Hyundai No Longer Bullish On Hydrogen Cars? Hyundai Announces 1st Pure EV. Cars Published on January 4th, 2015 | by James Ayre January 4th, 2015 by James Ayre Is the Hyundai Motor Company no longer bullish on the future prospects of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles? It certainly appears so, based on the recent announcement that the company made revealing the soon-to-be release of its first purely electric production vehicle. The interesting, and fairly surprising, news has arrived along with the unveiling of a new battery supply deal (for the new model) made with the noted lithium-ion battery manufacturer LG Chem. This new EV — said to be a mid-size sedan — will reportedly be released sometime in 2016.
That’s quite a turn around for a company that had until now claimed that it wouldn’t pursue the EV market (leaving that to its sister brand Kia), and was only interested in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, isn’t it? I can’t say that I blame them, though. Anyways, here’s part of the announcement in Hyundai’s words: “Hyundai’s first pure EV will be a mid-sized sedan. Toyota Claims That No One Wants A Toyota BEV, Pushing Ahead With Hydrogen... Cars Published on October 30th, 2014 | by James Ayre October 30th, 2014 by James Ayre A prominent Toyota representative recently made the comment that the main reason that Toyota isn’t developing any wide-release battery-electric vehicles is that no one wants one. And that’s why the company is pushing ahead with its hydrogen fuel cell technology. Wait, what? So, no one is asking for a Toyota BEV?
There must be more to this than what’s being put out there publicly by the company’s reps, but here are the exact comments (via the Los Angeles Times) from Toyota’s national manager of advanced technologies, Craig Scott (make of them what you will): “Toyota actually favors fuel cells over other zero-emission vehicles, like pure battery electric vehicles. I’m note even sure what to say to that. But it’s well known that hydrogen cars are far behind electric cars in their development and growth, and are absurdly expensive while electric cars are now often competitive with gasoline cars.
The Other #1 Reason Why Electric Cars Will Dominate The Car Market. Cars Published on February 20th, 2014 | by Zachary Shahan You may remember that I published an article at the end of December regarding the #1 reason I think electric cars are a disruptive technology that will come to dominate the car market much faster than most “experts” think. I think the whole article is worth a read (otherwise, I wouldn’t have written it), but the very short summary is: electric cars are a much better drive.
The article I just published an hour ago carries forward that idea, and is focused around Jeremy Grantham saying essentially the same thing. However, I recently ran across another article with essentially the same title as that first one linked above—”The One Reason Tesla Motors, Inc. and Electric Vehicles Will Dethrone Gas-Powered Vehicles“—but focusing on a different benefit of electric cars. Was charging my Volt at a Chevy dealership and was talking to a senior salesman. I asked him if he wanted to go Cadillac why not the ELR? It’s a strong argument.
The electric car tax. The NC legislature just doesn't like people who drive electric cars: The state Division of Motor Vehicles has begun collecting a new $100 annual fee from the owners of all-electric cars ...The House blocked a similar proposal from the Senate last year to charge a $50 fee for hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius and Chevy Volt, which run on a combination of electricity and gas or diesel fuel.
Only 1,600 electric cars are registered statewide, but their numbers are growing. ...Fuel tax collections are declining because North Carolinians are driving less, their cars are getting more miles out of every gallon, and some drivers are switching to cars that burn no fuel at all.DMV began adding the new fee for electric cars to its bills for registration renewal fees that were due this month. Via www.newsobserver.com The $100 fee isn't all that much but there really is no reason to add it on to the tax bill for electric car owners.
EV Simulators For Smartphones Hitting The Streets Of Munich. Cars Published on January 8th, 2014 | by Derek Markham Originally published on Planetsave. How can you assess the performance of an electric car in the real world as a taxi or commercial vehicle, without needing to put actual electric vehicles in service? Well, as they say, there’s an app for that. The smartphones are courtesy of the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and will record the exact location (via GPS), as well as driving behavior, such as the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle, along with the number and frequency of turns made. “This will show various taxi and commercial operators that partial electrification of their fleet would not only be technical feasible, but would already today offer economic and environmental benefits.” – Benedikt Jäger, engineer at TUM’s Institute of Automotive Technology In addition to the virtual electric car study, a real electric vehicle will be used to validate the collected data.
About the Author. Germans Living In Small Cities Would Most Benefit From Electric Cars. Cars Published on November 26th, 2013 | by Zachary Shahan One of the studies presented at EVS27* in Barcelona last week was a study regarding the segments of the German population that would most benefit (economically) from switching to an electric car. The study, conducted by Patrick Plötz and Till Gnann of Fraunhofer ISI, used a German nationwide travel survey and then broke up the population into 24 subgroups based on employment status and city size.
(*Keep up with all my EVS27 coverage here.) Interestingly, while electric cars are often hyped as great city cars, the study’s key finding was that Germans who would most benefit from owning electric cars would be those living in small cities**. The following graph and table illustrate the point quite well: It’s rather interesting that the conclusions are counter to the common stereotyping of electric vehicles as being ideal big-city cars. So, what are the implications? I don’t have any answers here, of course, just rumination. Tesla Wins Lawsuit to Protect its Apple-Like Distribution Model. © Tesla Traditional Auto Dealers Not Pleased Despite its engineering prowesses and large media presence, Tesla Motors is still a relatively small company.
What works for ancient behemoths might not work for a small startup, which is why Tesla's distribution model is closer to Apple's than Ford's or Toyota's (ie. a low-pressure "showcase" atmosphere where you can interact with the products). Basically, pretty much all of Tesla's customers are first time customers, and most are not very familiar with electric car technology. This is a very different situation from what a traditional car company is dealing with.
Building up a traditional dealership network would be a herculean task for Tesla, and just building up enough inventory to stock up each location would probably drain the company's resources. © Lloyd Alter But that direct-sale model didn't please everybody. On Friday a Superior Court judge dismissed the case based upon the auto dealers’ lack of standing and failure to state a claim. Krispijnbeek : De auto voor 5 dagen... Better Place Israel lowers rates, gives plug-in drivers 'a simpler and better deal'
The End Of The Electric Car (Again)? Better Place Opens Battery Swap Network. Better Place, the electric vehicle venture started by entrepreneur Shai Agassi, has opened its first publicly available battery switching stations, where drivers can swap out a discharged pack for a fully charged one in less time than it takes to fill up a conventional car with gasoline. The four Better Place battery stations are in central and northern Israel. Later this year, 40 stations are expected to be operating across the country, the Associated Press reported. This year Better Place is also set to expand its network of battery swapping stations into Denmark and into Australia, its first major market. Stations in Amsterdam are expected to follow the Denmark deployment, the Associated Press reported.
Small-scale projects are already operating in Hawaii and California, and Better Place plans to deploy and operate four battery switch stations to support a fleet of electric taxis in the San Francisco to San Jose corridor. Electrifying the Dutch – Part 1: the debate. Ever since the introduction of the Th! Nk City in The Netherlands in 2009, there has been an everlasting debate on the pro’s and con’s of electric cars in the Netherlands, and there are no signs that we are anywhere near reaching consensus on this subject. The question is: do we WANT to reach consensus, or rather, why should we strive for consensus? I, for one, see no point in this. Despite the high costs of purchase, the number of electric cars registered in the Netherlands are exploding, from somewhere to 100 in January 2009 to well over 1500 by March 2012.
Of course, when compared to the total number of cars (well over 7 million) this is, well, a modest start. But didn’t Confucius say:” A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”? One might wonder why those early adopters went ahead and purchased these vehicles in the first place? The sum of all fears for prospective owners (or rather, users) of an electric vehicle is called range anxiety.
The_netherlands. Obama. Frankrijk. Projectbetterplace. Spain to Put 1 million Electric Cars on the Road. Spain intends aims to put 1 million electric cars on the road by 2014 as part of the Zapatero government’s plan to save energy and boost energy efficiency, minister of industry, business and tourism Miguel Sebastian said Tuesday. The Plan, which Spain’s Council of Ministers are expected to approve August 1, will be enacted this year and carry on through 2011. Spain will save between 5.8 and 6.4 million tons of oil over the three-year period as a result, according to industry ministry estimates.
“The electric vehicle is the future and the engine of an industrial revolution,” Sebastian told members of the national industry commission. Higher oil prices and growing use and intensity of fossil fuel cost Spain some 17 billion euros last year, according to the minister. Nissan and GE Join Forces to Research Electric Vehicle Technolog. Pay-as-you-go cars for Paris by next year. Brengt grootschalig gebruik van elektrische auto’s in stroomvers. Nederland krijgt nieuwe Energie. Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi to Standardize Electric Car Rechargin. Trying to spread adoption of electric cars, five major Japanese firms have agreed to set a unified standard for electric vehicle recharging stations.
First, the companies will address a Japanese national standard, then they will push for an international standard, reports Reuters. The group is comprised of Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Fuji Heavy Industries and Tokyo Electric Power – Japan’s biggest utility. Officially, the group is calling itself the “CHAdeMO Association.” “CHAdeMO” is an abbreviation of “CHArge de MOve,” which translates to “charge for moving.” Symantics aside, the group started to come together last August when Nissan, Mitsubishi, Fuji and the utility started a preparatory committee. So far, 158 businesses and government bodies are expected to join the association. In other alternative vehicle charging news, Honda is touting its home solar hydrogen refueling station.