All posts by Jo

Increased consumer interest helps used electric vehicle values rise 7% says Cap HPI

August 3, 2017BMW, Electric Cars, i3, Leaf, News, Reviews and Comment, NissanJo

Chris Plumb, a motoring expert from HPI, said: “Interestingly it appears to be the range extender models which is driving the recent strong performance as values of pure electric have struggled of late.

“The BMW i3 is a popular choice and is a great second-hand buy. It brings a good level of specification and badge prestige.

“The optional range extender can increase the range of the BMW i3 in comfort Mode from up to 125 miles to a total of 206 miles. The small, rear-mounted, quiet two-cylinder petrol engine powers a generator that maintains the charge of the battery at a constant level, so that the BMW i3 can continue to drive electrical.”

The Nissan Leaf with the 30KWh power train is attracting higher used values than the 24kWh as it has a larger range, with an NEDC range of up to 124 miles (Leaf 24kWh) or up to 155 miles (LEAF 30kWh).

Demand for petrol hybrid used vehicles remains high. Used values bucked market trends in June and prices strengthened overall, moving up by an average of 0.2% at three years 60,000 miles.

Certain derivatives performed particularly well such as the Toyota Prius (12-17) Plug-In which increased by 3.9%, Lexus RX (12-16) Hybrid which saw values rise by 2% as too did the Prius+ (12- ) Hybrid.

Source: FleetNews

Will autonomous and electric vehicles kill the petrol station?

August 3, 2017Autonomous Driving, Electric CarsJo

Pulling up to the pumps and filling your car with fossil fuels will soon become a thing of the past.

Yesterday, France announced its intention to ban the sale of all petrol and diesel cars by 2040, while manufacturer Volvo have pledged to stop making them by 2019.

Autonomous cars might take a little longer to reach the masses, but they won’t be far behind. But what does the driverless, electric revolution mean for the petrol station?

According to Shell’s head of business development Stuart Blyde, who Professional Engineering spoke to at the recent Frost & Sullivan Intelligent Mobility event in London, fuel providers will have to adapt their offering.

“I think there’s going to be this different animal of what a station will be in the future and how it serves people,”

he says.

“I think there will be a diversification not only around digital and energy, but the products that you’ll serve in the store, whether it’s food, goods or experiences. They’ll need to be far more compelling for people to want to stop and dwell for 15 minutes.”

Instead of filling up themselves and then driving off, drivers will have time to kill while their cars are charging.

In the short-term, a lot of infrastructure needs to be built to support a move towards electric vehicles. Currently, there’s a mish-mash of different charging providers and operators, and different brands have different sockets and connections.

There’s no guarantee that the station you pull up to will have a source of electricity that’s in your price plan, with a socket that works with your car.

“There is more investment in charging infrastructure needed,”

said Lucy Yu, head of innovation at the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, at a recent event.

“In more urban areas, people are probably more interested in a faster charge, and less interested in long range.”

Blyde has first-hand experience of that frustration.

“I rented a BMW i3 and drove around London, this was 12 months ago,”

he remembers.

“I stopped when I was being told to stop on the dashboard, at six different places, and at all six places I couldn’t charge up. Either the plug was wrong, the car didn’t work, the infrastructure was switched off and had a sticker on it saying out of use on it. On the road the infrastructure is terrible. At home it’s down to you.”

Is UK really ready for electric car revolution?

August 2, 2017Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, VolvoJo

Volvo is betting big on the vehicles, but the UK needs to invest in infrastructure to truly bring electric cars into the mainstream.

With Volvo’s announcement that the company is turning to only electric and hybrid engines in its new models from 2019, the industry is taking stock of how the energy network could cope with an influx of electric cars.

The uptake of electric or partly electric cars is already increasing at an impressive rate. Last year the number of registered vehicles rose by more than 50%.

But that’s still only around 100,000 – out of around 30 million cars in the country.

Volvo has bet big that this will change fast.

Philip New from Energy Systems Catapult says in the short term our energy grid should cope, but there could be problems.

“The likely pace of growth is something that the system can absorb for the next few years,”

he said.

“The caveat there is that if there’s clustering where too many people in one street are trying to charge their electric cars at the same time, that could cause a problem for the low voltage network and cause localised blackouts.

“In the future, if we get to penetrations of electric cars that are in the 60, 70, 80% range of take-up, that becomes part of the overall transformation of the energy system that needs looking at.”

Nothing is unfixable, but it will cost money. For example, putting in a thicker or entirely new cable down a cul-de-sac where a lot of residents have electric cars could cost tens of thousands of pounds. The question is who will pay for that?

Other solutions could be to install smart systems either in cars or in homes that help coordinate the charging of vehicles around peak times in the day and night.

The World Is on the Brink of an Electric Car Revolution

August 2, 2017Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentJo

The internal combustion engine had a good run. It has helped propel cars — and thus humanity — forward for more than 100 years.

But a sea change is afoot that is forecast to kick gas-powered vehicles to the curb, replacing them with cars that run on batteries. A flurry of news this week underscores just how rapidly that change could happen.

Robots at the Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif. put together electric cars. Credit: Tesla Motors

A quick recap: On Monday, Tesla announced that the Model 3, its mass-market electric car, would start rolling off production lines this week with the first handful delivered to customers later this month. Then on Wednesday, Volvo announced that every car it produces will have a battery in it by 2019, putting it at the forefront of major car manufacturers. Then came France’s announcement on Thursday that it would ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2040.

All this news dropped just in time for Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s latest electric car report, which lays out why electric cars are the way of the future and when they’re projected to take over the market. The authors said although electric vehicles are currently a tiny fraction of the car market, that market could reach an inflection point sometime between 2025-2030. After that, electric car sales are slated to increase rapidly.

Driven by the falling cost of batteries and the growing number of automakers producing a wider variety of electric cars, Bloomberg NEF expects that electric cars will account for 54 percent of all car sales globally by 2040. That’s a huge uptick from its forecast last year of electric vehicles accounting for 35 percent of all sales.

The shift to electric vehicles will disrupt the fossil fuel industry. The 530 million total electric cars forecast to be on the road by 2040 will require 8 million fewer barrels of oil a day to run.

One of the big pitches for electric cars is their positive benefit for the climate because they reduce the use of oil. But they will require a lot more power from the electric grid. Energy use from electric vehicles is expected to rise 300 times above current demand, putting more strain on power generation.

When Will Electric Cars Go Mainstream? It May Be Sooner Than You Think

August 2, 2017Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentJo

As the world’s automakers place larger bets on electric vehicle technology, many industry analysts are debating a key question: How quickly can plug-in cars become mainstream?

The conventional view holds that electric cars will remain a niche product for many years, plagued by high sticker prices and heavily dependent on government subsidies.

But a growing number of analysts now argue that this pessimism is becoming outdated. A new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a research group, suggests that the price of plug-in cars is falling much faster than expected, spurred by cheaper batteries and aggressive policies promoting zero-emission vehicles in China and Europe.

Between 2025 and 2030, the group predicts, plug-in vehicles will become cost competitive with traditional petroleum-powered cars, even without subsidies and even before taking fuel savings into account. Once that happens, mass adoption should quickly follow.

“Our forecast doesn’t hinge on countries adopting stringent new fuel standards or climate policies,”

said Colin McKerracher, the head of advanced transport analysis at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

“It’s an economic analysis, looking at what happens when the upfront cost of electric vehicles reaches parity. That’s when the real shift occurs.”

If that prediction pans out, it will have enormous consequences for the auto industry, oil markets and the world’s efforts to slow global warming.

It’s a world of worry for oil companies

August 1, 2017Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, OilJo

Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson announced last week that all Volvo cars will be electric or hybrid within two years. The Chinese-owned automotive group plans to phase out the conventional car engine.

India hopes to sell only electric vehicles by 2030. China is offering incentives to buy electric cars and investing heavily in renewable technologies. Volvo will scrap the pure internal combustion engine in favor of hybrids and electric cars.

And on Thursday, France announced it plans to ban the sale of diesel and gasoline-fueled cars by 2040.

The world’s major oil companies might disagree when global demand for petroleum will peak, but the news of the past seven months suggests that they should be worried, if they aren’t already. Nations, states and private companies are demanding cleaner energy, leaving the world’s oil producers to face a reckoning that many haven’t yet accepted.

European companies, analysts say, are at the forefront of recognizing this new reality.

Royal Dutch Shell and the Norway’s Statoil foresee peak demand hitting by 2030; others, like the French oil major Total and the British company BP, predict 2040. In contrast, American companies such as Chevron and Exxon Mobil don’t foresee oil demand peaking anytime soon, if ever.

Even as U.S. demand wanes with more efficient cars and changing commuting patterns, companies like Chevron and Exxon Mobil are banking on the rising middle classes of China, India and other emerging nations to buy more cars, demand more consumer goods and suck up the juice that the companies sell.

But recent developments show they may be disappointed. In January, China, already offering incentives for electric vehicles, said it would spend $360 billion on renewable energy. That news was followed by India setting an ambitious goal of electric-only car sales in a little more than a decade.

Around the world, more car manufacturers are offering electric-only models. Last week, Volvo became the first company to plan a complete phase-out of traditional cars.

To be sure, Volvo’s goal of 1 million electric vehicles by 2025 would only cut 20,000 barrels a day in gasoline demand, and it will likely be years beyond that for electric vehicles to make big impact on global petroleum consumption.

Will Tesla Model 3 be the breakthrough EV the world has been waiting for?

August 1, 2017Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, TeslaJo

Whatever you think about Tesla cars, you could never deny Elon Musk’s company of a lack of ambition. Here’s a car maker that has only been in business for a few years, building vehicles that many consider niche, and yet is currently valued more than Ford.

This is all the more amazing when you realise that Tesla has not made so much as one dollar’s worth of profit. In fact, it has made substantial losses despite selling more than 50,000 of its high cost electric cars in 2016.

Much of the reason for this industry-defying valuation is that the stock market reckons Tesla is a company very much in its ascendency. A good deal of that thinking is based on the launch of a third model, conveniently called Model 3.

Whereas Teslas to date have been expensive executive-rivalling machines for those early adopters and brand devotees, the Model 3 is a much more decisive addition. It’s set to be priced at less than £30,000 so it tackles the likes of the Nissan Leaf and BMW i3 head-on.

Is the infrastructure in place to match Musk’s ambitions?

More importantly, this brings Tesla’s take on the EV slap-bang into the heart of territory presently occupied by the likes of the Audi A3, BMW 1 Series and Mercedes A-Class, as well as the pricier Volkswagen Golfs that so many of us love.

A practical EV with the lure of the Tesla badge and a battery range that means 300 miles between recharges is realistic makes the Model 3 a far more tempting proposition than any of its electric rivals. This is why the stock market is getting in a tizzy about Tesla.

As such, the Model 3 is definitely the breakthrough model in Tesla’s line-up. It’s the one that is set to take it from a small but interesting car maker into a global player, with Tesla theorising it will see annual production soar to 500,000 by the end of the decade.

These Countries Want to Ban All Vehicles That Run on Gas or Diesel

August 1, 2017Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and CommentJo

If France’s Environment Minister has his way, the country could join a small but growing list of countries that plan to ban vehicles running on gasoline, diesel or other fossil fuels.

The proposal was announced late last week by Minister Nicolas Hulot and appeared timed to coincide with the G20 meeting in Germany where many European leaders, including new French President Emmanuel Macron, challenged U.S. President Donald Trump over his decision to walk away from the Paris Climate Accord.

Several countries have already laid out ambitious plans to eliminate fossil fuel-powered automobiles. Environment Minister Hulot said it won’t be easy for France, either.

“It’s a very difficult objective. But the solutions are there.”

And, as the world’s sixth-largest economy, and with one of the world’s largest automotive markets, the proposed ban on the internal combustion engine could have significant impact far beyond France’s borders.

Going Mainly Electric Within Six Years?

France has two major automakers based in Paris, both of which have made electrification key objectives. PSA Group — which owns the Peugeot and Citroen brands — plans to have 80 percent of its fleet electrified by 2023. Renault, along with its Japanese alliance partner Nissan, has produced more pure battery-electric vehicles, or BEVs, than any other manufacturer over the past decade, including models such as the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe.

Sales of all battery-based vehicles dipped globally in 2016. In the U.S., for example, hybrids, plug-ins, and BEVs collectively accounted for barely 3 percent of the overall new vehicle market. But there have been signs of an upturn. Renault sold more of the battery-electric Zoe city cars during the first half of 2017 than it did all last year.
And the Renault-Nissan Alliance is expecting a major surge in demand for the Leaf with the remake due later this year. Like the recently launched Chevrolet Bolt EV and the upcoming Tesla Model 3, it will boost range to over 200 miles while keeping its price tag in the $30,000 range, the company has hinted.

In general, EV prices are expected to tumble sharply over the coming decade, even as range rapidly increases.

Europe, and France in particular, is already working to establish a network of public charging stations, making it easier to own and operate plug-based vehicles.

Refreshed Renault Kangoo ZE Now On Sale In Europe, With Improved Range

July 31, 2017Electric Vans, Kangoo Z.E., News, Reviews and Comment, RenaultJo

The newly refreshed Renault Kangoo ZE is now on sale in the European market, bringing with it an improved range and a number of other changes.

The small electric van offering from Renault now features an official New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) range rating of 270 kilometers (167 miles). The company acknowledges that a real-world range of between 120 kilometers (74 miles) and 200 kilometers (124 miles) is probably more realistic, though.

That’s probably enough range to make the newly refreshed offering seem pretty attractive to many business operators, offering great potential to cut fuel and maintenance costs to a fair degree.

In addition to the improved range — courtesy of a new 33 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery pack — the refreshed Renault Kangoo ZE also features an upgraded charging system and a heat pump that improves cold weather battery efficiency/range. The new battery pack was developed in partnership with LG Chem.

Green Car Reports provides more: “The new battery cells are denser but do not add additional weight to the Kangoo ZE, which means safety and payload are unchanged. Total power output from the electric battery and motor — shared with the Renault Zoe — is 45 kilowatts (60 horsepower).

“Additionally, Renault has added a dedicated heat pump to use less battery energy on climate control, which the brand says is a first for the light commercial vehicle segment. … In the coldest climates, the Kangoo ZE also benefits from an optional mini-heater for even more warmth.”

As far as the improved 7-kilowatt charging system, the Kangoo ZE can now be fully charged in 6 hours, rather than 7 hours, despite the much improved range.

Deliveries in Europe are expected to begin this summer.

Source: Clean Technica

Government puts up £20m for electric vehicle-to-grid tech development

July 31, 2017Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, UncategorizedJo

Government has freed-up £20 million to help kickstart vehicle-to-grid (V2G) development. The aim is to work out how electric vehicles can help balance the electricity system.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (Olev) said money is available for three types of V2G projects:

feasibility studies – investigating the ways vehicle to grid technology can be used in the future
industrial research or experimental development – for example, to develop vehicle-to-grid charging equipment
demonstrator trials in the real-world environment – projects that trial vehicle to grid technology in different locations across the country.

There are currently around 100,000 EVs on UK roads. That number is expected to swell significantly over the coming years. Manufacturers such as Volvo have grabbed headlines in recent weeks with commitments to focus entirely on electric vehicles, Tesla is launching its first mass production model and even Rolls Royce, which produces some of the biggest and best combustion engines in the world, accepts that eventually, its future business will be electric. Meanwhile, France’s policymakers have outlined a goal to ban sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2040.

With battery costs continuing to fall, some analysts now believe the EV market is approaching a tipping point, and that battery powered cars will be “cheaper to buy than internal combustion engines in most countries by 2025-29”. That analysis does not take into account any fuel savings or subsidies that may be on offer.

In the UK, Beis is keen for carmakers and battery firms to collaborate on energy storage and services in order to help decarbonise both electricity and transport sectors. While the former sector has decarbonised significantly due to subsidy regimes, the latter appears to be in reverse gear.

“The ability to marry energy and automotive [goals] is a wonderful opportunity that would be crazy to separate and dilute,” secretary of state Greg Clark said recently.

“If you can create jobs in both sectors and simultaneously address problems that do not respect boundaries… that is a huge opportunity.”

Some carmakers are ahead of the curve. Nissan, second only to Jaguar Land Rover in the UK in terms of cars produced, told National Grid’s recent Power Responsive conference that it was becoming an energy services company.