Category Archives: Energy and Climate Change

News and articles on climate change, vehicle pollution, and renewable energy.

We Drove 8 Electric Cars over 120 miles…

October 29, 2020Audi, Cooper Electric, e-2008, Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, Hyundai, Kia, Kona Electric, MINI, News, Reviews and Comment, Niro EV, Peugeot, Renault, Volkswagen, ZOERepost

…in real conditions so you don’t have to

As it turns out, not all electric cars are created equal

Electric cars are not absolute newcomers to the car industry anymore. Over the past five years or so, most carmakers have churned out at least one electric car with plans to release a handful of others over the coming decade or so. The charging infrastructure has grown, too.

While this is obviously good news, it also leaves us (and the customer) with quite a big pond of EVs to choose from. To add more to the confusion and indecision, electric cars come in all shapes and sizes, set in motion by just one electric motor, two, or even three, and, obviously, very different price tags. Long story short, picking your next electric car might leave you scratching the top of your head. We get it.

Fret not, though. We’ve been kindly invited by Romania’s leading car outlet, Automarket, to an eight-day, eight-car real-life experiment that set out to discover just how good (or bad) the latest electric cars are in actual traffic both in and outside the city. What followed was to be known as Electric Romania 2020, basically a workshop on wheels powered by Vitesco Technologies, joined by other partners such as Michelin. The experience helped us better digest and understand both the strengths and shortcomings of today’s electric car: range-wise but also in terms of comfort, dynamics, user friendliness, tech-savviness, and overall liveability.

This is where I started feeling like doing my dissertation paper all over again. Firstly, Electric Romania was thought out and designed as a tour of Romania done with EVs.

In case you’re asking why eight days, well, the backbone of the tour consisted of eight cars – all launched in 2020 on the Romanian market – and 14 journalists and content creators that would sample the said cars.

Basically, you got to drive another car each day, and the end of which you had to fill in a form with various bits of information: distance travelled, total time of travel, charging times, how much battery you had left at the destination, how much electricity went into the battery during charging, average speed, and so on.

So, each electric car was put through its paces over eight days, but every time by a different driver with a completely different set of driving habits than the one before him and on a different route. This included highways, winding A- and B-roads through the mountainside and hillside, as well as flat, plain-splitting roads where the elevation didn’t change much.

As for the car lineup itself, this is it, in the exact order we drove them:

Porsche Taycan
Renault Zoe
Volkswagen ID.3
Audi e-tron Sportback
Hyundai Kona Electric
Kia e-Niro
Mini Cooper SE
Peugeot e-2008
From here on, each car’s battery pack, electric motor (or motors), range, other specs as well as driving impressions will be presented as it follows.

Porsche had to get its first electric car right. And good God, it did. The Taycan Turbo is not just a flurry of performance, but a smile magnet. Sitting behind the wheel in the handful of traffic jams that slowed us down is the best way to enjoy the most honest smiles I’ve been treated with in a luxury car. Some people see you in Mercedes-AMG S63 or in a Panamera Turbo and you can just read either envy or loathing on their faces. With the Taycan, it’s the complete opposite: candid, genuine smiles from folks of all ages, walking on the street or driving in the next lane.

When you’re not sitting in a traffic jam, the Taycan Turbo’s personality can flip from tame to psycho as quick as it can go from naught to 60 mph: three seconds flat with Launch Control, on its way to a top speed of 260 kph (162 mph). The acceleration is brutal. You can easily squeeze a lot of squeal out of the wider-than-life rear tires from a standstill and with a drop of bad luck, you can even fracture a vertebra before the electronic nannies kick in or you decide to lift off. Even at highway speeds, smashing the accelerator will make the Taycan squat then shoot straight up ahead. The back of your head never leaves the headrest. Even if it wants, it can’t. At this point, I’m scared just thinking of what the Turbo S can do.

For a car this wide and long, city cruising is surprisingly swift and easy, but it’s the outer roads that make your spine tingle inside the Taycan. When on, the Launch Control feature triggers the Overboost function that unlocks the Turbo’s 500 kilowatts (670 hp, 680 PS) and 850 Newton-meters (627 pound-feet) coming from two electric motors fed by the 83.7-kWh battery pack (that’s the net, usable capacity – gross capacity according to Porsche literature is 93.4 kWh).

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Lexus UX 300e SUV review

October 28, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, Lexus, News, Reviews and Comment, UX 300eRepost

“The Lexus UX 300e is a refined electric SUV with respectable range”

The Lexus UX 300e is the Japanese brand’s first all-electric car. It’s somewhat surprising it’s taken so long, given that Lexus and parent company Toyota have been a pioneering force in building electrified hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius and Lexus CT.

Sitting on the same basic platform as the Toyota Corolla and C-HR, the late arrival will go head-to-head against a growing number of models such as the Hyundai Kona Electric, Mazda MX-30 and Peugeot e-2008. Starting from just over £40,000 (after the Plug-in Car Grant), it also undercuts the Volvo XC40 Recharge P8, which is another premium electric SUV.

With a 53.4kWh battery pack, the UX 300e boasts a range of 196 miles and supports rapid charging at 50kW. It can be topped up from 0-80% in around 50 minutes and charged at home overnight, in just over eight hours. Those are fairly competitive figures, giving the UX 300e a range that matches the Peugeot and easily betters the MX-30.

Its quiet electric motor also accentuates the refinement we’ve come to associate with Lexus cars, while giving the UX an impressive turn of speed. It has 201bhp, front-wheel drive and a single forward gear, so 0-62mph in 7.5 seconds arrives with an effortless surge. You aren’t quite pinned back in the seat, but it feels plenty fast enough for a crossover, particularly around town.

With few changes from the standard car, the interior features plenty of quality materials and a sturdiness evidenced by a lack of any rattles or unwanted vibrations. The touchpad-controlled infotainment screen takes some getting used to, but it at least now comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The UX is one of the smaller models in its class but four occupants will still be comfortable thanks to its plush seats. Surprisingly, the UX 300e also has more boot space than the Hybrid version, with 367 litres versus 320 litres. However, that’s still less space than a Volkswagen ID.3 or Nissan Leaf, so the SUV badge here is more about style than space.

It might be the brand’s first attempt at an electric car but the Lexus UX 300e gets a lot of things right. It’s smooth, good to drive and pleasant to sit in. The range-topping Takumi model is expensive but entry versions still offer a reasonable amount of kit and are better value.

Lexus has jumped straight into the EV market with a competitively-sized 54.3kWh battery. This gives the UX 300e a 196-mile range with 17-inch alloy wheels fitted – an easy victory over the underwhelming 124 miles you get from the Mazda MX-30. The Volvo XC40 Recharge P8 has a larger 75kWh battery and 260-mile range, but it’s also much more expensive.

If you need to take a longer trip, it can also be topped up pretty quickly. Lexus has included 50kW rapid charging for use at compatible public charging points, taking the car from 10 to 80% in 50 minutes. At home it can charge at a maximum of 6.6kW using a wallbox, taking it from 0 to 100% in around eight hours. AC and DC charging cables are included as standard, and the charging port is found where the fuel filler used to be, at the rear of the car.

Compared with a petrol or diesel powered rival, the UX 300e is expensive to buy outright, but Lexus estimates that owners will save around £3,000 in fuel over four years. Company-car customers will also be drawn to the electric UX by its 0% Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) in 2020/21, which goes up to 1% in the following tax year. Other cost savings include nothing to pay in VED and exemption from schemes like the London Congestion Charge.

Lexus has an impressive reputation for making refined, soothing cars, and an electric powertrain has only helped the UX in this regard. It’s quick as well though, accelerating from 0-62mph in 7.5 seconds thanks to its single 201bhp electric motor. Power is sent to just the front wheels, and it’s possible to spin the wheels if you aren’t smooth with the accelerator pedal.

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A BRIGHT FUTURE AWAITS ELECTRIC VEHICLES

October 27, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesRepost

Due to the unique challenges that have arisen from the pandemic-induced lockdowns, 2020 has been a tough year for many industries around the world—not least for the auto industry. As COVID-19 cases continue to emerge in earnest, government restrictions that remain in place to this day throughout much of the world have ensured that consumer confidence has remained almost continuously subdued since March. And as such, demand for cars worldwide has taken a spectacular nosedive.

Among the gloomiest stories that have emerged from the industry include Nissan deciding in the second quarter to comprehensively slash global vehicle production by 20 percent by the end of its 2023-24 fiscal year and crude-steel production in North America during the first half of the year being recorded at just 50.2 million metric tonnes, a hefty 17.6 percent lower than that of the same six-month period in 2019.

But despite the overwhelmingly bearish sentiment that has pervaded the global auto industry during this time, electric vehicles (EVs) have remained a distinct silver lining, extending an already impressive growth trajectory spanning much of the 2010s.

Indeed, electric cars experienced phenomenal adoption over the last decade, expanding every year by at least 60 percent—except in 2019, when China introduced regulations that significantly hindered new start-up manufacturers from entering the market and cut electric-car purchase subsidies by about half. Nonetheless, global sales of electric vehicles still managed to reach almost 2.2 million last year, which at 2.6 percent represents its highest ever share of the global car market. The total stock of electric cars sat at 7.2 million at the start of the year, 47 percent of which were in China. As such, the stock of electric cars registered a 40-percent annual increase last year.

Leading the way, of course, is Tesla, which has garnered most of the attention as the leader for the transportation industry’s transition to zero emissions. Its Roadster was the first approved lithium-powered EV on the roads back in 2008. And led by the enigmatic Elon Musk, it has been at the forefront of the industry ever since, with the last year or so experiencing significant breakthroughs. Indeed, the first nine months of the year saw Tesla stock surge by a staggering 450 percent, and today the company’s market capitalisation is even bigger than that of Toyota. Other prominent players in the space, meanwhile, include the likes of NIO and Nikola Corp.

But it would not be entirely honest to assert that the electric-vehicle market has been completely immune from COVID-19 this year, as the pandemic did clearly trigger a major decline in electric-car sales in some markets, especially earlier in the year. In April, sales in the United States, for instance, were just half of where they were a year earlier. And sales in China fell to some 16,000 vehicles in February, which was around 60 percent less than a year previously. But by April, a strong recovery had set in, with Chinese electric-car sales around 80 percent of April 2019 levels.

Nonetheless, EV markets have shown significant resilience in the face of tough operating conditions, especially in Europe, where 2020 is the target year for the European Union’s (EU’s) carbon-emissions standards, which limit average carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions per kilometre driven of new car sales. As the International Energy Agency (IEA) observed, in the largest European car markets combined (France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom), “sales of electric cars in the first four months of 2020 reached more than 145 000 electric cars, about 90 percent higher than in the same period last year”.

The second quarter of 2020 saw the market share of electrically chargeable vehicles increase to 7.2 percent of total EU car sales, compared to a 2.4-percent share during the same period last year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). “From April to June 2020, registrations of electrically-chargeable vehicles (ECV) rose by 53.3% to 129,344 new cars across the EU,” the industry association observed. “This resulted in the overall market share of ECVs going from 2.4% in 2019 to 7.2% in the second quarter of 2020. Sales of plug-in hybrids (PHEV) provided a strong boost to this growth (+133.9%) with 66,128 new cars. The increase in registrations of battery electric vehicles (BEV) was more modest (+12.7%), totalling 63,216 units.”

The pandemic has not been as kind to the auto industry’s diesel and petrol segments, the ACEA found, although they accounted for more than 80 percent of car sales.

As such, many believe the resilience shown by the electric-vehicles segment demonstrates significant promise for the coming decade and beyond. But what underpins this resilience? A combination of factors, it would seem. Market intelligence and analytics firm CB Insights highlights three of the most important factors:

Environmental: Electric vehicles are seen as playing a crucial role in helping to mitigate climate change. A 2018 Consumer Reports survey found that 80 percent of those intending to purchase an EV were doing so primarily for environmental concerns.
Socio-political reasons: Passenger vehicles account for some 23 percent of global oil demand, according to the IEA’s 2018 World Energy Outlook. By lowering oil dependence, including for importation, and by diversifying energy usage, countries could have more power with regards to geopolitics and foreign policy.
Economics: The IEA sees the shift to more sustainable transport saving governments, companies and individuals up to $70 trillion by 2050, while the US Department of Labor estimates that electric-vehicle manufacturing will add a net of 350,000 US jobs by 2030.

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UK’s first sea-going electric ferry takes to the water

October 26, 2020Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

Britain’s first sea-going electric ferry has taken to the water ahead of rigorous trials before it carries passengers next year.

The boat, named e-Voyager, uses repurposed Nissan Leaf batteries instead of a traditional diesel engine – a process that could be used in other commercial vessels under 24 metres long.

It was launched on Monday afternoon and will now undergo running trials before carrying 12 passengers at a time on Plymouth Boat Trips’ ferry routes from April.

The vessel will be charged overnight when berthing, providing enough power to run for a full day and complete its journey on a single charge.

If required, the boat can plug in and recharge between runs as passengers embark.

Both the council and local ferry companies are working to develop a charging infrastructure for marine transport in the city.

The boat is a collaboration between Plymouth Boat Trips, Voyager Marine, the universities of Plymouth and Exeter, Teignbridge Propellers, and EV Parts.

The electric motor and batteries replace an old diesel powered engine (Ben Birchall/PA)
It has been funded through the £1.4 million clean maritime call, a Maritime Research and Innovation UK initiative supported by the Department for Transport to support the UK’s goal of zero-emission shipping.

In a statement, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps described e-Voyager as a “trailblazing project”.

“This is one of the first steps in what will be a long journey towards zero-emission shipping,” Mr Shapps said.

“We have already said that it is our goal that new ships ordered from 2025 must have zero-emission technologies if they are to be used on British waters.

“Cleaner waters are essential if we are to protect our marine environment.”

Andy Hurley, project leader for Plymouth Boat Trips and Voyager Marine, said the launch of the boat was “hugely exciting”.

“Through developing the technology and maritime applications, Voyager Marine is helping to place Plymouth and the South West as UK leaders in the conversion and new build of zero-carbon, fully electric commercial vessels,” he said.

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Renault ‘lollipop’ measures air pollution to reduce idling

October 25, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, RenaultRepost

Renault has customised the traditional lollipop to monitor air quality levels during the school run in order to mark Clean Air Day (October 8th).

Renault commissioned the custom lollipop as part of its ‘Be Mindful, Don’t Idle’ campaign to raise awareness of the impact of parents and guardians leaving their engines running during the school run.

According to its nationwide research, 27% admit to idling regularly.

One side of the Renault lollipop displays the exact concentration of fine particulates – known as PM2.5 – in the atmosphere thanks to in-built air sensor technology. It displays the pollution level in real-time to road users.

The reverse features simple iconography that shows whether it is ‘Good’, ‘Okay’ or ‘Poor’ allowing both parents and children to see the quality of the air they are breathing as they enter the school gates. The bands are based on the boundaries published by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), running through a range of PM2.5 levels.

The lollipop features a highly accurate sensor located in the circular section at the top behind the recognisable ‘Stop’ sign. The black bars have been modified on each side to display the PM2.5 level and associated rating to drivers and pedestrians.

The World Health Organisation recommends that the air we breathe should not exceed 10 μg/m3 of fine particulate matter. The legal limit in the UK is double that figure.

Demonstrated outside Castle Newnham school in Bedford on a road with two schools and a college, the Renault Lollipop recorded air pollution figures of between 2.5 μg/m3 and 14.7 μg/m3 from 7:00 to 7:45am which is deemed as low by DEFRA.

As the morning commute began to get busier, at 8:00am, this figure quickly went up to 25.7 μg/m3 with slightly heavier traffic – exceeding the legal limit in the UK. By the time of the afternoon school run – noticeably busier than the morning one – levels continued to exceed this figure.

Renault found idling is more common in urban areas – with 50.1% admitting to doing it – compared to 12% in rural locations. More than 28% of people said they leave their engines running for 6-10 minutes.

According to research by the British Lung Foundation and Asthma UK, in excess of 8,500 schools, nurseries and colleges in England, Scotland and Wales are located in areas with dangerously high levels of pollution.

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New Peugeot 3008 hybrid SUV: UK prices and specs confirmed

October 23, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, PeugeotRepost

Peugeot has delivered a mid-life facelift for its 3008 SUV, the hybrid version of which will be priced starting from £37,530 in the UK

Peugeot has rung the changes on its popular 3008 SUV, a car that has carved out a profitable niche by bringing an extra touch of design flair to the compact SUV class since its launch in 2016. This new facelifted 3008 went on sale in the UK in early October 2020, with the plug-in hybrid version priced from £37,530.

The 3008’s mid-life refresh is focused on the car’s looks and technology. The two plug-in hybrid powertrain options that were released earlier in 2020, forming an increasingly important part of the car’s engine range, remain unaltered – as do the conventional petrol and diesel engine options.

That means buyers can opt for the front-wheel-drive 3008 Hybrid with its single electric motor and 1.6-litre PureTech petrol engine producing 222bhp. Alternatively, there’s the Hybrid4, which adds a second electric motor for an output of 296bhp that’s sent to all four wheels. Prices for the latter version kick off at £42,530.

The standard hybrid model offers an official electric driving range of 35 miles with CO2 emissions of 30g/km. The Hybrid4 trumps that despite its extra power, with a 37-mile official electric range and 29g/km emissions. Both hybrid options are paired with Peugeot’s eight-speed automatic gearbox.

So with the 3008’s plug-in contingent continuing as before, what’s new with the facelifted version of Peugeot’s Nissan Qashqai and Skoda Karoq rival? On the outside, a new grille dominates the front end, bordered by redesigned headlamp units with LED technology rolled out to all models in the range. The rear lights are now LEDs, too, with an interesting smoked glass effect that’s designed, we’re told, to make the tailgate look wider.

Aside from that, there’s now an optional Black Pack on the high-spec GT and GT Pack trim levels that swaps the car’s metallic finishes for darker metalwork and introduces a new set of 19-inch alloys. Celebes Blue and Vertigo Blue join the list of available exterior colours, too.

Inside, there are more telling revisions. The impressive 12.3-inch digital instrument display gets a new look for its graphics and better contrast to make it easier to read. The 10-inch touchscreen alongside it is now higher resolution and there are seven piano-key buttons below providing shortcuts to key features. Wireless phone charging has also arrived and the USB socket count has increased, so that there’s now one in the front and two in the rear. A night-vision system is also available.

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Electric family cars are CHEAPER to own than petrol and diesel models

October 22, 2020Charging, Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesRepost

Lower maintenance and charging costs mean they are £132-a-month less expensive

If you’re planning to keep your next car for a few years, you should be considering an electric vehicle to save money, that’s according to a new study.

Analysis of purchase prices and running costs found that family-size electric vehicles are now more cost competitive with petrol and diesel cars – and the longer you keep a battery-powered model the better it will be for your finances.

When taking into account the total cost of ownership, the research claimed the difference between a petrol and electric mid-size car is £132 a month in favour of plug-in models.

The claim that electric cars are now cheaper to own over an extended period has been made by LeasePlan in its latest annual Car Cost Index.

The report looks at the true cost of owning a car – including fuel, depreciation, taxes, insurance and maintenance – in 18 European countries.

It found that the common mid-size electric vehicle in the UK costs €918 (£837) a month to own, while an equivalent petrol model would be €1,063 (£969) – a cost difference of €145 (£132).

Mid-sized models included in the review include the Tesla Model 3, which has become Britain’s best-selling electric car this year, compared against the likes of the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4 with internal combustion engines.

The report claimed that smaller battery-powered cars – like the Nissan Leaf – remained more expensive than their fossil fuel counterparts due to their much higher purchase price.

However, the gap in ownership costs for this category of car diminishes after four years of ownership, with EVs becoming more affordable than petrol and diesel the longer you keep a car.

This is because owners of battery-powered cars have the financial benefit of far lower charging costs than refuelling a motor with an internal combustion engine, cheaper maintenance and tax bills and other subsidies linked to zero-emission vehicles.

Electric cars currently hold their value much better than models with internal combustion engines, which also has an impact on the long-term ownership costs.

Tex Gunning, chief executive of LeasePlan, said the cost of driving electric cars is now coming down, and motorists are seeing the ‘development of a strong second-hand market for quality used EVs’.

This includes the introduction of the new Volkswagen ID.3 family hatchback with a 260-mile range, which first arrived in the UK a month ago and cheapest versions will cost from under £30,000.

A larger ID.4 SUV will also be sold from 2021 along with a plethora of new plug-in cars from rival brands.

Yet despite the availability of EVs expanding and prices beginning to fall closer in-line with models with internal combustion engines, Mr Gunning warned that governments are failing to provide the charging infrastructure necessary to satisfy market demand.

‘National and local policymakers need to step up now and invest in a universal, affordable and sustainable charging infrastructure to enable everyone to make the switch to EV,’ he said in the report.

‘Supporting the transition to electric mobility is the best investment governments can make – EVs are good for drivers, good for air quality, and one of the most effective ways to fight climate change.’

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Automakers’ risky bet: EVs are better than gas cars

October 21, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

As Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG recently have unveiled marquee electric cars, they have let slip a remarkable admission for companies built on oil: Electric models will in some ways be superior.

Volkswagen has described its upcoming ID.4 SUV as a combination of its best cars. GM suggests future electric vehicles will be “more responsive than its internal combustion equivalents.” Ford says its electric F-150 will transform tailgating parties, while being cheaper to own, and faster and more powerful than any truck it’s ever made.

These claims may not surprise EV owners: The vehicles are quiet, require little maintenance, are cheaper in most places to fuel and can rocket off the line from a standstill.

But until now, the major automakers have been loath to say so. Embracing EVs is a treacherous pivot in a highly competitive market where traditional automakers must compete against one another while also fending off new electric vehicle makers like Tesla Inc. and Rivian Automotive Inc. — companies that aren’t burdened with a legacy to protect.

The foundation of the global automotive market is still the internal combustion engine, and despite the billions of dollars that car companies have committed to building EVs for the future, today’s balance sheet depends on selling the gas-powered ones on the lot.

“More automakers are starting to say out loud that EVs are better in some ways,” said Chelsea Sexton, an auto analyst and advocate who famously skewered GM in the documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?”

While all traditional global automakers are moving toward electric vehicles to some degree, it is GM and Ford, the largest U.S. automakers, and VW, one of the world’s largest brands, that are doing so most publicly in America.

In the span of the next two years, Americans will see Ford electrify the country’s longtime bestselling vehicle, the F-150 truck, and the storied Mustang brand with the Mach-E. GM aims to reinvigorate the Cadillac with an electric crossover called the Lyriq and roll out an electric version of the Hummer, which was once the stereotype of the exhaust-spewing SUV.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen is pinning its U.S. hopes on the ID.4, the first in what is expected to be a long line of EVs and a transition away from its diesel scandal five years ago (Energywire, Sept. 24).

Marketing experts said that companies like GM, Ford and VW are walking a tightrope by trying to get customers excited about the new product without diminishing enthusiasm for the old. They are at the early phase, when the electric models are promised but not yet delivered.

“How do you still sell the internal combustion engine cars when you’re trying not to disparage them as you sell EVs?” asked Reid Carr, a marketing expert and CEO of Red Door Interactive who has worked on EV programs.

Companies in other industries have navigated contradictions: the Coca-Cola Co. has unleashed Diet Coke and Coke Zero without killing off its sugar king. Burger King has introduced the Impossible Whopper without abandoning beef patties.

But there have also been cases when technology companies with complex products failed to catch the wave at the right time. Polaroid Corp., the famed maker of instant film, perished in the transition to digital photography. Sony Corp., once the king of the CD and Walkman cassette players, lost its music mantle to Apple Inc. and Google.

The electric transition puts incumbents like Ford, GM and Volkswagen at an empirical disadvantage, according to a study by business researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California.

Looking at utilities transitioning to clean energy as an example, the study found that the value of a firm disrupting itself often declines as the company stretches in two directions.

“Ironically, those incumbents potentially most threatened by the change seem to be least rewarded for their efforts to renew themselves,” the authors said.

Ford’s EV makeover
Ford is the automaker that has ventured furthest to compare its future EVs to its current models with gas tanks.

Its electrification push has been underway for several years: It is spending $11.5 billion on EVs by 2022, compared to GM’s $20 billion by 2025 and VW’s $35 billion by 2023. All the while, the automakers have made only anodyne statements about EVs’ capabilities.

Some of that continues today. Ford says its Mach-E will deliver “the exhilaration expected of Mustang” without mentioning that the highest-end model of this SUV will go from zero to 60 in three seconds — faster than the Shelby GT500, the fastest internal-combustion Mustang the company has ever made.

Marketing experts said that is the playbook for an incumbent: Don’t knock the old product, but try to attract early adopters for the new market.

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Sainsbury, Asda and Waitrose are members of group lobbying against air pollution crackdown

October 20, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

Transport group, which includes supermarkets, boasted of delaying clean air zones in six UK cities

Sainsbury’s, Asda and Waitrose are members of a group that lobbies against clean air measures while trumpeting their green credentials, an investigation has found.

The supermarket giants are “powerful” affiliates of Logistics UK, which has lobbied against clean air zones in UK cities and lists one of its policy achievements last year as delaying six clean air zones “for as long as possible”, according to Desmog, an environmental investigations website.

They are among 20 members that form a well-organised opposition to many of the UK’s clean air measures, including driver groups and car manufacturers, it’s claimed.

The investigation also found dozens of links between the umbrella groups and MPs of all parties.

An internal document produced by Logistics UK – formerly the Freight Transport Association (FTA) – outlines its 2019 policy achievements, including: “Due to FTA lobbying, six city clean air zones (CAZs) or air quality schemes, including London’s ultra low emission zone (Ulez), have had their start dates delayed for as long as possible.”

The document then lists delays to or watering-down of clean air schemes in Southampton, Greater Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Derby, Cardiff and Oxford. In the latter case, it says: “Following calls from FTA, revised plans for Oxford city council’s proposed zero-emission zone show the hours of operation will be changed from 24/7 to between 10am and 6pm instead.”

“Derby city council agreed with the FTA recommendation to avoid the introduction of a CAZ and instead work on achieving compliance with air quality standards through other measures (eg traffic management plans),” it reveals.

And Cardiff city council announced it would not be implementing a clean air zone “consistent with FTA’s campaigning”, the round-up states.

The FTA argued that plans for a CAZ in Newcastle would hurt local businesses, saying clean air zones “do not provide any lasting benefit to air quality”.

In response to a consultation on London’s ultra-low emission zone, it called for the introduction to be delayed to allow operators more time to comply, and argued that it was counterproductive.

Air pollution is responsible for an estimated 40,000 premature deaths a year in the UK, doctors say.

The FTA was also a founding backer and funder of Fair Fuel UK, a pressure group that says “air quality alarmism is being used to attack motorised transport via regressive taxes”.

Desmog said supermarkets were among the most powerful of Logistics UK’s members, and, “as consumer-facing businesses responsible for huge amounts of freight traffic, they have a particular responsibility to do what they can to curb air pollution, especially with home deliveries on the rise under Covid-19”.

In January, Sainsburys committed to becoming Net Zero by 2040, promising it would increase the percentage of its fleet using alternative zero and low-carbon fuels to 20 per cent by 2025.

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Now that California is banning gasoline cars, the EV race has begin

October 19, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesRepost

California just started the clock on a future that a few years ago would’ve been unthinkable: dealerships full of nothing but zero-emissions cars.

On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, ordered regulators to phase out the internal combustion engine and ban the sale of all new gasoline-fueled cars after 2035. With that, California became the first state in America to impose such a prohibition and delivered the biggest jolt yet to automakers already under pressure to give up fossil fuels and deliver a new generation of electric vehicles.

While for now the industry depends on gasoline-powered SUVs and pickups for most of its profit, traditional automakers are investing billions of dollars in electrification and announcing new EV models — with start-ups such as Rivian Automotive and Lucid Motors Inc. right on their heels. California’s ban ups the ante.

“There’s an arms race going on here,” said Mary Nichols, chair of the powerful California Air Resources Board that regulates the emissions of everything from oil refineries to power plants to cars.

Newsom’s announcement adds to worldwide momentum this week in the fight against climate change, coming less than a day after China pledged to go carbon neutral by 2060 — a bold move from the world’s largest polluter that, while still 40 years out, caught environmentalists by surprise. California is joining more than a dozen countries, including the U.K., France and Canada, that are phasing out the internal combustion engine, BloombergNEF data show. The U.K. is actually considering whether to push forward its ban to 2035.

What California wants would be a huge leap for the auto industry. Less than 8% of new vehicles registered in California through the first half of the year were electric ones. And in 2035, BNEF projects about half of U.S. passenger vehicle sales will be battery and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in 2035.

The target is “aggressive,” but it has the potential to speed the pace of EV adoption among automakers, said Stephanie Brinley, a principal automotive analyst for IHS Markit.

“If it actually happens, it does create a reason and impetus to make change happen faster,” Brinley said. If “you have the opportunity for volume there, and you’re going to be able to sell the car, then you can put more money into investing and increasing your capacity faster.”

Newsom’s order — signed on the hood of the forthcoming electric Ford Mustang Mach-E — will inevitably set the tone for states across America. Not only is California the largest car market in the U.S., it’s also one of the nation’s biggest gasoline consumers and the world’s second-largest EV market, behind only China. The strength of its transportation policy has always hinged on the fact that automakers, other like-minded states and often the nation have tended to follow suit.

The ban is “a kiss of death for gasoline and petroleum as California tends to be a trendsetter,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for fuel-pricing firm GasBuddy.

Key questions remain, including whether California will allow plug-in hybrid sales (used gasoline car sales will be allowed) — and whether the rest of the U.S. will actually join. Much of the latter hinges on the upcoming presidential election. While the Trump administration has aggressively fought California’s efforts to squeeze emissions out of transportation, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has advocated for the widespread adoption of electric cars and a national charging network to power them.

It’s Time to Go Green!

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