Category Archives: Electric Cars

News and reviews of the latest electric cars (full electrics and plug-in hybrids).

Horns of plenty: concerns raised about electric car alert systems

June 4, 2019Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

EV engine might be silent, but an EV traffic jam could be deafening

Scientists are sounding the alarm about potential hazards associated with tones, whirs, beeps, or other sonic-alert systems by which electric and hybrid-electric vehicles generate artificial noises to announce their presence.

These warning signals — technically referred to as acoustic vehicle alerting systems (AVAS) — are being instituted in Europe and the US, and are designed to alert pedestrians, especially those who are blind or vision-impaired, to the ultra-quiet vehicles.

They operate whenever the vehicle is moving below a certain speed, generally between 20 and 30 kilometers per hour. At higher speeds, even the quietest vehicles generate enough tyre noise for warning signals not to be needed.

It sounds like a good idea, but there’s a downside.

“A lot of people are not very happy about these sounds,” says Klaus Genuit, a psycho-acoustic expert and founder of HEAD acoustics GmbH, a German company that provides sound and vibration analysis to a number of clients, including the automobile industry.

Overall, he reported at a recent meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, in Louisville, Kentucky, “more than 50% of people complain of traffic noise. Electric cars could be a good tool to reduce traffic noise, but if we add traffic warning signals, it could become worse.”

One of the biggest problems, he says, is that in designing these signals, researchers are working under the implicit assumption that only one car will be emitting them at any given time.

But in an urban setting, with a lot of slow-moving vehicles, that simply isn’t realistic. Instead, Genuit says, there could be many cars creating a cacophony of different sounds that might clash unpleasantly.

Are Electric Vehicles Really Better For The Environment?

June 3, 2019Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, PollutionRepost

Since the first modern electric vehicles (EV) took to the roads in the 2000s, critics have been quick to question the ‘clean’ label attached to them

From manufacturing concerns to battery power sources as well as overall autonomy, EVs have been under scrutiny from sceptics. With the amount of debate and misinformation troubling the waters, the facts behind the efficiency of electric vehicles have become somewhat clouded – so just how clean are these vehicles?

Battery Production

An argument that is routinely put forward to contrast the clean image of electric cars is the pollution behind the manufacturing process of their batteries. There is indeed a range of rare earth metals that make up the composition of the battery, and their extraction and manipulation can contribute to carbon emissions. However, as a 2018 International Council on Clean Transportation (ICTT) report illustrates, the country in which the batteries are being produced as well as the battery composition has a much higher level of impact on emissions.

A comparative study between EVs and internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) in China corroborates the ICTT report, indicating that infrastructure and efficient manufacturing techniques are the keys to reducing emissions during production. Chinese EV battery manufacturers produce up to 60% more CO2 during fabrication than ICEV engine production, but could cut their emissions by up to 66% if they adopted American or European manufacturing techniques. As such, the pollution created through the extraction process and production of batteries remains on par or slightly higher than the manufacturing process of petrol or diesel-based engines.

The urgency of the shift to electric cars isn’t just about climate change

June 2, 2019Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, Pollution, Renault, VolkswagenRepost

Vehicle emissions regulations are meant to promote clean air and reduce carbon dioxide in order to combat climate change.

In Europe, aggressive new rules are also a direct response to a massive diesel-emissions scandal, accelerating the shift to electric vehicles, said Renault CEO Thierry Bolloré.

The tightening of emissions limits has created huge tension in the automotive industry, Bolloré said in Paris at Viva Technology, a flagship European tech conference this week. In 2017, the European Commission proposed reducing CO2 emissions for new cars and vans by 30% in 2030, compared with levels in 2021. The aggressive rules are seen, in part, as an attempt to regain credibility after regulators failed to prevent Volkswagen and other automakers from cheating existing standards.

Bolloré said he was surprised by the backlash on emissions rules following the “dieselgate” scandal: Volkswagen admitted in 2015 that software was used to cheat on pollution tests for as many as 11 million of its diesel vehicles. Later, a host of other automakers, including Renault, were reported to have made diesel vehicles that produced more pollution than tests seemed to indicate.

“It’s not fully rational,” Bolloré said of the regulatory response, which is reshaping the industry. He added that it’s giving a boost to electric vehicle development, and that the French car giant he runs is already making a “modest” amount of money from its electric-vehicle business. (Bolloré also credited Tesla’s efforts to build mass-market electric cars as a kind of revolution for the industry, but noted that the company is having a hard time making money.)

New 2019 MG ZS EV makes London Motor Show debut

June 1, 2019Electric Cars, MG, News, Reviews and Comment, ZS EVTrevor Larkum

The new MG ZS EV will arrive with a 170-mile range in September, and will cost less than the Kia e-Niro and Hyundai Kona Electric

MG’s first all-electric car made its UK debut at this year’s London Motor and Tech Show, ahead of its planned launch on 1 September. The MG ZS EV will be the first offering in a wave of new products which will expand the marque’s line-up over the next few years, aiming to undercut the likes of the Hyundai Kona Electric and Kia e-Niro on price.

The British brand is promising that its new arrival won’t be limited by the supply issues which have hampered early sales of some of its rivals. Over the past few years, the brand’s parent company, SAIC Motor, has spent around $7billion (approximately £5.48bn) on research and development, most of which was invested in its all-electric platform.

Official pricing information has yet to be announced. However, when quizzed about the issue, MG’s UK head of sales and marketing, Daniel Gregorious, stated the firm’s aim to pitch its EV below the Kona and the e-Niro, giving a baseline figure of around £24,000 once the £3,500 Government grant has been applied.

Electric MG ZS EV now available to order

May 31, 2019Electric Cars, MG, News, Reviews and Comment, ZS EVRepost

New MG ZS EV will arrive in September with 170-mile range

Orders have opened for the MG ZS EV, MG’s first electric car. Currently on display at the London Motor and Tech Show, it’s set to arrive in the UK on 1 September. Senior officials at the firm have promised that the new model won’t suffer the long delivery times that affected early sales of its rivals, which include the Hyundai Kona Electric and the Nissan Leaf.

The new electric SUV will be the first of several new MG models arriving in the next two years, as the brand expands its model line-up. When it arrives, the ZS EV will be aiming to tempt buyers away from more expensive rivals, with an estimated starting price of around £24,000 after the current £3,500 Government grant is applied.

Originally unveiled at the 2018 Guangzhou Motor Show, the ZS EV will be sold alongside the conventional petrol ZS in the UK.

The ZS EV will have a 44.5kWh water-cooled battery and a single electric motor powering the front wheels, that together produce 148bhp. The car should get from 0-62mph in around eight seconds. The final UK version of the ZS EV will retain these power and performance figures, but stricter WLTP testing is likely to reduce the official driving range to around 170 miles.

MG has confirmed that the ZS EV will feature rapid-charging capability, allowing it to be recharged to 80% in 43 minutes. To recharge to 100% on a domestic charger, you’ll need to spare six and a half hours.

Peugeot positions e-208 as tough rival to fuel-powered siblings

May 30, 2019e-208, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, PeugeotRepost

Peugeot hopes to draw buyers to the brand’s first mass-market full-electric vehicle — the e-208 — with a long-term battery warranty and lease rates that are comparable to internal combustion versions.

The favorable terms are part of Peugeot’s ambitions to have the e-208 account for 15 percent of its new small hatchback’s global volume.

Last year, Peugeot sold about 230,000 208s in Europe and 295,000 globally. Europe is expected to be the No. 1 market for the EV, which goes on sale at the end of 2019 (gasoline and diesel versions of the new-generation 208 will go on sale this spring). IHS Markit forecasts that Peugeot will produce about 350,000 208s in 2020, with the e-208 making up a significant portion of that extra volume.

Sales prices for the 208 will be announced this spring, but Peugeot is already promoting a 48-month, 60,000-km, 299 euro-a-month lease for the e-208, with a down payment of 2,400 euros. The company says the terms compare favorably to gasoline versions (269 euros a month) and diesel versions (289 euros a month) of the 208 when the cost of fuel is taken into consideration.

“When you add usage costs, the electric version is actually less expensive,” Sylvain Chereau, Peugeot’s EV director, told Automotive News Europe. “TCO (total cost of ownership) is the central message to our customers.” Volkswagen is promoting a similar plan for its ID range of electric vehicles, with the first model expected to go on sale in 2020.

Electric dreams? What you need to know about Tesla’s Model 3

May 29, 2019Electric Cars, Model 3, TeslaRepost

The electric car will be available in the UK soon. We look at costs and how it compares with rivals

Launched with the intention of being Tesla’s first mass-market electric car, the new Model 3 is smaller and simpler than the other vehicles in the Californian carmaker’s stable. And according to Tesla, the new saloon is the “more affordable” of the range – though with a starting price at just under £39,000, many would query that claim.

The order book for the Model 3 officially opened at the start of May – though reservations had begun prior to that – with three versions of the car on sale, the most expensive coming in at £56,000. But change the colour from the standard black and you will have to shell out more.

Compared with the Model S, Tesla’s flagship car, the Model 3 has slower acceleration from 0 to 60mph, a shorter range and less than 100 customisable configurations compared with more than 1,500 in the bigger car.

Interest in going electric is growing fast: research from Close Brothers Motor Finance suggests 15% more motorists are looking to buy an electric car with their next purchase compared with two years ago. And while Tesla is clearly confident about the future of the new car, expecting to ship between 360,000 and 400,000 vehicles worldwide this year, is it really an affordable option for Britons?

Electric cars can help you live longer

May 27, 2019Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, PollutionRepost

Migration from polluting vehicles that burn fossil fuels to electric vehicles, ideally using electricity generated sustainably could significantly reduce the incidence of cardiopulmonary illness due to air pollution, says a study.

This could lead not only to less employee absence from work through illness but also lead to broad improvements in the quality and length of life.

The researchers, Mitchell House and David Wright from the University of Ottawa in Canada, analysed the health benefits associated with driving an electric vehicle, and compared them with the cost of expanding the electric vehicle-charging infrastructure between 2016 and 2021.

The study, published in the International Journal of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles, found that in the majority of plausible scenarios of balanced growth, when the number of vehicles rises so does the number of charging stations, and there is a positive net benefit to society.

Researchers have no idea when electric cars are going to take over

May 26, 2019Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesRepost

The only thing sure about electric cars is they will eclipse the internal combustion engine—one day.

The timing, however, is the topic of fierce and wildly divergent speculation. At the moment, only one in 250 cars on the road is electric. Battery electric cars comprise 2.1% of new global auto sales (about 2 million passenger vehicles). Electric vehicle (EV) sales should hit 2.7 million in 2019 even as the broader auto market declines (paywall).

But guesses about the timing of gas guzzlers’ eclipse are all over the map. Quartz assembled several of the top projections to gauge the size of the discrepancy. Optimists such as Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) in its 2019 Electric Vehicle Outlook report see the total EV stock soaring to 548 million by 2040, or about 32% of the world’s passenger vehicles. Bears, such as ExxonMobil and the oil cartel OPEC, put that day far into the future. Exxon’s most recent predictions, the most pessimistic (or optimistic?), show the global stock of EVs reaching only 162 million by 2040. That’s 70% lower than BNEF’s base case.

How can these predictions be so divergent?

Two assumptions make all the difference in EV adoption models, says Colin McKerracher, head of advanced transport for BNEF. The first is price parity. EV’s sticker price is expected to exceed conventional cars’ until the mid-2020s. Right now, electric vehicles are more expensive than conventional counterparts thanks to their pricey batteries and relatively small EV manufacturing capacity. No one is sure how far battery costs, the biggest expense in making EVs, can fall (they’ve already dropped 85% since 2010), and when EVs will achieve the same economies of scale as combustion engines have secured over the past century. The price of oil changes the total cost of ownership as well (New York City says EVs’ lower fuel and maintenance costs already makes them the cheapest option for its fleet).

Kia e-Niro vs BMW i3 vs Hyundai Kona Electric

May 25, 2019BMW, Electric Cars, Hyundai, i3, Kia, Kona Electric, News, Reviews and Comment, Niro EVRepost

We find out if the new Kia e-Niro or revamped BMW i3 can beat our current EV champion, the Hyundai Kona Electric

Until recently, electric vehicles generally fell into one of two camps: small, more affordable and often frustrating because of drawbacks such as a limited range; or bigger cars that had larger batteries and therefore a longer range, but were also much pricier.

However, there’s now a growing group in the middle ground promising affordability and usability, thanks to their accurate and genuinely exploitable predicted range that’s making ‘range anxiety’ a thing of the past.

EVs are as usable as ever and leading this group are two upstarts and one familiar face. The newest model is the Kia e-Niro, which combines an advanced electric drivetrain with a conventional compact SUV body. The latest BMW i3 gets a bigger battery that gives it even more range. And in the sportier i3s trim that we’re testing here, it pretty much matches the e-Niro for performance and price.

Finally the Hyundai Kona Electric is our current favourite affordable EV, having taken the title at our New Car Awards last year – but it’s by no means old. The e-Niro shares much of the Hyundai’s tech, so it’ll be interesting to see how much difference there is and which will be Britain’s best wallet-friendly EV.