Archive for June, 2009

Ford Motor Co. will receive $5.9 billion in federal low-interest loans to improve the fuel efficiency of its lineup and develop alternative power vehicles, Bloomberg News reported.

Ford said it will use the money on its electric vehicle program and to further development of direct-injection gasoline engines, Bloomberg said.

Some of the money will be spent to convert Ford factories for other uses. In particular, the company’s Wayne, Mich. plant, which formerly produced sport utility vehicles, will manufacture the Focus passenger car. Ford also has plans to offer an electric version of the car.

On the commercial side, Ford is planning to introduce an electric version of the Transit Connect small van that is being imported to the U.S. The van currently features a four-cylinder gas engine.

Ford must begin repaying the loans in 2012, Bloomberg said.

Nissan Motor Co. and Tesla Motors also won financing under the U.S. Energy Department program, which is separate from funding that is being provided to bankrupt automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC.
Source: Transport Topics

Nissan who has spoken at great lengths about its family sized, moderately priced EV expected to enter into production soon and now has come forth with numerous details about the vehicle including a production schedule and official unveiling dates.

The unnamed EV from Nissan will be on display for its first public appearance on August 2nd at the company’s new global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. This vehicle on display will be the prototype version. Later this year, the production version will get its official unveiling at the Tokyo Motor Show in October. The vehicle is a midsize, five door hatchback, with unique styling that is not shared with other Nissan vehicles.

As for production, the EV will roll off of the lines at the Oppama plant located in Japan during the winter of 2010. According to Nissan, additional production facilities could be used if demand requires them to ramp up production. The company set their target at 50,000 units per year initially, but is open to increasing production by 2012 or 2013 if need be. The electric motor for the vehicle will be made in Yokohama.

Nissan’s EV will be powered by a lithium-ion battery pack that will be made by AESC in Zama. According to the company, the unit has better reliability and twice the energy of normal lithium-ion batteries.

Now that the company has outlined many of the production plans for the vehicle, we are only awaiting an official announcement for pricing and a release date. According to the company, this vehicle will be priced near that of the average compact vehicle. Research has shown that typically equipped compact models come in around $27,000. Nissan hopes to hit near that price point before any incentives are figured in.

If Nissan can bring their EV to market on time and at the price above, they may sweep the market as most EVs are priced significantly higher while offering much less interior space and features.
Source: Autocar.co.uk

The end looms ever closer for the good old internal combustion engine… Although we remain faithful to our belief that, at least not in our life time, electric vehicles will not become a common site worldwide, giant leaps are being made into turning them a reality in the mid-term future.

According to a report by Pike Research, by 2015 the global installed base of charge points will surpass the 5 million mark, with cumulative equipment revenues of $6.5 billion. Who will take point? China, of course, who is expected to represent at least half of the total market. Second to China will be the United States, which is projected to bring more than 1 million charging stations. The list is concluded with Israel and not at all surprising Denmark.

“While electric vehicles will be primarily charged at home, a strong funding push by governments will mean that more than half of all charge points will be public charging stations by 2015, ” John Gartner, industry analyst was quoted as saying by theautochannel.com. “Retailers will also install public access stations primarily as a marketing tool, and many companies will also offer workplace charging stations for their employees.”

Pike Research’s study set out to examine and forecast the market for residential, public, private, and workplace charging stations through 2015, as well as the impact the EVs are expected to have on the grid infrastructure.

HE Tees Valley is on the road to a low carbon transport future today, after becoming one of the first areas in the UK to trial electric vehicles.

The cars will be tested on Tees Valley’s roads within the year, after the North-east was chosen as one of eight key testbed areas in the Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator competition.

Economic leaders have called the move a “historic moment” that will put the region at the forefront of low carbon vehicle technology.

A top-flight consortium including Nissan, Smith Electric Vehicles in partnership with LTI and Ford, AVID Vehicles, Liberty Electric Cars, Newcastle University and regional development agency One NorthEast, has secured £3.9m funding from the Technology Strategy Board for the trials.

Test-runs on 35 vehicles including cars, taxis and minibuses will take place on Tyneside first, before the fleet arrives in the Tees Valley. Plug-in points have been mapped out and a cross-section of motorists will be chosen to gauge how the vehicles perform in real-life.

Chris Pywell, head of strategic economic change at One NorthEast, said the move will place the North-east at the cutting edge of worldwide electric vehicle development.

“This marks a genuinely historic moment for our region. This is the first time that electric vehicles are to be taken seriously as a credible alternative to the internal combustion engine on a national and international scale. It will inform the understanding of how electric vehicles will be used in the future. Cities around the world can develop the infrastructure based around our model.”

Low carbon transportation is a key sector in the Great North Revolution, launched recently by the Gazette and the CBI to map out a strategy for growing the regional economy.
Source: NE Business.Co.UK

Last weeks’ follow-up trip to the “Green Isle” cemented our belief that like London, Dublin is poised to become a major hub of activity in the EV sector. As we mentioned in our earlier blog-post in May, Ireland has committed to a carbon-neutral energy policy with a goal of attaining this status no later than 2030. To accomplish this, Ireland will not only be making huge investment in green energy resources, but will have to foster a similar national effort as was taken in the early days of IT, Internet and Software development. Ireland created a favorable business and tax climate over twenty years ago, to attract and retain high-tech companies from around the world. 20 years later we can see the tangible results of this effort, with dozens of multi-national companies from the early days, such as Intel, Microsoft and Oracle and more recent additions to the landscape such as Google and Ebay, enjoying Ireland’s low corporate tax structure and highly educated workforce incentives. The country is about to embark on a radical and forward-looking initiative in its green energy targets and as you might imagine, electric vehicles are destined to play a significant role in this process. To realize this goal, it is mandated in the new plan that petrol-powered cars will not be sold in Ireland beyond 2020, a mere 10 1/2 years from now.
What will they be driving? I would bet electrics will be the bulk of the vehicle population by 2030 as we see advances in solid state and other battery tech arriving on the scene in the near future, along with more cost-effective production methods and economies of scale. As electric power has an already-in-place infrastructure, not yet existing in hydrogen and biofuel distribution logistic support, the compressed timescale to meet Ireland’s carbon-neutrality target will drive adoption of the much easier network of standard, fast and rapid-charging facilities in city centers, roadside turnouts and parking areas, as well as private homes and public sector properties. Evoasis has been involved in meetings with government and utility providers, private industry and property developers, to find at least three sites in the Dublin city area for EVSTAT station locations. Evoasis is currently planning station locations in London, Dublin, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Malta, Barcelona, Rome, Paris and Amsterdam in 2010 with further country and city launches in the EU, US, Canada and Mexico in 2010-2012. We are working closely with various large, medium and small vehicle manufacturers as well as battery and power control equipment makers, telematic solution and software development companies and others to support the roll-out of EV’s and PHEV’s in the early development of their markets. Many people inquire about our strategy in deciding which geographic areas to pursue; it’s simple-we go “where the cars are”.

We’ll be dancing the Irish Jig in Dublin so stay tuned for more news from there. Next stop, Abu Dhabi in July-get ready, this one will blow you away! (and probably give me heat-stroke)

Nissan is making a big push into the emerging electric vehicle market, and a lot of those cars will be stamped “Made in America.”

The Japanese automaker intends to produce EVs and batteries at its factory in Smyrna, Tenn., the Nikkei business daily reported.

Nissan says it will have its first EV on the road next year. The company plans to build as many as 50,000 vehicles in Japan next year, and Nissan officials have told us the goal is to sell as many as 10,000 in the U.S. Once the American operation is up and running, it could build 50,000 to 100,000 vehicles annually by 2012, the Nikkei says.

The automaker chose the United States because it hopes to tap Department of Energy loans and grants meant to jump-start the production of eco-friendlier automobiles. The automaker had no comment on the Nikkei story, which was reported by Reuters.

“To be clear, we have applied for a loan under a program included in the Energy Act of 2007,” Fred Standish, director of corporate communications for Nissan North America, told the Tennessean. This program is designed to retool old factories to produce advanced technology vehicles. We hope to be approved for this loan, as we have provided a very strong business proposal. At this time, we have nothing further to say or to announce.”
Source: Wired Magazine

London-June 23 2009
Evoasis was honored to be invited by Masdar City to display our EVSTAT station designs in the Eco Transport Showcase at the Future Energy Forum 09 in Bilbao, Spain earlier this month. Evoasis has been invited to work with Masdar to investigate the feasibility of building an Evstat Service Station on the entrance to Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, UAE next year, to support the city in their electric transport infrastructure. Masdar City, the world’s first sustainable city to be built from the ground up features solar, wind, thermal and eco transport technologies, while supporting a population of 145,000 residents and workers in a 7 kilometer square “Oasis”. Masdar is well underway with Phase I completion expected in mid-2010 and has been supported by the government of Abu Dhabi and Mubadala Investments, who manage a UAE sovereign fund to promote green tech investing, strategic development, future city planning and technical implementation. Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) , is working closely with other institutes of higher learning and post-graduate research and fellowship programs, which include Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Michigan, to name just a couple.

Stay tuned for further news from Evoasis and Masdar City. We will be seeing them again shortly on their own “turf” and it’s going to be a big green apple for sure! Next stop Dublin, Ireland where I think the room turns brown from the Guiness, or maybe it just turns…we’ll see. It’s about to get a lot greener there as well so stay tuned.

Warren Brown / The Washington Post

Electric cars — all-electric, gas-electric hybrid, and plug-in electric extended range models — are becoming more popular. In some cases — the new Ford Fusion Hybrid mid-size sedan and the revised Honda Insight Hybrid are examples — they also are becoming more affordable, a welcome development that is bound to increase their appeal in the marketplace.

But cars powered by fossil-fuel engines, gasoline and diesel models chief among them, will continue to rule the road for the foreseeable future.

Thus, we have a General Motors apparently at odds with itself.

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The company appears to be betting its future on the plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt, a mid-size family sedan scheduled for market in calendar year 2010. Pre-production models of the Volt, driven for this column, can run 40 miles at highway speeds on electric power only.

That means most U.S. commuters, who drive less than 40 miles daily, can motor between work and home all week without using a single drop of gasoline. That’s a big deal for energy conservation and the air we breathe. Fewer exhaust fumes from automotive tailpipes mean cleaner air.

But the same GM that is going “green” with the Volt is winning kudos from automotive enthusiasts for its new, 426-horsepower Chevrolet Camaro SS sports coupe, a car that gets 16 miles per gallon in the city and 24 miles per gallon on the highway sucking premium unleaded gasoline “for best performance.”

That seems to be a contradiction, a form of corporate schizophrenia that some in the media, including this fine journal, say characterizes GM’s historical two-step dance — one step forward, another step back — with progress. But there’s nothing contradictory, nor schizophrenic about it.

The truth is that no traditional, mass-market car company — neither GM, nor Ford, nor Toyota, to name a few — can survive in today’s market selling only electric cars or other “green” automobiles. There are too many buyers out there hankering for the power, feel and sound of a big fossil-fuel engine endowed with big horsepower and lots of torque.

To ignore those people is to leave money on the table. Most automobile manufacturers, foreign and domestic, are not going to do that, especially not in a market that worships cheap gasoline.

That explains why Ford has the 315-horsepower Mustang GT sports coupe (combined 19 miles per gallon city/highway) and the Ford Fusion Hybrid mid-size family sedan. The Fusion Hybrid gets 41 miles per gallon in the city, where its electrical system does most of the work. It gets 39 miles per gallon on the highway, where its 2.5-liter, 191-horsepower, in-line four-cylinder engine carries most of the load.

Similar pairings are seen throughout today’s automobile industry. Toyota, for example, has won environmental laurels, which it has worn proudly and much to its marketing advantage, for its gas-electric hybrid Prius compact sedan (51 miles per gallon in the city, where it does its best work; 48 miles per gallon on the highway, where the driving load shifts to its 1.8-liter, 134 horsepower, in-line four-cylinder engine).

But Toyota just as aggressively has pursued fiscal greenery through sales of models such as its FJ Cruiser mid-size sport-utility vehicle (4-liter, 239-horsepower V-6, 16 miles per gallon city/20 miles per gallon highway) and its giant Land Cruiser SUV (5.7-liter, 381-horsepower V-8, 13 miles per gallon city/18 miles per gallon highway).

The bottom line is that automobile manufacturers will make whatever automobile consumers will take. Government regulation can shape consumer choices. But ultimately, consumers control the market.

At the moment, even in these dire economic times, those consumers are asking for power and fuel economy, trucks and fuel-sippers, land yachts such as the Toyota Land Cruiser and cars as tiny as the Smart ForTwo.

Electric models, regardless of their configuration, have won their place in the market. But anyone thinking that electric vehicles are little more than creepy, go-slow, environmental science projects on wheels had better think again.

Small, independent car companies such as California-based Tesla Motors and AFS Trinity Power of Bellevue, Wash., have come up with electric models that give their gasoline counterparts a very fast run for the money. Tesla’s all-electric sports cars have succeeded enough in that endeavor to attract the attention of Porsche, the longtime German leader of high-performance motoring.

Porsche has purchased one Tesla sports car “for study.” Depending on how that study turns out, Porsche might make a substantial investment in Tesla, according to industry sources.

After driving an “extreme hybrid” AFS Trinity version of a Saturn Vue SUV, which beats all GM Saturn Vue models in fuel-economy and straight-line acceleration, here’s suggesting that the Penske Group, Saturn’s new owner, get in contact with AFS Trinity.

Penske’s business acumen combined with AFS Trinity’s wizardry in turning an electric vehicle into something hot-rod junkies want to drive could eliminate any contradiction, real or imagined, between the pursuit of power and fun in motoring and the quest for fuel efficiency.

The truth is that consumers want both

Source: Detroit News

ZAP, the Santa Rosa-based maker of electric vehicles, has named former Toyota executive Gary Dodd president of global operations.

“Gary will bring serious depth and breadth to our management team, where each senior executive has separate and distinct responsibilities, such as operations, finance, marketing and now front-line, manufacturing expertise,” said ZAP CEO Steven Schneider in a statement announcing the appointment. “Gary will guide us into volume production.”

Dodd has applied to the U.S. Department of Energy for a $200 million Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan to build an electric vehicle assembly plant in Franklin, Ky.

In August 2008, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority granted Integrity preliminary approval for $48 million in state tax incentives for the Franklin project, which is expected to create 4,000 full-time jobs with an average hourly wage of $20.18.
Source: Bizjournals.com

A consortium of governmental institutions and manufacturers involved in the auto industry will be launched as part of efforts to develop green electric cars.

The Ministry of Environment and the Environmental Management Corporation, which are in charge of developing electric cars, recently held a preliminary meeting with local automakers, battery manufacturers, and the Korea Electric Power Corporation to form a consultative group responsible for the development of electric cars. Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, GM Daewoo, Renault Samsung, SK Energy and SK Networks will join the consultative group expected to be launched in July or August of this year. Members of the group will share information regarding ongoing projects for electric car development and infrastructure.

Hyundai Motor will debut its electric cars in 2012 while Renault Samsung also plans to produce compact electric cars by Oct. 2011. LG Chem has announced it will invest a total of W1 trillion in manufacturing batteries for electric cars by 2013.
Source: The Chosun Ilbo