Dutch charging infrastructure specialist Heliox has reached a milestone and says it has now installed fast-charging solutions in 100 cities worldwide. The most recent addition was on the US West Coast, where the company helps charge a fleet of buses in Seattle.
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Volvo Car USA and Starbucks want to establish a public EV charging network at Starbucks stores beginning this summer. The chargers will come through ChargePoint and bear Volvo branding. So far, the partners have designated 15 Starbucks locations and want to distribute 60 DC chargers.
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General Motors has acquired a 25 per cent stake in Pure Watercraft, a Seattle-based developer of all-electric boating solutions. Both companies intend to develop and market battery-electric watercraft using GM technology.
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Lime has announced its own micromobility platform, which can also be used to book e-scooters and e-bikes from other suppliers. The first partner for the Lime platform is Wheels from Berlin.
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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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Argentina’s first fleet of electric buses will pick up operations in in Mendoza, with 12 electric buses supplied by BYD recently having arrived. At the same time, Seattle has received their first electric garbage truck, also provided by the Chinese EV manufacturer.
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Light electric vehicle sharing company Lime is looking at the heavier end of the market, media reports suggest. The U.S. start-up wants to add small electric cars to their rental line-up of pedelecs and electric scooters and a pilot project is planned already.
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The Californian bike-sharing startup LimeBike, which already holds approximately 3,000 bicycles in Seattle, will be starting roll-out of their first 500 pedal electric bikes, which they will be calling Lime-E.
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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.
Read moreThe electric bus programme in Britain is working as another 19 vehicles have been procured. Apart from the 24 electric buses for York we reported yesterday, Guildford, Brighton, Salisbury and Denbighshire are next in line for the 19 buses. The total of 43 buses is funded with 6.3 m pound through the British government.
edie.net, gov.uk
Worth noting: ChargePoint is thinking about an initial public offering within the next five years, also with the aim to expand further into Europe, its chief executive told Reuters. Already the American infrastructure provider counts Daimler, BMW, and Siemens among its investors (we reported) but would not say how much they are actually involved.
reuters.com
Electric car rentals on the up: EVCard, one of China’s biggest hourly car rental operator, said its now operates more than 10,000 electric cars in over 20 cities. More than 4,000 EVs are currently in operation in Shanghai alone.
shanghaidaily.com
E-mobile in Seattle: The Department of Energy (DoE) awards a 1.9m dollar grant to Seattle to support a partnership between the city and electric vehicle infrastructure company Eluminocity. The aim is to help increase the number of fast charging stations and use of ride sharing services.
transportationtodaynews.com
Cheaper charging stations: eMotorWerks is making its smart charging stations 50 dollars cheaper. The JuiceBox Pro 40 and JuiceBox Pro 40 Lite are now 599 and 549 dollars respectively.
businessinsider.com
Swiss charging alliance: A number of infrastructure providers such as Alpiq, Renault, BKW and others will join forces from 2017. The new platform called MOVE will then include more than 300 chargers and will make up the largest public charging network in Switzerland. EV drivers can pre-pay or get a subscription to use the chare points.
cleantech.ch, pressebox.de
Free energy while furniture shopping: IKEA now has a total of 72 chargers at its nine locations in Switzerland. All can charge with 22 kW and are free to use. Meanwhile, the branches are urged to get at least one electric car the next time they renew or add to their fleet.
blick.ch, ikea.com
Chargers for the Big Apple: The city of New York will kick off a pilot project, installing 25 public EV charging points across the city by March 2018. There will be at least two in each borough. The project is also a move to show President-elect Trump that the city will continue its war on climate change.
qns.com, nyc.gov
Shop and supercharge: Tesla is working with supermarket chain Hy-Vee in order to tighten the Supercharger network in the flyover states in the U.S. Eight chargers along the I-80 in Iowa have already been installed, with more to follow.
insideevs.com, thegazette.com
Hybrids convince: Seattle’s fire department is happy with the results of recent fuel efficiency tests of ambulances retrofitted with hybrid drivetrains form XL Hybrids. So happy, in fact, that they now ordered another 10 hybrid vehicles for their fleet.
greencarcongress.com
Stuttgart electrifies: The local government decided to replace 45 of its old combustion engine cars with electric ones and announced that all new vehicles added to the city’s fleet will be fully electric. Of course, Stuttgart will also set up the charging infrastructure needed for its initiative. The German city already raised an alert due to particulate matter on more than one occasion this year.
stuttgarter-zeitung.de, stuttgart.de (articles in German)
Charging France: Some 117 municipalities in the French Département Bouches-du-Rhône will install a total of 200 chargers by the end of next year. That is 400 charging points with 22 kW each. 80 chargers are said to go online this year. Half of the 2m euro bill is footed by the Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Énergie (ADEME).
avere-france.org (in French)
Fastned cooperates with Dutch railway: Fastned has signed an agreement with Dutch railway operator NS (Nederlanse Spoorwegen) to install EV charging stations in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Den Haag. The locations are all property of the Dutch railway.
nltimes.nl
Superchargers plough ahead: The announced expansion of the fast-charging network is already well underway. Some eleven new locations with some 90 parking stalls have been confirmed since the unveiling of the Model 3. In some cases, installation already kicked off. The new Superchargers are located across the globe in i.e. China, Australia, the U.S., the Czech Republic and Germany.
electrek.co
Washington adjusts incentives: Washington state, USA, expanded its sales tax break in order to include news EVs like the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3 in the scheme. From July, the tax break applies to the first 32,000 dollars of the selling price. Moreover, electric cars with an MSPR of 42,500 dollars now qualify.
opb.org
Tripe the fast-chargers: Moreover, the state’s capital Seattle is looking to install another ten rapid-chargers within the next year. These will be located on city as well as some privately owned grounds. Seattle currently has five fast-chargers. The city is also looking to kick off an in-home charging pilot programme, were EV drivers can rent chargers for their garage on a monthly basis.
king5.com
Solar chargers for Utrecht: Renault, the Dutch city of Utrecht, ElaadNL, and LonboXnet have signed a letter of intent to test solar smart charging stations. Some 1,000 units could be installed, where ElaadNL would be in charge of the infrastructure and Renault would supply 150 Zoe Z.E. through 2017. The project’s second phase could see the construction of a V2G system.
v2g.co.uk
Thailand’s three step plan: To push EV uptake in the public sector, the country will start regulating EV costs, making sure prices will not exceed those of natural gas vehicles. In a second step, those measures will also apply to electric passenger cars, while Thailand will also cut tax rates, push local battery production and develop charging infrastructure. The third step (2020-2036) will see the installation of up to 800 chargers for an estimated 1.2m electric vehicles.
bangkokpost.com
Seattle’s 15,000 EV plan: To cut the city fleet’s emissions in half by 2025, Seattle’s mayor is calling to include more electric vehicles – a total of 15,000 purely electric cars are said to roam the city’s streets in ten years. Moreover, the EVs will all be powered with clean energy, as Seattle produces enough hydropower.
seattletimes.com
Proterra prepares for rising demand: As more and more transport agencies are looking to include electric buses in their fleets, manufacturer Proterra wants to nearly double production capacity in 2016. It therefore placed a follow-on order with UQM Technologies for PowerPhase HD electric systems, to be delivered this year.
greencarcongress.com
Vienna calling: The Austrian capital is moving forward with its plans to introduce 250 all-electric taxis by 2017 (we reported), investing a total of three million euros in subsidies. The first 120 taxis running on electricity are scheduled to hit the streets of Vienna in March 2016 and can be charged free of cost for one year. 50 taxi drivers have registered for the scheme up to now.
orf.at, heute.at (articles in German)
Seattle electrifies: Five new trolley buses by New Flyer have hit Seattle streets yesterday. In addition, King County Metro Transit is also testing battery-electric buses. If tryouts succeed, Metro has an option to buy no less than 200 e-buses from Proterra to replace diesel-fueled buses.
seattletimes.com
Inductive charging in Texas: Texan city McAllen has purchased two electric buses. They are expected to arrive at the end of the month and will be the first ones in Texas to be charged wirelessly.
valleycentral.com, insideevs.com
Mission accomplished: Tanger Outlets has completed its planned installation of charging stations at 23 U.S. locations. ChargePoint Networks has developed and will maintain the charging network.
pennlive.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
The Charge & Fuel card is a new initiative by Volkswagen. Together with an app, customers of VW and Audi will be able to charge their hybrids or EVs at more than 1,200 German charging stations by RWE, EnBW, and Ladenetz.de and to refuel them at around 10,800 stations in the network of UTA. Payments are taken at the end of the month while charging will be free in the first six months.
autocarpro.in
Route 66 to be electrified: Charging stations will be installed along parts of the Mother Road. Eight cities in Illinois, namely Plainfield, Dwight, Pontiac, Normal, Lincoln, Springfield, Carlinville and Edwardsville will install at least one fast charger each. Time for Harley’s LiveWire to hit the road…
daily-chronicle.com, myjournalcourier.com
Seattle is to follow California’s lead on promoting the use of EVs, as Governor Jay Inslee voices his ideas to explore tax breaks and the use of car pool lanes. Furthermore, Seattle is to get more EV charging stations and developers will be encouraged to include EV fast charge points in their planning.
thestate.com, khq.com
First e-bus in Winnipeg: The Canadian town has started its regular electric bus service on a 40-km route. A total of four New Flyer Xcelsior electric buses will be operated by Winnipeg Transit for a four year test period and charged via a roof mounted pantograph at the Winnipeg Richardson Airport.
newswiretoday.com, winnipegfreepress.com
Philippine electric shuttles: Electric Vehicle Expansion Enterprise (EVEEI) and Filinvest Land launched the ‘360 Eco-Loop’ in Filinvest City, a commercial business district in southern Metro Manila. Ten EVs stop at 26 pick-up points every ten minutes. By the end of next year, the shuttle service is to expand to include 40 so-called e-Jeepneys.
gmanetwork.com, mb.com.ph, manilastandardtoday.com
Panasonic opens Smart City: The ‘Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town’ at the outskirts of Tokyo is designed to generate its own energy, also used to power various EVs and e-bikes. Due for completion by 2018, the city will include the ‘Car Life Lab’ where EVs can be test driven as early as this month.
news.panasonic.com, panasonic.net
Airport electrified: Together, Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport and Alaska Airlines will install 576 charging points for ground transportation services, such as luggage carts. In a first phase, 296 of the stations will be set up, which will be able to identify which vehicles needs the most charge.
greencarcongress.com (plus video)
Multi-system quick charging: Arizona-based GoE3 plans to install several thousand fast-charging stations in the U.S. in four years to enable coast-coast trips for everybody and not just Tesla drivers. The stations will support DC charging using the CHAdeMO, CCS and Supercharger system.
transportevolved.com
BYD in Turkey: A BYD e-bus will be tested in the capital Ankara, the latest in a series of tests across European cities. The Chinese carmaker will put a whole line of battery-powered busses on display at the BusWorld in Turkey in May, including double-decker and articulated models.
greencarcongress.com
iRoad finds its drivers: At the beginning of next week, Toyota’s electric three-wheeler will hit the roads in and around Tokyo. 20 EV-pros and amateurs, will get to test drive the vehicle until the end of June. The carsharing trial in Toyota city continues as well.
greencarcongress.com, thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Ford invites employees to charge their EV at work and installs GE WattStations at some 60 locations across the U.S. and Canada. The first four hours of charging is free. Data will be collected by the MyFord App as well as the charging points themselves.
greencarcongress.com, puregreencars.com
Car2Go conquers Rome: Vehicles belonging to the carsharing fleet will get the much desired windshield sticker, allowing them to drive in the restricted downtown areas, the Zone a Traffico Limitato, normally only open to residents. Unfortunately, the Smart fortwo in service are not electric.
motornature.com
Bolloré electrifies London: After taking over Source London and its 1,500 charging points (we reported), the Bolloré subsidy IER will bring its electric carsharing scheme to England’s capital in 2015. The company runs e.g. the car-sharing service Autolib’ in Paris. In London, it plans on starting out with 100 EVs and increase its fleet to 3,000 electric cars by 2018.
cityam.com, businessgreen.com
Charge and fly: Seattle’s Sea-Tac airport has recently installed another 36 electric vehicle charging stations at their main-terminal parking. Together with the already exiting 12 charge points, this makes it the largest provider of any North American airport. The 48 stations are available to all plug-in drivers on a first-come, first-served basis.
electriccarsreport.com, puregreencars.com
New fast chargers in CA: A total of 46 NRG eVgo charging points are already online or are currently being installed there. And that is just the beginning – according to the company, it has received around 200 orders in the Golden State.
automotive-business-review.com
48 Amps from ClipperCreek: The new HCS-60 charging station was conceived for private and company usage and can be installed in- and outside. The 240 V, 48 Amp, level 2 charging point comes with a 3-year warranty and 25-foot charging cable. The starting price is set at 899 dollars.
greencarcongress.com
Locate, charge, pay: PlugSurfing will give a sneak preview of its new app at the Cebit that makes it possible to easily locate and pay at charging stations. The app will be rolled-out across Europe in the second quarter of this year.
mynewsdesk.com, plugsurfing.de (project)
New Hubject partners: The Berlin-based company, which is developing a cross industry business and IT platform for charging infrastructure, announced three new partners. Hedele, PlugSurfing and ubitricity will open up their interfaces and become part of Hubject’s intercharge network.
hubject.de
