Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

Martyn1981

UK police could be driving in style soon. I think there's a joke in here somewhere about 'a herd of wild horses' but for now, let's see if the UK police forces pony up for some of these.

Ford Mustang Mach-E Police Car Now An Option In UK

I’ve noticed that a lot of new electric vehicle models have been marketed for use as emergency services vehicles in the past year. It seems that a combination of better EV technology (more range, more model variety, better tech) and stronger and stronger requirements from governments to cut emissions have led to automakers working harder to make their new models available as police cars and other emergency services vehicles. One that I have to admit I didn’t at all see coming: a police version of the Ford Mustang Mach-E.

The Mustang Mach-E has so much style and character, and police vehicles tend to be more generic, bland, mass-market models (or the occasional Tesla). Nonetheless, more police officers in the UK could soon be rolling around in style thanks to the police Mustang Mach-e — red calipers and call.

Martyn1981

News to me, BEV truck charging in California to break ground. Will include battery storage (second life) and a PV farm.

WattEV To Break Ground On Solar Charging Station For Heavy-Duty Trucks

California-based WattEV will begin construction next month on that state’s first solar-powered charging station exclusively for heavy-duty trucks up to 80,000 lb GVWR. Located in Bakersfield, it will feature a 5 MW solar array plus battery storage using second-life battery packs. On its website, the company says, “WattEV is speeding up the transition of US trucking transport into zero emission faster than anyone could expect. We use a combination of business and technology innovation to create infrastructure and data driven workflow that provide truckers and fleet operators the lowest total cost of ownership. Our goal is to get 12,000 HD electric transport trucks on the road in California by the end of 2030, exceeding existing forecasts.”

The Bakersfield installation will take 2 years to build. Initially, it will have 12 truck chargers with a total capacity of 4 MW and will cost $10 million to build, with $5 million of that provided by a grant from the California Energy Commission. Other participants in the project include the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, the Central California Asthma Collaborative, Greenlots, and Power Electronics, among others.

Eventually, the 110 acre site will cost $30 million to complete and will feature 40 chargers, 25 MW of solar plus storage, and 40 MW of charging capacity. It will offer drivers a choice of 250 kW, 350 kW, and 1 MW chargers. The 1 MW units will deliver 320 miles of range to a Class 8 tractor in 30 minutes, according to PV Magazine.

Martyn1981

Fun article of a Tesla Roadster repeating its Lands End to John O’ Groates challenge of 10yrs ago, and I thought the battery degradation was interesting, not great compared to later Tesla's, but really good v's expectations at the time.


A Tesla Roadster will drive across Britain to make a point about battery longevity

This weekend, a Tesla Roadster will make the journey from Lands End to John O’ Groates, an 870-mile drive spanning the full length of the island of Great Britain. This drive has been done by EVs many times before, but in this case, it’s in a special vehicle: the very first car that ever did the drive, the same 2010 Tesla Roadster, still on its original battery, to make a point about EV battery longevity.

This Roadster’s battery has degraded over the course of its 61,000 miles and 11 years of life, though the degradation hasn’t been terminal. The car was originally rated for 244 miles on the EPA combined cycle (testing methods have changed since then), and Fielding recently drove his Roadster 184 miles on a single charge, with the car still showing that it had 21 miles left. This reduction of about 20% capacity is roughly in line with what can be observed on other Roadsters of similar age and mileage.

michaels

Martyn1981 said:

Fun article of a Tesla Roadster repeating its Lands End to John O’ Groates challenge of 10yrs ago, and I thought the battery degradation was interesting, not great compared to later Tesla's, but really good v's expectations at the time.


A Tesla Roadster will drive across Britain to make a point about battery longevity

This weekend, a Tesla Roadster will make the journey from Lands End to John O’ Groates, an 870-mile drive spanning the full length of the island of Great Britain. This drive has been done by EVs many times before, but in this case, it’s in a special vehicle: the very first car that ever did the drive, the same 2010 Tesla Roadster, still on its original battery, to make a point about EV battery longevity.

This Roadster’s battery has degraded over the course of its 61,000 miles and 11 years of life, though the degradation hasn’t been terminal. The car was originally rated for 244 miles on the EPA combined cycle (testing methods have changed since then), and Fielding recently drove his Roadster 184 miles on a single charge, with the car still showing that it had 21 miles left. This reduction of about 20% capacity is roughly in line with what can be observed on other Roadsters of similar age and mileage.

Anyone know what real world mileages these roadsters would get when new as a comparison against the '205' is is suggested it would get now?

Martyn1981

michaels said:

Martyn1981 said:

Fun article of a Tesla Roadster repeating its Lands End to John O’ Groates challenge of 10yrs ago, and I thought the battery degradation was interesting, not great compared to later Tesla's, but really good v's expectations at the time.


A Tesla Roadster will drive across Britain to make a point about battery longevity

This weekend, a Tesla Roadster will make the journey from Lands End to John O’ Groates, an 870-mile drive spanning the full length of the island of Great Britain. This drive has been done by EVs many times before, but in this case, it’s in a special vehicle: the very first car that ever did the drive, the same 2010 Tesla Roadster, still on its original battery, to make a point about EV battery longevity.

This Roadster’s battery has degraded over the course of its 61,000 miles and 11 years of life, though the degradation hasn’t been terminal. The car was originally rated for 244 miles on the EPA combined cycle (testing methods have changed since then), and Fielding recently drove his Roadster 184 miles on a single charge, with the car still showing that it had 21 miles left. This reduction of about 20% capacity is roughly in line with what can be observed on other Roadsters of similar age and mileage.

Anyone know what real world mileages these roadsters would get when new as a comparison against the '205' is is suggested it would get now?

~20% more?

Heedtheadvice

With reference to comments about the grid's ability to supply the demand (peak), times of very low green generation and the risks that could occur when problems do manifest themselves....it is a goid job that we are not in one at the moments when we are becalmed? (and not yet winter either)

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britains-national-grid-says-fire-ifa1-interconnector-site-2021-09-15/

This is just one of the systems to fall back on admittedly but it is another cause of a big spike in wholesale electricity prices.

JKenH

Electric vehicles to increase electricity demand by 25% by 2040

The latest figures from Cornwall Insight’s ‘Benchmark power curve’ forecasts that by 2040 electric vehicles will contribute an additional 71.6TWh, this is a massive 31 times higher than the current level of demand for electricity from electrified transport and 25% of current annual demand which stands at 299TWh (excluding losses).

According to the report, electrification of the economy (electric vehicles & heat pumps) and use of green hydrogen as an energy carrier, all increase demand from 298TWh in 2021-22 to 628.4TWh in the Central Scenario (see figure 1) by 2040 and up to 668.2TWh in the High Scenario.

https://electricalreview.co.uk/2021/09/16/electric-vehicles-to-increase-electricity-demand-by-25-by-2040/

Martyn1981

JKenH said:

Electric vehicles to increase electricity demand by 25% by 2040

The latest figures from Cornwall Insight’s ‘Benchmark power curve’ forecasts that by 2040 electric vehicles will contribute an additional 71.6TWh, this is a massive 31 times higher than the current level of demand for electricity from electrified transport and 25% of current annual demand which stands at 299TWh (excluding losses).

According to the report, electrification of the economy (electric vehicles & heat pumps) and use of green hydrogen as an energy carrier, all increase demand from 298TWh in 2021-22 to 628.4TWh in the Central Scenario (see figure 1) by 2040 and up to 668.2TWh in the High Scenario.

https://electricalreview.co.uk/2021/09/16/electric-vehicles-to-increase-electricity-demand-by-25-by-2040/

Cheers, so pretty much what I've been saying for years then, and very close to my guesstimate of 20-25% increase, though that was based on an older and higher 350TWh.

Martyn1981

I do like a nice bit of BEV boat news:

Electric Propulsion Has Arrived For Watersport Tow Boats!

Any kind of serious water skiing, wakeboarding, wake-skating, and wake-surfing has traditionally required boats from 20 to 25 feet in length powered by big inboard V8 converted automotive engines. Competitive slalom (slalom, trick & jump) boats are 21 ft now and designed to make the smallest wake possible. All other watersport boats are designed to hold a lot of people, hold a lot of gear and make the biggest wake possible.

Correct Craft has been making ski boats since 1927, and these have evolved into the giant wakeboarding, wake-skating, and wake-surfing boats up to 25 feet long that dominate the industry today.

Correct Craft Ingenity Division has just released the Super Air Nautique GS22e. This is the cutting edge of electric propulsion that I expect to eventually dominate watersports just as it is beginning to do today with land vehicles. The boat is in production and over 20 boats are already out in the wild. You can order one today, and depending on color choices, have it in a few months.

Martyn1981

Martyn1981 said:

I do like a nice bit of BEV boat news:

Can't believe I didn't go with - 'I like BEV boats and I cannot lie'

[I've let myself down, the thread down, the board down ..... so disappointed with myself    ;-)  ]




Anyways, back to proper news, and potentially a big move here from BMW and Ford as they join the ranks of other companies taking solid state batteries seriously.

Ford & BMW Plan To Begin Testing Solid Power Batteries In 2022

Everyone expects solid state batteries to be the next big thing in EV technology. While they may offer higher energy densities and lower costs, the main reason researchers all over the globe are rushing to perfect solid state batteries is because they will virtually eliminate the battery fires that have plagued automakers since the EV revolution began. Tesla has had its troubles with battery fires in the past. Lately, Hyundai, Kia, and Chevrolet have had similar troubles with battery cells manufactured by LG Chem, now called LG Energy Solution.

It takes a long time to bring new technology out of the laboratory and into production. Volkswagen has made a major investment in Quantumscape, Ford and BMW have made similar investments in Solid Power, and Toyota is said to be busy perfecting its own solid state batteries. All of them are looking at 2025 as the time when they will be finally ready to install in production cars.

In sum, the transition to electric cars is picking up speed. It took a century to perfect the internal combustion engine, but progress on building affordable, reliable electric cars is moving much faster than that. Which is a good thing. The Earth can’t wait for humans to find ways to live without polluting the planet more than they have done already.

And good news from Germany again, where BEV sales in August hit 15%, lifting the figure for 2021 so far to 11% and rising. And yet again, the VW's and VWG shine bright.

Plugin Electric Vehicles Get 28% Market Share In Germany In August!

The German plugin vehicle market scored over 53,000 registrations last month, with BEVs growing faster (+80% YoY) than PHEVs (+43%). As a result, last month’s plugin share ended at 28% (15% BEV). If you also consider the significant fall of the overall market (-23% YoY/year over year), that means petrol sales (-42% YoY) and even more so diesel sales (-51%) are falling off a cliff.

So, this is what disruption looks like….