Technology company Intel has released a study into the creation of a new ‘passenger economy’ when autonomous vehicles become commonplace on roads around the world.
The company believes that this new opportunity will be more than twice the size of the ‘sharing economy’, and will develop to support the idle time when drivers become passengers as they no longer have control of the vehicle themselves. Intel values this market at $7 trillion (€6.2 trillion) as autonomous technology grows by 2050.
Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel, comments:
‘Companies should start thinking about their autonomous strategy now. Less than a decade ago, no one was talking about the potential of a soon-to-emerge app or sharing economy because no one saw it coming. This is why we started the conversation around the Passenger Economy early, to wake people up to the opportunity streams that will emerge when cars become the most powerful mobile data generating devices we use and people swap driving for riding.’
The report states that business use of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is expected to generate $3 trillion (€2.7 trillion) in revenues, or 43% of the total passenger economy, while consumer use of MaaS offerings is expected to account for $3.7 trillion (€3.3 trillion) in revenue, or nearly 55%.
Intel believes that this future mobility will see drivers moving away from traditional car ownership, with shared vehicles operating in towns and cities, a strategy that manufacturers in Europe also believe will aid infrastructure and improve both safety and pollution. In the report, the company states that self-driving vehicles are expected to free more than 250 million hours of consumers’ commuting time per year in the most congested cities in the world.
Heathrow airport has added 17 Nissan Leafs to its fleet to inspire a new culture of electric car usage.
The airport has allocated 12 vehicles to airside teams such as security and baggage while another five are to be used as pool cars.
Heathrow is committed to making the cars and small vans within its fleet electric or plug-in hybrids by the end of 2020.
Sales director at Nissan Motor (GB), Darren Payne, said:
“I’m sure this initiative will inspire other businesses to follow Heathrow’s lead by using Nissan’s electric vehicles to both reduce their emissions and cut their running costs.”
It is hoped that the visibility of the airside vehicles will encourage third parties operating at the airport to follow suit.
Head of operational strategy at Heathrow, Peter Leeming, said:
“We trialled the Nissan Leaf and found it was the perfect fit for many of our teams and the types of journeys they make. The trial went seamlessly, and within months we placed our order and put the Leaf into full time service.”
A video has been released detailing how the airport intends to implement the conversion and the trial process.
OAKLAND, CA (May 31, 2017)—Everywhere in the US, driving electric is cleaner than driving a typical gasoline-powered car. That’s truer now than ever before, and the advantage electric vehicles have over comparable gasoline cars is only continuing to increase.
New analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) shows that in 70 percent of the country, driving electric produces fewer emissions than driving a traditional gasoline car that gets 50 miles to the gallon. On average, today’s electric vehicles are as clean as gasoline cars that get 73 miles to the gallon. That’s thanks in large part to significant improvements in power generation, with more regions cutting their use of coal and increasing investment in renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
“Driving electric is one of the best choices a consumer can make to reduce emissions in their own lives,”
said David Reichmuth, senior vehicles engineer at UCS.
“As the electric vehicle market has emerged over the last five years, electric vehicles are better than a 50 mpg gasoline car for 70 percent of Americans, up from 50 percent. It’s been remarkable to see the improvements.”
Over their whole life cycle—from manufacturing to driving to disposal—electric vehicles produce half the emissions of a comparable gasoline vehicle. By far the largest share of emissions comes from driving, which is where electric vehicles have a big and growing advantage.
The new analysis is based on updated numbers on power generation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which show reduced greenhouse gas emissions from power generation in most of the country over the past five years.
“The future of driving is electric,” said Reichmuth. “We need to keep working to make sure these cars are accessible to more drivers, that we have the infrastructure to charge them, and that we continue to replace old dirty sources of power with new renewable technology.”
UCS has also updated an interactive online tool that drivers can use to learn how much cleaner different models of electric vehicles are where they live, as well as a map showing how electric vehicle emissions compare across the country.
The ride-sharing platform Lyft has been quite active through partnerships in the self-driving space. It took an important $500 million from GM to work with them on the deployment of autonomous cars in their fleet. They also announced a similar deal with Alphabet’s Waymo last month.
Now they announce another partnership with a self-driving car startup, nuTonomy, in order to use their vehicles for a fleet in the US – starting in Boston.
nuTonomy already operates similar test programs in Boston and Singapore, but through this partnership with Lyft, customers will be able to experience the vehicles through the ride-sharing app:
“The collaborative R&D effort will take place in Boston, MA, where nuTonomy has been testing its self-driving electric cars since the beginning of the year. The tests are being conducted in Boston’s Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park and the adjacent Seaport and Fort Point neighborhoods. An engineer from nuTonomy rides in each of its vehicles during testing to observe system performance and assume control if needed.”
What is also interesting here is that nuTonomy has been using electric vehicles as a platform for its self-driving technology, namely the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and the Renault Zoe.
“Thousands” of the vehicles should end up in the new program in Boston as the two companies develop the technology.
Karl lagnemma, CEO and Co-founder of nuTonomy, commented on the announcement:
“By combining forces with Lyft in the U.S., we’ll be positioned to build the best passenger experience for self-driving cars. Both companies care immensely about solving urban transportation issues and the future of our cities, and we look forward to working with Lyft as we continue to improve our autonomous vehicle software system.”
Here’s a demonstration of nuTonomy’s latest autonomous driving system:
Research from Frost & Sullivan finds that the global PHEV market is estimated to reach about 3.7 million units by 2025 with 4.8 million light vehicles in an optimistic scenario and 2.9 million light vehicles in a conservative scenario.
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Concept-s
The reasons behind such growth include the imminent launch of 100 new models, favourable incentives, emission target compliance, and long battery ranges.
However, factors that may impede PHEV adoption include the phasing out of electric vehicle incentives, long-range battery electric vehicles, emergence of 48V mild hybrids, and the complexity of having two powertrains in a single vehicle.
“The stringent emission norms of 95 g CO2/km can only be met by PHEV technology, while EV battery technology evolves to overcome limitations. PHEVs have a better market than BEVs due to uncertainty in charging infrastructure,”
said Frost & Sullivan Intelligent Mobility Research Analyst Pooja Bethi.
“Owing to their ability to provide internal combustion engines and EV advantages, the PHEV market is set for high demand and growth.”
Dedicated EV platforms like the Volkswagen (VW) MQB, Mercedes-Benz EVA, and BMW FSAR are major drivers, pushing PHEV growth.
Other key developments include high-performance models such as Maserati Levante, Bentley Bentayga, and BMW M3, which will have PHEV versions by 2025.
Global OEMs, led by Europe, have a strong PHEV strategy to meet regulatory changes and compliance mandates. VW Group is forecast to produce about 470,000 units by 2025.
China and Europe will likely lead the market, accounting for 39.8 per cent and 30.6 per cent of the total PHEV market, respectively.
By 2025, the C-Compact PHEV segment will be the largest, with over 35 new launches, followed by sports utility vehicles (SUV).
For what seems like a long time now, electric vehicles (EVs) have been on the cusp of going mainstream – in fact it was three decades ago that major automotive manufacturers first introduced working concepts of EVs.
Since then we’ve seen the hybrid vehicle make a significant impact on the car market, and now it looks like the fully-fledged EV is set to change motoring for good, making our cities less polluted and altering the very way we think of energy and how to use it.
The battery revolution
In the past, what’s held the EV back has been the high cost of batteries and their limited range. Consumers looking at the bottom line found they were paying more money for a car that travelled shorter distances. That has radically changed in recent years.
Battery costs have reduced enormously – 65% since 2010 – mainly for two reasons: firstly, as manufacturers figure out ways to make processes and materials more efficient, production becomes cheaper; secondly, economy of scale means that as EVs become more popular, the increasing demand pushes the cost of each individual battery down.
The other decisive factor with batteries is to do with improvements in their chemistry, which means they can now power a car over much longer distances.
Going station to station
Another criticism of EVs in the past has been the lack of charging points. This meant that – especially for long journeys – you had to plan meticulously and incorporate various diversions to ensure you didn’t wind up in the middle of nowhere with a dead battery.
But in the UK for example, the EV charging network is expanding rapidly. There are now 4,100 public charging locations, which is remarkable when you think there were only a few hundred as recently as 2011. Compare that to the 8,472 traditional fuel stations (a drop of 75% in the last 40 years) and it’s clear a major shift is underway. In fact, based on these trends, electrical charge points will outnumber traditional fuel stations by 2020.
Driving energy
One significant bonus for EV drivers relates to the energy convergence we’re beginning to see in urban areas, and how these vehicles interact with a ‘smart city’ dynamic.
Recharge stations could be used to feed energy back to the national grid, a process we already see in places like Japan, which has one of the largest EV populations in the world. It operates ‘Vehicle to Grid’ (V2G) systems, which essentially turn EVs into generators, enabling their users to sell energy from their parked cars to the national grid at times when it is most needed. Such technology combines easily with an app on your smartphone or alternative device that, in turn, ensures none of said energy is wasted.
For years we’ve been told the Electric Vehicle is the future, but as that future begins to unfold, and people begin to understand both the economic and environmental benefits, their popularity will begin to snowball. Within a generation, there is every chance EVs will be the only vehicles we’ll see on the road.
[Test drive of] 2017 BMW i3 94 Ah REx. The last bit of that name seems like a jumbled mess of letters and numbers so, for those who aren’t well versed in EV-speak, it means that [this] particular i3 had the newer 94 Amp-Hour battery and a gasoline Range Extender.
The end of the Oil Age is within sight. Everyone who follows the news should be able to see this by now, although people have vastly different ideas about the timeline.
Above: Internal Combustion Engine vs. Battery Electric Vehicle (Instagram: cars217mph / gunthersahagun)
Consultancies, investment analysts and think tanks around the world produce a constant stream of predictions about the future impact of new technologies on the auto and oil industries. Despite the pundits’ painstaking perusal of primary sources, including economic data and interviews with industry insiders, their conclusions do not agree, to say the least.
The oil industry itself, along with mainstream investment banks, tends to foresee a gradual, decades-long transition. BP’s 2017 Energy Outlook predicts that electric vehicle (EV) sales will grow to a mere 6% of the global auto market by 2035 (from around 1% today). A recent report by Goldman Sachs is a bit more adventurous, predicting that pure EVs will capture 5% of the market by 2025. The US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) has doubled its forecast from last year, but still predicts that EVs will account for only 8% of the US market in 2025.
Sign of the times: Emirates National Oil Company just opened the first solar-powered gas station in Dubai (Source: CleanTechnica)
Organizations of a more greenish hue are more sanguine: Greentech Media Research expects EVs to score 12% of the US market in 2025, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts 35% globally by 2040. A study from the Carbon Tracker Initiative argues that EVs could capture 33% of the global market by 2035, and that reductions in battery costs
“could halt growth in global demand for oil from 2020.”
To those who follow the EV industry, none of this is really news. Lately, however, there have been signs that at least some in the oil industry are reassessing the threat to their empire, and preparing for a “peak oil” scenario that may come much sooner than they have been predicting.
Another sign of the times: RWE, Germany’s biggest gas and energy provider, just launched hundreds of electric vehicle charging stations (Source: Trustnodes)
People who have never owned an electric car don’t understand how different charging one is compared to fuelling a petrol or diesel car. Therefore I’m going to explain what charging an electric car is like so that potential owners can understand it better.
Home charging a Nissan Leaf (Image: Nissan)
The point I want to get across is that charging an electric car is much easier and more convenient than filling a fossil-fuelled car. That’s an idea that can be difficult to grasp. Now that I’ve upgraded to electric (I’m on my second all-electric car) I could never go back, any more than I’d give up my smartphone and make do with a landline.
Here I’ll concentrate on the ins and outs of home refuelling, and cover charging away from home another time.
Charging System
Most electric cars come with a charging cable (fitted with a 13 Amp plug) that can be used to charge the car; such cables can be bought separately where they are not supplied with the car. One name given to these items is ‘granny cable’ as they can also be used to charge up while visiting relatives.
BMW i3 ‘occasional use’ charging cable (Image: BMW)
Another name they are given is ‘occasional use cable’ as they are not intended to be used frequently. They will also be slow to charge the car (12 hours or more) as a standard home socket is not capable of providing as much power as the car can potentially take.
Instead most car owners will have a special charge point installed at home to charge their car. This often comes free with a new car. It is typically wired straight into the main house consumer unit. It will be capable of passing higher power than a standard socket – usually either 16 or 32 Amps – and will be designed for frequent use.
Using a third-party ZOE granny cable while visiting my brother (Image: T. Larkum)
These charge points can be installed either inside a garage, or on a garage or other outside wall. Sometimes they’re just put on a post beside the driveway. They are all waterproofed and can be used in all weathers (including heavy rain). They usually come fitted with a tethered cable to match the car but sometimes just have a socket to which the owner can connect different cables, for example if the unit has to charge electric cars with different types of connector. The pros and cons of having a tethered versus untethered charge point are covered elsewhere.
Charging an Electric Car: Frequency
How often does an electric car need to be charged? This is an important question, and is key to why charging is more convenient than conventional refuelling.
The obvious answer, at least to someone used to a conventional car, would be “when it’s empty”. That’s because most people let their cars run low on fuel before refilling. There is no good reason for this; it simply reflects the fact that conventional refuelling is so inconvenient that it is to be avoided whenever possible. It takes time, and usually also involves a diversion from where you actually want to go.
With an electric car you could choose to do the same thing, relying on public charge points, and that can work if you can’t do home charging. However for the majority of electric car owners with a home charge point the easiest thing is simply to charge at home overnight every night.
Charging a Renault ZOE on the drive (Image: Fraunhofer ISE)
Electric cars use Lithium-Ion batteries, similar to those found in mobile phones (though they have significantly more sophisticated charge management systems than phones and so last longer). Lithium-Ion likes to be kept charged unlike previous technologies (e.g. Nickel-Cadmium batteries) that you were supposed to run down before recharging. Therefore it does no harm to plug in every night and so have the car battery fully charged every morning ready to go.
Using a dedicated high power charge point allows a typical electric car to be charged in about 4 hours. It’s also fine to only partly refill it. Therefore it can be perfectly practical to drive, say 100 miles during the day for work, then go home and – those evenings when it’s useful – top it up for an hour or two and go out again for, say, another 50 miles.
Charging an Electric Car: Process
It’s very easy to charge an electric car once you have a dedicated charge point. If you are lazy, like me, then you have a tethered one with its cable permanently attached so you don’t have to unpack a cable each time. Similarly, I choose to leave mine switched on permanently for convenience.
In this case, charging is as simple as the following:
Open the charge point door on the car
Uncurl just enough of the charge cable to insert its connector into the car’s charge socket
The car will automatically start to charge when it sees the electrical connection made. It will control the charge and finish it automatically.
On my original Renault ZOE the charge point door was unlocked using a button on the key fob or a switch inside the car. The charge socket was in the nose and so required walking around to it to insert the connector. The total time taken was about 15 seconds; this would also be typical for the Nissan Leaf.
Charging a Nissan Leaf in the garage (Image: Chargemasterplc.com)
On my current BMW i3 the charge point door is always unlocked if the car is unlocked, and the charge socket is on the driver’s side. Therefore I can insert the connector after I have parked the car and as I walk out of the garage; there is literally no additional time taken to set the car for charging. The Hyundai IONIQ Electric also has the socket on the rear quarter, though on the passenger side.
Charging a BMW i3 on the drive (Image: BMW)
People sometimes ask me how long it takes to charge my car. They probably expect to hear me say ‘4 hours’ or whatever, but actually it takes me personally no time at all, not a single minute. That’s because I don’t care how long it takes for the battery to fill up while I’m in the house (and probably asleep).
Charging a Hyundai IONIQ Electric on the drive (Image: T. Heale)
With my i3 having a range of about 120 miles, and my commute being 45 miles, it’s not even a problem if I forget to charge for a day or two. However, like with your smartphone, making charging it a daily routine is generally the best option.
Summary
One of the great things I love about a car that’s electric is no longer having to spend time fuelling it. It’s just 100% full every morning when I get in, as if by magic. I certainly don’t miss having to travel to petrol stations, often standing in the dark and rain, to hand over large amounts of money.
Now instead I fuel the car myself using renewable energy. During the week I charge it from wind (courtesy of our renewable electricity supplier) and a fill-up costs about £2.50. At the weekend I can charge it from our solar panels for free.