Volkswagen apparently plans to set up a Chinese fast-charging network. A respective joint venture would see VW partner FAW and other local companies become part of the effort that is worth a starting capital of 1 billion yuan (around 130 million euros).
Weiterlesen
Volkswagen say it will take them no more than two years to launch more than 30 new electric cars and plug-in hybrids in China. Moreover, the Group’s Chinese arm is considering to install a public high power charging network together with local partners from 2019.
Weiterlesen
Volkswagen and their joint venture partner SAIC begun constructing a factory in China for electric vehicles based on VW’s Modular Electric Drive Kit (MEB). The factory will take up operation in October 2020, and cost about $2.5 billion to build.
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Dutch leasing company LeasePlan has found a larget partner in SAIC Mobility Europe. Together they want to offer electric light commercial vehicles, starting with SAIC’s Maxus EV in Europe.
Weiterlesen
The SAIC subsidiary Maxus has presented four new variants of their EV80 e-transporter at the IAA Commercial Vehicles. The new models will be offered with both drivers cabs as well as box vehicles. In future, SAIC aims to also provide a wheel-chair accessible version.
Weiterlesen
In a somewhat embarrassing event, the Nio charging van, which is supposed to save stranded electric vehicles on the road had to be rescued by another vehicle when it ran out of juice.
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FedEx subsidiary FedEx Express has greened their fleet in China. They deployed 48 pure electric vehicles across 13 Chinese cities. The move is part of a strategy to increase efficiency of FedEx’ 90,000 vehicle fleet by 2025.
Weiterlesen
General Motors has opened a factory in Shanghai to assemble batteries for their growing EV production in China. The factory, which is operated by the joint venture partners SAIC-GM is the second of its kind set up by GM.
Weiterlesen
SAIC has begun construction on their fourth vehicle factory in China. The new production site will be built in the port city of Ningde and will begin operations in 2019, producing electrified vehicles for Roewe and MG.
Weiterlesen
The British MG Motor that is owned by SAIC has presented their MG X-motion concept, designed for electrification. The SUV concept follows a similar design philosophy as their electric sport coupe MG E-motion, which MG Motor put on display a year ago.
Weiterlesen
Volkswagen is set to invest a significantly increased sum into the e-mobility business, including autonomous driving, digitization and new mobility services in China. By 2022, the company plans to invest 15 billion dollars with its joint venture partners SAIC, FAW and JAC.
Weiterlesen
VW wants to introduce the MEB platform to the Chinese market with its joint venture partners FAW and SAIC by 2020. This was revealed by the MEB head of model lines, Christian Senger.
Weiterlesen
Chinese SAIC and German chipmaker Infineon have formed a joint venture to make power modules for electric cars in China. The JV is to be called SAIC Infineon Automotive Power Modules and will be headquartered in Shanghai.
Weiterlesen
SAIC Mobility Europe’s brand Maxus has delivered the first few EV80 electric vans in Europe. Distributor Maske Fleet added EV80 vans to a courier service’s fleet based in Hamburg.
Weiterlesen3bn dollars for EV funding: To call California ambitious when it comes to electric transport seems an understatement, given that it wants to pump another 3 billion dollars into EV subsidies. The aim is to bring them on price par with ICEs but also to reach the Golden State’s declared target of 1.5m electric cars on the roads by 2025, up from 300,000 to date. The initiative is part of a new bill which also includes infrastructure investments with a focus on low income communities in particular.
latimes.com, sfbay.ca
3 series electric? BMW may bring an electric 3-series to this year’s IAA, Handelsblatt has learnt. Its alleged 400 km range and positioning would place it in direct competition with the Tesla Model 3 and also makes sense in the overall line-up. After all, there has been no pure electric offering since the i3.
electrek.co, handelsblatt.com (paywall)
Take on the future: Lightyear One is the name of a solar-powered racer conceived by former students from Dutch TU Eindhoven. The team had met at uni but have since formed a spin-off. Lightyear hopes to build the first ten units of the “electric car that charges itself” by 2019 with another 90 to follow at the end of this decade. The solar coupé stands at a net price of 119,000 euros at the moment.
lightyear.one
Another bite of the cake of the future was taken by Geely that just bought Terrafugia. The MIT spin-off is working on a flying car but their TF-X is only half-electric and set up as PHEV.
scmp.com
SAIC in India: A production plant in India by 2019 is the plan of Chinese SAIC for its MG brand, which will reportedly launch various plug-in models within the next few years. A decision whether those will be build in India however, has yet to be made.
autonews.com, thehindu.com
Optare Down Under: British e-bus maker Optare is on the way to Australia at least in spirit after signing an agreement with Bus Corp Oceania (BCO) to distribute and service its buses in Oceania. In the long run, Optare considers to also assemble its electric models in Britain’s former colony.
smmt.co.uk, optare.com
Silent gliding in Venice: Electric tourist boats can now be hired in Venice. The Italian city teamed up with a tourist boat operator and shipyard to design the “Scossa,” an electric boat that carries around 40 passengers. Its electric propulsion comes from Siemens and more vessels are planned.
siemens.com
Pininfarina to develop an EV: The Mahindra group-owned automotive design firm Pininfarina has closed a deal worth 65m euros with Hong-Kong listed Hybrid Kinetic Group for developing an electric car. Pininfarina will support the project from design to physical validation for series production.
moneycontrol.com
SAIC research in Israel: Chinese SAIC wants to set-up an R&D centre for future technologies like electric mobility, car sharing and automation in Israel and plans to employ 50 people there.
globes.co.il
Effective H2 storage: Researchers from the USA and Thailand used confined nanoparticles to improve hydrogen storage in a solid-state system with high-capacity lithium nitride. If put into practice, it may enable faster fuelling of fuel cell vehicles in the future.
greencarcongress.com, phys.org
Project One accidentally unveiled? As part of a design workshop, Mercedes may have revealed a detailed outlook on its Project One – AMG’s hybrid hypercar said to hit the road next year. The study at least bears some striking resemblance to teaser images published just recently (we reported).
motorauthority.com
Big investment: Chinese manufacturer SAIC is planning on investing a total of 15bn yuan (2.2bn dollars) in the development of electric vehicles and the field of connectivity. About half the money will be spend on pure battery-powered cars and the other on plug-in hybrids. SAIC plans to sell more than 320,000 EVs per year by 2020.
automobil-produktion.de (in German), autonewschina.com
Taxi power: London Taxi Company CEO Chris Gubbey confirmed that the company wants to use the almost finished platform of its TX5 hybrid taxi with range extender for commercial vehicles by 2019. LTC is a subsidiary of Chinese carmaker Geely and plans on launching the hybrid taxi by the end of the year. After subsidies, the cab is said to be just as expensive as a diesel.
autoexpress.co.uk
Culprit? Tesla is accusing former Autopilot director Sterling Anderson of stealing company information for his own venture. He supposedly downloaded hundreds of gigabytes of information onto a hard drive and used it to form his own self-driving car company Aurora together with Chris Urmson, the former head of autonomous driving at Google.
theverge.com, businessinsider.de
Nissan Z as hybrid Nissan is planning to bring back its Z sports car series and will present a first concept at the Tokyo Motor Show. Apparently, the portfolio will also include a hybrid variant with a total output of 500 hp.
autoexpress.co.uk, caranddriver.com
Makeover: California manufacturer Alta Motors released an image of the new version of its Redshift, which it will present at the One Moto show in February. The electric motorbike is currently available in the variants SM and MX. No technical details have been released for the new “Street Tracker” or Redshift ST version.
electrek.co, autoblog.com, digitaltrends.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
Renault at the COP21: Renault Trucks will present two innovative trucks at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris. The all-electric 4.5 ton Maxity Electric is also equipped with a fuel cell, giving it a driving range of around 200 km. The 16 ton Renault Trucks D is purely electric and actually has a similar range. Both vehicles are already undergoing testing under real conditions.
automotiveworld.com
New electric supercar in the making? Tesla co-founder and Wrightspeed CEO Ian Wright is thinking about building his own electric supercar. It could feature an electric motor at each wheel, each boasting 186 kW. Wright already has the needed technology and confidently announces that a prototype could hit the road as early as “maybe next year.”
motoring.com.au
Electric Roewe concept: With the Vision-R, SAIC Motor showed a whole new design for its Roewe brand at the Guangzhou Motor Show. The four-door coupe is said to be driven by a pair of electric motors, though there have not been any details about their power.
caradvice.com.au
Electrification powered by China: According to online publication Gasgoo, Chinese manufacturers Geely, Dongfeng, Chery, BAIC, SAIC, Changan and FAW are altogether planning to launch 91 new models will electric or at least hybrid drivetrains by 2020. In the case of Changan and SAIC, alternative drivetrain vehicles will make up at least one-third of the total production of new models.
gasgoo.com
E-SUV a possibility: According to German Auto Bild, Audi will release a plug-in hybrid variant of its Q5 in 2016. Even an all-electric Q5 based on a downgraded Q6 e-tron is supposedly in the cards.
autobild.de
Oldie goes EV: Czech scooter series Čezeta, originally built from 1957-1964, celebrates an electric comeback. The company now accepts orders for its electric scooter, the Čezeta 506. The two-wheeler can go up to 90 kph, has a range of up to 100 km, and will sell for 9,900 euros.
autovolt-magazine.com, cezeta.com
India’s own EV platforms: The Indian government wants to set up various platforms for electric two-wheelers, small cars and commercial vehicles as part of the FAME programme over the next two years, investing 1,600 rupees (243m USD). Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra, and Eicher are involved in developing a platform for an e-bus and can also put their brand on whatever EV platform they will advance or use.
indianautosblog.com
Tesla referral: A previous referral scheme ended with Bjørn Nyland from Norway receiving a Model X for winning ten new customers. Now, the Californian launched a second scheme, offering prizes for the top referrers from the U.S., Asia, and Europe. A Model S P90D, Powerwalls and invites for the Model 3 and Gigafactory launches await.
teslamotors.com (new scheme), autoblog.com, insideevs.com (Nyland)
SAIC scales up: The Chinese carmaker will invest 16bn yuan (2.4bn USD) over the next four years to strengthen its brand. Half of the money will be spend on R&D of EV, plug-in HEV, and HEV technology, as well as platforms for commercial vehicles. SAIC aims to annually produce 300,000 new energy vehicles.
autonews.gasgoo.com, bloomberg.com
Drama on the track: Lucas diGrassi won the Formula ePrix in Putraya for team Abt, but only after six of his opponents encountered trouble. Among them was poleman Sebastien Buemi, who was forced into the wall with a stuck throttle by a safety car. Sam Bird came in second for Virgin, followed by Robin Frijns from Andretti. Absent from the start was again the Trulli Team, as the cars did not pass scrutineering.
eurosport.co.uk, foxsports.com, electricautosport.com (Trulli)
RAV 4 Hybrid details: Toyota announced pricing and full specs for the 2016 RAV4 Hybrid. Pricing starts at 28,370 dollars for the AWD XLE and 33,610 dollars for the AWD Limited trim level. The Japanese carmaker predicts an EPA rating of 33 mpg for city and highway combined.
greencarcongress.com
Green leadership: Nissan is among the top five percent of worldwide firms that participate in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). The Japanese excelled in the NPO’s Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI), working towards reducing CO2 emissions (well-to-wheel) from new vehicles by 90% by 2050.
automotiveworld.com, cdp.net (full 2015 CDP report)
Electric Daimler SUV: Mercedes plans to fully electrify the GLC and to position it against the Audi Q6 e-tron, auto motor und sport reports. The electric Mercedes SUV aims for a range of 500 kilometres.
auto-motor-und-sport.de (in German)
Detroit Electric delivers: The first SP:01 has rolled off the production line in Leamington Spa, UK, marking the on-sale in Europe and Asia. The lightweight sports car comes with built-in bi-directional charge and discharge capability, so the racer doubles as power source.
fleetpoint.org
Massive EV investment: Chinese carmaker SAIC Motor plans to invest more than 20 billion yuan (3.2 billion USD) in electric and hybrid vehicles in the next five years. The company aims to develop 30 new models targeting total sales of 600,000 units by 2020 and also plans to build 50,000 charging stations.
reuters.com
The EU agreed on new rules for real driving emission (RDE) testing for diesel cars. Yet, instead of using the dieselgate scandal in favour of tighter regulation, the agreement has been watered down. Limits of toxic nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions agreed are double the Euro 6 levels from back in 2007. The EU has also delayed the implementation of new limits for all new cars until 2019.
fleetnews.co.uk, ec.europa.eu
Miscommunication: 2,618 Mercedes B Class Electric Drive have been recalled in the USA. An internal communication error might unexpectedly shut down the electric drive for cars built in model years 2014 and 2015. A software update at dealerships should solve the issue.
automotive-fleet.com, cars.com
Toyota hybrid for China: The Japanese carmaker brings the Levin HEV to the Chinese market. The hybrid model is built together with Chinese joint venture partner Guangzhou. Price starts at 139,800 yuan (22,000 USD), 32,000 yuan (about 5,000 dollars) more than the petrol version.
carnewschina.com
The Clean Charge Network in the the Greater Kansas City region will comprise more than 1,000 ChargePoint stations. Kansas City Power & Light Company, which receives support from Nissan and companies at host locations, will erect and operate the network, letting EV drivers charge for free in the first two years. The installation of the stations began in late 2014 and will be completed this summer.
electriccarsreport.com, businesswire.com, chargedevs.com
Electric parcel delivery in Italy: DHL Express in Italy puts 50 Nissan e-NV200 electric vans to work as part of Deutsche Post DHL’s global GoGreen campain. They will be used for deliveries starting in Milan and Rome with other cities like Florence, Verona, Bologna, Naples, Salerno, Bari and Catania to follow.
automotiveworld.com, logisticamanagement.it (in Italian)
Major SAIC deal: Battery charging supplier STGCON New Energy Technology Company from Shanghai has ordered 1,000 electric and plug-in hybrid cars from the Chinese carmaker SAIC Motor Corp. STGCON will use the Roewe E50 and Roewe 550 cars to set up a car hiring business. Along with the deal, both companies agreed to build charging stations in major Chinese cities.
oemol.com
Electric milk float reloaded: Grimshaw Lane Dairy in Ormskirk is now using four Nissan e-NV200 for their daily deliveries of fresh milk. According to manager Andrew Brown, his business is already saving 900 pounds on diesel each month with the electric vans – named Tilly, Bovine, Ermintrude and Daisy.
nissaninsider.co.uk
Charger or charged: A senator in Hawaii wants to fine owners of public parking lots with 100 or more parking stalls with up to 20,000 dollars if they do not install at least one charging point. A law requiring chargers to be set up in public parking lots was passed three years ago, but due to the lack of penalties, it has been nearly impossible to enforce.
bizjournals.com
New H2 filling station in France: Air Liquide opened a new hydrogen fuel station in Laint-Lô in the Manche department. It will at first cater to ten local vehicles and later to an additional 30 from nearby areas. As a reminder, this is the same area in France that will receive 40 Renault Kangoo Z.E. with fuel cell range extenders (we reported).
gasworld.com, airliquide.com
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Electric mobility in 2015: It has been said that there are more events about electric mobility than there are electric cars on the road. And the same seems to be true for 2015. In our calendar section, we have listed the most important trade shows, conferences, workshops, driving events and seminars for you.
electrive.com/calendar (Please send additional information to contact@electrive.com)
China Unicom partners with Tesla: The second-largest mobile phone company in China and Tesla agreed to jointly build 400 regular charging stations and 20 Supercharger in 120 cities. Tesla will supply the equipment, whereas China Unicom will provide land at its outlets.
bloomberg.com, reuters.com, electriccarsreport.com
Electric car rental in China: Shanghai-based eHi Auto Services corporation signed a deal with SAIC Motor to supply 1,000 electric and hybrid cars (Roewe E50 and Roewe 550) over the next two years. Last year, eHi had already ordered 50 pure-electric Roewe cars and put them in service as as rental cars.
shanghaidaily.com
Foundations for charging infrastructure: Norwegian Östfold County is partnering with Swedish start-up Unimi Solutions, which supplies its foundations to help the county’s infrastructure goal of having 20% of all public parking EV-ready. According to the county’s industry advisor Joakim Sveli, the Unimi foundations deliver costs savings of up to 60%.
chargedevs.com
Solar charging from Envision: The Californian city of Shasta Lake installed one stand-alone solar charging station from Envision. Thanks to it 22 kWh buffer battery, the station does not need any foundation or grid connection. In May, Boulder in Colorado deployed two of these stations (we reported).
hybridcars.com, chargedevs.com
Domestic charging by law: California issued a bill, which would make it easier for EV drivers who rent their homes to get charging taken care of. If Governor Jerry Brown signs it into law by end of the month, landlords have to allow the installation of charging equipment if the renter wishes and pays for it.
greencarreports.com, chargedevs.com
