Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

shinytop

Martyn1981 said:

I'm reading into this, so just opinion, and nothing solid yet. But if Hyundai is pausing, possibly ending their HFCV development for road cars (and this is just speculation at the moment), then the potential impact of this news could be enormous. It's not about proving that BEV's are better, so to speak, it's about removing the 'shiny object' distractions that can undermine a transition, or slow it down.

RE has been slowed by false promises of clean coal, or CCS for FF's, and transitioning to BEV's has been slowed, somewhat, with promises of HFCV's or even H2 ICE's.

As the over hyped alternatives start to disappear, it should/could lead to a bigger and faster push for BEV's as the solution gains focus, and we simply 'get on with it'. Well, one can hope.


Hyundai pauses Genesis hydrogen fuel cell project just days after ending ICE engines

Hyundai has suspended development of their Genesis hydrogen fuel cell vehicle indefinitely, according to Chosun Ilbo. The news comes hot on the heels of Hyundai announcing an end to internal combustion engine development.

While Chosun‘s article (as translated by Google) does not seem to state that Hyundai has permanently canceled their fuel cell Genesis, the project is at the very least on pause for the time being. Hyundai has, in the past, stated that they view battery electric vehicles as a stopgap “until fuel cell vehicles take hold,” but that was in 2016.

I see what you're saying but we need to be careful of the opposite effect.  For example, the view that RE alone is the answer to all our energy problems stifling any innovation or funding for alternatives.  Or indeed the one that says there can never be a better power source for vehicles than thousands of lithium-ion batteries.  

JKenH

Martyn1981 said:

I'm reading into this, so just opinion, and nothing solid yet. But if Hyundai is pausing, possibly ending their HFCV development for road cars (and this is just speculation at the moment), then the potential impact of this news could be enormous. It's not about proving that BEV's are better, so to speak, it's about removing the 'shiny object' distractions that can undermine a transition, or slow it down.

RE has been slowed by false promises of clean coal, or CCS for FF's, and transitioning to BEV's has been slowed, somewhat, with promises of HFCV's or even H2 ICE's.

As the over hyped alternatives start to disappear, it should/could lead to a bigger and faster push for BEV's as the solution gains focus, and we simply 'get on with it'. Well, one can hope.


Hyundai pauses Genesis hydrogen fuel cell project just days after ending ICE engines

Hyundai has suspended development of their Genesis hydrogen fuel cell vehicle indefinitely, according to Chosun Ilbo. The news comes hot on the heels of Hyundai announcing an end to internal combustion engine development.

While Chosun‘s article (as translated by Google) does not seem to state that Hyundai has permanently canceled their fuel cell Genesis, the project is at the very least on pause for the time being. Hyundai has, in the past, stated that they view battery electric vehicles as a stopgap “until fuel cell vehicles take hold,” but that was in 2016.

Hyundai have of course denied this.

A company spokesperson has told South Korea’s main daily business newspaper Maeil Business the report published by The Chosun Ilbo is false: 

The automaker denies the speculation, claiming its roadmap on next-generation fuel cell development and electrification of Genesis fleet remains intact.

https://hydrogen-central.com/hyundai-suspended-genesis-hydrogen-fuel-cell-project-shutting-ice-engine-update/

Martyn1981

shinytop said:

Martyn1981 said:

I'm reading into this, so just opinion, and nothing solid yet. But if Hyundai is pausing, possibly ending their HFCV development for road cars (and this is just speculation at the moment), then the potential impact of this news could be enormous. It's not about proving that BEV's are better, so to speak, it's about removing the 'shiny object' distractions that can undermine a transition, or slow it down.

RE has been slowed by false promises of clean coal, or CCS for FF's, and transitioning to BEV's has been slowed, somewhat, with promises of HFCV's or even H2 ICE's.

As the over hyped alternatives start to disappear, it should/could lead to a bigger and faster push for BEV's as the solution gains focus, and we simply 'get on with it'. Well, one can hope.


Hyundai pauses Genesis hydrogen fuel cell project just days after ending ICE engines

Hyundai has suspended development of their Genesis hydrogen fuel cell vehicle indefinitely, according to Chosun Ilbo. The news comes hot on the heels of Hyundai announcing an end to internal combustion engine development.

While Chosun‘s article (as translated by Google) does not seem to state that Hyundai has permanently canceled their fuel cell Genesis, the project is at the very least on pause for the time being. Hyundai has, in the past, stated that they view battery electric vehicles as a stopgap “until fuel cell vehicles take hold,” but that was in 2016.

I see what you're saying but we need to be careful of the opposite effect.  For example, the view that RE alone is the answer to all our energy problems stifling any innovation or funding for alternatives.  Or indeed the one that says there can never be a better power source for vehicles than thousands of lithium-ion batteries.  

Got to be honest, I was kinda thinking the opposite, that it was beneficial to finding and funding alternatives when hopeless or failed ideas are dropped*. As I mentioned FF CCS, clean coal, even blue hydrogen, were never realistic nor possible alternatives, but they stole focus (and investment monies and time). This has probably delayed other ideas that might compliment RE / storage. And of course, on a global scale, these FF 'shiny objects' delayed or slowed the rollout of RE by decades.

By removing these shiny object distractions (which often seem to have a FF industry basis/interest), it opens up the arena to ideas that may actually have a chance. For instance, I can't help thinking that Toyota would have built and deployed a better battery by now if they hadn't gone down the HFCV (for road cars) rabbithole, as their early work on batteries and motors was excellent.

*Note, this isn't about not trying out ideas, it's about dropping them when they are shown to be unsuitable, or economically uncompetitive, and moving on to other possibilities.

EVandPV

Just a heads-up for anyone like myself who hasn't heard of this new Fifth Gear series.
Was channel surfing on Sky yesterday and came across the 'Recharged' series that focuses on EV's ...... https://www.fifthgear.tv/
Episodes 1-5 are available to download to a Sky box. 
Watched episode 5 this morning which has a feature on the Ioniq 5 and a Mazda MX-5 EV conversion.

JKenH

China to cut new energy vehicle subsidies by 30% in 2022

China will cut subsidies on new energy vehicles (NEVs), such as electric cars, by 30% in 2022 and withdraw them altogether at the end of the year, the Finance Ministry said on its website on Friday.

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-cut-new-energy-vehicle-subsidies-by-30-2022-2021-12-31/

JKenH

XPeng EV Sales Reached 16,000 In December 2021

Impressive growth from XPeng

In 2021, sales exceeded 98,000:

• Xpeng P7: 60,569 (up 302% year-over-year)
• Xpeng G3/G3i: 29,721 (up 148% year-over-year)
  
• Xpeng P5: 7,865 (new)
  
• Total: 98,155 (up 263% year-over-year)

Cumulatively, XPeng has sold 137,953 electric cars.

https://insideevs.com/news/558154/xpeng-ev-sales-16000-december2021/

JKenH

Dutch car sales plunged in 2021 due to global chip shortage

Dutch EV sales bucked the trend, down 12% compared to an overall fall of 9%.

Due to the disrupted computer chip supply chain, fewer electric cars were made and delivered to customers across the board last year. The industry counted a total of 64,027 new electric cars, with the Skoda ENYAQ and KIA Niro becoming the best-selling models. In 2020, a total of 72,858 such vehicles were sold. In both years, electric cars accounted for about a fifth of the market.

https://nltimes.nl/2022/01/01/dutch-car-sales-plunged-2021-due-global-chip-shortage

Solarchaser

EVandPV said:

Just a heads-up for anyone like myself who hasn't heard of this new Fifth Gear series.
Was channel surfing on Sky yesterday and came across the 'Recharged' series that focuses on EV's ...... https://www.fifthgear.tv/
Episodes 1-5 are available to download to a Sky box. 
Watched episode 5 this morning which has a feature on the Ioniq 5 and a Mazda MX-5 EV conversion.

You may be a bit disappointed in the 2nd episode (or maybe 3rd) which has tests for new small electric cars, and one with tiny range wins... the Zoe gets bumped first round for the vaguest of reasons. 

EVandPV

Solarchaser said:

EVandPV said:

Just a heads-up for anyone like myself who hasn't heard of this new Fifth Gear series.
Was channel surfing on Sky yesterday and came across the 'Recharged' series that focuses on EV's ...... https://www.fifthgear.tv/
Episodes 1-5 are available to download to a Sky box. 
Watched episode 5 this morning which has a feature on the Ioniq 5 and a Mazda MX-5 EV conversion.

You may be a bit disappointed in the 2nd episode (or maybe 3rd) which has tests for new small electric cars, and one with tiny range wins... the Zoe gets bumped first round for the vaguest of reasons. 

Yeah as with most of these 'reviews', a pinch of salt is required. 🙂
Although I certainly couldn't recommend the latest Zoe (ZE50) after the airbag fiasco.
Talk about an own goal just to save a few quid.

JKenH

Tesla delivers 308,600 vehicles in Q4, beating estimates

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/tesla-delivers-308600-vehicles-q4-beating-estimates-2411326