Monthly Archives: December 2014

Hillside Leisure's Dalbury electric campervan (Image: T. Larkum)

A World First… Hillside’s Dalbury e-NV200 Campervan

Blog, e-NV200, e-NV200 Camper Van, Electric Motorhomes, Electric Vans, Nissan
Hillside Leisure's Dalbury electric campervan (Image: T. Larkum)
Hillside Leisure’s Dalbury electric campervan (Image: T. Larkum)

In October our family visited the Motorhome and Caravan Show at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham. Although we have a general interest in motorhoming, and have taken a number of holidays by motorhome, I had a particular aim to see the new all-electric Dalbury campervan being launched by Hillside Leisure.

Dalbury campervan - note pop-up roof (Image: T. Larkum)
Dalbury campervan – note pop-up roof (Image: T. Larkum)

It is claimed to be the World’s First Electric Campervan, and is based on the Nissan e-NV200 electric van which is itself derived from the Nissan Leaf electric car. From a little bit of Googling it does seem like it really is the world’s first production campervan, in other words if you exclude private conversions of conventional campervans.

Driver's compartment with passenger's seat reversed (Image: T. Larkum)
Driver’s compartment with passenger’s seat reversed (Image: T. Larkum)

I was pretty impressed with it as a package. There are the usual driver and passenger seats up front, except that the passenger seat is able to rotate around to face the rear. The large sliding door on the left side provides good access to the central ‘lounge’ area; here there is a large bench seat with two seatbelts that folds down to convert into a bed when required.

Lounge with view looking forward (Image: T. Larkum)
Lounge with view looking forward (Image: T. Larkum)

Along the inside wall opposite the door are the camping facilities inside a fitted wooden unit. Top left is a cutlery/storage drawer which slides to the left to reveal a twin gas ring stove; underneath this is the fridge. Top right is the sink with hot and cold taps; below it is storage. Further right/back are the electrical sockets and controls with more storage below. Opening the rear doors provides access to the gas bottles and water tank.

Lounge with view looking to the rear (Image: T. Larkum)
Lounge with view looking to the rear (Image: T. Larkum)

Above the lounge is a pop-up roof that provides enough room to in the vehicle to stand up. In addition, bed boards can be fitted so that two people (realistically, children) can sleep there, so providing the vehicle with 4 sleeping berths in total.

View through the rear doors (Image: T. Larkum)
View through the rear doors (Image: T. Larkum)

Overall, we were very impressed with the Dalbury. It would be ideal for a couple to use for motorhoming though, at a push, it could take a family of four (at least if the children are young). It certainly represents an attractive idea: take a touring holiday, driving from one campsite to another each day, charging up overnight, and never paying for fuel!

A look inside the pop-up roof (Image: T. Larkum)
A look inside the pop-up roof (Image: T. Larkum)

Even better, I think it would be a good daily driver that also holds the promise of weekending away whenever you want, particularly for a couple. It’s small enough to be a primary vehicle, with parking being straightforward so it can be used for shopping and other errands. Unlike other campervans the fuel cost is so low that you wouldn’t hesitate to use it for commuting. Come the weekend you put in your bedding and fill the fridge and you can weekend away at virtually no more cost than staying at home.

We liked it a lot, and are looking at opportunities for hiring it to try it out ‘in the wild’. Roll on the good weather!

2014 Has Seen a Rise in Electric Vehicles

Electric Cars, Electric Vans, News, Reviews and Comment

Electric and Hybrid Registrations to 2014

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reports on October 2014 registrations:

  • Rising demand for alternatively-fuelled vehicles continues, with market up more than 50% in both month and year-to-date.
  • 2014 has seen a significant rise in registrations of alternatively-fuelled vehicles (AFVs). With two months still remaining in the year, registrations are already 12,000 ahead of the full-year total for 2013.
  • Petrol-electric hybrid cars have long been the most popular choice for AFV buyers, but other variants are gaining in popularity. Registrations of pure electric cars have more than doubled over last year, while those of plug-in hybrid and range-extended models look set to quadruple by the end of 2014.
  • Key to this surge in popularity is a constantly increasing range of models available: in 2011 buyers were restricted to just six plug-in models. Now there are 20 to choose from, in a range of body styles including coupés and SUVs.
BMW i3 (Image: BMW Group)

Numerous accolades highlight the success of the BMW i3

BMW, Electric Cars, i3, News, Reviews and Comment

Munich. With the Green Car of the Year Award 2015, the BMW i3 has added a further trophy to an impressive raft of honours in its first year on the market. It was chosen for this award, presented by Green Car Journal at the Los Angeles Auto Show 2014, as the first dedicated all-electric vehicle in the premium segment. This latest honour, which adds to a long tally of awards the BMW i3 has picked up over the past months, is a further endorsement of this model’s unique sustainable mobility concept. More than 12,000 BMW i3s have already been sold since November 2013. The presence of more and more of these vehicles on the roads of cities all over the world is clear proof that it is now possible to successfully mate zero tailpipe emissions with premium-class driving pleasure, and that this groundbreaking combination is here to stay. One year after its launch, the BMW i3 is already the third best-selling all-electric automobile on the market.

Early adopters of the BMW i3 in Germany praise its sporty performance in particular. This is based on a 125 kW/170 hp electric motor, which offers highly responsive acceleration, and advanced chassis engineering. These drivers mainly use their BMW i3 for everyday urban driving and for commuting to work. For the most part they charge the lithium-ion battery overnight, at home. These first customers’ main reasons for buying the first electric vehicle from the BMW Group are its integrated sustainable mobility concept and BMW’s acknowledged technological expertise. Stand-out features of the BMW i3 in the eyes of its first German customers are its carbon-fibre (CFRP) passenger cell, renewable interior materials, mature powertrain engineering, state-of-the-art connectivity, and styling which these customers perceive as “futuristic”.

Demand for this electric vehicle, which can optionally be supplied with a range extender, is outstripping expectations. Both in number and diversity, the string of awards the BMW i3 has picked up – starting before the market launch and continuing on an upward trend ever since – is quite exceptional. In Germany, no sooner had pre-launch sales begun than the BMW i3 won the Green Steering Wheel 2013 award – one of the categories in the Golden Steering Wheel competition hosted by Auto Bild and Bild am Sonntag – and was voted best car in its class in auto, motor und sport’s Best Cars 2014 awards.

It also won two readers’ awards from Auto Zeitung magazine, plus the Auto Trophy 2013 and the Green Mobility Trophy 2014.

On the international stage, too, the successful market launch of the BMW i3 was accompanied by very positive ratings in opinion polls and independent expert reviews. Highlights to date include the UK Car of the Year Award, the Next Green Car Award, the Green Car of the Year Award, the Fleet Hero Award and a class win in the Sunday Times Top 100 Cars list (all of these in the UK), the Special Jury Award in the Swiss Car of the Year Award and a win in the French Trophées de l’Argus awards. In April 2014, a jury of motoring journalists from across the world named the BMW i3 World Green Car of the Year and World Car Design of the Year.

The BMW i3’s groundbreaking and individualistic exterior and interior design also earned it many other accolades, including the German Design Award, the iF gold product design award and the Automotive Interiors Expo Award, while the French edition of GQ magazine named BMW i Head of Design Benoit Jacob “Designer of the Year”. In further tributes, Auto Bild voted the BMW i3 Design Innovation of the Year, and readers of Auto Bild Klassik named it Classic of the Future.

The latest honour, the Green Car of the Year Award 2015, presented at the LA Auto Show, is a further tribute to the BMW i3’s all-round sustainable mobility concept. The evaluation by Green Car Journal was based on the BMW i3’s zero emissions at the point of use, its innovative lightweight design and the high percentage of sustainably produced materials used in its manufacture. Green Car Journal specialises in reporting on sustainable, efficiency-enhancing technologies and pioneering trends in the automotive industry and has been hosting the Green Car of the Year Award annually at the LA Auto Show since 2005. This year’s show is open to the public from 21 to 30 November.

Source: BMW Group

Electric Car Recharging

Is now the time to buy an electric or hybrid car?

A3 Sportback e-tron, Ampera, Audi, BMW, e-Golf, Electric Cars, Formula E, Golf GTE, i3, i8, Kia, Leaf, Mitsubishi, Model S, Nissan, Opinion, Outlander PHEV, Renault, Soul EV, Tesla, V60 PHEV, Vauxhall, Volvo, ZOE

Best cars and options explored

The future of driving appears to be electric, with Formula E in full effect, supercars adopting hybrid drive systems and range getting further all the time. Fuel powered engines may have their days numbered. But is it time to make the change to electric?

Now that the big car manufacturers are creating hybrid and electric cars we can be assured that it’s the future. And thanks to infrastructure improving all the time for charging stations range isn’t becoming such a big issue. But last year’s Tesla owners won’t get updated with the latest self-driving tech of this year’s Tesla, not a very nice reward for early adopting.

So is it still too early to adopt? Are batteries in cars suddenly going to improve to make current models a joke? We’ve looked at what going on to help give you a clearer idea of what to do.

Pure electric cars right now

The selection of pure electric cars right now isn’t huge, but it’s more than ever before and range is now good enough for day-to-day use. Prices, in the UK at least, are kept reasonable thanks to government assistance taking £5,000 off the price and offering free tax. If you offset petrol costs too you’re saving even more.

At the top end there’s Tesla with its Model S boasting all wheel drive and self-driving smarts starting at around the £50,000 mark. But this is in a league of its own with sports car performance, plus the latest model is not actually going to be in the UK until July 2015, even if you can buy yours now.

Then there are established brands like BMW, Ford, VW, Nissan and Renault all making fully electric cars at affordable prices right now.
Range, charging times, price and power

When going electric most people will be juggling these few key numbers: range, charging time, price and power.

PRICE: Firstly there’s price, at which the Renault Zoe wins by a fair margin starting at £14,000. Nissan’s Leaf can be bought from £16,500, Kia’s Soul EV is £25,000, the VW e-Golf is from £26,000, and BMW with its i3 is from £31,000.

RANGE: The range winner, from the reasonably priced cars, is the Kia Soul EV with 135 miles. In close second is the Nissan Leaf with 124 miles. Coming in behind them is the BMW i3 with a 118 mile range along with the VW e-Golf also sporting a 118 mile range, followed by the Renault Zoe with 93 miles.

Of course if you include the Tesla Model S that wins with its base model eeking out an impressive 240 miles on a charge and its top end offering 312 miles a go. But you get what you pay for.

CHARGE: This is a fairly even playing field with the cars all offering a rapid charge to 80 per cent in half an hour. Across the board it’ll cost you to upgrade your home charger for faster charging but this can result in as fast as a 3-hour charge to full.

POWER: Electric cars deliver all their torque instantly and the engine directly powers the wheels, this means they feel really nippy pulling away. The Nissan Leaf utilises 107hp to do 0-60mph in just 7 seconds making it the quickest of the lot off the mark.

The BMW i3 has 170hp for a 0-60mph time of 7.2 seconds, the Renault Zoe has 83hp for a 0-60mph time of 8 seconds, and the VW e-Golf manages 0-62mph in 10.4 seconds thanks to its 114hp motor. In last place is the Kia Soul EV with its 108bhp delivering a 0-60mph time of 10.8 seconds.

So for price the Renault Zoe wins it, but for range and power the Kia Soul EV comes out on top.

Plug-in hybrid electric cars right now

Hybrids have been around for years with the Toyota Prius leading the way with its dual-drive system. These are now more common than ever with Uber drivers using Prius as the car of choice.

But the market has grown, especially recently, with plug-in hybrids that allow drivers to charge at home so they may never need to use the fuel engine, instead reserving that for long distance journeys only.

From the Volvo V60 Plug-in and Ford Mondeo Titanium Hybrid to the Golf GTE or the BMW i3 with range extender, hybrids are fast becoming viable alternatives to single engine cars. The extra you may spend on the new technology can soon be made back in the petrol and tax savings they offer.

Range, charging times, price and power

Plug-in hybrid cars mean less of a worry about range than pure electric while also offering power and a reasonable price.

As with the Tesla we’re not going to include the likes of the McLaren P1, BMW i8, Porsche 918 and Ferrari LaFerrari as they’re all reserved for the super rich. And we’re only using plug-in hybrids as straight hybrids are fast becoming outdated in favour of the electric only options and extended range of plug-in hybrids.

PRICE: The plug-in hybrid range have all arrived at a similar time with manufacturers savvy to the government’s £5,000 contribution. For this reason they’re all very similarly priced.

The winner, by a narrow margin is the Ford Mondeo Titanium Hybrid from £25,000, with Mitsubishi PHEV GX3h from £28,250 in second and closely followed by the Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid from £28,395.

Then we have the Vauxhall’s Ampera from £29,000, Audi A3 Sportback e-tron from £35,000, BMW i3 Range Extender from £34,000 and Volvo V60 Plug-in hybrid from £45,000.

RANGE: Winning with an impressive 967 mile range is the Ford Mondeo Titanium Hybrid but it only manages around 20 miles on electric alone. Closely behind that is the BMW i3 with range extender that offers a 930-mile top end with pure electric for 105 miles, making it overall cheaper to run than the Ford. The Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid can manage up to 700 miles in one journey but loses on electric alone with just 15 miles on a charge.

Audi’s A3 Sportback e-tron can last for 585 miles with 31 of those miles on electric alone. Despite its size the Mitsubishi PHEV GX3h manages 500 miles with 32 on electric alone. Vauxhall’s Ampera eeks out 310 miles with between 20 and 50 of those miles on battery.

CHARGE: As in pure electric cars this is a fairly even playing field with the cars all offering a rapid charge to 80 per cent in half an hour. Across the board it’ll cost you to upgrade your home charger for faster charging but this can result in as fast as a 3-hour charge to full.

POWER: The Audi A3 Sportback e-tron, as the name suggests, wins this with a 0-62mph time of 7.9 seconds thanks to 204hp. The BMW i3 Range Extender model is second offering 170hp for 0-60mph in 7.9 seconds.

The Vauxhall Ampera does 0-60mph in 8.7 seconds with 148hp, despite having 178hp the Ford takes 9.2 seconds to get from 0-62mph, the Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid gets from 0-60mph in 11 seconds from 134hp, the Mitsubishi PHEV GX3h does 0-60mph in 11 seconds and has 186hp.

The winner for price is the Ford Mondeo Titanium Hybrid but the BMW i3 takes it for range with the Audi offering the most power.

Future electric and hybrid cars

The future of electric cars and hybrid machines is looking positive. Charging infrastructure is cropping up all over the country with Tesla’s Elon Musk promising to install his Supercharger network UK wide by the end of next year.

Crucially, right now, it’s possible to drive pure electric all the way from the top of Scotland to the bottom of England thanks to fast chargers along the way. It might take a little longer than petrol cars since you have to stop for half an hour to recharge, but it won’t cost as much by a long shot. So adopting right now, especially if you’re going for a hybrid, isn’t as risky as it once was.

Another issue is batteries. Developments are being made more and more regularly as car manufacturers pour money into research. But worrying about having an older battery shouldn’t be an issue as, hopefully, manufacturers will be able to swap out old for new future-proofing any car you buy now.

Next year Tesla hopes to offer a car which is nearly completely self-driving. But since that’s out of the price range of most people current electric car offerings are plenty futuristic.

If you’re already driving a car and the cost of petrol and tax are proving too much then electric or hybrid could be your way out.

Source: Pocket Lint

G20 nations had been spending almost $90bn a year on finding more oil, gas and coal

The moral issue of climate change

Energy and Climate Change, Opinion

The politics of selfishness was embraced enthusiastically last week by Sen. Mitch McConnell. In dismissing President Obama’s deal with China to reduce carbon emissions, the incoming Senate majority leader said “carbon emission regulations are creating havoc in my state and other states around the country” by undermining economic interests.

For McConnell (Ky.) and other GOP critics, regulation of carbon emissions is a pocketbook issue where constituents’ short-term interests must prevail. They reject or minimize the arguments of leading scientists that such emissions are directly linked to global warming and climate change and could have catastrophic long-term consequences. The doubters question the data, to be sure. But their basic argument is political: Action to protect the environment will hurt “my state.”

But what if the climate change problem were instead treated as a moral issue — a matter like civil rights where the usual horse-trading logic of politics has been replaced by a debate about what’s right and wrong?

The case for treating climate change as an ethical problem is made subtly in “The Bone Clocks,” a new novel by David Mitchell. It portrays a dystopian future in which normal life has been shattered by environmental decay, rampant disease and global disorder. Mitchell’s book is long and complex, but it might just become the “1984” of the climate change movement. It dramatizes the consequences of our improvident modern economy in the way George Orwell’s novel awakened people to the “Big Brother” mentality of Soviet communism.

Mitchell imagines in the book’s concluding section an economic crash in 2039 that brings on an era he describes as the “Endarkenment.” Order breaks down as low-lying cities around the globe are flooded, communications networks collapse and transportation slows. The global economy declines as quickly as it rose during the past half-century. Chinese troops maintain control in a foreign outpost on the Irish coast, aided by a local government known simply as “Stability.” Ebola and “ratflu” ravage populations that are scavenging for food.

This is a novel, mind you, and it paints an extreme and unscientific picture. But in exaggerating the implications of current trends, it’s in the honorable tradition of similar works from Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” to Orwell’s masterpiece. Mitchell’s principal character, Holly Sykes, feels grief for what the world has become by 2043:

“It’s grief for the regions we deadlanded, the ice caps we melted, the Gulf Stream we redirected, the rivers we drained, the coasts we flooded, the lakes we choked with crap, the seas we killed, the species we drove to extinction . . . the comforting liars we voted into office — all so we didn’t have to change our cozy lifestyles. . . . My generation were diners stuffing ourselves senseless at the Restaurant of the Earth’s Riches knowing — while denying — that we’d be . . . leaving our grandchildren a tab that can never be repaid.”

Is this terrifying future really ahead of us? The honest answer is that nobody knows. Prominent scientists have become increasingly convinced that the connection between carbon emissions and rising temperatures is real, but skeptics have whole truckloads of studies to demonstrate the opposite. One simple way to make your way through the thicket is to ask yourself: What is the price of being wrong? If the doubters are wrong and the climate-change thesis is correct, the price is potentially catastrophic. The safe (and conservative) course is to assume the worst.

Take a stroll through the news archives of the past several months to get a sense of the possible consequences of what climate scientists say is a likely increase of at least 2 degrees Celsius through the end of this century. A Science magazine study last week forecast a 50 percent increase in lightning strikes in America. A U.N. report this month argued that recent progress against global hunger and poverty could be halted or reversed. An October Pentagon report warned of an immediate threat to national security due to increased risks from terrorism, infectious disease, poverty and food shortages.

Piers J. Sellers, a former astronaut and now the acting director of earth sciences at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, wrote last week in the New York Times of what rapid temperature increase could mean by 2100:

“The impacts over such a short period would be huge. The longer we put off corrective action, the more disruptive the outcome is likely to be.”

Is this a moral issue? After reading Mitchell’s stark novel, and imagining the world of 2043, I am beginning to think the answer is yes. If the future quality of life around the world is at stake, people who resist action are not just misguided, they’re wrong.

Source: Washington Post

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (Image: AutoExpress)

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV 2014 review

Electric Cars, Mitsubishi, News, Reviews and Comment, Outlander PHEV

First-ever plug-in hybrid SUV promises to save owners thousands of pounds

Verdict:

SUV owners – and company car users in particular – can save serious cash with the Outlander PHEV, especially if they don’t drive mega miles. That’ll make rival plug-in hybrid manufacturers sit up, take notice and, hopefully, react. There’s plenty of space and kit on offer, too. The only shame is that the Outlander isn’t more engaging to drive or better quality.

Once in a while a game-changer comes along – a car that proves a hit with buyers and makes rivals rush to copy the concept. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is one of those cars.

On the face of it, it’s a pretty good plug-in hybrid based on a pretty average SUV. But Mitsubishi has chosen to break with tradition and price this PHEV model exactly the same as its diesel equivalent.

To put that into context, the most expensive Volvo V60 diesel estate costs £35,505, while the plug-in hybrid version costs £44,275. The Outlander PHEV starts from just £28,249 (after the Government’s kind £5,000 grant) for the nicely equipped GX3h model, but even our top-spec GX4hs is still hugely tempting at £34,999.

For that you get a stylish SUV with a good-sized boot (436 litres) and plenty of space for five, at a price that’s the same as an Outlander diesel auto.

But while the diesel claims 48.7mpg, the PHEV claims 148mpg. Even Mitsubishi will tell you that’s unlikely, but we still managed an impressive 92mpg. If you plug in regularly and do less than the 32-mile electric range each day, you’ll barely see a filling station.

The savings don’t stop there – with emissions of 44g/km you’ll save thousands on company car tax compared to diesel SUVs, the road fund licence is free and there’s no Congestion Charge to drive into London.

The only compromises when driving are due to the Outlander’s dynamics. Whether on EV or petrol power or any combination of the two, performance is smooth if not scintillating.

The ride is a bit too firm for our liking, but there’s the reassurance of four-wheel drive for light off-roading or to help with towing.

With good visibility, light controls and decent practicality, the PHEV is an easy car to live with.

You’ll need a PhD to understand the infotainment system, though, and the quality inside is a bit of a letdown. But when you’re saving so much cash, there’s more to like than not.

Source: AutoExpress

G20 nations had been spending almost $90bn a year on finding more oil, gas and coal

New report finds gas is uneconomic at home

Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment

[An Australian perspective]

A new study has found that it no longer makes economic sense for new houses or existing houses without a gas connection to bother with connecting to the gas pipeline network.

It also found that even houses already connected to gas should steadily withdraw from using gas for space heating in favour of using reverse-cycle air conditioners.

The study, entitled Are We Still Cooking with Gas? was prepared by the Alternative Technology Association supported by the energy market’s Consumer Advocacy Panel.

It looked at a range of different household situations to evaluate the economics of using gas relative to electricity for the purposes of space heating, water heating and cooking. This included taking into account household size, a range of location across the National Electricity Market including gas prices relative to electricity prices in these locations and climatic conditions, as well as whether the home was already connected to the gas network and whether replacement also involved completely avoiding fixed gas network connection charges.

The report busts pre-existing entrenched views that gas is a cheaper and more convenient option than electricity once you take into account the availability of highly efficient reverse-cycle air conditioners as well as affordable electric induction cooktops.

The report findings are ominous for owners of gas pipeline infrastructure serving the residential sector. It essentially finds that gas is finished in terms of expanding connections beyond existing customers, stating:

Installing new gas appliances and connections can no longer compete with installing efficient electric alternatives in any case.

The report also concluded that:

It is significantly more cost effective to replace gas heaters with multiple reverse cycle air conditioners (RCACs) for space heating, in any case.

The report found that in each of the 26 gas zone locations modelled, there were positive net present values  over 10 years for switching space heating from gas to RCAC, where the existing gas heater is within five years of end of asset life (based on home mortgage rates of interest on finance). It also found some of these geographic zones achieved less than five-year payback and particularly in warmer climates, switching space heating from gas to RCAC achieved positive economic returns regardless of the age and condition of the gas heater.

Given that space heating is probably the biggest driver of gas consumption in most homes connected to the gas pipeline network, the results suggest a death spiral is imminent for gas utilities. A very large proportion of the cost of gas supply to residential consumers is the fixed cost of the pipeline infrastructure. As homes switch over to air conditioners for heating, there will be a large loss of gas volume meaning significant prices hikes will be required to recover the fixed costs of the pipeline infrastructure. This is likely to only encourage further switching away from gas to electricity leading to a downward spiral for residential gas utilities’ revenue.

Thankfully for many of them they also own electricity businesses, so they should see some growth in electricity offsetting losses in gas. SP Ausnet, Jemena and Actew AGL for example all have electricity businesses. How this switch from gas to electricity will play out for their bottom line however is likely to be far more complicated than a simple one dollar of gain in electricity for every dollar lost from gas. Hopefully some enterprising equity stock analysts will soon have this worked out.

Source: BusinessSpectator.com.au

Renault lifts the lid on future mobility ideas

Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, ZOE

THURSDAY 11TH DECEMBER 2014

RENAULT LIFTS THE LID ON FUTURE MOBILITY IDEAS

  • New Renault compact electric motor to improve EV efficiency
  • Small petrol/LPG turbo engine to lower fuel bills by 25 per cent
  • Innovations for urban deliveries and electrification
  • ‘HYDIVU’ prototype: Mild-Diesel Hybrid for LCVs
  • ‘POWERFUL’ prototype: two-stroke, two-cylinder super-charged and turbo-charged diesel engine
  • ‘VELUD’ prototype: Twizy-based electric urban delivery solution
  • Renault’s innovations ‘think tank’ reveals what is coming in the next few years
  • Production starts within 12 months for some innovations

Renault today lifted the lid on two innovations based on its EOLAB prototype, both of which are scheduled to appear in production cars in 2015. At the same time the innovative French company has revealed three longer-term approaches to low-fuel consumption, low-emissions mobility.

All were unveiled at an Innovations@Renault event in Paris, where the company’s Co-operative Innovations Laboratory (LCI) – a think tank that unites engineers, designers and customer survey specialists – gave a behind-the-scenes peek into how Renault powertrains and propulsion systems might evolve in the next few years.

Renault has developed a new, more efficient and more compact electric motor and a new turbocharged petrol engine adapted for use with LPG (liquified petroleum gas), both of which are scheduled for introduction next year. Looking further ahead, Renault and its partners are looking at a mild hybrid diesel prototype (HYDIVU project), a diminutive two-stroke diesel engine (POWERFUL project) and a small electric delivery vehicle based on the Twizy (VELUD project) as the basis for clean, low-cost urban mobility.

Production-ready power units

New, compact electric motor

The new, compact electric motor ­– designed and made entirely by Renault – delivers similar performance to those in use today but is around 10 per cent smaller. It is a synchronous unit with a wound rotor and delivers 65 kW (88hp) and 220 Nm of torque.  It was designed by Renault’s motor engineers in France and manufactured in Renault’s Cléon plant.

Renault has switched from macro-module stacking to fully integrated modules, assembled closely so that no external power supply cables are necessary. The junction box and integrated Chameleon charger (as fitted to ZOE) are contained within a single Power Electronic Controller, which is 25 per cent smaller than existing systems.

The motor is now air-cooled, simplifying the system with only the Power Electronic Controller continuing to be cooled by water. Improved electronic management reduces charging times using the 3kW and 11kW flexi-cable, while a redesigned inverter improves efficiency and reducing power consumption.

Dual-fuel petrol/LPG engine

Renault’s new dual-fuel petrol/LPG engine promises 25 per cent lower fuel bills and 10 per cent lower CO2 emissions than a comparable petrol-only power unit. It is a three-cylinder engine featuring a turbocharger, engine Stop&Start, brake energy recovery and an eco-mode, and it complies with EU6 emissions regulations.  These modern technologies realise a fuel consumption reduction of 20 per cent compared to a previous-generation LPG engine.  The technical challenge was to achieve the right balance between turbo boost and LPG pressure while allowing maximum use in LPG mode with no input from the driver.  The entire powertrain is fitted at the factory complete with its LPG kit.

Research Prototypes

‘HYDIVU’ – Mild-Hybrid diesel

The ‘HYDIVU’ (Hybrid Diesel for LCVs) research prototype aims to reduce fuel consumption and therefore running costs for high-mileage business users. It is based on the Master van powered by Renault’s ENERGY dCi 165 Twin Turbo diesel engine, and has been engineered in conjunction with a number of European partners.

It integrates a 48-volt (10-12 kW) starter motor and alternator-type electric motor mounted on the gearbox to deliver additional torque and reduce the load on the combustion engine. Its positioning, as close as possible to the wheel, promotes greater efficiency by allowing maximum recovery of energy during deceleration and braking. This ‘free energy’ is stored in the 48-volt battery to be used as extra torque on demand.

The power unit also features what Renault calls ‘Downspeeding’ – longer gear ratios which reduce engine revolutions when cruising to lower fuel consumption – while the twin turbos with variable geometry have been specially adapted to this concept. Significant levels of torque are available from just 1,000 rpm, and driveability is consistent across the entire rev band. Internal friction has been reduced through innovations like the steel pistons, and fuel injection pressure has been raised by 25 per cent to 2,500 bar to reduce emissions.

These three technologies result in a fuel consumption reduction of up to 10 percent over long distances. 

‘POWERFUL’ – two-stroke, two-cylinder super-charged and turbo-charged diesel engine

Two-stroke diesel engines are commonplace in large container ships. Their thermal efficiency is around 50 per cent while four-stroke diesels struggle to reach 35 per cent. The difficulty, until now, has been in adapting two-stroke technology for an engine small enough for automotive use, which Renault is aiming to solve with its ‘POWERFUL’ (POWERtrain for Future Light-duty vehicles) project.

The two-cylinder engine is only half the size of Renault’s 1.5-litre dCi diesel, weighs 40 kg less, ideally suited for small vehicle platforms. This 730cc unit is both super-charged and turbo-charged and produces between 35kW and 50kW (48hp-68hp) with 112-145Nm of torque from 1,500rpm.

Initial tests are encouraging, although the performance needs to be improved before Renault could consider introducing it.  The engine is being developed with 18 industrial, scientific and academic partners in France, Spain and the Czech Republic, with investment from the European Union.

‘VELUD’ (Electric Vehicle for Sustainable Urban Logistics) project

With urban deliveries in mind, Renault has produced its ‘VELUD’ (Electric Vehicle for Sustainable Urban Logistics) project, based on the Twizy, in conjunction with a number of academic and civic partners. It is intended as a ‘final miles’ solution to take cargo loaded into a small trailer from pre-defined zones to their final delivery point using intelligent fleet management.

All these projects are the work of LCI, a group within Renault which has been given the freedom to step outside the framework of conventional product programmes and come up with completely original mobility solutions. The Twizy, Renault’s NEXT TWO autonomous connected vehicle prototype and EOLAB are just some of the solutions already created by LCI.