Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

joefizz

ASavvyBuyer said:

No wonder they have a lot of EV's if their electric wholesale price is that cheap.

If you have ever travelled there you will realise how expensive everything is but its compensated for by the high salaries (and equally higher taxes!). If you add that price differential into the mix then its nearly 'too cheap to meter' to coin a phrase ;-)

Go there in winter though and even though I have the lights on here in NI at 8am in August, well you can see why electricity needs to be cheap (relatively).

Coastalwatch

While most governments dither Hamburg commits to purchasing all future public transport totally to emission free EV's while also placing measures to ensure sustainability with particular attention to batteries in their design and manufacture.

Hamburger Hochbahn awards contract for 530 e-buses

Hamburger Hochbahn has now published the list of suppliers for the procurement of up to 530 electric buses to be delivered in the years 2021-2025. Daimler Buses, MAN and Solaris were awarded the contract.

Framework agreements are now being concluded with all three manufacturers to regulate the supply of emission-free solo and articulated battery-electric buses. This will also include a number with solid batteries.

In the context of the tender, however, Hochbahn also requested detailed information on sustainability and risk reduction measures along the entire supply chain. The inquiry extended to the extraction of raw materials with a particular focus of the evaluation of batteries. Hochbahn is also striving to develop and harmonise sustainability criteria throughout Europe in the procurement of battery buses.

https://www.electrive.com/2020/08/18/hamburger-hochbahn-awards-contract-for-530-e-buses/

Coastalwatch

So, now we know! Following experiments in a test tunnel it would appear that burning electric cars are no more hazardous than conventional FF versions. They can all be fatal.

But it would seem that firefighters have nothing new to learn as a result of these tests. It's not to say the extinguishing waste water isn't toxic, it is. The highly corrosive, toxic hydrofluoric acid has often been discussed as a particular danger in burning batteries. In the three tests in the Hagerbach tunnel, however, the concentrations remained below critical levels.

No doubt the best advise is as with a burning FF vehicle......get the hell out of it as fast as possible!

How dangerous are burning electric cars?

What happens if an electric car burns in a road tunnel or an underground car park? In the Hagerbach test tunnel in Switzerland, Empa researchers and tunnel safety expert Lars Derek Mellert set fire to battery cells of electric cars, analyzed the distribution of soot and smoke gases and the chemical residues in the extinguishing water.

The results of the test were published in a final report in August 2020. Project leader Mellert reassures: In terms of heat development a burning electric car is not more hazardous than a burning car with a conventional drive. "The pollutants emitted by a burning vehicle have always been dangerous and possibly fatal," says the final report. Regardless of the type of drive or energy storage system, the primary objective has to be to get everyone out of the danger zone as quickly as possible. The highly corrosive, toxic hydrofluoric acid has often been discussed as a particular danger in burning batteries. In the three tests in the Hagerbach tunnel, however, the concentrations remained below critical levels.

Conclusion: A tunnel ventilation system that is state-of-the-art can cope not only with burning gasoline/diesel cars, but also with electric cars. Increased corrosion damage to the ventilation system or the tunnel equipment is also unlikely based on the results now available.

Even the fire brigades do not have to learn anything new on the basis of the tests. Firefighters know that the battery of an electric car is impossible to extinguish and that it can only be cooled with large amounts of water. So the fire can possibly be limited to a few battery cells, and part of the battery will not burn out. Of course, such a partially burnt wreck must be stored in a water basin or a special container so that it cannot reignite. But this is already known to the specialists and is being practiced.

https://www.empa.ch/web/s604/brandversuch-elektroauto

silverwhistle

I used to live 50 kilometres from the Mt Blanc tunnel. I know all about how deadly fire can be with ICE vehicles in a tunnel. Good to know the additional hazards don't cause insuperable problems.

Martyn1981

It's all about the Benjamins!
Study in the US finds that the savings from moving to BEV's is enormous. $17bn pa if the fleet was 25% BEV, and $70bn pa if it was 75% BEV. Note, that's the total fleet, not annual sales. I suppose that first you have to convince a nation with more than its fair share of science deniers, that air pollution and AGW are real, and have real cost implications.

75% EV Adoption Could Save Americans $70 Billion Each Year

A new study has found that widespread EV adoption (25–75% adoption) could save the U.S. $17–70 billion every year. The study wanted to look at the health and economic impacts of EV adoption. Researches at Northwestern University analyzed climate modeling data with that of public health to see the wide scope of how EVs impact Americans and the economy.

The study, titled “Public Health and Climate Benefits and Tradeoffs of U.S. Vehicle Electrification,” found that if EVs were to replace just 25% of gas and diesel vehicles that are on the road now, the U.S. would save around $17 billion annually. How? By avoiding the double whammy damages of climate change and air pollution.

In another, more intense scenario that would replace 75% of the ICE vehicles with EVs and an increase of renewable energy generation, those savings would jump to $70 billion annually. Just imagine if 100% of the cars on the road were EVs as we continued increasing renewables.

Importance of Vehicle Electrification

Daniel Peters, who led the study, explained just how powerful the implications of vehicle electrification truly are. “Vehicle electrification in the United States could prevent hundreds to thousands of premature deaths annually while reducing carbon emissions by hundreds of millions of tons. This highlights the potential of co-beneficial solutions to climate change that not only curb greenhouse gas emissions but also reduce the health burden of harmful air pollution.”

ASavvyBuyer

InstaVolt’s Banbury hub just off M40 opens ahead of schedule

https://instavolt.co.uk/instavolts-banbury-hub-just-off-m40-opens-ahead-of-schedule/

Martyn1981

Bit of a recap Sunday here. 

First an update on the moves by California to reduce emissions from the trucking industry:

California Focused On Cleaning Up Heavy-Duty Truck Pollution

Next Thursday, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) will vote a proposal to reduce smog-forming and soot emissions from heavy-duty vehicles sold in the state over the next decade. While CARB has already moved forward to accelerate the adoption of electric trucks in the state, this latest proposal is a critical part of cleaning up the trucking sector until that broader transformation takes place.

And some charts and data on the European 'leaders' in the take up of EVs:

Germany, France, & UK Lead In New EV Sales In Europe

I recently published articles on the top countries in the world in terms of plug-in vehicle market share and fully electric vehicle market share — that is, the countries with the highest shares of their overall auto sales coming from plug-in vehicle sales or from 100% electric vehicle sales. I prefer looking at sales rankings in relative terms like that, but it can also be interesting to look at the volume sales leaders.

All of those market share leaders are in Europe, so this piece is following up on those markets by looking at the electric vehicle volume sales leaders in Europe.

In terms of fully electric vehicles, France rises to #1, Germany takes its place at #2, the UK is inches above Norway at #3, and the Netherlands rises to #5 as Sweden cuddles too obsessively with plug-in hybrids (just let the gas and diesel go!). Actually, even Italy passes up Sweden in terms of fully electric vehicle sales.

Martyn1981

I don't know if anyone will find these vids interesting, they are the sort of vlogs that I've been watching for years and encouraged me to invest in some EV stocks. [Note, EV stocks are now high priced, they may even be overpriced (I don't know) so these vids help explain why we are where we are now, but don't mean that investment is (or isn't) a good idea today.]

I think these three make for great viewing and really set out why we are transitioning to cleaner transport, and why Tesla may be far and ahead of the competition. Enjoy.

First of is a 'reaction video' to a Sandy Munro interview. I like reaction videos as they often point out the importance of points made and issues raised, that I would otherwise miss. I'm also a very big fan of 'Solving the Money Problem', as the vloger has a very, very sharp mind, and a good sense of humour. This vid explains how Tesla adapts so, so quickly ..... and lies (sandbags) about everything.

Tesla Engineering Moves At The Speed Of Thought (w/Sandy Munro)

This vid is a must, it's an interview / chat between Rob Maurer who presents Tesla Daily and is probably one of the most informed individuals on Tesla (other than Elon), and Jim Cramer the CNBC stock man, and his 'religious conversion' to Tesla last year when he finally 'got it'. Possibly the most important vid I've ever watched on Tesla as we see the 'Fans and the Financials' coming together and reaching the same conclusion.

Jim Cramer & Rob Maurer Discuss TSLA Stock, Elon Musk, Tesla's Battery Day, and Tesla's Advantages

If the full vid above looks too long, then this reaction vid gives a great taster:

Jim Cramer: Tesla Stock Could Go Up Substantially From These Levels

Martyn1981

Extracts from the Carbon Commentary news letter. Item 10 is interesting as it highlights the importance of focusing on energy consumption, rather than gross energy production as we move from inefficient FF's & ICEV's to BEV's.

2, Urban delivery trucks. Parcel specialist DPD ordered 16 tonne electric delivery vehicles for its London operations. The Volta truck has a range of up to 200km and a maximum speed of 90 km per hour. It has a battery size of up to 200 kWh, only about four times the capacity of the new VW ID.3 car. This is the first fully electric delivery vehicle of this size and will arrive in 2021.

7, Utilities and electric vehicles. Utilities have strong incentives to push the uptake of EVs, provided that the charging process occurs outside peak hours for electricity use. Xcel Energy, a medium-sized utility serving customers principally in the US Mid-West said that it targets 20% penetration of EVs within its areas by 2030. If achieved, this target would mean that well over 50% of all car sales would have to be EVs by that date. The utility also said that it was introducing a fixed price tariff that would allow EVs owners unrestricted amounts of charging at night and at weekends in a part of its territory. In another region, customers will be rewarded for ‘smart’ charging that only uses electricity when supplies are abundant. In the most significant sentence of the press release, Xcel justifies its policies by saying that ‘The additional electricity sales generated by EVs more than pay for the system investment required to support them’. It asserts that therefore EVs help keep bills lower for customers that don’t own electric cars. Xcel’s stance is in contrast to some European utilities and network operators, which are asking for financial support for network upgrades without mentioning the financial benefits of higher electricity usage. A move to 100% electric domestic cars would add about 30% to electricity demand in the UK. (Thanks to Gage Williams).

9. Vehicle-to-grid. A London bus garage has become the world’s largest vehicle to grid site. 28 buses made by BYD can deliver about 1 MW back into the local distribution grid. This is an important project but I’m curious why a bus garage was chosen; buses are generally working when power is needed on grids in late afternoons/early evenings. I suspect office car parks would be a far better choice. Fiat Chrysler has one in construction in Italy that will offer up to twenty times the delivery capacity of the London garage, and at times when electricity is more likely to be in demand.

10. Oil companies and the energy transition. I wrote a blog post after quick calculations showed to my surprise that BP’s swing to renewables would not significantly reduce its output of useful energy. BP says it will devote $5bn of its capital expenditure to zero carbon electricity out of its current total of about $13bn a year. The resulting fall in oil and gas exploration will cut its expected output of hydrocarbons by about 40% by 2030. But petrol/gasoline used in a car only delivers about 21% efficiency, about a quarter of electricity in an EV. BP’s new investments in wind and solar by 2030 are likely to power approximately the same number of kilometres of driving as will be lost by the fall in oil and gas production.

Martyn1981

Article on some up and coming BEV's. What struck me was that they are all very pretty/handsome, dare I say 'normal' ..... though there is still a certain charm to my old Leaf with its unusual looks, nice to see that BEV's are now fully normalised.

8 Best New Electric Cars In 2020

And an article on a hybrid plane, but this one will seat 70 passengers.

EAG Reveals Hybrid Electric Airplane Concept

Earlier this month, EAG, a UK-based engineering and development company, presented what appears to be the world’s first hybrid electric airplane for regional fleets. It’s called the HERA, and with its ultra-low operating cost, whisper-quiet running, and room for up to 70 commercial passengers, the new concept promises to reinvigorate the sustainable mass transportation market.

EAG plans to have the HERA — for Hybrid Electric Regional Aircraft — in production and flying passengers by 2028, which will offer carriers short take-off-and-landing performance, a flexible cabin design for quick transformation between passenger and cargo configurations, and an operating range of 800 nautical miles.

It’s important to note that similarly sized “conventional” aircraft like the Mitsubishi Space Jet M100 or Embraer 175-E2 offer nearly twice as much range, but EAG CEO Kamran Iqbal thinks his company is on the right path with the HERA. “Significant investments have been raised to develop sub-19 seat hybrid and all-electric aircraft which we believe is the wrong strategy. These small planes cannot meet the demands of mass air transportation or the requirements of decarbonization,” explains Iqbal. Meanwhile, the HERA is aimed at not only offering a greener alternative for airlines, but at being a “practical aircraft, able to generate profit for its operators.”