Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

Martyn1981

Take a US school bus and convert it to a BEV, nothing particularly news worthy, but rinse and repeat another 9,999 times, and things get extremely interesting. If this project is carried out, and over just 5yrs, then that's a lot of buses.

SEA To Convert 10,000 US School Buses To Electricity

Help may be on the way. SEA Electric, a provider of electric commercial vehicles originally from Australia and now based in Los Angeles has stuck a deal with Midwest Transit Equipment to convert 10,000 existing school buses to electric vehicles over the next five years. Midwest will provide the buses to be converted to the SEA Drive propulsion system. SEA Electric will complete the conversions using its “extensive network of up-fitting partners,” Nick Casas, vice president of sales and marketing for SEA Electric, says in a press release.

SEA Electric says that the conversion will extend the life of the buses by more than ten years and that two to three converted buses can be had for the price of one new electric bus. Mike Menyhart, chief strategy officer at SEA Electric says, “The secondary use of school buses fitted with all-electric drivetrains makes a lot of sense. It keeps costs down, opens up considerable availability, creates green jobs right here in the US, all while making a difference in the environment and the health of the communities we serve.”

EVandPV

Electric car supply chain carbon emissions lower than ICE vehicles, study finds

The total indirect emissions from electric vehicles pale in comparison to the indirect emissions from fossil fuel-powered vehicles, a Yale University study has found.

"The surprising element was how much lower the emissions of electric vehicles were,” said researcher Stephanie Weber. “The supply chain for combustion vehicles is just so dirty that electric vehicles can’t surpass them, even when you factor in indirect emissions.”

  https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2021/12/electric-car-supply-chain-carbon-emissions-lower-than-ice-vehicles-study-finds/

EVandPV

Volkswagen Plans To Offer V2G And Plug & Charge Technology In 2022

Volkswagen says it will be the first high volume manufacturer to offer its customers a universal, seamless ecosystem for charging their electric cars. Called We Charge, it will offer higher performance, convenience, and sustainability with new charging solutions for home and mobile charging, new functions for the company’s ID. branded models, and bidirectional charging.

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/12/23/volkswagen-plans-to-offer-v2g-and-plug-charge-technology-in-2022/amp/

shinytop

EVandPV said:

Volkswagen Plans To Offer V2G And Plug & Charge Technology In 2022

Volkswagen says it will be the first high volume manufacturer to offer its customers a universal, seamless ecosystem for charging their electric cars. Called We Charge, it will offer higher performance, convenience, and sustainability with new charging solutions for home and mobile charging, new functions for the company’s ID. branded models, and bidirectional charging.

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/12/23/volkswagen-plans-to-offer-v2g-and-plug-charge-technology-in-2022/amp/

"When a driver connects to one of those chargers, an encrypted and secure communication based on the ISO 15118 standard will begin. The authentication process takes just a few seconds before charging starts. Billing takes place seamlesly in accordance with the contract the customer has signed with We Charge."

I'd like to propose a couple of minor amendments.

"When a driver connects to one of those chargers, their credit card can be swiped using existing an encrypted and secure communication based on existing payment processing standards. the ISO 15118 standard will begin. The authentication process takes just a few seconds before charging starts. Billing takes place seamlesly in accordance with existing arrangements the contract customer has with their bank. signed with We Charge."

EVandPV

shinytop said:

EVandPV said:

Volkswagen Plans To Offer V2G And Plug & Charge Technology In 2022

Volkswagen says it will be the first high volume manufacturer to offer its customers a universal, seamless ecosystem for charging their electric cars. Called We Charge, it will offer higher performance, convenience, and sustainability with new charging solutions for home and mobile charging, new functions for the company’s ID. branded models, and bidirectional charging.

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/12/23/volkswagen-plans-to-offer-v2g-and-plug-charge-technology-in-2022/amp/

"When a driver connects to one of those chargers, an encrypted and secure communication based on the ISO 15118 standard will begin. The authentication process takes just a few seconds before charging starts. Billing takes place seamlesly in accordance with the contract the customer has signed with We Charge."

I'd like to propose a couple of minor amendments.

"When a driver connects to one of those chargers, their credit card can be swiped using existing an encrypted and secure communication based on existing payment processing standards. the ISO 15118 standard will begin. The authentication process takes just a few seconds before charging starts. Billing takes place seamlesly in accordance with existing arrangements the contract customer has with their bank. signed with We Charge."

The way VW are proposing is pretty much how the CPS network in Scotland works.
You tap the screen with an rfid card then plug in and charge. Billing is all done in the background and payments taken via direct debit monthly.

The network works fine now after some initial teething troubles but I take your point that accepting credit/debit cards would make things that little bit easier removing the need to register an account and have another card in your wallet.

Solarchaser

Well it's finally happening 6 months or so after reported by Ken.
Glasgow will be charging for charging in the new year.
But I gotta say, can't really argue with the prices, seems entirely fair to me

EVandPV

Solarchaser said:

Well it's finally happening 6 months or so after reported by Ken.
Glasgow will be charging for charging in the new year.
But I gotta say, can't really argue with the prices, seems entirely fair to me

Much the same unit rates as Fife, although there's a £1.60 connection fee too.
Worth digging around the map though, I notice there's a fair few that are still free. 😉

Superscrooge

EVandPV said:

shinytop said:

EVandPV said:

Volkswagen Plans To Offer V2G And Plug & Charge Technology In 2022

Volkswagen says it will be the first high volume manufacturer to offer its customers a universal, seamless ecosystem for charging their electric cars. Called We Charge, it will offer higher performance, convenience, and sustainability with new charging solutions for home and mobile charging, new functions for the company’s ID. branded models, and bidirectional charging.

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/12/23/volkswagen-plans-to-offer-v2g-and-plug-charge-technology-in-2022/amp/

"When a driver connects to one of those chargers, an encrypted and secure communication based on the ISO 15118 standard will begin. The authentication process takes just a few seconds before charging starts. Billing takes place seamlesly in accordance with the contract the customer has signed with We Charge."

I'd like to propose a couple of minor amendments.

"When a driver connects to one of those chargers, their credit card can be swiped using existing an encrypted and secure communication based on existing payment processing standards. the ISO 15118 standard will begin. The authentication process takes just a few seconds before charging starts. Billing takes place seamlesly in accordance with existing arrangements the contract customer has with their bank. signed with We Charge."

The way VW are proposing is pretty much how the CPS network in Scotland works.
You tap the screen with an rfid card then plug in and charge. Billing is all done in the background and payments taken via direct debit monthly.

The network works fine now after some initial teething troubles but I take your point that accepting credit/debit cards would make things that little bit easier removing the need to register an account and have another card in your wallet.

I thought the whole idea of 'Plug & Charge' was that the charger would automatically recognise your car and bill you like Tesla Superchargers, rather than having to tap RFID or credit cards? 

thevilla

Superscrooge said:

EVandPV said:

shinytop said:

EVandPV said:

Volkswagen Plans To Offer V2G And Plug & Charge Technology In 2022

Volkswagen says it will be the first high volume manufacturer to offer its customers a universal, seamless ecosystem for charging their electric cars. Called We Charge, it will offer higher performance, convenience, and sustainability with new charging solutions for home and mobile charging, new functions for the company’s ID. branded models, and bidirectional charging.

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/12/23/volkswagen-plans-to-offer-v2g-and-plug-charge-technology-in-2022/amp/

"When a driver connects to one of those chargers, an encrypted and secure communication based on the ISO 15118 standard will begin. The authentication process takes just a few seconds before charging starts. Billing takes place seamlesly in accordance with the contract the customer has signed with We Charge."

I'd like to propose a couple of minor amendments.

"When a driver connects to one of those chargers, their credit card can be swiped using existing an encrypted and secure communication based on existing payment processing standards. the ISO 15118 standard will begin. The authentication process takes just a few seconds before charging starts. Billing takes place seamlesly in accordance with existing arrangements the contract customer has with their bank. signed with We Charge."

The way VW are proposing is pretty much how the CPS network in Scotland works.
You tap the screen with an rfid card then plug in and charge. Billing is all done in the background and payments taken via direct debit monthly.

The network works fine now after some initial teething troubles but I take your point that accepting credit/debit cards would make things that little bit easier removing the need to register an account and have another card in your wallet.

I thought the whole idea of 'Plug & Charge' was that the charger would automatically recognise your car and bill you like Tesla Superchargers, rather than having to tap RFID or credit cards? 

Whatever, dedicated charge networks for each vehicle manufacturer is the road to ruin.  It needs to be like current ice fuels: any car, pull up, fill up, pay the same price.

You don't expect a petrol pump to recognise you or your car.

 

If manufacturers try to differentiate based on their charge networks the average driver will be put off.  It worked for Tesla because the alternative was awful but that can't be the model for the future

Martyn1981

This vid covers loads of stuff we've talked about previously. It's Fuly Charged, and Bobby gets his 2011 Leaf back after a battery upgrade to 40kWh. This particular upgrade goes back over a year thanks to Covid, and I seem to recall we also chatted on here about battery replacements in general for the early Leaf's at that time.

Bobby goes to lengths to explain that this is really just an issue for the earliest Leaf's, early battery tech, lots of recharging etc etc, and that for new BEV's now, the myth of a battery replacement is just that (other than for a faulty pack) as the batts don't degrade quickly, and may well see out the life of the car instead.

His old battery, after a hard life was down to about 40 miles of range in harsh conditions, whilst the replacement (from a crashed rollover leaf) is giving him 120-125 miles in wet, cold motorway driving. The conversion cost was £4k, which seems good value either as an additional cost for the past 10yrs of use, or as an investment for another 10yrs.

During the vid, we also see the ~0.5MWh stationary storage that the company have built using second life batts, and a 360kWh tractor conversion. This tractor will be used on a work site towing 30t trailers of rubble away, and across a public road, where the stipulations were that the work vehicle had to be zero emissions.

Return of the LEAF: Robert drives his range extended EV home from Holland