Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

michaels

Uk also had no Tesla's this month which could easily have added another few percent BEVs had a transporter or two come in.

Martyn1981

michaels said:

Uk also had no Tesla's this month which could easily have added another few percent BEVs had a transporter or two come in.

Yep, good point. There are ships on the way now to Europe. I was watching the UK estimated delivery dates and they skipped July going straight from June to Aug & Sept. Typically Tesla exports are concentrated into the last month or two of the quarter.

EVandPV

Interesting video that shows how battery swapping can be done quicker than filling a tank with petrol.

https://youtu.be/hTsrDpsYHrw

Martyn1981

Couple of BEV articles with a twist.
Firstly, trucks, but BEV'ing the trailer not the tractor, and also info on bio-diesel:

Slashing Emissions From Tractor Trailers: Electric Semi Axles, Renewable Diesel

And an article on Africa likely leap-frogging ICE vehicles as BEV's roll out.

Africa’s Low Motorization Levels Present An Opportunity For Another Leapfrog Event

JKenH

Citroen Ami is electric two-seater for £17 per month

Renault Twizy rival is intended to appeal to a new generation of buyers who want to travel around cities

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/citroen-ami-electric-two-seater-%C2%A317-month

Martyn1981

Interesting thought exercise on getting large numbers of BEV cars out there for relatively low cost, based on large production by Tesla combined with their ability to finance expansion/production at very low borrowing costs:

How Tesla Could Use Its Financial Strength To Drive MASSIVE Demand For Electric Cars — $87/Month Lease?

Loan interest: Tesla recently sold a bond with the top possible rating, AAA, allowing it to only sell the bond at extremely low rates, the largest part at 0.56%. Ford recently was downgraded and had to pay 8.5% to 9.625% interest for the $8 billion in bonds it felt it needed to sell to get it safely through the pandemic. If Ford was able to borrow at Tesla’s interest rate, my back-of-the-envelope math suggests it would save $640 million a year! ($8 times 8% savings.) Generally, this will make it hard for all legacy automakers to be able to afford to invest in the transition to electric vehicles.

Martyn1981

Fun selection of BEV news.

We start with planes, and well worth a read as the hybrid model trades engine weight and fuel consumption for leccy power, which seems like an interesting combo.

Rolls-Royce & Tecnam Electrifying Air Transport: High Power, High Scalability, Hybrid Powertrain — H3PS

For the H3PS project it was decided to develop a parallel-hybrid electric system: the aircraft propeller can be powered by the combustion engine directly, by the electric motor, or by both at the same time with the electric motor adding extra torque to the propeller shaft.

As the electric motor contributes to the aircraft propulsion, the combustion engine can be reduced in size. For the Tecnam P2010, the 180 hp standard engine has been replaced with a smaller engine with only 141 hp – and this leads to a significant reduction in fuel consumption.

The reduction in engine size has further benefits. It means the aircraft can go further on its existing fuel tank, and because the engine is always running at its optimal operating level it is more efficient and experiences less wear and tear, resulting in reduced maintenance costs and ultimately a lower cost of ownership. It is also lighter.

As downsizing the engine frees up payload, the battery can be accommodated without adding significant extra weight to the overall system, therefore maintaining the aircraft’s positive efficiency balance.

Balázs is convinced that small electric and hybrid-electric planes will have an enormous impact on the way the public and pilots experience electric flight and will help accelerate demand for such solutions in larger aircraft.

Openreach buy 279 BEV's, that's only 1% of their fleet, but hopefully they'll prove themselves.

Large Fleet Operator In UK Buys 279 Electric Vehicles

The second largest fleet operator in the UK, Openreach, has decided that the time is now to go electric. It just ordered 270 fully electric Vivaro-e vans and 9 Corsa-e cars.
This is just toes in the water, though, as Openreach has approximately 27,000 vehicles on the road. As they say, though, Rome wasn’t electrified in a day. Or something like that.

And a Tesla wins a rally in Aus.

Tesla Model 3 Wins A Targa Rally For The First Time

Tesla stole the show at a Targa Rally in Australia over the weekend. A Tesla Model 3 Performance scored a victory at the Targa South West tarmac rally. The rally is divided into different categories — one of the categories, Targa 130, featured 16 stages that ranged between 2.9 and 15.8 km (1.8 to 9.8 miles). The winning couple, Jurgen and Helen Lunsmann, had the best combined time, 1:00:17, TechAU noted.

The couple had been racing for around five years. They started with a Tesla Roadster, and now clearly prefer a Model 3. The second-place competitor was Evans Stutt in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7, just 4 minutes and some change behind the Lunsmanns. The race for the Targa 130 Category had a total of 9 competitors.

Martyn1981

Perhaps 'preaching to the choir', but this article points out that cheap monthly expenditure motoring is possible through BEV leasing when fuel savings are taken into account.

Cheap Electric Vehicles More Affordable Than Petrol Cars In UK

Cheap electric vehicles? Is there such a thing? Do they exist in the UK? DriveElectric has some answers.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are often seen as being more expensive than petrol cars, but if the fuel saving costs are taken into account and the upfront purchase price is spread across monthly leasing payments, then a new EV could cost the equivalent of less than £200 per month.

If the UK is to meet its 2050 Net Zero target then all new cars on sale need to be EVs by 2035, or possibly earlier — to be confirmed following a government consultation which closed on 31 July. To ensure that the maximum number of motorists are able to make the switch to electric cars over the coming years, EVs need to be as affordable as possible. The following five electric cars are examples of vehicles that motorists can drive today — with zero tailpipe emissions and all the other benefits that electric cars offer, including being virtually silent, very refined and easy to drive.

Martyn1981

US deliveries by BEV truck:

J.B. Hunt’s 1st Delivery With Fully Electric Freightliner eCascadia

J.B. Hunt has made its first delivery using an all-electric Freightliner eCascadia. J.B. Hunt is one of the largest shipping companies in America and you’ve surely seen its trucks on the highway (if you live in the US). J.B. Hunt specializes in the transporting of full truckload freight containers, and works with companies such as Walmart. It also works with most of the major North American rail carriers to transport truckload freight. For a massive transport company to give an EV truck a chance, this is a big deal. Why?

Imagine a time when all the large shipping companies are using only electric vehicles and there is no messy exhaust clouding the air.

This was the first J.B. Hunt Intermodal delivery using this all-electric Class 8 truck, and it pulled out of the Southgate terminal this week. The company said it barely made a sound. The transport was a 120-mile haul for Walmart, and it kicked off a three-month testing phase. J.B. Hunt plans to integrate the eCascadia with its day-to-day fleet operations in Los Angeles.

J.B. Hunt’s COO, Craig Harper, who was present for the new truck’s arrival, said, “J.B. Hunt is continually exploring innovative solutions such as the eCascadia to improve the sustainability of our fleet and operations. We are excited to test this vehicle and gain more hands-on experience with all-electric tractors.”

The eCascadia has zero tailpipe emissions, which makes it an environmentally friendly vehicle that will reduce the fleet’s carbon footprint. Fully charged, the eCascadia is expected to have a range of up to 250 miles, which makes it perfect for local and regional distribution. The all-electric tractor has a 525-horsepower engine and can recharge to 80% in just 90 minutes.

Martyn1981

Well, kind of obvious and a brilliant idea ........ now I've read it. Doh!

London bus garage to become world's largest 'trial power station’

A bus garage in north London is to be converted into the world's largest trial site for a new low-emissions type of power station.
Northumberland Park garage will host vehicle-to-grid technology, which feeds energy stored in parked electric buses back into the electricity network.
If the government-funded Bus2Grid project is rolled out across London it could power an estimated 150,000 homes.
The project will begin in November and run for three years.

Edit - Link added (I forgot), thanks ASB.