programme is backed by the 9-million pound (15 million dollars) government scheme (EVHS). To top it up, Chargemaster offers a free POLAR membership for six months with any domestic charging unit.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk, puregreencars.com
Tesla tightens service grid in Europe: At the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, the carmaker announced the opening of some 30 new service centres across the continent. Moreover, Tesla promised the rapid development of the Supercharger network in Europe.
greencarcongress.com
10,000 charging stations for Quebec by 2017: Of which a total of 3,500 will be set up by public administrations or private companies alone. To push development, these will be subsidised by a new incentive program that covers 75 percent (up to 5,000 Canadian dollars) of the installation costs. The only condition is that charging should be available free of charge for the respective employees.
avem.fr (in French)
Fuel cell onshore power supply in Hawaii: The pilot project will use hydrogen fuel cells to supply energy to docked ships at the Port of Honolulu. That way, they can turn off their combustion engines while at anchor there. In a six-month trial four 30 kW fuel cells will be housed inside a 20 ft shipping container and can therefore be moved around the harbour.
gizmag.com, greenoptimistic.com
