António Félix da Costa has won the first E-Prix in Cape Town, his first win as a Porsche works driver for Formula E. He drove to victory in the season’s fifth race from eleventh on the grid, ahead of Jean-Éric Vergne (DS Penske) and Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing).
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VW Commercial Vehicles is also planning a purely electric version for the next generation of the Amarok pickup. The new Amarok is being developed in cooperation with Ford and will be a Ford Ranger with its own unique drive system.
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Australian charging station manufacturer Tritium has signed a new global framework agreement with Shell to supply DC charging stations. Tritium has been supplying Shell with fast charging stations since 2020 and has now also been selected in Shell’s latest tender.
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The Siemens Stiftung has awarded prize money of between 10,000 and 50,000 euros to five African social enterprises in its first competition in the field of electromobility. The money is intended to help the winners establish their products and services on the market.
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In 2016, BYD won a lucrative electric bus order for a pilot project in Cape Town, South Africa. But now an investigation has started, as authorities suspect some kind of foul deeds behind the scenes.
Read moreClever cooperation: Following a similar deal with BMW (we reported), Clever and VW now offer buyers in Denmark a charging flat rate for newly purchased electric or plug-in models. On top of that, buyers get a personal charger installed at home.
clever.dk
Autonomous carpool: Danish start-up Spiri wants to start a carpooling service with its own electric vehicles starting next year. Design and performance details are said to be unveiled at the end of September. Spiri says it cars will be able to drive autonomously in the future.
electrek.co, techcrunch.com
Charging South Africa: Nissan and BMW have installed its first three joint chargers in the. The two carmakers are working together (we reported) to set up a charging station network across South Africa by 2017.
techfinancials.co.za
E-Bus for Illinois: The Illinois Quad Cities’ MetroLINK transit organization has ordered two battery-powered XR buses from Proterra. The deal also includes an option for further purchases through 2020.
prnewswire.com
Electric emergency response: The fire department and emergency services in Cobb County in the U.S. state of Georgia have added seven Nissan Leaf to their fleet. The vehicles are being leased and are reserved for staff members. The department expects to save more than 170,000 dollars compared to operating petrol-powered cars.
ajc.com
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Real energy management: A real-time energy management system developed at the University of California increases efficiency of plug-in hybrid vehicles by up to 12 percent. The system itself becomes more efficient over time as it is learns to make optimal decisions based on past driving cycles.
greencarcongress.com, phys.org, ucrtoday.ucr.edu
South Korea renews: Korea Energy Power Corp. (Kepco) and SK Telecom Co. (SKT) signed a MOU to jointly invest 500 billion won (413.9m dollars) in renewable energy and linked fields, such as micro grids until 2020. This includes the development of self-driving electric vehicles and charging infrastructure as well as business models.
apec-vc.or.kr, pulsenews.co.kr
South Africa strives: The platinum producing country plans to set up a fuel cell component factory by 2018. The aim is to increase demand while decreasing cost, as the precious metal would be sourced locally. A feasibility study is underway and partly funded by the trade and industry ministry.
reuters.com, moneyweb.co.za
FCV supplier: Ballard Power System names TM4 as supplier of electric motors and inverters for new compressor units for Ballard’s FCvelocity-HD7 power module used in fuel cell vehicles.
greencarcongress.com
Tesla beats stock sale target: The carmaker raised 738.3 million dollars in its secondary stock sale, more than 230 million above the original target. Top underwriters include Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, who together bought just over 2.1 million shares. The cash will flow into the upcoming Model X and Model 3, as well as the Gigafactory in Nevada.
bloomberg.com, forbes.com
Hands to hire: Martin Leach, former Ford Europe COO, is looking to recruit staff for a secret new electric car manufacturer that will be mainly based in China and California. Leach revealed that although this company does not have “a background in the car industry” and is also looking into self-driving cars, it is not linked to Apple.
reuters.com
Citroën to present EV? According to L’Automobile Magazine, Citroën has registered the name e-Mehari, sparking rumours that the carmaker could presents an electric car based on its C4 Cactus and the legendary beach car Mehari at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. So far, no additional information has been released.
automobile-magazine.fr (in French) via technologicvehicles.com
Made in South Africa: South African-based company Big Boss announced that it will unveil an electric car within the next six months, priced at around 20,000 euros. The car will initially be built in China, but once the company sold its first 1,000 units, it wants to bring production back to South Africa.
itweb.co.za
New Toyota Prius uncovered: Pictures of the next-generation of Toyota’s famous hybrid are already circling the web ahead of the official presentation set for September 8th. And the new Prius caught on camera was totally uncovered!
autoblog.com
Danes to keep up tax exemption? The country’s conservative party is pushing for tax exemption of electric vehicles to be extended for at least 2 years, in order to support market and infrastructure investments. The Danish government is already looking into maintaining the perk, which was meant to expire at the end of the year (we reported).
dr.dk (in Danish)
South African charging union: Nissan and BMW will connect to install a network of charging stations across South Africa until 2017. Both CHAdeMO and CCS standards will be supported. How many fast-charging stations there will be remains yet to be seen.
electriccarsreport.com, iol.co.za
Uber in China: Online hire service Uber now started a new cooperative approach in Chinese Wuhan. There, UberGreen consists of ten hybrid cars called Trumpchi GA5 REV by Chinese manufacturer Guangzhou Auto. Meanwhile, the city of Guangzhou has banned the conventional Uber cabs and announced to open its own app-based service instead based on the city’s existing cab companies.
carnewschina.com (Wuhan), cnbc.com (Guangzhou)
New Zealand update: The Charge.Net.NZ initiative that had just announced its plan to install 75 fast-charging stations across New Zealand has taken its first action. Already, 23 Veefil DC fast-charging devices have been ordered from Australian provider Tritium.
chargedevs.com, reneweconomy.com.au
Electric delivery in Moscow: DHL Express has started to electrify its Russian courier fleet with the deployment of two electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV in Moscow. The cars will be used for last-mile assignments in both the city centre and the outskirts and will be charged at the company’s facilities.
evfleetworld.co.uk
Free charging in Canada: The city of Brampton just unveiled the first of a total of 32 EV charging stations, which will be installed in municipal parking lots across the Canadian town by 2016. The stations are free to use while regular parking charges apply.
bramptonguardian.com
Click tip I: What BMW proudly calls “Future Retail” is essentially a copy of Tesla’s concept store, but without cars being sold. The first such BMW store exhibiting the i8 has been opened in California and BMW hopes to convince all 339 U.S. dealers to copy the concept by 2019.
evworld.com
Click tip II: In South Africa’s Eastern Cape region, a truly silent Safari service has started. Shamwari Game Reserve is now taking guests through the wilderness in a 20-seater electric truck which can be recharged with energy from renewables lest it will fall prey to lions.
traveller24.news24.com
Research tip: Cold climate does not favour EVs, that much we knew, but researchers from Carnegie Mellon University now put data behind the assumption. They analysed 7,000 trips taken in a Nissan Leaf in different states of North America and could thus pin down regional differences.
greencarcongress.com, pubs.acs.org
Reading tip: The biggest obstacle to EV adoption in South Africa might not be hesitant consumers but the country’s often brittle grid. Furthermore, electricity is expensive and infrastructure scarce at best.
motoring.iafrica.com
Events for the upcoming week: International Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Expo & Battery Japan (Feb 25-27; Tokyo, Japan) ++ Green eMotion Stakeholder Forum (Feb 26-27; Brussels, Belgium) ++ Shell Eco-marathon Asia (Feb 26-Mar 01; Manila, Philippines)
You can find a complete list of upcoming industry events at electrive.com/calendar
“Rapid Chargepoint” initiative: Transport for London and the Energy Saving Trust want to identify potential locations for charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles in London. They have invited business fleets who operate small lorries (up to 12.5 tonnes) and commercial vans to take part in the project. The goal is to further push for businesses to electrify their fleets.
businessgreen.com, fleetnews.co.uk, greenpowertrain.automotive-business-review.com
Hamburg to quadruple charging stations: The North German city wants to have a total of 592 charging points by mid-2016. Of those, 70 will be DC fast chargers. Currently there are 138 across the city. Also, Hamburg’s senate is looking to trade its petrol cars for vehicles with alternative drives. Hamburg aims to become a leader in the field of electric mobility in Germany and expected to have 5,000 EVs on its roads by 2016.
abendblatt.de, spiegel.de (both in German)
Madrid next on Supercharger map: According to a tweet by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Superchargers will be installed across southern Europe soon. Spain and Portugal are said to be covered by the end of next year. While the supercharger website was not updated yet, Tesla twittered the newest up-to-date version.
twitter.com via cleantechnica.com
BMW and Schneider Electric partner up: With the introduction of the BMW i3 in South Africa next year, the companies agreed that Schneider Electric will be in charge of installing chargers at dealerships, as well for the installation of wallboxes in customers’ homes. BMW and Schneider Electric have a similar agreement in Germany.
techcentral.co.za, businesstech.co.za
Cincinnati airport gets charging stations: Travellers who leave their car at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) can now use one of six charging stations. Two are located in the long-term parking lot, the others at terminal parking. Parking and charging is free. According to CVG, almost all types of plug-ins can be charged there in about eight hours.
bizjournals.com, local12.com
Ford is setting up solar charging car park in Michigan. The station which is being erected together with DTE Energy will offer recharging for 30 electric vehicles and roofed shelter for 360 cars. The solar car port is part of DTE’s ‘SolarCurrents’ Program and is expected to generate 1.13 million kWh annually.
electriccarsreport.com, businesswire.com
Shop & Charge: The CarCharging Group has agreed on a partnership with the mall “Legends at Sparks Marina” and “Outlets at Sparks” close to Reno, Nevada, to set up charging stations for diners and shoppers. The stations will be financed with the help of utility provider NV Energy.
greenpowertrain.automotive-business-review.com
BMW i3 in South Africa: The South-African branch of BMW will get the first electric and hybrid BMW’s in March 2015. To get ready it is working with the ‘National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa’s’ (Naamsa’s). Eleven BMW dealerships will feature chargers while another 60 public stations are planned.
techcentral.co.za
E-motorbike police: The Des Moines Police Department is testing an electric Zero to join their fleets of Harleys and Kawasakis. While the latter are for representative purposes the electric motorbike from Zero would actually go into police work. The purchase has already been approved, but the department needs to find the money still. Sell a petrol one maybe?!
desmoinesregister.com
Germany creates new incentives for electric cars: The country has proposed a new draft law, allowing electric vehicles to use bus lanes. A model that has worked well to increase the use of EVs in Norway, though plug-ins there are also exempt from import taxes. The German government hopes to put one million EVs on the road by 2020, a goal that experts still think is unrealistic.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Not only Disney’s bear Baloo knows that there are situations in jungle life which call for a biiig scratch. This elephant found the perfect “tree” in a VW Polo on safari in South Africa. His amorous approach was too much for the car though, which was left broken while Dumbo went his way entirely relaxed. May your weekend be the same!
youtube.com (Baloo and tree, animated), dailymail.co.uk (Dumbo and VW, real)
