Europe’s electric car rental company UFODrive landed in San Francisco, making the city the first foray into the United States. Their US launch follows the company’s rapid growth in European cities, including London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and Dublin, since its founding in 2018.
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Sakuu, a California-based developer of 3D-printed solid-state batteries, has opened a new engineering centre in Silicon Valley. This multi-million dollar expansion follows the recent opening of Sakuu’s battery pilot line.
Read moreLong-distance buses with battery-electric drives are still a rare species but the Belgian commercial vehicle manufacturer Van Hool pushed zero-emission evolution forward with a double-decker coach with purely electric drive. The TDX25E is supposed to have a range of up to 500 kilometres and has been created for the North American market.
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Hertz will provide 50,000 of the 100,000 electric cars ordered from Tesla to Uber drivers in the United States. Starting on 1 November, drivers can rent Teslas from Hertz through the new program in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Washington, D.C., so the company.
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The US start-up Electric Last Mile Solutions, which specialises in commercial electric utility vehicles, has signed a battery supply contract with CATL. In the future, CATL could also manufacture these cells locally in the US.
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Polestar has announced their first retail partners for the US market, which will help Volvo’s plug-in brand to set up a network of so-called Polestar Spaces in New York and Los Angeles as well as San Francisco this year.
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In California, Flixbus has tested America’s first purely battery-powered long-distance bus. The MCI D45 CRTe LE CHARGE from Motor Coach Industries (MCI) completed its first test with a round trip from San Francisco to Sacramento.
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The City of San Francisco has released the ‘Electric Vehicle Roadmap’ with the goal to transitioning transport off fossil fuels by 2040. The initiative includes a number of interim targets such as more infrastructure powered by renewables.
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In an effort to showcase support for local (and global) causes, Tesla sent their electric Semi truck as well as a lineup of their other models to the SF pride parade, alongside a host of employees.
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The hydrogen ferry Water Go Round currently under construction in the US has found new funding for setting up an entire fleet. SW/TCH Maritime, an investment platform for all kinds of electric maritime vessels is now on board.
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In the Bay Ship & Yacht shipyard, the construction for the first fuel cell ferry named Water-Go-Round has begun. The ferry will most likely be completed in September 2019, before it will be used for three months of testing in the San Francisco Bay.
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Ford has announced the takeover of Spin, a vehicle-sharing operator using electric scooters based in San Francisco. The plan is to extend the service to 100 other U.S. cities over the next 18 months.
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Audi has put a lot of effort into the e-tron and it looks like it has paid off. Their first electric car premiered in San Francisco today and has what it takes to truly rival Tesla. Moreover, the model sends a message from VW saying, they can do more than just cheating on emissions.
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The Californian cities of San Francisco and Santa Monica have announced the license recipients for electric scooter sharing service: San Francisco has chosen Scoot Networks and Skip, while Santa Monica will be working with Bird, Lime, Uber and Lyft.
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The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has announced their plan to transition their over 800 strong bus fleet to all-electric vehicles. The switch shall be complete by 2035 but measures are underway already and include trolley and hybrid buses.
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The ride share conglomerate is reportedly considering expanding into electric bicycles. In San Francisco a pilot project is to start offering the rental and sharing of ebikes in cooperation with the bike-sharing company Jump Bikes, whose 250 Pedelec electric bicycles can be rented through the Uber app.
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Californian bike sharing start-up LimeBike announced at CES to integrate 4,000 to 5,000 pedelecs into its fleets in San Francisco, Seattle and Miami. Soon after, the company wants to tackle the European market.
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General Motors presents a Chevrolet Bolt equipped with its fourth generation of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology. Surprise, surprise: The autonomous EV comes without steering wheel and pedals.
Read moreBMW to boost EV sharing in Hamburg as the carmaker teams up with the Hanseatic city. Together they seek to release 400 electric cars and 150 plug-in hybrids through the DriveNow partnership with Sixt. The electrified fleet is to be complete by 2019 but 130 BMW i3 are scheduled to join 70 existing ones on Hamburg’s roads within this year. The city’s part is to successively install 1,150 charge points until 2019 as well as to reserve parking spots. This EV sharing will be integrated into public transport.
automotiveworld.com
Another town just reached a deal as San Francisco agrees to electrify its municipal fleet. 300 electric cars and another 100 hybrids will replace 400 existing fleet cars until the end of 2022. It is about half of the fleet with the remaining cars parking in leased spots without the option to install chargers.
sfexaminer.com
Request For Information: ConEdison has earmerked 25m dollars for project partners that will help EV adoption through infrastructure in New York City. The utility just issued an RFI and calls for strategies that may become funded demo projects. Con Edison wants to place at least 100 EV charging stations on the streets of NYC and 500 chargers in clients’ homes for testing.
coned.com
One out of 10: Qatar has agreed on its Green Car Initiative that seeks to grow the share of electric or hybrid vehicles to four percent by 2022. By 2030 however, every 1 in 10 cars cruising around the Arabian Peninsula shall be electrified and the government wants to erect the supporting infrastructure.
dohanews.co
Airbus 3D prints motorcycle: Airbus subsidiary APWorks has created the first 3D printed motorcycle, the Light Rider. Weighing 77 pounds, it is 30 percent lighter than many e-motorcycles, and it is powered by a 6 kW electric motor. There is a limited production run of 50 Light Riders now available for pre-order.
airbusgroup.com
Nissan collaborates in Beijing: The Nissan Joint Research Center for Intelligent Mobility opened at the Tsinghua University in Beijing to develop new electric vehicles and autonomous driver technologies for the Chinese market. Nissan and Tsinghua University have cooperated on several projects in the past decade, and this new programme will focus heavily on Chinese road networks.
greencarcongress.com
San Francisco gets fuel cell funding: The U.S. Department of Energy is funding a 4.75m dollar project in San Francisco focused on increasing fuel cell vehicles and creating infrastructure. With 14 hydrogen-fuelling stations already planned, the programme will also focus on education and outreach, as well as analyses for charging systems, storage, and production.
greencarcongress.com
Practical Li-ion from Korea: Together with BMW, researchers at Korean Hanyang University have developed a new Li-ion rechargeable battery that is said to combine high-energy-density and longevity. It uses a carbon-silicon compound anode and nickel-cobalt-manganese as cathode material.
greencarcongress.com
Real-time info about charger occupancy? According to German Automobilwoche, Berlin-based consortium Hubject is about to get mapping service company Here on board. The company had been taken over by Audi, BMW, and Daimler and can show free charging stations in real-time.
automobilwoche.de (in German)
Social charging in Holland: The new app Social Charging is said to facilitate communication about charging times between electric car drivers. It is already available for the nearly 1,000 chargers in Den Haag and is being tested at another 20,000 charging stations across the country. A version just for companies is also in the pipeline.
drive.google.com
Luxury tax for EV uptake? Australia’s green party has proposed a tax increase for luxury vehicles that cost more than 100,000 Australian dollars. The money will in turn be used to subsidise EVs and charging stations. The goal is to get another 31,000 electric cars on the road and install 330 chargers by 2021.
caradvice.com.au
More EVs for SF: The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has ordered another 33 electric trolley buses from New Flyer of America. Delivery of the low-floor buses will be completed by the end of the year. The SFMTA already counts some 300 electric vehicles in its fleet.
sfbay.ca
BlueIndy on the fly: The Bolloré electric carsharing scheme BlueIndy will set up shop at the Indianapolis airport. Some 20 parking stalls will be reserved for the EVs, providing travellers with a cheap and green means of transportation to and from the city.
indystar.com
Increased electrification of transport also has a darker side, as battery theft becomes more common. While thieves often target the Toyota Camry in New York, in Frisco they are mainly after the Prius’ power packs. Maybe Toyota is right trying to switch to hydrogen.
abc7news.com
On the road to no emission: Amsterdam wants to be emission free by 2025 and the taxi companies are doing their part. Together, Taxi Electric, Connexxion and TCA operate more than 170 Nissan Leaf and e-NV200. And since October, 167 Tesla Model S taxis are stationed at the Schiphol Airport.
electriccarsreport.com
Electric police cars in Seattle: Seattle police will use 28 Nissan Leaf for its traffic enforcement department in and around the city. Set patrol routes and predictable traffic make electric vehicles a feasible choice for the task and help reduce emissions of the city fleet.
greencarreports.com
Convenient charging: The Japanese convenient store chain FamilyMart now offers drivers to charge their EV while shopping. The market partnered with Nissan to install electric vehicle chargers at its locations across the country, because it wanted charging to become more convenient for its customers.
jalopnik.com
Powered by the sun: The city of San Francisco has gotten three new solar-powered charging stations for electric cars. The stations are part of a demonstration project called “Driving on Sunshine” that plans to install free solar-powered chargers across the city.
cnet.com, ngtnews.com
Malaysia to be electrified: An electric car sharing service will be set up in Kuala Lumpur by KL Electric Mobility. The ‘KL Electric A-gogo’ is to start with 150 electric cars while at least 3,000 charge stations are to be installed over the next two years.
paultan.org, thestar.com.my
1,000 EVS for Chengdu: Kandi has completed the sale and delivery of 1,000 electric vehicles to the leasing company ZuoZhongYou. The EVs will be used for a newly launched car-share program in the Chinese city of Chendu.
nasdaq.com
Hybrid buses in San Francisco: The San Francisco Board of Supervisors just granted 68 million dollars for the acquisition of 61 hybrid buses by New Flyer over the next six years. The contract also includes options to purchase an additional 363 hybrid buses.
sfbay.ca
Hydrogen cooperation: Sandia National Laboratories and Linde LLC have signed a Cooperative Research & Development Agreement (CRADA) to accelerate the development of hydrogen and fuel cell technology. The first projects will look into R&D for the expansion of hydrogen fuelling stations.
greencarcongress.com, bizjournals.com
Washington on the EV case: Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s plans to make the state more EV friendly (we reported) are taking shape. He is to extend tax incentives, create an EV infrastructure bank, and ask city planners to incorporate infrastructure in their planning.
greencarcongress.com
Plymouth has installed its first charge points and expects EV ownership to grow over the coming years while the council plans to add EVs to its own fleet as well. The charging stations are the beginning of a two-phase project which will see public charging opportunities pop up all over the British city.
plymouthherald.co.uk
Siemens is to deliver 175 light rail cars to the city of San Francisco, USA. Including the option for an additional 85 cars, it is the largest municipal transport deal in the U.S. to date, worth 648 million dollars.
siemens.com, greencarcongress.com
San Francisco’s Mayor Ed Lee is driving a Chevy Volt, which in general is a good thing. The EV has been spotted though repeatedly breaking, or say bending the rules and the drivers never having to pay the fine. Lee is not taking any responsibility as his office claims that it is not the mayor himself driving the Volt. However, wouldn’t a bit of the right behaviour make his electric example so much better?!
sfgate.com
Leading by example: The British government is making use of its own 5-million pound ‘ultra low emission vehicle (ULEV) readiness’ programme for the electrification of government fleets. From autumn this year, about 300 electric cars and plug-in hybrids, including vans, as well as infrastructure will be acquired.
gov.uk, businessgreen.com, smmt.co.uk
Charge & Fly: San Francisco International Airport has asked Greenlots to install four 480-volt quick charging stations. These will be the first DC fast chargers using the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) at the airport and are funded by the California Energy Commission.
chargedevs.com
Fully electric supply chain: In Berlin, the biggest electric truck approved for road use to date has made its maiden voyage. It is part of the “Schaufenster” project KV-E-Chain that strives to transport goods electrically over long distances. Containers are brought by train from Western Germany to Berlin’s Westhafen port before then being distributed further by EVs like the electric truck.
morgenpost.de (in German), emo-berlin.de (KV-E-Chain project page)
Swiss charging confederation: Abonax, distributor of charging stations and Groupe E agreed to cooperate to expand the Swiss charging network Move. Abonax will integrate its charging stations into Groupe E’s move network which currently entails 64 charging stations in twelve cantons. Move members can charge via membership card or smartphone while non-members can pay via sms.
tagblatt.ch (in German)
DIY electric highway: Chinese When Zong built his own network of Tesla charging stations from Beijing to Guangzhou for 730,000 yuan (117,700 dollars). The Model S owner was tired of waiting for the Californians to cover the 3,570-mile stretch but had to resort to slow chargers on private grounds.
mashable.com, carbuzz.com
Centralised EV order: Ten San Francisco Bay Area local governments have jointly ordered 90 electric cars to be used in their fleet. This deployment is facilitated by the Bay Area Climate Collaborative (BACC) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). The latter funded the purchase with 2.8 million dollars.
greencarcongress.com, newsday.com
Regular, premium or hydrogen? A study by Sandia National Laboratories took a look at existing gas stations in California to see which could safely store and dispense hydrogen. From 70 examined stations, the researchers found 14 could already become H2 stations, while 17 could be converted rather easily.
sciencedaily.com, green.autoblog.com
Hybrid ferry fleet Together, Corvus Energy and Scandlines operate what they say is the biggest hybrid ferry fleet worldwide. The ‘Prinsesse Benedikte’ was the first and is now being joined by three more vessels serving between Puttgarden (Germany) and Rødby (Denmark).
electricvehiclesresearch.com, energy-daily.com
Veefil to be sold worldwide: The funky Veefil Fast Charger by Australian Tritium has been certified as UL compliant for the U.S. and Canada. As it is already compliance certified in Europe and Australia, the DC charging stations can now be offered globally and will be produced by the Chinese Surpass Sun Electric.
chargedevs.com
Officially supercharged: Tesla has now formally opened its new chargers in Austria (St. Anton), Germany (Wilnsdorf, Bad Rappenau, Aichstetten und Jettingen), the Netherlands (Zevenaar and Oosterhout) and Switzerland (Lully). In the press release Tesla sticks to its promise that 100% of the German population will live within 320 kilometres of a Superchager by the end of 2014.
gigaom.com, teslamotors.com (press release)
E-bike sharing in Frisco: California’s unofficial capital is planing to introduce a sharing scheme with electric bicycles. Around 90 e-bikes by Juiced Riders and A2B will be deployed to 25 stations around San Francisco. They have a range of 40 miles and can be powered by pedalling or throttle. The three-year program costs two million dollars.
gas2.org
Bixi Bikeshare bankrupt: The bike share provider that debuted in Montreal in 2008 has filed for bankruptcy, as software problems and debts became overpowering. While Montreal’s mayor promised to vouch for the service at least this year, will other cities in North America, Europe and Australia face the same problem as they all adopted the Bixi system fully or partially?
treehugger.com, theatlanticcities.com
