All posts by Jo

Is a carmaker about to save the planet?

July 31, 2017Electric Cars, Opinion, VolvoJo

Volvo’s move to electric demonstrates the role ethical business can play in shaping our society for the better

think a lot about electric cars,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk famously said at a party at the very end of the 80s. “Do you think a lot about electric cars?” The problem with thinking a lot about electric cars is that certain things become impossible to unthink: powering a car with fossil fuels, meeting 21st-century challenges with 19th-century answers, become more than irresponsible. It becomes ridiculous.

You’ll never know when the tipping point is – it’s possibly as little as five minutes – but think enough about electric cars, especially if you’re a car manufacturer, and wham … you’re Volvo. They were rolling along perfectly happily until they thought too hard: about their business model and benefit to society; about climate change and their future customers; and so they made the decision that all their cars would be fully electric, or at least hybrid, by 2019. Not one car solely powered by internal combustion engine will come off a Volvo production line by 2020.

It is impossible to overstate the significance of this, and not because you are ever likely to buy a brand-new Volvo. If every branded car is a Veblen good – that is, something you want precisely because it is expensive, to flag to the world your ability to own it – then the Volvo is a peculiar inversion, the car you buy that looks less flash than it is, to show the world that you’re not the kind of person who shows off what they’ve bought. Nope, nobody here is buying a brand-new Volvo in 2019.

Yet this will instantly change the charging infrastructure for electric cars: there have already been pretty extraordinary advances in charge speed. You can fully charge an electric vehicle – one with a range of about 105 miles – in half an hour from a supercharger in a garage, which is the difference between being able to use an electric car in a normal way, and having to rebuild your life around it. However, there aren’t enough superchargers, in Europe or the US, and, maddeningly, a lot of the slower chargers – which take four to six hours – still call themselves “high speed” because that’s what they were when they were installed. Volvo will shunt progress forward worldwide on genuinely high-speed charging points, as well as battery production and research and development into battery storage.

Which are the best used electric and hybrid car buys?

July 30, 2017BMW, Electric Cars, i3, Leaf, News, Reviews and Comment, NissanJo

As electric car sales rise, so does the number of them available on the used car market.

So the question is, which are the best used electric car buys available right now?

The first one is obvious – the BMW i3. This fantastically styled little hatchback is the embodiment of what we think of when someone says ‘electric car’. It has an exceptionally modern design that even four years on still looks futuristic, and the same can be said about the interior that is uber modern with its crisp design and light-coloured textiles and wood used throughout.

To buy one new today will set you back a minimum of £32,340 with a government grant of £4,500. However, search on the second-hand car market and you can pick yourself up a great deal.
According to research by valuation and provenance experts Cap HPI, a 2015 registration with just 20,000 miles on the clock can be bought for less than £14,650. Opt for the one with the range-extending three-cylinder petrol engine and you’ll pay from £18,400.

Another car on the list is the Nissan Leaf. This is an electric hatchback that has been with us for some years now but is still a very popular choice – much of which is down to its reliability and affordability.

A new top-spec Tekna variant of the Leaf will cost around the same as a BMW i3 with a few goodies, but second-hand and the savings are very impressive. A 2015 model can be had from £9,900, meaning electric cars can bought for an affordable price.

The third car on the list isn’t quite a fully electric vehicle, but the Toyota Prius is still a hybrid. Second-hand values are surprisingly strong, and have in fact risen slightly by 3.9 per cent.

The research shows that there are electric and hybrid models to suit most budgets out there, with used examples being excellent value for money when considering the savings on fuel over a 12-month period too.

Source: Aol.

UK faces sharp rise in wind storms and higher bills as world warms

July 30, 2017Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and CommentJo

Data models show UK to be at mercy of fiercer winds and insurers call for action to reinforce buildings.

The UK is set to reap the whirlwind of climate change with the huge damage caused by wind storms expected to increase sharply, according to new analysis.

Even the minimum global warming now expected – just 1.5C – is projected to raise the cost of windstorm destruction by more than a third in parts of the country. If climate change heats the world even further, broken roofs and damaged buildings are likely to increase by over 50% across a swathe of the nation.

The research shows all of the UK is on track to see rises in high winds except the south and south-west, with the greatest impact across the Midlands, Yorkshire and Northern Ireland. This is because the main storms that barrel in off the Atlantic are expected to move their track northwards as the planet warms, a phenomenon linked to the rapid melting being seen in the Arctic.

Global warming is set to increase the destructiveness of wind storms in the UK

Flooding is the most high-profile impact of climate change on the UK. But the overall cost of wind storms is actually higher, as a result of a much larger number of smaller incidents, and currently runs at an average of about £1bn a year. Extreme wind storms can occur, though, and in 1990 the Burns’ Day storm resulted in 47 deaths, as well as more than £2bn of insured damage and many millions more in damage to roads, power lines and uninsured properties.

The new work was commissioned by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), which is concerned by the rising impacts of climate change on its customers, and was carried out by the consultancy Air Worldwide and the UK Met Office.

Drivers would switch to an EV if charge points mandated at fuel stations

July 30, 2017Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentJo

The availability and accessibility of charge points could overcome one of the “biggest barriers” to the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).

That’s according to the fleet industry and a Fleet News poll which revealed almost a third (29.2%) of drivers would make the switch to an EV if they were able to charge their car at the pumps.

A further one in five (22.2%) said they would consider choosing an EV, while one in 10 (9.9%) said they already drive a plug-in car.

The poll was conducted after the Government announced in the Queen’s Speech that it would introduce an Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill which will require the installation of charge points for EVs at motorway service areas and large fuel retailers.

The UK’s largest leasing company, Lex Autolease, welcomed the move.

“One of the biggest barriers to greater adoption of electric vehicles is range anxiety, so more charging points at petrol stations and motorway services will help to address that fear,”

said Chris Chandler, the firm’s principal consultant.

“The measures are a recognition of the need for pathway charging – essentially making it easier for electric vehicle drivers to get from one end of the country to the other, without worrying about their next charging point. This should broaden their appeal and open up the market for electric vehicles across the UK.”

Both Total and Shell had already confirmed their intention to install charge points at their stations, while earlier this year the head of BP Fuel Cards in the UK, Andy Allen, told Fleet News that charge points were a ‘logical step’ for the fuel giant.

Plug-In Vehicle Market Share In UK Hits New High Of 1.83% In June

July 29, 2017Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentJo

As we saw this month in the US, the overall British auto market shrink by nearly 5% in June, while plug-in sales continued to still rise at a decent pace; hitting a new record market share of 1.83%.

Plug-in Electric Car Registrations in UK – June 2017

The number of new plug-in registrations stood at 4,444 (up 38% year-over-year).

Interestingly, two thirds of the sales fell to plug-in hybrids, a relative anomaly to the rest of the world’s PHEV-to-BEV splits:

1,466 BEVs (up 46 percent year-over-year)
2,978 PHEVs (up 34 percent year-over-year)

In the first half of this year, around 22,350 new plug-ins have been registered (nearly 15% more than year ago), good for an average 1.6% market share.

Source: Inside EVs

Gasoline Engines Emit More Particulates Than Diesels

July 29, 2017Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, PollutionJo

For years, the conventional wisdom has been that pollution from diesel engines was far worse than from gasoline engines for two reasons: First, diesel exhaust fumes are known to contain nitrous oxide emissions. Second, they also contain particulates, small molecules that are too small to see. Both are believed to cause serious damage to human lungs.

Particulate Emissions From Gasoline Engines

Now it turns out that conventional wisdom is wrong. A study by researchers at the Materials, Science, and Technology Laboratory in Switzerland claims that particulate emissions from gasoline engines can be far greater than those from diesel engines.

The laboratory studied the emissions of 7 gas engine vehicles equipped with direct-fuel-injection systems. The research found that they emit from 10 to 100 times more particulates than modern diesel engines. In fact, they have higher particulate emissions than older diesel without particulate filters.

Wait, did you read that right? Gasoline engines spew out up to one hundred times more particulates that a modern diesel engine equipped with a particulate filter? Yes, you read that right. Yikes. And people wonder why the incidence of asthma and other lung related diseases is on the rise!

Researchers Find Carcinogens In Gas Engine Exhaust

The researchers, led by Norbert Heeb, who has 25 years of experience analyzing emissions from diesel engines and designing filter systems, showed that the particles are the same size as those from older diesel engines. They measure between 10 and 20 nanometers and clump together into particles between 80 and 100 nanometers before they leave the exhaust system.

The gas engines were also found to discharge unburned hydrocarbons in the form of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), along with other liquid and solid toxins which accumulate on the surface of the emitted particles.

Particulates Penetrate The Lungs

Heeb says the particles are so small they penetrate lung tissue and pass into the bloodstream, bringing those toxins with them. Is this beginning to sound like the days when researchers first told the world about all the nasty stuff contained in cigarette smoke? It should, because it turns out there is a connection to smoking. The researchers also found that the exhaust gasses coming out ot the tailpipes of the cars with gas engines also contain benzo-α-pyrene, a carcinogenic produced when tobacco is burned.

Tesla to build world’s biggest lithium ion battery in South Australia

July 28, 2017Energy and Climate Change, Energy Storage, News, Reviews and Comment, TeslaJo

Elon Musk’s company Tesla will partner with French utility Neoen to deliver the lithium ion battery designed to improve the security of electricity network.

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla, will build the world’s largest lithium ion battery to store renewable energy in South Australia in partnership with French energy utility Neoen.

The 129MWh battery, which is paired with a wind farm, is designed to improve the security of electricity supplies across South Australia.

On Friday the state’s premier, Jay Weatherill, confirmed the deal, which forms a key part of the government’s $550m energy plan.
The state government said Musk had confirmed his pledge made on Twitter in March that he could deliver the battery within 100 days of signing the contract or it would be delivered free.

Romain Desrousseaux, the deputy chief executive of Neoen, said that at 129MWh the South Australian lithium ion battery would become the largest in the world. The battery will be built near Jamestown, in the state’s mid-north, and will be paired with Neoen’s Hornsdale windfarm to provide stability for renewable power being fed into the grid.

Musk told reporters in Adelaide on Friday the project was not without technical challenges, given it would be the largest battery installation in the world “by a significant margin”.

“When you make something three times as big, does it still work as well? We think it will, but there is some risk in that,” he said. “We’re confident in our techniques and the design of the system.”

He anticipated it would help stabilise the grid and help bring down prices for consumers.

The age of electric plug-in cars is round the corner

July 28, 2017Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentJo

Pollution free electric car is the answer to global warming and it is expected to become a reality by 2030.

Electric powered vehicles do not spew harmful gases and are free of pollution. Hence, one of the options to reduce #Global warming, which is at the root of many ills that plague the world, is to promote vehicles that do not use fossil fuels. The concept is gradually spreading and the world wants to see the popularity of #plug-in cars increase.

Electric car charging station in Buffalo New York (Image -wikimediacommons)

This strategy is necessary to combat climate change. As per estimates of the International Energy Agency, the population of electric vehicles must be at least 40 percent of passenger vehicle sales by 2040 to check global warming. This has to be achieved to meet the climate goals as envisaged in the Paris climate agreement.

However, transition would not be an easy affair because of several factors.

The bright side

According to New York Times, a new report by a research group has suggested that there is a downward trend in the price of plug-in cars because of the availability of cheaper batteries and aggressive policies that promote zero-emission vehicles in some countries. The vision of the future is that, within the next couple of decades, such vehicles would become cost competitive against traditional petroleum-powered cars. Obviously, people will be influenced to switch loyalties and embrace them to fight the menace of global warming.

It is true that plug-in vehicles are linked to climate change but they have yet to get a toehold in the market. At present, they comprise a miniscule percentage but the picture is slated to change.

Two majors like Tesla and Volkswagen have drawn up plans to roll out more than one million electric vehicles on an annual basis by 2025. Volvo is another major that plans to gradually phase out the combustion engine models and, from 2019 onwards, its new models would be either hybrids or entirely battery-powered.

One forecast is that by 2040, plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles will make up 54 percent of new light-duty sales and ease out combustion engine models.

Electric Cars Predicted to Outsell Gas Cars in 20 Years

July 28, 2017Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentJo

Electric cars are expected to outsell gasoline-powered vehicles within twenty years, based on new projections by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The news and research organization expects electric cars and gasoline cars to be priced similarly by 2025, turning the automotive industry upside-down and having a severe impact on oil-exporting countries.

Electric cars ready for free test drives in Milton Keynes (Image: T. Larkum) — Electric cars in Milton Keynes (Image: T. Larkum)

What are the reasons? Dropping prices in batteries (a 73 percent drop in the past 7 years), increased manufacturing efficiencies, lower prices, and EV cars having simpler designs that require much less maintenance compared to cars with gasoline engines.

Bloomberg expects that plug-in vehicles will account for one-third of autos in use worldwide by 2040, eliminating 8 million gallons a day of oil production, equivalent to more than all the oil Saudi Arabia exports today. In Europe they expect two-thirds of all new cars to be electric in this same time period, compared to almost 60 percent in the U.S. and half in China.

Adoption of electric vehicles (EV) is already underway by Uber and Lyft, which are adding fleets of EV models. Lyft has a relationship with GM and is adding Bolts to their fleet, and in Europe and China, many of the transportation companies are using Teslas.

One of the surest signs of this transition is this week’s announcement from Volvo that beginning in 2019, every new model will use electronic propulsion, either hybrid or all electric. They’ve already abandoned diesel because of the stricter emission targets established by the EU and the growing concern over its health effects. The company said that between 2019 and 2021 they’ll launch five new electric vehicles.

Volvos are being built in Sweden, but the company is owned by Chinese automotive giant Geely, which likely influenced their decision. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has set a target that one-fifth of all new vehicles being sold in China in 2025 must be electric and hybrids.

Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars, said,

“This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car. Volvo Cars has stated that it plans to have sold a total of 1M electrified cars by 2025. When we said it we meant it. This is how we are going to do it.”

India is resisting the push towards driverless cars in order to protect jobs, its transport minister has said.

July 27, 2017Autonomous Driving, News, Reviews and CommentJo

Nitin Gadkari said the government would “not allow any technology that takes away jobs”.

He said India needed to recruit about 22,000 more commercial drivers and would be opening 100 training facilities to address the need.

India’s road system and sometimes chaotic traffic makes it a difficult place to develop the technology.

The Hindustan Times reports Mr Gadkari as saying:

“We won’t allow driverless cars in India. I am very clear on this.
“In a country where you have unemployment, you can’t have a technology that ends up taking people’s jobs.”

However, he did not rule out the idea of a future change of policy.

“Maybe some years down the line we won’t be able to ignore it, but as of now, we shouldn’t allow it,”

he added.

Inderpreet Kaur, an analyst at research firm Ovum said:

“The ministry has cited job losses as a reason behind banning autonomous cars in India, a bigger challenge would be to have ready infrastructure for these self-driving cars.”

Google, BMW, Tesla, Audi and Uber are among businesses working hard to be the first to bring truly autonomous cars on to roads.

Self-drive technology trials, both for private cars and commercial vehicles, are being carried out around the world.

Google has been testing self-drive cars in California and other states since 2012.

Paris began a three-month test of self-driving buses at the beginning of the year, and in the UK a consortium of companies plans to test driverless cars on motorways in 2019, while others are testing cars in off-road sites, including in London.

Commenting on the decision on Twitter, Indian congressman Gaurav Pandhi tweeted:

“The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) said the same when Rajiv Gandhi talked about introducing computers to India. They haven’t really changed.”

Source: BBC News