London´s Electric Vehicle Future Tested
Following a survey of electric car motorists around the London metropolitan area it was discovered the average distance travelled was less than 32kms per day. These SMART EV under test actually have a listed range of 110km, so if the results of the survey are to be taken in to account then a little improvement in the battery design could make each car last 4 days on a single charge!
Currently the SMART EV recharges to 80% within 4 hours and full capacity within 8 hours, and most of the drivers surveyed actually recharge at home rather than at the public charging stations (something else for the EV designers to consider when designing their charging station network).
Whilst the concept of EV is still not completely fool-proof (where does the electricity come from, coal-fired power stations), these are interesting developments in future urban planning. Altogether 1500 SMART EV´s are being tested around Europe, Canada and the US, and hopefully the results will help car and city design. Finally, not to put off the Top Gear fans these vehicles still manage a top speed of 120kmph.
UK and Spain battle for Electric Vehicle pole position
Both the UK and Spain government’s are in a low-carbon emission race to see who can implement a stable and complete electric vehicle infrastructure in their major cities first. Whilst the British government have suggested a figure of US$150m to put London on the EV map, the Spanish government have recently announced a budget of €590m for the rollout of their Sustainable Economy Strategy “Action Plan”.
On the 6th April 2010 the Spanish government announced the extension to their current “Movele” plan that outlines the integration of 2000 electric vehicles and 500 charge points as a test bed by 2010. The new announcement outlines the government’s goal to reach 250,000 EVs by 2014 across all major Spanish cities. Not an easy task, to reach this goal will involve infrastructure, general public and private demand, R&D, marketing and legal strategy development. With the “Movele” test strategy having a budget of just €10m, the Government has outlined a total of €590m over the next 5 years to make this implementation successful. For further details visit www.economiasostenible.gob.es/.
Meanwhile in the UK the strategy is slightly different, focussing on delivering 1000 vehicles to Greater London by 2015. Two separate tenders have been proposed, firstly of US$100m for the EVs themselves, with current bidders Smith Vehicles and Nissan vying for the opportunity to start what could become the World’s first major EV network. A second tender of US$45m for the infrastructure, parking and recharging stations, has also been outlined. London is close behind the heels of Spain in their own attempt to slash carbon emissions by 60% by 2025. For further details visit Transport for London http://www.tfl.gov.uk/
Electric Sports Car maker valued at half of General Motors!
Popularity for, and the future of, the high-spec electric car industry is now further confirmed as Daimler invest US$50m for just 9% of Tesla Motors Inc. Daimler follow behind several other wise investors such as Musk, founder of PayPal Inc, who invested US$70m in Tesla last year along with the owners of Google Inc.
This latest investment now gives Tesla Motors a market value of around US$550m – nearly half the value of automobile giant General Motors. Considering Tesla have sold less than 500 cars in total, whilst GM sold over 8m vehicles in 2008, this valuation seems unusual. However with GM supposedly facing bankruptcy later this year, these latest valuations show the reality of the changing market sentiment. Supported by Obama’s latest bill, larget monster gas-guzzling trucks are now “out” and super-healthy super-slick environmentally conscious electric cars are most definitely “in”.
Stuttgart-based Daimler are owners of the european popular Smart Car and as such are increasingly interested in the most advanced electric car battery-technology. This investment displays their intent on pursuing this industry and Daimler’s realisation that the high-end electric car market will also be one for capture.
Obama nails in the SUV coffin
At the current rate of global emission, drastic changes in our habits and lifestyles are needed now. US President Obama seems more than aware of this, and has taken the bold step in forcing through a bill which has been under argument in the US for the past 5 years.
As of 2012, all US car manufacturers will have to improve their fuel efficiency by 5% per annum and reach a target of 39mpg for all cars by 2016. This is estimated by the US administration as the equivalent of removing 177 million cars off America’s road systems and cutting GHG emissions by 900m tCO2 … aka a significant amount! This net 40% efficiency increase is the equivalent of shutting down 194 coal plants, and will almost definitely mean the death of the gas-guzzling SUV’s - which have always been nothing less than an extravagance.
Not only forcing manufacturers to focus design and manufacture on smaller lighter vehicles, and move away from the “bigger is better” attitude, this is also an additional incentive for manufacturers to invest more time and effort in to the alternative fuel markets. Countries like Brazil have already successfully rolled out bio-fuel cars operating at better efficiencies than petrol, and with BMW, GM, Mitsubishi and Nissan all rolling out mass production electric cars, this will hopefully add the necessary impetus for further development in these fields.
Undoubtedly frustrating to many with personal interests in the oil industry, this is a hands down positive move by Barack Obama and just the kind of swift decisive action we need.
Obama switches on Plug-in Electric Drive Vehicles
In what could be one of the defining legacies of his regime, President Obama has outlined a number of incentives to boost the global Green Energy market development. His recent bill earmarks $16.8 billion in direct spending for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs over the next ten years, $4.5bn to modernize the US grid with smart technology, $2,5bn for renewable energy and energy efficiency R&D and $2bn toward manufacturing of advanced batteries.
The bill also significantly increases the advancement and feasibility of Plug-in Electric Drive Vehicles (PED) in the US. Tax credits for installing alternative fuel pumps at gas stations are increased from 30% to 50% ($30,000 to $50,000), whilst $2bn is also ring-fenced for manufacturing of hybrid or electric cars. Potential owners of PED will also receive credits. The bill increases the tax credit for qualified plug-in electric drive vehicles for the first 200,000 placed in service. This is a good start although has some way to go to replace the 200,000,000 cars currently used in the US.
The substantial bill also includes many alternative incentives to enhance the global Green energy markets, including Tax Credits for investment and production of electricity derived from wind facilities, geothermal, biomass, hydropower, land-fill gas, waste-to-energy and marine facilities.
The bill is a great start and shows the world’s largest economy is determined to lead from the front, and should also ensure a great incentive for larger flows of global capital from private investors and corporations.
GE’s Electric Car Battery boost
General Electric recently announced plans to open a $100m factory to manufacture energy-storage batteries in response to mounting demand for efficient and environmentally friendly ways to produce, distribute and use energy.
“Batteries are a key technology in the 21st Century” stated Chief Exec Jeff Immelt who expects GE’s battery business to bulge to a whopping $1bn in the next few years.
This is nothing less than fantastic news for electric car advocates, the majority of who believe that the development of the electric car industry including all relevant systems such as new road networks, re-charging stations and battery technology, will be the fastest way to prevent Green House Gas emissions and lead to a healthier future.
GE has also invested $70m in a lithium-based battery specialist A123Systems who focus on developing technology for electric cars.
Dawn of the Electric Vehicle
The era of the electric car is upon us. This month BMW will lease 450 electric mini coupes to commuters in California, New Jersey and New York for a year. Not to be sniffed at, these EVs reach 60mph in 8.5 seconds and have a top speed of 95mph.
Technology still needs working on, with the batteries occupying the entire back seats, however at least this 12 month test will give great feedback to the BMW team for their intended mass-production roll-out for 2012. General Motors are hot on BMW’s heels as last week they announced a $550m investment in to re-fitting a Michigan factory to produce EV versions of the Ford Focus to be delivered to market by 2011. Nissan is targeting mass-production for delivery of its sub-$33k EV by 2012, whilst Mitsubishi is set to begin selling its EV by 2010.
The first all-electric highway-legal car to be sold in the US since World War 2 was the $109k Roadster from Tesla Motors, of which only 400 have been delivered.
The EV industry is being heavily supported by the Obama administration who recently allocated $2.4bn to research and technology to the industry, and also removed support for hydrogen-cell research - the EV markets main competitor.
South Korea’s Green Leap Forward
South Korea have recently announced a £23bn stimulus plan designed to both stimulate the fledgling economy and to catapult the country into a monumental green movement. The government will try and create nearly 950,000 green jobs whilst helping improve the country’s energy efficiency, in a deal many commentators believe to be the greenest on the planet.
HSBC bank have put the figure earmarked for green projects at 81% of the stimulus package, with the UK estimated to have only contributed 7%. As a nation traditionally known for being one of the least environmentally conscious on our earth, this announcement heralds a big step in the right direction. Below are some of the key projects South Korea will be embarking on over the next 20 years:
LIGHTS; Incredibly committing to change every bulb in every building to LEDs by the end of 2009.
WATER; The restoration of rivers and water resource management, likely to cost $11.1bn.
WASTE DISPOSAL; Rubbish incineration plants that burn methane to generate electricity.
TRANSPORT; The expansion of electrified tracks, new high-speed rails links and more then 2,500 miles of bicycle paths will be constructed in order to improve the country’s transport infrastructure at a cost of $7bn.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES; Hyundai and Kia will be supported in their continual development of fuel-efficient vehicles with $1.8m
TREES; Mass tree planting to improve carbon sink capacity, plus new facilities to use wood as biomass energy.
HOUSING; 1 Million green homes will be constructed, with energy efficient upgrades for a million more at a cost of $6bn.
It remains to be seen whether this level of green implementation will truly be executed, but in a world rapidly coming to terms with threat global warming and ecological preservation, South Korea’s £23bn Green Leap Forward plans are welcomed.
