Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

Martyn1981

Just heard some news on the radio about BEV demand growth in the EU, of 37% last year, and BEV's overtaking diesels in market share for the year.

New car registrations: +13.9% in 2023; battery electric 14.6% market share

Battery-electric cars established themselves as the third-most-popular choice for buyers in 2023. In December, market share surged to 18.5%, contributing to a 14.6% share for the full year, surpassing diesel, which remained steady at 13.6%. Petrol cars retained their lead at 35.3%, while hybrid-electric cars claimed second spot, commanding a 25.8% market share.

In December 2023, new battery-electric car sales declined for the first time since April 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic’s peak), dropping by 16.9% to 160,700 units. This decrease can be attributed to a comparatively robust performance in December 2022 and a significant downturn in Germany (-47.6%), the largest market for this power source. Despite this, the overall volume for the full year of 2023 surpassed 1.5 million units, reflecting a substantial 37% increase compared to 2022. The battery-electric car market share reached 14.6% in 2023.

Martyn1981

(Removed by Forum Team)

Yep, China's expansion of renewables is incredibly impressive. Sometimes equal to the ROW put together.

Perhaps, I buried the lede regarding the Chinese ordering huge numbers of RORO transport ships - they are doing this as most of the legacy automakers haven't responded fast enough to the shift in demand to BEV's. Even VW who are (I feel) trying hard, are actually falling further behind Tesla and BYD each year, despite being one of the giant automakers who had previously reached 10m per year. The other is Toyota, and they are simply asleep at the wheel.

So with BYD alone last year producing and selling more BEV's than the whole of the German legacy auto industry combined, and China now or soon to exceed Japan in auto exports, it looks like the door has been left wide open for China. And China are racing through that door as quickly as possible, and clearly planning for a vast expansion.

I believe some of us have been talking about the slow reaction to BEV's by legacy auto, for 5yrs+, and suggesting Tesla and the Chinese 'are coming'. With the huge success of the MG brand's BEV's in Europe for many years, I don't think the warning signals (for legacy auto) could have been clearer.

I suspect China will be in the BEV news a huge amount this year. However, I do have one concern, and that's whether China is competing fairly, or using subsidy or even dumping tactics to expand their sales. 2024/25 should bring some clarity on all of this.

JKenH

I think dumping at or below cost  is what the EU are investigating as that (allegedly) is what decimated the European solar panel industry. The Chinese EU market is still growing strongly despite some purchase incentives being withdrawn so perhaps we are a little way from seeing dumping yet. However China is moving from a carrot to a stick approach which may lead to surplus EV output being dispatched abroad at or below cost to maintain the economies of scale so crucial to the car industry. See article below.

It is hard to criticise China for subsidising manufacturing when the west is doing the same. Even here in the UK the government has promised large sums of money to Nissan, BMW and Tata to promote EVs. 

The problem is globalisation. China can manufacture cars more cheaply than Europe or the U.S. and thus China will prevail in an open market situation. As long as China was just a cheap labour factory for the West and profits were being repatriated it wasn’t much to worry about but China has little regard for intellectual property laws and now can develop cars and other technology for their own account. 

Very few people now care about where a product comes from. Whereas my parent’s generation would not knowingly buy a Japanese product, my generation accepts them but to an extent shuns Chinese branded products. My children’s and grandchildren’s generation seem happy to embrace Chinese products without thinking about the implications for domestic industry and their own children’s economic future. 

So far we have been able to survive with substantially less industry than I grew up with and we are all wealthier but can we survive as a services only economy?

Life after subsidies for China’s EVs

https://chinadialogue.net/en/business/life-after-subsidies-for-chinas-evs/

JKenH

Electric car price war expected this year as Chinese brands eye large slice of UK market by 2030

Chinese car brands are expected to spark a new car price war this year, leading them to steal a sixth of the UK electric car market by 2030.

The report also pointed to the gap between electric car prices in the Chinese brands’ home markets to the those in the UK.

The BYD Dolphin is on sale in the UK with a starting price of £25,000 compared with £13,000 in China, while the GWM ORA 03 (formerly the Funky Cat) is on sale for £31,000 in the UK but just £12,000 in China.

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/electric-car-price-war-expected-this-year-as-chinese-brands-eye-large-slice-of-uk-market-by-2030/296322

Martyn1981

Great news on truck emissions, and how they have to be reduced massively in the EU.

However, when I read that average emissions had to be cut by 45% in 2030, I did think that that was an effective ban on ICEV's, as that was an impossible uplift. But then realised of course (I assume), that it will be an average across the sales. But even so, that might require about half of sales in 2030+ to be zero emissions, and possibly a rapid end to significant diesel sales shortly after (as the target lifts to 65%), perhaps well before 2040.

And a big BEV bonus for buses.

EU Reaches Deal On Near Phaseout of Diesel Trucks

European lawmakers yesterday agreed CO2 targets for heavy-duty vehicles that will phase out almost all sales of new diesel trucks by 2040. Manufacturers will have to cut the average emissions of new trucks by 45% in 2030, 65% in 2035 and 90% in 2040. Green group Transport & Environment (T&E) said the law provides European truck producers planning certainty to go zero emissions and compete with foreign electric truckmakers.

Trailer manufacturers need to improve the emissions performance of truck trailers by 10% in 2030 – a weaker target than proposed by the Commission. The CO2 target for buses was also reduced to 90% in 2030, reaching 100% by 2035.

Martyn1981

I hope this is a nice article to read, just to keep abreast of how things are developing with postal services. It has a nice quick summary, but impressive that Swiss Post has so many small BEV's.

Been seeing lots of articles about delivery vans in general, and I think it's important to note that for many, their daily mileage is quite low, so BEV's can work very well. Plus of course, BEV van ranges are getting longer, helped by steady improvements in the energy density and cost of batts.

Swiss Post Accelerates Transition To Electric Delivery Vehicles

Swiss Post has been working to transition to using only electric delivery vehicles since 2010. Today, its fleet consists of more than 7,000 electric vehicles, the largest fleet of zero emissions vehicles in Switzerland. 6,080 of those electric delivery vehicles are three wheeled electric scooters that are being used by every Swiss Post location in the country. Another 640 four wheel electric delivery vehicles are also in service for the delivery of letters and parcels.

In addition, 600 electric vehicles are used as tow trucks and forklifts or by Swiss Post staff. By 2030 when the electrification transition is complete, there will be almost 4,000 more electric delivery vehicles throughout Switzerland, all of them powered by electricity from renewable sources.

Post Offices Embrace Electric Delivery Vehicles

Decarbonizing puts a spotlight on the difference between private passenger cars and commercial vehicles. A private car may be in use for about 5 percent of a normal work day. A delivery vehicle can be in operation for many hours, spewing crud into the atmosphere all the while if it is powered by an internal combustion engine. That’s why it is so important to convert those delivery fleets to electric power. All those letters and packages have a huge carbon footprint otherwise. Postal services in many countries are busy converting to battery power for just that reason.

JKenH

Mercedes: Solid-state batteries 'may not be necessary'

Solid-state battery technology “may not be necessary” for future electric cars due to developments in lithium-ion-based batteries.

That’s according to Mercedes chief technology officer Markus Schäfer, who said improvements to the energy density of lithium ion batteries had been “unexpected” to the point where they could end up being “neck and neck” with solid-state batteries in terms of cost and energy density.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/technology/mercedes-solid-state-batteries-may-not-be-necessary

shinytop

Martyn1981 said:

I hope this is a nice article to read, just to keep abreast of how things are developing with postal services. It has a nice quick summary, but impressive that Swiss Post has so many small BEV's.

Been seeing lots of articles about delivery vans in general, and I think it's important to note that for many, their daily mileage is quite low, so BEV's can work very well. Plus of course, BEV van ranges are getting longer, helped by steady improvements in the energy density and cost of batts.

Swiss Post Accelerates Transition To Electric Delivery Vehicles

Swiss Post has been working to transition to using only electric delivery vehicles since 2010. Today, its fleet consists of more than 7,000 electric vehicles, the largest fleet of zero emissions vehicles in Switzerland. 6,080 of those electric delivery vehicles are three wheeled electric scooters that are being used by every Swiss Post location in the country. Another 640 four wheel electric delivery vehicles are also in service for the delivery of letters and parcels.

In addition, 600 electric vehicles are used as tow trucks and forklifts or by Swiss Post staff. By 2030 when the electrification transition is complete, there will be almost 4,000 more electric delivery vehicles throughout Switzerland, all of them powered by electricity from renewable sources.

Post Offices Embrace Electric Delivery Vehicles

Decarbonizing puts a spotlight on the difference between private passenger cars and commercial vehicles. A private car may be in use for about 5 percent of a normal work day. A delivery vehicle can be in operation for many hours, spewing crud into the atmosphere all the while if it is powered by an internal combustion engine. That’s why it is so important to convert those delivery fleets to electric power. All those letters and packages have a huge carbon footprint otherwise. Postal services in many countries are busy converting to battery power for just that reason.

Delivery vans are an obvious win for EVs. Our post office van in my semi rural location has been an EV for a couple of years. I also see some EV supermarket and Amazon delivery vans around.  Of course, door to door deliveries by EV are nothing new.

Martyn1981

shinytop said:

Martyn1981 said:

I hope this is a nice article to read, just to keep abreast of how things are developing with postal services. It has a nice quick summary, but impressive that Swiss Post has so many small BEV's.

Been seeing lots of articles about delivery vans in general, and I think it's important to note that for many, their daily mileage is quite low, so BEV's can work very well. Plus of course, BEV van ranges are getting longer, helped by steady improvements in the energy density and cost of batts.

Swiss Post Accelerates Transition To Electric Delivery Vehicles

Swiss Post has been working to transition to using only electric delivery vehicles since 2010. Today, its fleet consists of more than 7,000 electric vehicles, the largest fleet of zero emissions vehicles in Switzerland. 6,080 of those electric delivery vehicles are three wheeled electric scooters that are being used by every Swiss Post location in the country. Another 640 four wheel electric delivery vehicles are also in service for the delivery of letters and parcels.

In addition, 600 electric vehicles are used as tow trucks and forklifts or by Swiss Post staff. By 2030 when the electrification transition is complete, there will be almost 4,000 more electric delivery vehicles throughout Switzerland, all of them powered by electricity from renewable sources.

Post Offices Embrace Electric Delivery Vehicles

Decarbonizing puts a spotlight on the difference between private passenger cars and commercial vehicles. A private car may be in use for about 5 percent of a normal work day. A delivery vehicle can be in operation for many hours, spewing crud into the atmosphere all the while if it is powered by an internal combustion engine. That’s why it is so important to convert those delivery fleets to electric power. All those letters and packages have a huge carbon footprint otherwise. Postal services in many countries are busy converting to battery power for just that reason.

Delivery vans are an obvious win for EVs. Our post office van in my semi rural location has been an EV for a couple of years. I also see some EV supermarket and Amazon delivery vans around.  Of course, door to door deliveries by EV are nothing new.

I'm surprised at how many 'normal' vans I'm seeing with the BEV green stripe on the numberplate now. I wouldn't have noticed most of them without it.

Martyn1981

Fun little milestone for UK BEV's.

Millionth pure battery electric car sold in UK after 20 years

The number of pure battery electric cars sold in the UK has passed 1m, a milestone that reflects the rapid shift away from polluting fossil fuels that is crucial to Britain’s target to produce net zero carbon emissions.

Between 2002 and the end of January buyers registered 1,001,677 of the vehicles in the UK, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the lobby group for the British industry.

While it has taken 20 years to sell 1m electric cars – or more than 120 years if taking into account the very first battery-powered vehicles – the lobby group said it was possible the industry could sell the second million within only two years, as carmakers around the world race to dominate the electric vehicle industry.