Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

shinytop

That is getting towards something that would work for me.  If electricity cost what it did 2 years ago I'd probably order one now.  As it is, it's a borderline financial case and I don't want a brand new car enough.

BTW if I were the sort of person who bought brand new cars the EV would win easily now.  But in my case the new EV has to beat buying 3 year old low mileage ICE. The fact that this is a close contest even with electricity prices as they are is great progress. 

Martyn1981

Yeah it's getting better, though it's hard for me to see through all the smoke at the moment, with general lack of BEV supply, plus part shortages due to the war in Ukraine, plus leccy and oil prices all over the place.

Looking at those ranges again:

WLTP range from 220 to 280 miles

let's be fair and knock about 15% off straight away for more reasonable estimates, so 190 / 235 miles depending on model. That should be doable for mild weather and 60-70mph on the motorway.

That's a decent range for the price, then let's say another 10% for cold weather, and another 10% for slightly higher speeds, still 150 / 180 miles should be achievable at the harder end.

I'd hope that by 2025, if demand isn't outstripping supply too much (and thus pushing prices up), that there'll be attractive BEV options for most new buyers, though SH buyers will have a long wait.

Maybe battery supplies will improve with Sodium batteries now reaching production. I'll post on Energy thread as these may impact stationary storage more, but regardless, could remove some demand off the shoulders of Lithium.

Martyn1981

This news come under the heading of 'I thought it was interesting / important, but may well not be'. So I watched some vids on BEV news, and went down a rabbit hole looking at info on California.

Why Cali? Well they have the reputation of leading the US. Where Cali goes, the US follows eventually. Given that, and the relatively poor BEV sales in the US (actually, they are just 2(ish) years behind Europe, but it looks significant with exponential growth), it was interesting to see that Cali is powering ahead and roughly in line with Europe and China.

They have significant BEV sales, about 15% for 2022 H1, lots of HEV's, about 12%, so more efficient ICE driving. Very little interest in PHEV's, from day one, running at about 2-3% since 2016, and 2.8% for 2022, so looks like Cali is leapfrogging straight to BEV's.

The info is in this news/press link:

California New Car Dealers Association Releases Second Quarter Auto Outlook

and if you click on the graphics, you get 8 pages of data. The bottom of page two is where I'm quoting numbers from, with a nice graph showing EV data since 2016.

Martyn1981

Short and sweet look at the European car market, and the potential crunch(es) coming for legacy auto. Things are so confused, and fluid now, that what will be is very hard to predict, certainly timelines, but change is coming, one way or another.

Increasing demand for BEVs shortens timer on ICE inventories

A continuation of this trend could pose significant risks to motor companies with supply chains geared towards the production of ICE vehicles. The increasingly limited shelf-life, diminishing attractiveness, and decreasing overall sales volumes within the market have the potential to create a situation where companies struggle to offload current inventories.

When looking at the volatility of the oil market and fuel prices over the last few months alongside the continuously increasing demand for BEVs. It is becoming increasingly clear that demand for ICE and hybrid vehicles has been irrevocably damaged within Western Europe. It will struggle to recover in the face of a EV’s now having all the best new features and the backing of policy at multiple levels of government.

Companies going about business as usual could be caught out when consumer demand for BEVs inevitably overtakes that of ICE vehicles especially when given less opportunity to offload inventories.

The rate at which this occurs will be largely dependent on the availability of charging infrastructure within relevant countries. This is among the primary barriers to adoption and widespread feasibility for electric vehicle usage.

If this can be sufficiently addressed by governments, demand for BEVS could accelerate even further and continue their contribution to the recovery of the automotive industry within Europe.

Martyn1981

For anyone desperate to get their hands on a BEV pick up truck then SAIC (who own MG) are launching one in the UK. No idea if it's any good, but the specs are reasonable*, and will cost £50k + VAT. I did assume it would be cheaper, even for a 4door cab version.

*Not sure about the 80kW charging speed. That's absolutely fine for people and trades operating locally, but not so great for longer distance trips, especially if towing.

Finally, An Electric Pickup In Right-Hand Drive — The All New Maxus T90EV Is Coming To The UK

The Maxus T90EV is now available to order, with delivery in Q1 2023. It starts from £49,950, excluding VAT. The T90EV is designed for both on and off-road driving, equipped with a high-level spec and contemporary and stylish interior. It has  a range of 220 miles / 354 km (WLTP combined city/highway driving cycle) and a payload of 1000Kg. The Maxus’ visually sporty exterior is complemented by a modern interior with a 10.25-inch digital touch screen instrument cluster providing a minimalist look.

Martyn1981

Hyundai to build a couple of smaller, sub €20k EV's. Early days, but quite a selection/range of vehicles, that they are building.

Hyundai Said To Be Developing Two Low-Priced EVs For Europe

But cars powered by internal combustion engines will soon be banned in many European countries, so Hyundai needs to be working on the battery-electric cars that will take the place of the i10. Andreas-Christoph Hofmann, Hyundai’s marketing boss for Europe, told Automotive News recently that his company is planning a battery-electric replacement for the i10 and that it will start at less than €20,000.

Then along comes Autocar with the news that Hyundai is also planning a chunkier version that is more SUV-like to compete with the upcoming Volkswagen ID.1 that is also rumored to start at around €20,000. Autocar says the hatch will go into production in late 2023 with the cute ute following about a year later.

Martyn1981

I'm not sure if this BEV news or energy news, but it goes to show how interlinked our RE future can and should be, with the ability to reduce spending on foreign imports of fuel. Though of course there may be a transitional period for trade deficits depending on the source of the RE technology, and BEV's.

The article and charts show the growing expenditure on petroleum imports, and the growing trade deficit, for a country with both incredible current RE generation, and future potential.

A Fast Transition To Electric Mobility Can Help Reduce Kenya’s Widening Trade Deficit

Kenya has done really well to grow the share of renewables in its electricity generation mix. Renewables provided 89% of Kenya’s electricity generation in 2021 thanks to contributions from geothermal, wind, hydro, and some utility-scale solar. Kenya is one of the major players in the geothermal space and is in the top 10 in the world when it comes to geothermal generation installed capacity. Kenya’s installed geothermal capacity is now close to 1,000 MW. Kenya has a lot more room to add more geothermal, with an estimated potential of 10,000 MW! This dependable, renewable geothermal can anchor the growth of the economy inline with Kenya’s industrialization agenda. Having this dependable geothermal energy will also help integrate more variable renewable resources such as wind and solar, which despite having a lot of potential, still remain largely untapped.

silverwhistle

Martyn1981 said:

Hyundai to build a couple of smaller, sub €20k EV's. Early days, but quite a selection/range of vehicles, that they are building.

If they could get an i10 replacement it would be very popular. I recall Honest John, The Telegraph motoring correspondent, having one, and in a most uncharacteristically sensible post for someone in the motor trade, he said it was all he ever needed in a car.

Most don't do a lot of long distance runs, but if they could combine a smaller battery with faster 175kW charging for longer runs they could save a lot of weight for everyday usage.

Coastalwatch

After something of a stuttering start Giga Berlin appears to be reaching some serious production figures.

Tesla to introduce third shift in Giga Berlin in December

Tesla wants to introduce a third shift in Grünheide this year. This information was indirectly confirmed by German politicians. Meanwhile, Giga Texas has reached an important mark in the production ramp-up.

But first to Brandenburg: the portal Drive Tesla claims to have heard about the introduction of the third shift in December 2022. Sources for the information are not named, however. With the third eight-hour shift, the plant in Grünheide would produce cars around the clock from the end of the year – currently only the Model Y. At the moment, the plant runs in two shifts from 6:30 am to 10:30

Currently, Giga Berlin produces between 1,200 and 1,500 Model Ys per week. Since the official start of series production in March, Tesla has tested a few different production processes in Grünheide and also expanded the model variety. Initially, only the Model Y Performance was built, but now long-range models are also coming off the production line in Grünheide. According to reports, a single-engine basic model has already been built on a test basis, and there is also speculation about the use of BYD’s Blade battery in this variant. However, all customer vehicles from Grünheide are still painted white or black – for the Mercury Silver Metallic and Deep Crimson paint finishes, tests are probably still underway.

The German Tesla plant reached the important mark of 1,000 Model Ys per week in June. In the meantime, Giga Austin in Texas, which opened a little after Grünheide, has also reached this production rate, according to observers. The information was shared by a Tesla employee on Snapchat, and later a corresponding photo spread on Twitter. It is apparently a photo of an internal ceremony – the employees involved signed a plaque with the Tesla logo and the number 1,000.

https://www.electrive.com/2022/08/23/tesla-to-introduce-third-shift-in-giga-berlin-in-december/

Martyn1981

Had to go looking for a news item, after a pleasant surprise when I visited the local recycling centre today, and spotted 3 BEV refuse trucks (green stripe number plates) coming/going.

So I missed this completely.  2/10 for observation, "could do better".

First all-electric refuse collection vehicles help Wales clean up

Wales’ plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050 has taken a significant step forward with the purchase of three revolutionary all-electric refuse collection vehicles by Welsh Local Authorities.

The first of the landmark vehicles ­– known as the eCollect and made by Dennis Eagle in the UK – was delivered to Newport City Council in February with two more heading to Cardiff and Powys councils in March. They are part of a Welsh Government initiative to accelerate the transition of Local Authority waste fleets from diesel to ultra-low emission vehicles with grant support.

Newport’s eCollect will be used for residual waste collection and will operate all over the city and surrounding area, including Caerleon which is one of the council’s priority areas for improving air quality.

The vehicle will also be serviced and maintained in Dennis Eagle’s Merthyr Service Centre by engineers fully trained in the safe and proper maintenance of electric vehicles.

Cardiff Council’s eCollect will be used in inner city areas for domestic waste collections as Cardiff Council adopts measures to reduce air pollution, including the electrification of the municipal fleet.