A new plan by the South Korean government to build a hydrogen economy includes a massive increase in the number of fuel cell vehicles produced in the country. While only around 2,000 such vehicles were built by 2018, the number is expected to rise to 100,000 by 2025.
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Car manufacturers plan to invest more than 300 billion dollars in electric mobility over the next five to ten years. This is the result of a Reuters analysis based on public company data. China accounts for around 45 percent of investment plans.
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The battery cell manufacturer SK Innovation plan to increase their global battery cell manufacturing capacity more than ten-fold over the next four years. The news broke only days after SK-customer Daimler announced that they plan to procure battery cells in a volume worth 20 billion euros by 2030.
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The South Korean government announces plans to advance e-mobility both at home and abroad. Local EV subsidies are to help bring the number of electric vehicles in Korea to 430,000 BEVs and 65,000 FCEVs by 2022. Also exports are to multiply that year with manufacturers receiving support.
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The Hyundai Motor Group has presented the roadmap for its “FCEV Vision 2030”. And the roadmap is ambitious: Hyundai and Kia plan to increase their annual production capacity for fuel cell systems from what is currently 3,000 units, up to a whopping 700,000 units by 2030.
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Hyundai has signed a statement of intent with SK Networks in order to set up charging stations across South Korea. The chargers will include some high power charging units as well.
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The Israeli company SolarEdge Technologies has taken over large parts of the South Korean battery and energy storage specialist Kokam. The transaction sum is said to stand at 88 million dollars.
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Electric car enthusiast Bjørn Nyland has tracked down a robot that is a bit bizarre. The Electric Vehicle Automatic Recharging (EVAR) device serves at the Samsung C-lab in South Korea, and of course, there is a video.
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SK Innovation of Korea is delaying the introduction of their expected new EV battery cells. The pouch NCM batteries of type 811 had been planned since a year but so far, they are only being utilised in energy storage systems and larger EVs.
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Kia has started selling their Niro EV in South Korea. The European premiere will take place at the Paris Motor Show, and will be available before the end of the year.
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China’s BYD is becoming a serious player on the market home to Hyundai and Kia. In Korea, BYD electric buses are fully eligible for the electric vehicle subsidy. They have thus become very competitively priced, much to the dismay of the local industry.
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LG Chem has signed a five-year deal with Nemaska Lithium, a Canadian supplier of lithium hydroxide. The deal is set to begin in late 2020 and covers 7,000 tons of lithium hydroxide per annum.
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The government in Seoul agreed with South Korea’s industry to invest about 2 billion euros (2.6 trillion Won) into hydrogen mobility over the next five years. Facilities building fuel cell vehicles and those doing R&D will receive funding in order to reach the ambitious targets.
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BMZ, a battery assembly specialist in Germany, has made a deal with Korea’s LG Chem over the delivery of a couple hundreds of million of cells throughout 2022. The German supplier wants to secure its own supply in order to fulfill its obligations with makers of all sorts of (light) electric vehicles.
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At a South Korean fair, Kia has now presented the serial version of their fully electric Niro. The Kia Niro EV will be released in Korea in July, and will be introduced to the European market after the Paris Motor Show in October.
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South Korea’s government and leading corporations of the country agreed to start a business with the aim to install a network of hydrogen filling stations. Hyundai as well as the state-owned Korea Gas Corporation are part of the deal set for this November.
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Volkswagen is pushing electric mobility and has to find batteries in order to scale up. After joining forces with CATL in China just days ago, the Germans have now turned to Korea, where VW announced a new partnership with LG Chem and Samsung SDI.
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Kia is to launch the third generation of its Soul EV this year, this time riding on the new Kona/Niro platform and boasting more range than ever. An optional bigger battery pack shall bring the electric Korean as far as 500 kilometres on a charge.
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Nissan’s newest vehicle, the BEV Leaf, has been slated for release in a total of 7 additional countries, alongside the already announced market nations, paving the way further to the goal of offering the vehicle in up to 60 countries around the world.
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The recently announced subvention program that the South Korean government planned to roll out, has officially taken effect. A total of 12 million Won (11,160 dollars) per person have been allocated to subvention a total of 16 different car models from both local and foreign producers.
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Since the beginning of the year, the country’s government is no longer granting 14m won (around 10,700 euros) to everybody buying an EV, but contributes 10.7m to 12m won – depending on the EV’s battery capacity.
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The competition between the fast-charging standards CCS and CHAdeMO seems to be decided in favour of CCS in South Korea. The country’s Agency for Technology and Standards says it will start to recommend Combo 1 and thus CCS.
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Within one decade, the South Korean’s capital wants to replace its 7,427 CNG buses through electric-powered equivalents. The first 40 models are to hit the roads by 2018.
Weiterlesen6,000 DC chargers by 2020: As its carmakers get behind the electrification, so is South Korea. The government announced to accelerate the expansion of fast-charging infrastructure and wants to double the number of chargers from 1,500 to 3,000 by 2018. Another increase by 100 percent is planned by 2020 when 6,000 DC charging stations shall feed the country’s EV fleet that is yet to materialise. Currently, the supply of EVs is about 50 percent below demand. Seoul wants to reduce the number of diesel-powered vehicles on the streets by 30 percent over the next five years.
yonhapnews.co.kr
The world’s largest charge park is to emerge in Germany, between Munich and Stuttgart. 144 rapid and fast-charge points will stand at the so-called Sortimo-Innovationspark Zusmarshausen near the A8 motorway by 2018. 24 of the 144 charging ports by eLoaded could be high-power chargers with 350 kW, while the remaining will offer 50 kW. Some of the energy may come from solar panels on the roofs of the buildings that is said to house shops, restaurants, and work stations. The charging stations’ waste heat will be integrated into the park’s thermal management.
electrive.net (in German), inhabitat.com
Munich’s public network of charging stations is growing as the 100th facility has now been erected by the city’s utility SWM and its transit authority MVG. All stations run by the partners supply electricity from renewables only and Munich wants to grow the network to 500 charge points by 2020.
swm.de (in German)
Croatia tops up e-mobility scheme: Another 85m Kuna (11.3m euros) will be made available in Q1 2018 to subsidise electric cars and charging infrastructure. The first 50m Kuna granted through the programme have enabled the purchase of 1,420 plug-in vehicles and Croatia’s network of 200 charging stops. Another 60 along motorways are planned.
total-croatia-news.com
Baby steps: The state of Pennsylvania has started a trial with 25 electric and hybrid vehicles to see the feasibility of fleet electrification. There are 7,580 cars in the state fleet so there is massive potential but the test will run over 42 – 60 months.
pennlive.com
Electric touring car series? The Formula E may see a support series as early as the 2018/19 season with touring cars complementing the electric racing series. A plan is about to be finalised, Motorsport has learnt, and details from promoter Formula E Holdings could come as soon as October. To date it is unclear if it would involve one or multiple manufacturers and how to fit it into the tight race schedule.
motorsport.com
Pods made in Britain are to support South Korea at next year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. British Westfield Sports Cars has received an order for five of the driverless electric pods for initial testing with a plan to order a further 195. The project is worth 30m pounds if it goes ahead as planned and Westfield is already testing its pods for six in Birmingham and Coventry as well.
expressandstar.com
Bi-directional onboard charger: Hyundai Mobis has ventured into the world of V2G with the presentation of its bi-directional onboard charger (OBC) that allows to turn an electric car into a power source. The Korean supplier expects the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) market to grow to 30 trillion won (26.7bn dollars) by 2025.
yonhapnews.co.kr
Strong pedelec motors: Chinese e-bike drive maker Bafang will bring stronger mid-motors for electric bicycles to the Eurobike show. Bafang’s M500 has the usual 250 Watt, while the M600 aims at the speed pedelec market with 350 and 500 Watt. Integrated batteries will be on display as well.
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Exactly 13,812 all-electric vehicles have been registered in South Korea by late April. Most popular were the home made Hyundai Ioniq Electric (5,581) and Kia Soul EV (2,572) as well as the Renault Samsung SM3 (2,547). There are a total of 13 EV models available in Korea.
koreatimes.co.kr
Hydrogen boost in UK: The British government has announced a new 23m pound funding programme for FCV and H2 infrastructure. Grants are to go to partnerships between fuel providers and fuel cell vehicle makers with a competition to be launched this summer. Toyota has welcomed the move – if it influenced its UK investment decision (see news above) is uncertain but the Isles are one of the selected markets for the Mirai FCV.
gov.uk
European roaming may leap forward as Innogy presses ahead with its plans. Up to 1,000 Blockchain EV charging stations could be installed this April, German Wirtschaftswoche reports. Hundreds more charge stops may be updated to the tech platform within months.
wiwo.de (in German)
Charging Dominican Republic: South Korea’s state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) said it signed a MOU with Dominican Republic’s National Energy Commission to help to build EV charging infrastructure. A pilot project shall connect the capital Santo Doming to Punta Cana on the east coast.
pulsenews.co.kr
FedEx expands green fleet: FedEx has introduced electric delivery vans in Belgium, where five Nissan e-NV200 will serve in Ghent, Brussels, and Antwerp.
postandparcel.info
Twizy sharing in Japan: Nissan and the city of Yokohama have started a round-trip car sharing service with (renamed) Twizy Evs. Called Choimobi Yokohama, it is part of Nissan’s New Mobility Concept. Users register online and can pick-up the EVs at 14 locations but the service will include guided tours and long-term car rentals for businesses, too.
electrek.co, greencarcongress.com
Entirely new EV platform: Renault-Nissan is preparing a new platform for future electric vehicles. Due in 2020, the base shall incorporate fast-charging, high density batteries, according to Challenges. An official announcement is set within the framework of an upcoming technology alliance with Mitsubishi. But the article comtained yet another goodie – the 8,000 dollar EV Nissan plans to make for China may reach the European market as well.
challenges.fr (in French)
Great Wall to invest $9bn in green tech: Chinese carmaker Great Wall plans to invest 60bn yuan (8,7bn USD) to develop new energy vehicles, including FCV and plug-in hybrids, CEO Wang Fengying promised. Part of the push is to build facilities capable of producing 600,000 electrified cars a year.
nikkei.com
Porsche progresses on its Mission E and said the electric model will be offered in various variants with differing power outputs. Over the air updates like Tesla’s are planned as well once the Mission E hits the road in 2019. For now, prototype testing is scheduled for this summer.
autocar.co.uk
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Leaf in black: Nissan has launched a short run Black Edition variant of its Nissan Leaf in Great Britain, where prices start from 26,890 GBP after incentives. The limited edition model is on sale from March for a restricted production run up until August 2017.
fleetnews.co.uk
State tax credit for Rivian: Start-up Rivian Automotive receives 50m dollar state tax credit from Illinois, where it recently reutilised a former Mitsubishi facility. The plan is to mass produce electric cars there from 2019. The state funding has been approved provided Rivian creates 1,000 jobs within 10 years.
teslarati.com
The EV market in South Korea welcomes Tesla this week as the Californians will open two showrooms and announced deliveries to start by June. BMW too went east and opened the order books for its i3 94 Ah. In a more public move, BYD is to start selling its electric buses in Korea from July.
yonhapnews.co.kr (Tesla), koreaherald.com (BMW), chosun.com (BYD)
Renault Master electrification: The French are not only showing their new Kangoo Z.E. with 270 km range at the Brussels Motor Show, but also premiered the electric version of its transporter van Master. The latter will arrive at European dealers towards the end of the year and will be fitted with a 33-kWh battery pack that allows for a range of 200 km according to NEDC, even though 120 km are a more realistic estimate.
greencarcongress.com, automotiveworld.com, renault.com
Serial production plans: According to Detroit News, the in Las Vegas presented Chrysler Portal Concept (we reported) has a real shot of going into serial production. The paper quotes CEP Sergio Marchionne who says the electric van could hit the road in its current or slightly modified for “after 2018.”
detroitnews.com
Naming explained: Faraday Future explained the naming of its models. The FF 91 got its label, because the cars are named after size and price using the number 1 through 9. The 9 therefore stands for it being a top model, while the 1 indicated it being the first generation. Future cars could therefore be called FF 92, 81, 71, etc.
insideevs.com
Lowering emission targets: Just ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration, the EPA confirmed greenhouse-gas emission targets for light utility vehicles through 2025. Despite bickering from manufactures, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) goals for 2025 are 54.5 mpg. The EPA says manufactures have enough technology at their disposal to comply.
autoblog.com, greencarcongress.com
Cutting subsidies: The Chinese government wants to reduce subsidies for EVs through 2020, starting with a 20 percent cut this year. The country now also confirmed that electric or plug-in hybrid buses will receive no more than 300,000 yuan in aides (previously 600,000 yuan), while exact subsidies are based on the buses’ energy density and charging capacity. Trucks and specialty vehicles only get 150,000 yuan and local funding has been capped at 50 percent of state aide.
reuters.com
10-hr rule up for discussion: According to Reuters, the South Korean government is reconsidering its previous rule that EVs will only receive funding, if they can be charged in less than ten hours using a regular Schuko-connection. Especially Tesla would benefit, as its battery packs are too pick to comply.
reuters.com
Funding: The UK government announced a 20m pound subsidy programme for electric mobility in the cargo and logistics sector. The money will be distributed to 20 companies to introduce low-emission and zero-emission vehicles. More than 40 companies had a applied for the grant.
businessgreen.com, edie.net, gov.uk
Cheaper charging: From today, the South Korean government has cut the cost of electricity used to charge a vehicle, to incentivise people even further to purchase an EV. The price used to be at 313.1 won per kWh (0.26 USD) and has been lowered to 173.8 won per kWh (0.15 USD). The country will also see 530 new fast-chargers installed this year.
koreajoongangdaily.joins.com
Clean Fuel Rebate: California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) now offers its EV driving customers a so-called “Clean Fuel Rebate” of 500 dollars. The company is passing on money from California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard programme, which gives credits to utilities whose customers use home electricity to charge electric cars. Moreover, PG&E plans to install 7,500 EV chargers in California.
greencarreports.com
Annual closure: Dutch infrastructure provider says revue grew to 81,382 euros in the fourth quarter of 2016, a 174 percent increase to same period in 2015. The number of kWh charged meanwhile increased by 209 percent, reaching 168,381 kWh in Q4. The operator also says it lowered the price per kWh at its chargers, as well as its monthly standard fee.
fastned.de
U.S. manufacturer Flyer delivered a total of 213 electric buses this past year, marking an increase of 48 percent compared to 2015. And with an estimated 255 equivalent units of heavy-duty transit bus deliveries to have been zero emission in 2016, Flyer contributed 83 percent.
electriccarsreport.com, edmontonjournal.com
