South Korea accelerates EV plans

EV Update reports: South Korea’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy has broght forward its plan to produce mid-size, all-electric vehicles from 2017 to 2014.

The ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with a consortium led by the country's leading automaker Hyundai Motor to develop the country's first mid-size electric vehicle for commercial use by 2014, in an attempt to secure a dominant position in the global market. The government plans to invest $65 million in the project, including building electric charging stations, an extension to an earlier grand plan of investing $342.6 million by 2014 on research and development for high-performance batteries and other related systems. The Hyundai consortium also includes GM Korea, the South Korean unit of US automaker General Motors, and Renault Samsung Motors, the South Korean unit of French automaker Renault.

Hyundai Motor developed the country's first compact electric vehicle, the BlueOn. It produced about 250 units in 2011 for public offices mostly. It plans to introduce an Elantra-sized compact electric car from 2014.

Kia Motors, Hyundai’s sister company, also aims to introduce an electric version of its Ray mini car in 2013, depending on Korea’s progress in building charging stations for electric vehicles.
GM Korea will produce the electric version of Chevrolet Spark mini car in 2013 for export to the US but has no plans to sell it in the domestic market. Renault Samsung Motors will supply its Fluence ZE electric car early next year to government organisations but has no plans to sell it at dealerships for now.

A lack of charging infrastructure is a major hurdle for the wide adoption of EV. There are many players in the charging infrastructure sector include KEPCO, Hyundai Motors, LS Industrial Systems, LS Cable, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Electro Mechanics, SK Energy, GS Caltex, Samsung C&T and telecom companies like KT, SK Telecom, and LG U+.

Infrastructure problems are a common issue for all electric carmakers in Korea. Currently there are around 1,800 slow/fast charging stations in Korea and most of them are used for Hyundai and Kia electric vehicles used by the Korean government.

The government plans to increase that figure to 3,100 stations by the end of 2012 and 150,000 charging stations across the country by 2016 to help boost sales of EVs.

Meanwhile, cientists from South Korea’s Ulsan Institute of Science and Technology are garnering attention for a new lithium-ion battery, which can allegedly charge up to 120 times faster than a normal lithium-ion battery. The researchers are currently planning a battery pack for EVs, which could be fully charged in less than a minute. The system relies on the use of Lithium manganese oxide as the cathode material. This is then soaked in a solution with graphite, which is then carbonised to create a network of conductive ways that run through the cathode.

Reva to sell 30,000 EVs per year by 2015

The Hindustan Times reports: Mahindra Reva, the electric car manufacturer from the stable of the $15.4 billion (around Rs. 85,431.5 crore) diversified conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), targets to sell 30,000 battery-run cars a year by 2015-16. The firm will start with rolling out 6,000 cars a year from its newly commissioned plant near Bangalore. With exports contributing a major share, Mahindra Reva expects to achieve full capacity realisation of 30,000 cars annually in the next three years.
“We see great opportunity in electric vehicles. Future mobility has to be clean, convenient and cost-effective,” said Anand Mahindra, chairman and managing director of M&M.
Mahindra Reva’s first four-seater electric car code-named NXR is ready for launch during the upcoming festival season. The company spent R100 crore in developing the new car and putting up a new plant which is platinum-rated by Indian Green Building Council.
Reva, which came into Mahindra fold two years back, sold around 4,000 two-seater battery-run cars in 10 years, out of which a majority of them were sold in 24 overseas destinations.
In India, the sales have been around 1,000 cars so far as the huge cost of batteries made electric cars prohibitively expensive — R5 lakh upwards for two-seater city drive versions. The non-availability of charging stations too dampened customer interest.
Anand Mahindra said the company will push for government incentives for eco-friendly electric vehicles. Delhi state government already offers 15% subsidy and VAT refund for electric cars. States such as Gujarat and Karnataka offer lower road tax for electric vehicles.
Mahindra Reva bets on the growing popularity of electric vehicles in developed markets such as UK, Australia and Norway. “UK is our biggest market We sold 1,000 cars in London,” said Chetan Maini, chief technology officer, Mahindra Reva.
“Electric vehicle penetration will grow faster in 8-10 years. Some reports say it will be 10% of global auto sales by 2020,” said Pravin Shah, CEO, M&M.

Green Illusions book ignites dust-to-dirt debate

In his book 'Green Illusions - The Dirty Sectrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism' Ozzie Zehner of the University of California argues that electric cars are not greener than conventional cars and that in fact they cause more harm, because of the carbon emissions in the manufacturing process. Zehner's argument is that previous calculations about a car's environmental impact ignores the impact of pollution in the manufacturing process.

Ricardo state that a petrol car produces on average 5.6 tons of C02 versus an electric car's 8.8 tons of CO2 in the manufacturing process, but that overall during its lifecycle the electric car was greener, 18.9 tons versus 30.4 tons for a petrol car and 27.6 tons for a diesel car.

So much for Zehner's book then.

By the way, check out the new Reva NXR from Mahindra Reva in India. This car is manufactured in the country's first Platinum certified plant for low emissions. Back in 2008 when I was working there we made a commitment to the all Reva cars being 'Born Green', that is to low carbon manufacturing and to measuring the dust to dirt (lifecycle) emissions of the model through the supply chain, manufacturing and operation, to end of life.

Here is a picture of the production plant, inaugurated today.

Catch up everyone.

Hiriko video

It's getting closer to production.... the brilliant Hiriko project.

Top speed 31mph, range 75 miles, selling to municipalities for city car shares.

A German perspective on EV recharging

Gareth Ragg of EV Update speaks to Tom Oefler, International Sales Manager at RWE Effizienz GmbH in Dortmund, Germany about electric charging in Europe.

EV Update: The EV charging sector is very dynamic, with lots of options on the table. What approach is RWE taking in Europe’s fast-moving charging space?
Tom Oefler: From our perspective, we see all the different situations in daily life where you’re going to charge. As part of our national platform of E-Mobility, we have home charging of course and DC ultra fast charging. We also have infrastructure partners, which covers charging at work and public or semi-public charging. The highest number of charge point for us is home charging [with 62,000 charge points expected by 2014] and at work 935,890 charge points by 2014]. The largest share of consumption – 80% - we think will be at home or at work. We see public charging on highways and semi-public charging in restaurants and shopping areas as the lower part of consumption, at 20%.

EV Update: Does RWE lean towards fast DC charging over AC charging?
Tom Oefler: We do understand the advantages of quick charging, with DC or 22kW AC charging. But from a grid perspective, these DC charging powers do put more stress on the grid than AC [charging]. We believe that - especially when you see parking times – there are definitely options at home and at work where charging of cars can be done more efficiently. There’s been some analysis done in Germany on grid loads at different charging levels where there’s no smart charging integrated. When you charge with 3.7kW, a peek will be reached which is much lower than when you charge with 20kW.

EV Update: How would you summarise your approach to smart charging then?
Tom Oefler: We see smart charging, or intelligent charging, as an opportunity to influence the charging process so as to accommodate or take into consideration either the renewable energy production, and also to look at the load or demand for energy in the grid in general. So when there’s high already demand, you’re trying to avoid charging your EV during that time and push into other periods during the day or the night.

EV Update: Are standards required to manage demand and supply needs for EV use going forward?
Tom Oefler: Yes, I think it will be crucial over the next few years as new standards are integrated into cars and charging infrastructure. Basically there are two standards at present. There’s PWM Signal [IEC 61851], which is widely used right now. This decides how much energy will be provided to the car, and how much energy the car asks for from the charging station. Right now the development in the second standard – IEC 15118 – concentrates on a bi-directional communication between the car and the infrastructure. The IEC 15118 is basically a negotiation between the charging needs of the driver and the grid. So when are the peek loads? When are prices high or low?
If you plan to influence the charging behaviour of the charging car and you do not charge the car in evening hours when demand is high anyway, then you need information from the user of the car to be able to know their limitation in usage of the car. Our main goal is to reduce the impact on the grid. So when there’s a lot of renewable energy, for example, we could influence the charging process and charge when there’s a lot of wind. That’s why we need this information [about customer car use]. Otherwise we run the risk of delaying the charging process because we are waiting for more renewable energy that has been forecasted during the night, but then the driver is leaving and his battery is not charged.

EV Update: When do you expect the IEC 15118 standard to come into force?
Tom Oefler: Well, RWE and Daimler worked on the very early parts – SCCP – where an automatic communication between the car and the charging point happened. That was the starting point of this IEC development. We expect IEC 15118 to be finalised and in implementation by the first half of 2013. It will be the basis for smart charging, from our point of view.
Our charging points – we are working on solutions for this POC communication. We do have POC in all of our smart charging stations across Europe, which number around 1,400. If everything is charged at the maximum, that gives us a capacity of 30MW, which already gives you some leeway to integrate renewable energies or to function as storage or flexible loads in the grid.

EV Update: A recent EV Update readers survey suggests SAE (80%) would outpace CHADeMO (20%) as the dominant charging standard in Europe. Do you agree?
Tom Oefler: Yes, I think CHADeMO faces some serious challenges. It’s quite a political discussion too. The German manufacturers are pushing for CHADeMO, and they have been quite successful at this. Technically, I think both will work. Ultimately it comes down to what will be presented by the OEMs.

India gets serious about EVs

The Indian Government has pledged an unprecedented financial commitment to the EV industry and will invest Rs 13,000 crore ($2.3bn) over eight years.

The investment has two goals: to incentivise private players into the EV sector; and to help the government save around Rs 27,000 crore in fuel costs (that's getting on for $5bn!).

This looks like an exciting opportunity for the EV industry in general in India, and in particular my former company Reva Electric Vehicle Company, now part of the $10bn Mahindra & Mahindra conglomerate. The picture above shows the Reva NXG concept that I helped to develop for the 2010 Frankfurt International Motor Show and is a sign of the potential for India to become a world leader in EVs.

The National Mission for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (NMHEV) will propose that banks offer loans to customers for purchasing electric vehicles to help boost EV sales, setting up R&D centres and tax benefits, to reduce the high cost of EV production in comparison with fuel-based vehicles.
The legislation will also propose that all upcoming housing complexes across the country have mandatory charging points for EVs, thereby insuring a working infrastructure to support new fleets of electric vehicles.

Now all India needs is a reliable, clean , power supply.

 

Mitsubishi total imiEVs: 28,000

Mitsubishi has announced it has manufactured 28,000 i-MiEVs in Japan since 2009 in the same statement that said Peugeot Citroen have stopped orders of the iON (the rebranded imiEV for European markets) and C-Zero (ditto).

US EV market to grow at 43% CAGR

A new report titled the Electric Vehicle Market in the US 2011-2015 fromTechNavio forecasts the Electric Vehicle market in the US to grow at a CAGR of 43.39 percent over the period 2011-2015.

One of the key factors contributing to this market growth forecast is the increasing number of advanced vehicle technology projects and the increasing growth of the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure market in the US.                               

France increases EV subsidies

Let’s hear it for France who have increased EV incentives to euros 7,000 for the purchase of an electric car and euros 4,000 for a hybrid.

Malta to offer EV subsidies

The government will be offering a 25% grant, up to a maximum of €4,000, on the purchase of electric vehicles (M1 category – meaning passenger vehicles comprising no more than eight seats), and it plans to reduce the vehicle licence from €75 to €10,  introduce preferential parking for EVs and install up to 100 charging points across Malta and Gozo.

It will cost €2 million and will be part-funded by the EU’s Life+ programme. Two calls for tenders have been published for the purchase of 24 electric vehicles will be used during the course of the project.