The city of Bucharest has halted a tender for the purchase of 100 electric buses on 22 July after all three bids received were deemed unacceptable – apparently after technical evaluation. This is the second time an electric bus tender for the Romanian capital has failed due to the lack of suitable offers. It is still unlcear when and whether the City will make another attempt.
Ford has announced the installation of 750 charging points at its Cologne factory premises in Niehl and Merkenich, Germany. Construction has already begun and should be completed by the beginning of 2022 at the latest.
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The Polish bus manufacturer Solaris and the Romanian city of Craiova have signed a contract for the delivery of 16 Urbino 18 electric electric buses. The articulated vehicles are scheduled to arrive in Craiova in the first half of 2021.
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Enel X has secured funding for the AMBRA-Electrify Europe project (AMBRA-E for short) that it coordinates. This project involves investments of 70.75 million euros and includes the construction of more than 3,000 charging stations in Italy, Spain and Romania by 2022.
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The European Commission has approved a Romanian funding project for the development of a charging station network for e-vehicles as compatible with EU state aid rules.
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Tesla has completed a new supercharger corridor in Canada, which extends from Vancouver to Halifax. The expansion of Tesla’s own fast-charging network is to continue in 2020 – the company also plans to expand in Europe.
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In August 2019, 6,672 electric vehicles drove on Polish roads, with a share of just 0.2%, Poland is at the bottom of the league in Central Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, or precisely because of this, the Polish government has set itself ambitious targets for e-mobility. But the new funding programme is controversial, as Aleksandra Fedorska reports.
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Solaris was selected in a tender to supply eleven hybrid buses to the Romanian city of Satu Mare. The Solaris Urbino 12 hybrid will be delivered in the second half of 2020.
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Tesla has announced its expansion to Eastern Europe and opened sales for the Model 3 in selected countries. Electric car buyers in Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Hungary may now order their Tesla online.
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The Romanian capital Bucharest has ordered 130 hybrid buses from Mercedes-Benz. Deliveries of the Citaro Hybrid are scheduled to take place between May 2020 and January 2021. Bucharest also plans to procure 100 battery-electric buses, 100 trolleybuses and 100 trams.
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The Romanian Ministry of the Environment is doubling the budget for its Rabla Plus programme, which offers subsidies for the purchase of electric and hybrid cars. An additional 3.2 million euros are now available.
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The Lithuanian electric car-sharing service Spark has officially launched in Romania with a deployment of 50 cars in Bucharest. The fleet consists of Nissan Leafs and Renault Zoes.
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Renault recently launched an unusual advertising campaign in the Romanian capital of Bucharest for its Zoe, in which the selling price of the EV is linked to the air pollution in the city. If air pollution rises, the price for the Zoe decreases.
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The Czech Energy Group (CEZ) has been tasked with setting up fast charging stations in Hungary. The expansion is part of a $44M investment, first in their home nation before coming to Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and Slovakia in the next decade.
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Italian energy supplier Enel will use its subsidiary Enel X Romania to set up a nationwide charging network for electric cars in Romania. According to their plans, some 2,500 charging points with capacities of between 22 and 150 kW should be available by 2023.
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In the next four years, up to 50 Trollino 18 electric buses by the Polish manufacturer Solaris will be rolling onto the roads of the Romanian city Cluj-Napoca. These will be the first Solaris bendy buses with overhead wiring in the nation.
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Entrepreneurs from the Romanian town of Baia Mare are working on what could become the first electric vehicles “Made in Romania”. The small cars shall start at prices around 13,700 euros with two models being planned so far.
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Electric vehicles are arriving in Romania helped along with funding through the Swiss government. Cluj, the country’s second biggest city, took delivery of 10 electric buses by Solaris and got more waiting.
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The EU Commission is getting tough and has announced to take six European states, among them France, Germany, and Britain to the EU Court of Justice for failing to respect air quality limits. They had been introduced in 2005 and 2010 and warnings had preceded the case.
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The EU Commission is supporting the construction of 118 fast charging stations for the CEUC (Central European Ultra Charging) project. Smatrics was chosen as a service provider for the rollout, operations and maintenance of the network.
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The Geely subsidiary EV producer Zhi Dou is planning to establish a production base in Europe. They are closely looking at Slovakia and Romania, but the final decision will only fall in Fall.
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Ride hailing app provider Uber has launched its EV-only suite in Romania’s capital. 20 Renault Zoe have become available to book in cooperation with charging infrastructure firm ElDrive. The service is available in selected European capitals.
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Renovatio and Telekom Croatia say they will install 23 fast-charging stations in Romania throughout this year. The EV stops are part of a wider initiative that entails 69 DC charging stations in Croatia and Romania to be set up with EU funding.
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The European Commission decided to file a lawsuit against Malta and Romania at the EU’s Court of Justice. Both countries have failed to hand in a national strategy for rolling out infrastructure for electric and alternative fuel vehicles.
Read moreTesla’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
Ireland’s EV sharing service that will start in Dublin and Cork takes learnings from a bicycle sharing system already installed in the Irish capital. Dublin Bike works via membership and PAYG and the government hopes to put more than 100 electric cars to hire out on the streets before the year’s end. The initiative is to encourage EV uptake on the Emerald isle also through test driving opportunities at events and a roadshow. Incentives for businesses to switch to electric cars or vans are under scrutiny.
independent.ie
EV accord in Australia: A new national body comprised of 17 Australian industry organisations aims to promote the adoption of electric vehicles on the continent. The ‘Electric Vehicle Council’ wants to focus on corporate fleets, demand EV incentives, seek investment for charging infrastructure and publish an annual report on the state of EV affairs.
eco-business.com
Electric buses in Canada: Montréal has welcomed three electric buses from Nova Bus, a Volvo Bus Group member, into its service within the framework of the Montreal City Mobility project that is driven by the company. Another three e-buses but by BYD this time, have gone to St. Albert. They spearhead a total order of seven with the remaining four to arrive by the end of this year.
newswire.ca (Montreal), masstransitmag.com (St. Albert)
Mixed message: Iveco has delivered hybrid buses to Astana. They are part of an order over 210 Urbanway models, which are available as both hybrid and diesel buses. How many of the vehicles will drive partially electric in the Kazakh capital is undisclosed.
prnewswire.com
Real change? Romania´s fuel retailer Rompetrol has added its first EV chargers to a gas station. It is part of a 10m dollar investment plan by the KMG owned company, which plans seven more gas stations with charging points of 50kW, where charging is free of charge.
petrolplaza.com
UK to escalate action against diesel cars? Drivers of diesel cars could soon face “toxin taxes” on a daily basis in 35 cities of the Island. The Sunday Times quotes a 20 pound fee per day, referring to the plans of the British government that have yet to be officially announced. Ten cities may seek a total diesel ban, while others ponder a crack down on days with high air pollution or during peak hours. All in all, up to 10m diesel cars could be affected.
thetimes.co.uk via businessgreen.com
Romania doubles EV bonus: Romanian car owners, who exchange their gas guzzlers for electric vehicles can now calculate with a remarkable 10,000 euro rebate. The government decided to double its previous EV incentive through its Rabla Plus programme, that is limited to 1,000 EVs.
electriccarsreport.com, giurgiuveanul.ro (in Romanian)
EV infrastructure in the UK: Lancashire in the UK’s Northwest set up a scheme to install 150 EV charging points across the region. For an investment volume of 4.6m pounds, electric car infrastructure is to get installed in Burnley, Accrington, Clitheroe, Rawtenstall, Nelson, and Chorley. Meanwhile, West Yorkshire is to build 88 charge points for use by taxis and private hire companies. The EV charging stations shall stand at public transport and taxi operations.
lancashiretelegraph.co.uk (Lancashire), thebusinessdesk.com (Yorkshire)
India discontinues mild subsidies: The Indian government has excluded mild hybrid vehicles from incentives given under the FAME scheme. Especially the country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India had benefited and will feel the discontinuation’s impact the most. Subsidies for PEV remain.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Electronic wallet: ZF, UBS and the Innogy Innovation Hub have developed a new payment method based on the blockchain principle. The Car eWallet system is said to especially simplify paying at the charger, but can also be used to pay for parking or road tolls. It can also accept payments for i.e. private carsharing, feeding energy into the grid or delivery services.
ibtimes.co.uk, zf.com
Charging Romania: As part of a pilot project, OMW Petrom and utility Electrica have commissioned Romania’s first fast-charger. Even petrol company MOL announced that it wants to set up an EV charging network in the country, but has so far not provided any concrete figures or timeframe.
romania-insider.com
Charging offensive: New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced the installation of 500 EV chargers at office buildings across the U.S. state. Another 69 places to plug in will be erected along New York’s 570-mile-long Thruway. The move will increase the number of NY chargers available to the public by 50 percent.
amny.com, governor.ny.gov
BYD has won a tender for pilot projects with electric buses, launched by Argentina’s environment ministry. The Chinese manufacturer will now deliver a total of 50 e-buses for Buenos Aires, Neuguen, La Plata and Parana.
dangdai.com (in Spanish) via twitter.com
Henrik Fisker plugs in – again: Following the bust of his Fisker Karma, the automotive designer wants to try his luck with his new company Fisker Inc., and will present an all-electric premium car in second half of 2017. Thanks to a newly developed battery pack, range is set at 650 km. A more affordable EV will follow, and is also said to offer more range than competitors.
bloomberg.com
Geely brand for hybrids? According to Forbes, the Chinese manufacturer wants to launch an “affordable premium” brand for cars with hybrid or plug-in hybrid technology in Europe and the U.S. Details will be released in the coming weeks.
forbes.com
Prius Prime priced: The plug-in hybrid version of Toyota’s best-seller will start from 27,950 dollars including delivery fees. And U.S. buyers also qualify for a 4,500 dollar rebate. Green Car Reports already took the new model for a spin and hails Toyota’s choice to programme the PHEV so that it will run on battery-power only, if there is any charge left.
insideevs.com, autoblog.com, greencarreports.com (test drive)
Inexpensive EV from Romania: A Belgian investor wants to start producing small electric cars in Romania from spring 2017. A first prototype was now presented. The three-wheeled EV seats two, weighs 150 kg and is said to run 100 km on one charge.
digi24.ro (in Romanian with video) via romania-insider.com
Out for Crosstek Hybrid: Subaru will stop offering the hybrid variant of its XV Crosstek from next year, as demand has just been too low. And it’s not surprising. The standard Crosstek actually offered a better mpg rating in the city and the same on the motorway, as the hybrid variant. Only the latter was almost 5,000 dollars more expensive.
autoblog.com, carsdirect.com
Audi opens Mexico facility: The carmaker has opened the production plant for it Q5 in Mexico, where it will also produce the hybrid variant of the SUV. Contrary to earlier rumours, a fully electric version is not planned for now.
reuters.com
Swiss charging network: 1,600 EV charging stations shall stand in Switzerland by 2020 as Green Motion gathers finance and partners for its Evpass network. Mobility, Aldi and McDonald’s and others are on board to provide spaces for the charge spots of which 250 shall be erected already this year with another 1,000 to follow in 2017. The start-up installs its EV charging equipment for free and finances the move through income from licensing its technology to Chinese Zhongding, who plans a charging network in China that could accommodate for 5m electric vehicles.
berneroberlaender.ch (network, in German), nzz.ch (licensing background, in German)
Tesla charges China: The 100th Supercharger has been inaugurated in Beijing and the EV maker used the occasion to announce the Tesla Public Charging Partner Program. It builds on the principle of the destination charger scheme but includes fast-charging as well.
electrek.co
Electric cab fleet: HDT Singapore Taxi has applied to operate an all-electric fleet of 100 cabs, most likely built by BYD, on the city-state’s streets but is waiting for its taxi license. It would suit Singapore’s plans for an EV sharing for which 2,000 charge points have been confirmed.
straitstimes.com
EV incentives at work: 7,500 Romanians have applied for the EV incentive scheme. The state adds 4,400 euros when buying an electric car and 1,100 for plug-in hybrids. The sum increases by about another 1,000 euros if an old car is scrapped in the process (we reported).
romania-insider.com
Car expenses: Washington will raise the gas tax by 4.9 cent comes July, thus bringing the surcharge per gallon to 49.4 cent. Any run on EVs that might result from the new taxation could be hampered a little by the simultaneous increase of the annual EV registration fee by 50 dollars to 150 dollars.
kplu.org
Open access charging: PlugSurfing renews its partnership with charging infrastructure provider EV-Box as they implement the Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI), an open standard. The protocol is designed to simplify payments and to enable real-time billing.
plugsurfing.com
