V-Wheels

eTec to Snag $8M From Cali for Mega Electric Car Charging Project

Mr. D — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:48:09 +0000

Grabbing $100 million in a highly competitive stimulus program isn’t a bad start for one of the largest electric car charging infrastructure projects to date. That grant went out earlier this month to ECOtality subsidiary eTec, which has partnered up with Nissan, utility San Diego Gas & Electric, and other companies to install a whopping 12,750 charging systems in five states using the new funds. (For comparison, it has installed just over 400 charging stations for on-road electric vehicles so far, which eTec claims is more than any other company.) This morning, ECOtality said more government funds are rolling in for the Golden State portion of its project, with the California Energy Commission expected to contribute up to $8 million.

The Energy Commission funding comes as part of a state cost-sharing program set up for electric vehicle technology projects in California supported by federal stimulus funds. The $8 million is at this point just an estimate, but it’s significantly higher than estimates for five other projects the commission announced late last week, including funding for EV demo projects that Chrysler, Ford and General Motors have in the works with various utilities.

Final award amounts will be based on factors such as the total project budget, the amount of funding awarded through the federal program, and how much is really needed from the state to carry out the final proposal. But at this point, the commission is considering nearly $15 million for the six projects, including $5 million for a demo of plug-in hybrids in a commercial fleet in the Los Angeles area.

eTec, by contrast, is working to develop more consumer-oriented infrastructure, using Nissan’s upcoming LEAF electric sedan — which the automaker has designed with an eye to the mass market — and reportedly collaborating with retailers like Starbucks and Wal-Mart to figure out whether charge points at their stores can bring in extra revenue for the companies through parking fees or by attracting new customers.

As a result, eTec could be on its way to morphing from a behind-the-scenes provider of battery and vehicle performance testing, life cycle cost estimates, and electric fleet management, to a higher-profile provider of charging stations for early adopters of electric cars.

Source: Earth2Tech

Warren Buffett’s Desire to Hike Stake In Chinese Electric Car-Maker May Not Be New

Mr. D — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:40:07 +0000

Shares of Chinese electric-car maker BYD rallied 8 percent in Hong Kong trading today (Monday), finishing at an all-time closing of HK$48.60.

The buying was apparently sparked by news wire headlines quoting BYD’s chairman as saying Warren Buffett “wants” or “intends” to raise Berkshire Hathaway’s 10 percent stake in the company.

Berkshire’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings has already generated a paper profit of over $1 billion on its $230 million dollar investment announced last fall.

While it is dificult to precisely parse words when they’re spoken (presumably) in Chinese and then reported in headlines and wire dispatches, it appears to me that BYD Chairman & CEO Wang Chuanfu may not have been saying anything new.

According to the Reuters story, Wang told reporters:”MidAmerican has always intended to raise its stake in BYD because it believes BYD has good prospects in the development of renewable energy, but we are still considering (whether to sell more).”

The “always” implies MidAmerican’s interest in buying more shares is not new, and the “still considering” indicates BYD won’t necessarily agree to sell Buffett a bigger stake in the company.

That interest to buy more on Buffett’s side, and reluctance to sell on BYD’s side, is consistent with Fortune’s cover story earlier this year describing the negotiations that led to Berkshire’s investment in BYD:Berkshire Hathaway first tried to buy 25% of BYD, but Wang turned down the offer. He wanted to be in business with Buffett – to enhance his brand and open doors in the U.S., he says – but he would not let go of more than 10% of BYD’s stock. “This was a man who didn’t want to sell his company,” Buffett says. “That was a good sign.”

That 10 percent stake would be diluted if BYG goes ahead with plans to sell 100 million shares for a listing on mainland China. If that happens, Buffett would need to buy more shares, almost certainly at a higher price than his inital HK$8/share, just to maintain his 10 percent ownership in BYD.

Source: CNBC

Electric Car Owners Have ‘Range Anxiety’: Study

Mr. D — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:42:41 +0000

Electric car owners are turning out to be more anxious about their car’s limited range than is probably warranted. A new study from Aerovironment found that EV owners weren’t willing to travel more than half the quoted range for a given vehicle, even though they said separately that they were confident the quoted range was accurate, according to AllCarsElectric.

The reason? While owners believe a car manufacturer when it says that a given vehicle can last, say, 100 miles on a charge, they’d rather drive just the 50 miles and leave the extra as a reserve capacity, and were unwilling to push the car to its limits, the report said.

With the EV used in the test–which had a range of 93 miles–some drivers refused to even go further than 10 miles away from a charger. Once researchers introduced a second charging station into the study, drivers felt much more comfortable, but still refused to travel more than half of the quoted range. The study concluded that prospective EV customers need a highly developed charging infrastructure to relieve range anxiety, according to the article–perhaps one station for every EV on the road, at least initially.

Source: NBC

China Enters the U.S. Electric Car Race

Mr. D — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:39:28 +0000

The electric car race is heating up, and becoming an international competition that will go into high gear as early as next year. Yes, it’s true that, right now, the only battery car you can buy here is the Tesla Roadster, and it costs $109,000 ($20,000 more if you want the sport version). But that will change dramatically as 2010 rolls around.

Most recently, BYD threw its batteries into the ring with the announcement that it would bring its E6 electric car (powered with its own lithium-ion-phosphate batteries) to the U.S. next year, at approximately the same time as the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt (not a battery EV but a “range extender” whose gas engine acts as a generator to keep the electric motor supplied with juice).

Priced at $40,000, the BYD E6 could find a market if people get over the novelty of buying a Chinese-made car. BYD will have its work cut out if it is going to get a Chinese-market car through U.S. crash tests. Warren Buffett’s $230 million investment (giving him almost 10% of BYD) undoubtedly adds to the carmaker’s confidence about entering the U.S. market. Here’s some more detail on the E6, and the investment by Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway:

The Nissan is rolling out only in U.S. markets where the Renault-Nissan Alliance has existing battery charging agreements. BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu told the Wall Street Journal that the company will also pursue a select market, initially bringing in only a few hundred cars.

There are other contenders. The space-age Aptera will be on the market by the end of this year. Aptera President Paul Wilbur told me last week that the company is on track for that launch, though the car will initially be available only in California. And Coda, backed by an elite group of ex-Goldman Sachs investors (including former Treasury Secretary “Hank” Paulson) is also planning a launch next year. The Coda is based on a Chinese sedan, and uses Chinese-made batteries (though it would like to move production to the U.S.).

The Tesla Model S, a $60,000 sports sedan with Roadster-like performance, is on its way for late 2011. Ford is launching its battery EV, Focus-based, around the same time. And Chrysler has a fleet of ENVI battery electrics in the wings.

All signs point to a dramatically different landscape for EVs next year. Some cars will be sold, some leased, and many will be strategically targeted at only a few markets. Californians will undoubtedly have the largest selection. Wherever you look, the future is electric.

Source: The Daily Green

Tesla to move into mainstream U.S. auto sales in 2016, plans $30,000 EV

Mr. D — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:13:19 +0000

Currently, Tesla Motors sells just one car – the $109,000 Roadster. The company has sold just 700 units of the electric sports car and hit profits for the first time in July; No biggie, the Big 3 and other automakers have nothing to worry about… right? Wrong, according to a report by AutoWeek, Tesla has plans to move into mainstream U.S. auto sales over the next 6 years.

The California company recently received $465 million in low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Energy to support the production of its new Model S sedan. Tesla said that it will use $365 million from the loan to produce the electric-sedan, which will seat four and will start at $49,900 after a $7,500 U.S. federal tax credit. Tesla believes it can sell about 20,000 units a year.

What else does Tesla have up its sleeve? The company says that 5-years after the Tesla Model S sedan enters production, it will introduce a mass-market electric-vehicle for less than $30,000.

Other than that, Tesla Motors just leased a 350,000 square-foot building in Palo Alto, which it will use to produce electric-powertrain solutions for Tesla Motors vehicles and for other automakers.

Source: egmCarTech

Plug-in Fisker Karma car is stylishly environmental

Mr. D — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:06:10 +0000

Even as Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Rolls-Royces prowled the avenue, the obscure silver sedan parked at the curb gathered its share of stares and curiosity.

The Fisker Karma, as it is called, has looks that rival a Mercedes-Benz roadster. Yet the key to what makes it different is emblazoned on the sides in chrome letters: Plug-in Hybrid.

The maker, Fisker Automotive, is trying to carve out a niche in what is fast becoming a crowded field of next-generation electric vehicles: a high-performance eco-car loaded with style.

The company has taken more than 1,400 refundable deposits so far for the Karma, which has a starting price of $87,900 and can top $100,000. The car can be driven for 50 miles on electric power alone before its auxiliary gasoline engine fires up to generate more juice and extend the range to up to 300 miles. The engine never directly drives the wheels.

Full Article: USA Today

Ford’s Uses Federal Money to Accelerate Electric Car Plans

Mr. D — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:06:14 +0000

Ford was the biggest winner back in June when the Department of Energy announced the first round of its $25 billion loan program for electric vehicles and battery manufacture. The company was funded with $5.9 billion through 2011 to improve the fuel efficiency of a dozen popular vehicles—from the Taurus to the F-150 truck.

Ford is also the recipient this month of two grants from the DOE’s complementary $2.4 billion grant program. Mike Tinskey, manager of sustainability and electrification, said in an interview that it will be using part of that money, $62.7 million (matched by Ford), to transfer production of a key electric transaxle—the heart of both battery cars and plug-in hybrids—from Japan (where it is made currently by Aisan) to the U.S. “The transaxle is one of the biggest components of an EV next to the electric motor,” Tinskey said. “We’re always looking at volumes and growth rates, and it makes sense to localize the transaxle to our markets.”

The made-in-U.S.A. transaxle will appear in Ford’s next generation of hybrids and the company’s plug-in hybrid, both of which have been announced for 2012. The transaxle will be built at Ford’s Van Dyke transmission plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

The second grant, $30 million, will be used to continue Ford’s partnership with utilities on plug-in vehicles. At a recent Dearborn event, Ford showcased the first fruits of that partnership—an intelligent in-car display that can interact with the electric grid to optimize charging times.

Ford has 21 Escape-based hybrids in utility plug-in demonstration programs, and these cars (which have accumulated 75,000 miles in service) will get the experimental intelligent display. But the DOE grant will pay for larger fleets that could include later pre-production versions of the plug-in hybrid and the Focus-based battery car slated for 2011 production. Ford has 15 utility partners.

DOE grant money will also support Canadian supplier Magna International (also in the running to buy GM’s European Opeldivision, a possibility that Ford’s Bill Ford says it is “monitoring”) as it works with Ford on the 2011 battery electric car, and Johnson Controls-Saft, which is making packs for the 2012 plug-in hybrid.

Tinskey said Ford would also like to see point-of-purchase incentives for consumers to buy electric vehicles. There is a $7,500 federal tax credit for vehicles with larger battery packs, but Tinskey said a Cash for Clunkers-type program that offered immediate financial relief at the dealer level would be a major boost. “The consumer clearly values point of purchase more than incentives off a tax return,” he said. Also of value, he said, are state and local incentives such as free EV parking, access to HOV lanes and free charging at municipal stations.

Source: Bnet

GM Says New Car Is Capable of 230 MPG

Mr. D — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:43:04 +0000

General Motors announced Tuesday that its forthcoming electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt, will get fuel economy of 230 miles per gallon in city driving, an achievement that both accelerates and befogs the industry’s race to produce more efficient cars.

The Volt will become the first mass-produced vehicle to obtain a triple-digit mpg rating, the company said, and some industry analysts agreed that the car may put the company a step ahead of competitors building plug-in hybrids.

“The GM vehicle is the best one in the country based on what we’ve seen,” said Don Hillebrand, director of transportation research at the Energy Department’s Argonne National Laboratory, the nation’s leading lab for plug-in vehicles. “But it’s hard to tell — other companies could be keeping theirs secret.”

Indeed, most of the major automakers are clamoring to become known as the “greenest” of all. GM has already begun an advertising campaign for the Volt based around a logo that forms a “230″ using a 2, a 3 and a round electrical outlet. Company officials hope the car, scheduled for late next year, will come to symbolize the “new GM” formed after bankruptcy and a federal bailout.

But the company’s focus on a miles-per-gallon standard also highlights the ongoing confusion over how to measure the energy efficiency of cars that run on both gas and electricity.

The conventional mpg standard doesn’t easily fit electric cars and has suddenly become almost infinitely elastic.

Earlier this month, Nissan announced a new all-electric vehicle known as the Leaf. And while it won’t take a drop of gas, the company said it gets the equivalent of 367 mpg, citing an Energy Department conversion of electricity to gasoline. (“Nissan Leaf = 367 mpg, no tailpipe, and no gas required. Oh yeah, and it’ll be affordable too!” the company said on its Twitter feed).

Similarly, manufacturers of equipment that allows Toyota Priuses to be recharged through a plug have declared that their hardware achieves the equivalent of more than 100 miles per gallon, though those claims have been disputed.

As for GM, its claim of 230 miles per gallon is based on a proposed federal methodology for measuring the efficiency of plug-ins. But what Volt drivers will actually get for mileage depends on how far and how hard they drive.

The first 40 miles in a fully charged Volt is largely powered by the battery, company officials said. The car can extend its range to more than 300 miles with its flex fuel-powered engine-generator.

So if, for example, a person drives a Volt only 30 miles a day on easy roads and recharges each night, almost no gasoline would be required, making its mileage almost infinite, company officials said.

But the 230 mpg claim does not mean that a person could drive the equivalent of that distance — say, from the District to Pittsburgh — on a single gallon of gas. The car would need to be recharged multiple times along the way.

Source: Washington Post

Think Electric Car Resurfaces

Mr. D — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:39:27 +0000

Right in the wake of Nissan‘s unveiling of its first electric car, the Leaf, another EV could soon return from the dead.

Think, the Norwegian automaker, began building its tiny City car in 2007 but halted production last year after running out of money. But as the New York Times reports, Think will begin selling electric drivetrains powered by lithium-ion batteries after securing a new round of funding.

For its first order, Think will sell drivetrains to the Japanese postal service, which plans to convert some of its 22,000-strong delivery fleet to electric power. As for the City, the report said that engineers are working hard on the car’s software to increase its top speed to 70 or 75 mph from the current 62, which isn’t sufficient for America‘s long highways.

Currently, Think plans to sell or lease the City to corporate fleets, and possibly provide some vehicles to car-sharing services like ZipCar, according to the article.

Source: NBC

New Japanese company to promote electric cars and more efficient car parts

Mr. D — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:22:15 +0000

On August 24th, 2009 a handful of impressive prototype electric vehicles were shown off at a Japanese press conference, including a unique eight-wheeled car. These vehicles were paraded in promotion of the newly established SIM-Drive Corporation, a venture company aimed at promoting zero-emission, environmentally-friendly electric vehicles and car parts.

SIM-Drive was created by Professor Hiroshi Shimizu of Keio University’s Graduate School of Media and Governance, and is being funded by a small number of other Japanese corporations. Professor Shimizu has reportedly spent around 30 years researching “In-Wheel Motors”, the technology that SIM-Drive will be mainly promoting to car manufacturers and retailers.

“In-Wheel Motors” and SIM-Drive promotion

“In-Wheel Motors” are small electric motors that are directly connected to the car’s wheel. The “In-Wheel Motors” eliminate the need for a large central motor, gears, and shifting mechanisms that are used widely in cars today. As a result of the direct connection between the motor and the wheels, energy loss is reduced and the car is able to travel as much as two times further on the same battery, according to research.

SIM-Drive does not plan produce or sell the parts, but will promote the technology which will come in three sizes, a large size for trucks and buses, a mid-size for vans and luxury cars, and small size for compacts.

The “In-Wheel Motor” parts can be put in new cars, or can be modified into a large number of older vehicles. SIM-Drive aims to have 100,000 cars using the technology by 2013. Professor Shimizu said during the press conference, “The age of electric vehicles has come…there is a need for this advanced technology to quickly become a worldwide standard.”

Prototype electric vehicles on display

The cars on display during the press conference included the eight-wheeled Eliica, or the Electric Lithium-Ion Car, and a remodeled KAZ, or Keio Advanced Zero-Emission Vehicle. Both vehicles are said to have been designed by teams at Keio University. The Eliica design was led by Professor Shimizu himself.

Source: Examiner.com