Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

QrizB

😀

From a quick shufti at Google Maps, I think they've cheated - Santa Maria di Galeria is located in Italy, so they've outsourced it to a neighbouring country's territory.

(Maybe "cheated" is too strong, but it's not autarchy as it's generally understood.)

I fully agree that it's a noteworthy achievement for a nation state to be 100% net solar!

To keep this BEV-related, that same news article reminds us:

And more than panels, in 2023, the Vatican announced it would get over 40 electric vehicles from Volkswagen to create a fully carbon-neutral fleet by 2030.

Martyn1981

Just watched some BEV news, and a small item popped up. An in floor for carparks, or in curb for streets, charging point.

I think I've found it, as I didn't catch the details, so just Googled Dusseldorf and in floor charging. I found this company link (but worth jumping to the second link for a quick look unless you want more detail and FAQs):

The Rheinmetall Curb Charger

This link gives lots of info, but near the bottom are some news pages, and I think the following link shows enough if you look at the pic in the bavkground, and scroll down to see the unit itself:

16/06/2025 Press Release

QrizB

Martyn1981 said:

Just watched some BEV news, and a small item popped up. An in floor for carparks, or in curb for streets, charging point.
The Rheinmetall Curb Charger

It's a clever design but I'm worried that it's a trip hazard? UK councils might feel obliged to put a bollard or other barrier next to it, in which case a conventional pillar-type charge point is going to be less work and effort?

It will be interesting to see where it's adopted and how they're received.

JKenH

A good month for Tesla

https://www.smmt.co.uk/vehicle-data/car-registrations/

QrizB

Further to JKenH's post above, it seems UK car sales are on track to hit the "ZEV Mandate" target for 2925 despite the auto industry campaigning to reduce it:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jul/06/uk-carmakers-on-track-to-meet-ev-sales-target-despite-the-intense-lobbying-push-to-lower-quota

Carmakers are on track to meet existing UK electric car sales targets despite having successfully lobbied the government to water them down.

Electric car sales made up 21.6% of sales in the first half of 2025, only marginally below the 22.06% share needed to meet existing rules once concessions are taken into account, according to an analysis by New AutoMotive, a thinktank.

Longer article at the link.

Magnitio

QrizB said:

Further to JKenH's post above, it seems UK car sales are on track to hit the "ZEV Mandate" target for 2925 despite the auto industry campaigning to reduce it:

Hopefully a fair bit before 2925.

QrizB

Magnitio said:

QrizB said:

Further to JKenH's post above, it seems UK car sales are on track to hit the "ZEV Mandate" target for 2925 despite the auto industry campaigning to reduce it:

Hopefully a fair bit before 2925.

Betrayed by my fat fingers 😄

Netexporter

End of the road for Cleevely Auto's MG5 service vans:

EV Depreciation - Lets See What 172,000 Miles Looks lIke.

Martyn1981

PV and batteries for EV charging. I'm hoping this is the future of EV charging stations in sunny countries with the  available land.

The title is misleading (I think) as the charging station is not off-grid, but has a small 1.5MW connection which is not suitable for its size, 168 chargers, with 84 already operational. Might be that the site grid connection is not used for the chargers/batteries, or not currently for the 50% that are operational.

I'm reminded of a claim/suggestion made during the Tesla semi launch event, that truck charging stations would be deployed, and utilise solar power .... or something along those lines.

The World's Largest Tesla Supercharger Station Is Entirely Off-Grid

Tesla may have missed the mark this year with the truly affordable electric vehicle it has long promised. But a charging station that’s beaming with solar panels, Megapacks and more stalls than any other Tesla Supercharger site on Earth is still a remarkable achievement. 

The company just opened Project Oasis, a massive Supercharger station, in Lost Hills, California. It features 84 stalls that are currently operational and also fully solar-powered. Tesla claims the station isn't connected to the electrical grid at all. 

Moreover, it's just getting started with the build-out. When all 168 Superchargers go online by the end of this year, it will officially be the world’s largest Tesla charging site and one of the clearest demonstrations yet of what a fossil-fuel-free charging station that’s not dependent on the electricity grid could look like.

Martyn1981

Nice news and confirmation of what we all hoped, BEV's are getting cleaner faster, as the European grid continues to reduce FF generation.

Loads of info and explanations, so worth a read, rather than just some highlights I'll extract.

EVs are getting cleaner faster than expected

The scientific consensus has long been clear: electric vehicles are the cleanest form of propulsion. A new study by the ICCT now shows that their climate advantage is growing faster than previously assumed. Today’s EVs sold in Europe emit 73 per cent fewer greenhouse gases over their lifetime compared to petrol cars. The reason is the positive development of the electricity mix through renewables.

The main finding is that a fully electric car sold in Europe in 2025 emits 73 per cent less greenhouse gases over its lifetime than a petrol car (including production emissions). Compared to 2021, this represents an improvement of 24 percentage points in just four years. The reason: as Europe’s electricity mix becomes greener, so does the carbon footprint of EVs.

However, the ICCT did not only look at fully electric cars. Other powertrains, such as hybrids and plug-in hybrids, show little or no progress in reducing their climate impact. This highlights one conclusion: only fully electric vehicles can achieve the emission reductions needed to meet climate targets in road transport. Thanks to the cleaner grid, the climate advantage of EVs has increased significantly in just four years, while hybrid emissions remain almost unchanged. Full hybrids produce around 20 per cent fewer emissions than petrol cars, and PHEVs around 30 per cent less. While hybridisation offers some savings, they fall far short of those achieved by pure EVs – and are insufficient to meet long-term climate goals, says the ICCT.

The ICCT warns against selective data usage, which has fuelled public confusion about EV climate impacts. “Misinformation and selective use of data have generated confusion regarding the climate credentials of electric vehicles,” the authors write. For example, while EV production causes roughly 40 per cent more emissions than petrol cars, this ‘CO2 backpack’ is offset after just 17,000 kilometres – typically within the first or second year of use. After that, the EV remains cleaner for the rest of its average 20-year life.

The report’s concluding policy recommendation is unambiguous: “The findings support the following policy considerations: The phaseout of new ICEV, HEV, and PHEV registrations by 2035 would align sector emissions with EU climate targets.”