Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

Coastalwatch

There doesn't appear to be a shortage of finance on offer for companies seeking investment in a greener future. I wasn't previously aware this company even existed yet it raised an impressive figure in addressing the transition away from FF's for short haul delivery trucks. It will be interesting to see if the timescales indicated for production and delivery are fulfilled.

Tevva granted $57m for e-truck development

The UK electric truck manufacturer Tevva has just raised US$57 million through an oversubscribed private placement from new and existing investors. The company says it will use the financing to equip its new London based production facility and quickly scale up manufacturing.

Just last month Tevva Motors secured a £4.2 million (just under 5 million euros) grant from the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) to develop the next generation of medium-duty electric trucks with H2 fuel cell range extenders and gross vehicle weights between 7.5 and 19 tonnes. In September just passed, Tevva unveiled a 7.5-tonne truck as its debut truck, which is supposed to have a range of up to 250 kilometres in pure electric drive and a range of up to 500 kilometres with the FC range extender activated.

https://www.electrive.com/2021/11/19/tevva-granted-57m-for-e-truck-development/

Coastalwatch

I'm always pleased to read news regarding recycling of batteries and particularly those from EV's. It's a hugely important industry going forward in assisting with the circular economy. It will also remove another barrier to EV ownership often quoted by those resistant to change.

Picking up on Daimlers vision of significant numbers of batteries requiring attention from 2030, any of which will be ideally suitable for second life use in storage applications there will be gigawatts of capacity available with perhaps a sizeable proportion, say 50%, turned into storage. What an effective means of smoothing out grid demand they would form, be it distributed small scale domestically or as part of larger industrial scale storage.

I wonder if in future the idea of two car families will once more emerge with the older being used more and more to support domestic supply combined with the odd visit to the local shops or pub. I know that's what I have in mind for ours!

Daimler battery recycling plant to be in Kuppenheim

With the know-how developed in Kuppenheim, the automaker wants to prepare for the increasing number of batteries to be recycled. Daimler said that, with the estimated life-cycle of electric vehicles, significant quantities of material to be recycled will first be available in the 2030s. The company estimates that the larger numbers of vehicles that were delivered from 2020 will begin being ready for battery recycling.

The company has also said that the intention is to look at second life applications for the batteries before they are recycled since electric car batteries have proven useful in stationary storage applications beyond their functionality for mobility purposes. Daimler has not yet revealed details on the scope of the recycling plants activities.

https://www.electrive.com/2021/11/20/daimler-battery-recycling-plant-to-be-in-kuppenheim/

Martyn1981

Some quick news items I thought might be of interest.

First an efficiency rating for EV's, which sounds like a good idea, though I haven't really heard of 'Electrifying' before, so I don't know how reliable/respected their results are.

Tesla Model 3 And BMW i4 Top List Of UK's Most Efficient EVs

The Tesla Model 3 and BMW i4 are the most efficient EVs currently available in the UK, according to Electrifying.com's new Efficiency Rating. Also known as the E-Rating, this tool lists real-world efficiency ratings for EVs to help buyers comprehend the overall efficiency of an electric car.

E-Rating uses an algorithm that considers several important factors. They include how well electrical power is converted into miles on the road, the speed at which the battery can be recharged, as well as energy-saving features such as heat pumps, intelligent brake energy recuperation, and climate control preconditioning. It also takes into account the team's experience of driving, testing and reviewing electric cars in the real world. 

Second, further to all the recent news and rumours about Pepsi getting some Tesla Semi's this year, the company looks to be installing one of the new Tesla megachargers. Looks like Tesla and Pepsi will be running a small fleet each perhaps more for testing than an actual rollout, which may be some way off due to the massive demand now for BEV's, and the lack of battery production to feed it.

PepsiCo. receives permit for Tesla Semi Megacharger installation

PepsiCo. has received the permit for the installation of a Tesla Semi Megacharger at its Modesto, California, facility, according to public documents released by Stanislaus County.

The Stanislaus County Planning Commission officially issued a permit for the Megacharger installation yesterday on November 22nd, the documents show. PepsiCo. has been attempting to receive installation privileges since April, when it initially submitted the application on April 21st. The Planning Commission has performed regular inspections, including a Fire review, in the months between the submittal of the application and the issuance of the permit. The permit approval was first shared by @MarcoRPTesla.

PepsiCo. will be the first company to receive Tesla Semis later this year. CEO Ramon Laguarta stated on CNBC earlier this month the company would officially receive the first Tesla Semi units in Q4, meaning Tesla has about five weeks to deliver the vehicles to PepsiCo.

Thirdly, a couple of iconic muscle car names from Dodge are to go fully electric:

The muscle car goes electric: Dodge sets 2024 end date for gas Chargers/Challengers

Dodge will end gas-powered Charger and Challenger production in 2024, to be replaced by electric models, according to Dodge brand CEO Tim Kuniskis as reported by Motor Trend.

Earlier this year Dodge announced that they would launch the “world’s first battery electric muscle car” in 2024 (however they define “muscle car,” given that we already have a heavy, American-made, nine-second drag monster, and Ford has a wheelie-pulling electric Mustang prototype).

We haven’t seen that model yet, but now we know that Dodge will reveal their first electric concept sometime in the next four or five months, says Kuniskis. It still won’t hit production until 2024, but at least we’ll get a glimpse of the future in the first half of next year.

We don’t yet know if the electric model will carry the Charger or Challenger name, but Dodge does acknowledge that those nameplates are valuable. The new electric muscle cars will use the “STLA Large” platform from parent company Stellantis. Stellantis announced their electrification strategy earlier this year.

JKenH

The Electric Car Revolution: Winners and Losers - Panorama 

BBC1 tonight 7.30pm

Martyn1981

Just a bit of silliness, but I did another 'kitty litter run' this morning, 33 miles each way. Starting from home pretty close to sea level (+5 to 10m), and ending up in Ebbw Vale at approx 300m above sea level.

Trip up  'burned' 374Wh/mile, and trip back down was 196Wh/mile.
Admittedly on the way up, on the fast stretches, I was doing about 75, and on the way back it was around 65 as I pushed the envelope a tad too much this time with 1/3rd of a tonne load.

Coastalwatch

Crikes Mart, you must have some guests in with ravenous appetites!

EVandPV

Get your chargers fitted asap folks .....

Homeowners to pay £350-700 more for an electric car charging point from April 2022

Read more: https://www.which.co.uk/news/2021/11/homeowners-with-electric-cars-to-pay-350-700-more-for-a-domestic-charge-point-from-april-2022/ - Which?

Martyn1981

I recently mentioned the idea of adding battery box cars to diesel electric trains in the US as a way of converting the existing rolling stock. This article has more info, considers other means of electrification, and also raises an interesting issue of back up energy storage/supply that battery trains / box cars might provide.

Big Batteries On Wheels Can Deliver Zero-Emissions Rail While Securing The Grid

Unlike several other regions in the world, all freight trains in the US are still diesel electric, largely because the typical electrification strategy of building electrified lines over tracks is harder to implement in the U.S. with its vast distances. In diesel-electric trains, a diesel engine is connected to an alternator that then supplies electricity to electric motors connected to the locomotive axles. Retrofitting the trains to be powered by batteries is therefore feasible because diesel-electric trains already have an electric motor.

“Dramatic improvements in battery technology, coupled with the existing electric drivetrain in predominantly diesel-electric freight trains in the U.S., pave the way for a rapid conversion to battery-electric freight rail and with substantial cost savings,” said Berkeley Lab scientist Amol Phadke, corresponding author of the study. “Also, the weight of batteries is less of a constraint than it would be for electric vehicles or trucks. We can add a car to a freight train built out with batteries, and the weight of that battery car is not an issue with trains.”

JKenH

UK EV charging firms raise prices as energy crisis bites

From 1 December, new prices will apply across the BP Pulse network. The cost per kWh of energy for subscribers has risen from 23p to 32p for the firm's standard public chargers (AC 43kW/DC 50kW) and from 29p to 38p for registered users. 

The firm's fastest (150kW) devices will now cost 38p per kWh subscribers, 44p for registered users and 50p for pay-as-you-go users, while the slower 7kW units cost from 28p per kWh. 

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/business-environment-and-energy/uk-ev-charging-firms-raise-prices-energy-crisis-bites

JKenH

New advisory fuel rates for electric cars from HMRC

HMRC has published new advisory fuel rates for company car drivers which will apply from 1 December 2021.

The rate for electric cars has gone up to 5p/mile.

https://www.rossmartin.co.uk/employers/benefits-in-kind/410-advisory-fuel-rates-company-car-drivers