BYD: Delivering 200 More e6 EVs To London-Based Thriev

CleanTechnica.com: BYD will be expanding its EV leasing deal with the London-based private-car service Thriev, according to recent reports.

The Chinese car manufacturer will now be delivering a further 200 of its e6 electric cars to Thriev by April 2015. The agreement marks what is now the largest overseas rental agreement for the automaker.



BYD has already provided Thriev with 32 of its e6 electric vehicles — which are now currently in use by the chauffeur provider in London. BYD is also currently planning, in addition to the new expansion deal, to bring its e6 cars, as well as electric buses, to major American markets like New York and Chicago.

This new deal represents just another in BYD’s recent line of successes — the company has been on something of a roll lately. Owing to this good fortune the company has seen its stock rise about 25% this year in Hong Kong trading. Compared against the 2.9% rise seen in the benchmark Hang Seng Index, that’s a big rise.

Amongst the company’s other recent successes are the fact that large taxi fleets of its EVs are now in use in Shenzhen in southern China; the company’s recent winning of a tender to provide emissions-free taxis to Brussels (BYD beat out both Nissan Motors and Renault SA to win the Brussels tender); a big spike in EV sales; etc.

The company seems to have gotten itself to a pretty enviable position over these last few years — near the top of the heap, just as the technology is likely approaching a boom period, especially in China.

Sales of the Nissan LEAF electric car turning a corner

Chronicle.Live.co.uk: Sales of a flagship electric car made on Tyneside have turned a corner, putting Sunderland workers at the forefront of a vehicle revolution.

The boss behind the Nissan LEAF car has admitted that they got off to a slow start with the car’s European sales as there weren’t enough places to plug them in to charge.

However today, Jean-Pierre Diernaz, Nissan’s electric vehicle director has told the Sunday Sun that they have just enjoyed a record breaking number of sales in September and are now beating other electric car makers.

Mr Diernaz, said: “If you want to reach the mass of volume you need to have a level of infrastructure charges on the ground. When we started we didn’t have enough charges so we now have a safety net of charges across the country which makes the LEAF more attractive.”

“We launched the car at around €400 on a monthly payment but now we are €200 a month. Our car is much more accessible.”

Sales of the Nissan LEAF, which has been made at the plant at Washington,Sunderland, since March 2013, hit 851 sales in September and it is now the best selling all-electric car in the world.

The September figures were a 156% increase on the same month in 2013 and tops the previous record monthly sales which was 630.

Across Europe there are 29, 620 cars on the road as well as 351 charge points in the UK.

All the cars made at the Washington site are sold in Europe and there are other factories in the USA, for American buyers and Japan, which serves the Asian market.

The centre also creates the electric batteries for the cars in a secretive and highly secure plant room, so that this cutting edge technology is shielded from the outside world, and therefore potential competitors.

Jean-Pierre Diernaz, said sales are now picking up and the LEAF has just celebrated its one billionth kilometre on the roads.

He said they have experienced the ‘normal adoption process’ for breakthrough technology such as electric cars.

He said: “It starts by talking to early adopters, which is less than 1.5% of your target group. They back the car because they want a low emission car.”

He also said Government incentives had helped shift sales.

He said: “Overall factors are more positive today than they were in 2011 and we have more expertise to market the car, than we did three years ago.

“We are more expert at explaining and selling the car. Customers now tell all their friends how great their car is so we see a lot of clustering, where one person on a street gets one and others follow.”

Earlier this week the top secret battery plant for the Nissan LEAF was revealed for the first time to journalists.

Protective suits and footwear must be worn by all staff, who must then go for an ‘air-shower’ to make sure no dirt is brought into the production line which is creating the anodes and cathodes that go into a battery pack.

Why Elon Musk's Batteries Scare the Hell Out of the Electric Company

Bloomberg.com: Climate: Now or Never

Here’s why something as basic as a battery both thrills and terrifies the U.S. utility industry.

At a sagebrush-strewn industrial park outside of Reno, Nevada, bulldozers are clearing dirt for Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA)’s battery factory, projected to be the world’s largest.

Tesla’s founder, Elon Musk, sees the $5 billion facility as a key step toward making electric cars more affordable, while ending reliance on oil and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. At first blush, the push toward more electric cars looks to be positive for utilities struggling with stagnant sales from energy conservation and slow economic growth.

Yet Musk’s so-called gigafactory may soon become an existential threat to the 100-year-old utility business model. The facility will also churn out stationary battery packs that can be paired with rooftop solar panels to store power. Already, a second company led by Musk, SolarCity Corp. (SCTY), is packaging solar panels and batteries to power California homes and companies including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)

“The mortal threat that ever cheaper on-site renewables pose” comes from systems that include storage, said Amory Lovins, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a Snowmass, Colorado-based energy consultant. “That is an unregulated product you can buy at Home Depot that leaves the old business model with no place to hide.”

J.B. Straubel, chief technology officer for Palo Alto, California-based Tesla, said the company views utilities as partners not adversaries in its effort to build out battery storage. Musk was not available for comment.

The Tesla systems are arriving just as utilities begin to feel increasing pressure worldwide from the disruption posed by renewable energy.
Lima Meeting

In Germany, the rapid rise of tax-subsidized clean energy has undermined wholesale prices and decimated the profitability of coal and natural gas plants. Germany’s largest utility EON SE (EOAN) said this week it will spin off its fossil-fuel plant business to focus on renewables in part because of new clean energy competitors coming onto its turf.

Threats to the traditional utility model come as energy and environment take the world stage at the latest round of United Nations climate talks that began Dec. 1 in Lima. Delegates, backed by global environmental groups, want to leave the conference with a draft agreement to tackle climate change by lowering carbon-dioxide emissions -- something that has eluded them for years.

The Rocky Mountain Institute’s Lovins has installed solar on his house in Snowmass and uses it to power his electric car. His monthly electric bill: $25. He has a lot of company.

100,000 Plug-ins

In California, where 40 percent of the nation’s plug-in cars have been sold, about half of electric vehicle owners have solar or want to install it, according to a February survey by the Center for Sustainable Energy, a green-energy advocate. More than 100,000 plug-ins have been sold in California, according to data from HybridCars.com and Baum & Associates, though EVs make up less than 1 percent of all U.S. car sales.

Few homes and businesses use solar and back-up-battery storage, proof for some utilities that the systems remain a hard sell outside of states like California or markets like Hawaiiwhere high power costs make solar competitive.

Still, the Edison Electric Institute, a trade group representing America’s investor-owned utilities, recently announced that its members will help to encourage electric vehicle use by spending $50 million annually to buy plug-in service trucks and invest in car-charging technology.

“Advancing plug-in electric vehicles and technologies is an industry priority,” said EEI President Thomas Kuhn.
Charging Stations

Analysts think the industry has been slow to react. Tesla, SolarCity and green-energy companies are already moving aggressively into unoccupied space. “Some of the more nimble companies that think and move more quickly, they are beating the utilities to the punch,” said Ben Kallo, a San Francisco-based analyst for Robert W. Baird & Co.

Tesla has installed 135 fast-charging stations, some powered by solar, across North America where its Model S drivers can refuel for free. NRG Energy Inc. is building a network of public charging stations in major cities that drivers can access on a per-charge basis or for a flat monthly fee of about $15.

And then there’s the home front. In a July report, Morgan Stanley said Tesla’s home and business energy-storage product could be “disruptive” in the U.S. and in Europe as customers seek to avoid utility fees by going “off-grid.”
‘Sufficient Appreciation’

“We believe there is not sufficient appreciation of the magnitude of energy storage cost reduction that Tesla has already achieved, nor of the further cost reduction magnitude that Tesla might be able to achieve once the company has constructed its ‘gigafactory,’” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote.

Tesla sees itself taking on a grand mission -- not just to lower emissions from cars and trucks, but to have a societal impact. “If we only do it on the transportation side, we ignore the utility side, and we are probably ignoring half of our responsibility,” said Mateo Jaramillo, director of powertrain business development at Tesla Motors, at the recent Platts California Power and Gas Conference in San Francisco.

Tesla and Oncor Electric Delivery, owner of the largest power-line network in Texas, have discussed a $2 billion investment in stationary battery storage to solve the problem of fluctuating output from wind and solar. Tesla and SolarCity are separate entities and only share management at the board level.

Tesla fell 2 percent today to $223.71 in New York.

Smart Home

A glimpse of that future can be seen in Davis, California, where Honda Motor Co. has developed a “smart home” that produces more energy than it uses while charging a plug-in car. The home was designed in collaboration with SolarCity, PG&E Corp. and the University of California at Davis to showcase energy-efficient and renewable technologies. It will serve as a home for a member of the UC Davis community and a lab for the study of new businesses and technologies.

SolarCity rival SunPower Corp. is offering its solar and storage systems to buyers of electric cars from Audi AG and rebates for solar-panels to Ford Motor Co. plug-in customers. SunPower also has struck a partnership with homebuilder KB Home to begin installing solar and storage systems in California.

The time when residents can charge their electric cars with excess solar stored in their home batteries is “not decades away, that is years away,” said SunPower CEO Tom Werner.
Holy Grail

Both SolarCity and SunPower say their goal isn’t to move customers completely off-grid, just to reduce their dependence on it. “Grid storage has been the Holy Grail for renewables because the energy is intermittent,” Kallo said. “Finding a way to store that is very powerful.”

For the power companies, the stakes are high.

In June, EEI issued a call to action, saying converting people from gasoline cars to electric vehicles is nearly essential for survival. The report concluded: “The bottom line is that the electric utility industry needs the electrification of the transportation sector to remain viable and sustainable in the long run.”

To that point, executives at some of the nation’s largest utilities from New York to California say they are preparing their grids for more plug-in cars, reaching out to automakers and working with regulators to make sure customers as well as the utilities benefit from the trend.
Natural Partnership

“I read a lot of articles about Elon Musk versus the utility companies,” said John Shipman, who heads electric vehicle programs at New York-based Consolidated Edison Co. “I don’t see it that way at all. There is a natural partnership that can exist there.”

In California, where electric vehicle adoption is the highest in the nation, and Governor Jerry Brown has set a goal of having 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2025, utilities are already in the game.

“The electric grid will be just as important in the years to come because the grid is becoming the platform that makes it possible for people to plug in solar panels, batteries and charging stations,” said Ellen Hayes, a PG&E spokeswoman. “Having a solar panel that isn’t connected to the grid is like having a computer that’s not connected to the Internet.”

Edison International’s Southern California Edison and Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas & Electric have proposed investing about $500 million in car charging stations. Along with PG&E, they are backing a proposal that would loosen restrictions on utilities owning charging facilities.
Grid Upgrades

There is yet another side to the argument -- can utilities manage the load?

“Electric vehicles can be the best thing to ever happen to our industry or the worst thing to ever happen to our industry,” said James Avery, a senior vice president at San Diego Gas & Electric.

Avery doesn’t foresee most customers leaving the grid, but does see the risk of an influx of electric cars that overtaxes the network. SDG&E, whose territory has the highest penetration of plug-ins in the U.S., plans to spend as much as $3.2 billion to upgrade its grid. It already offers cheaper rates for EV owners to charge overnight when power demand is lowest.

Southern California Edison is planning to spend about $9.2 billion through 2017 to allow the two-way flow of electricity on its system, said Edison International CEO Ted Craver.

“We are certainly big supporters of electric transportation,” Craver said.

He added: “That electric car isn’t just going to stay at home. It’s going to go other places. It’s going to need to get charged in other places. And I think our ability to provide that glue for all those things that are going to plug into that network is really how we see our core business.”
Shifting Landscape

Some utilities are more amendable to the shifting landscape than others. Last year, Pinnacle West Capital Corp.’s Arizona Public Service raised the ire of its customers and the solar industry by tacking on a monthly fee of about $5 for residents with solar systems. Adding fixed connection charges or additional fees to such customers may cause more of them to defect, said Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute.

“Utilities should look at Elon as a brilliant entrepreneur and innovator who is helping create the new electricity industry and betting against him hasn’t worked so well,” Lovins said. “I would look at ways to benefit from what he is bringing to the market.”

VW buys stake in battery startup QuantumScape

Electric-Vehiclenews.com: Volkswagen bought a stake in battery startup QuantumScape with the aim of developing technology that can more than triple the range of its electric cars, according to people familiar with the matter.

VW is considering using the energy-storage technology, which is fireproof, for vehicles from the namesake brand as well as Porsche and Audi, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. Tests to show the system is viable for cars are due to be completed in mid-2015, they said. The VW of America unit bought a 5 percent holding and has options to raise the stake.

Peter Thul, a spokesman at Wolfsburg, Germany-based VW, declined to comment on any investment. Calls to the main switchboard and an e-mail to San Jose-based QuantumScape seeking comment weren’t answered. Financial details of the company weren’t available.

Solid-State Technology

QuantumScape is an early-stage battery startup that has been working on commercializing technology from Stanford University. It was was founded and is being led by Infinera co-founder and CEO Jagdeep Singh, and is backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Khosla Ventures.

Licensing technology from Stanford, the company has been looking to create batteries that are energy dense as well as safer than standard lithium ion batteries. The company’s technology uses a new method for stacking trace amounts of materials together, which can lead to high energy and power densities, and also higher cycle life than traditional lithium ion batteries.

The Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program awarded grant funding to the stealthy firm back in 2011 describing the technology as:


This novel battery stores energy by moving electrons, rather than ions, and uses electron/hole redox instead of capacitive polarization of a double-layer. This technology uses a novel architecture that has potential for very high energy density because it decouples the two functions of capacitors: charge separation and breakdown strength. If successful, this project will develop a completely new paradigm in energy storage for electric vehicles that could revolutionize the electric vehicle industry.

700 km range

“I see great potential in this new technology, possibly boosting the range to as much as 700 kilometers (430 miles),” VW Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn said in a Nov. 6 speech at Stanford Universityin California. That’s more than three times the range of the battery-powered version of the VW Golf. Tesla’s Model S has a range of 265 miles, according to its website.

Electric Car technology is critical for meeting tightening emissions regulations, especially for luxury-car manufacturers such as VW, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Volkswagen’s increased focus on electric cars would put pressure on Tesla to maintain its sales lead.

The German automaker employs about 44,000 research and development engineers and spends $13 billion a year on new technology. Tesla’s entire workforce totaled about 5,800 employees at the end of 2013, and research and development expenses were $280 million in the first nine months of 2014.

“Electro-chemistry is a field of the greatest importance internationally and across industries,” and is “a field where we can and must achieve progress,” Winterkorn said in the speech. In July, he said the company had invested in a battery-technology company without providing details.

China: VW group opportunities

Forbes.com: Audi's Bid In China's Promising Electric Vehicle Market To Lift VW

Volkswagen AG is expected to cross a record 10 million unit sales this year, and surpass Toyota as the world’s largest automaker in doing so. The automaker, which boasts a diverse portfolio of brands, including passenger vehicle divisions Skoda, Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, commercial vehicle brands Scania and MAN, and its own branded cars and trucks, is also mindful of the growth opportunities in the global electric vehicle market. Volkswagen launched its e-Golf, an all-electric car, in the U.S. at the tail-end of last month, and its line-up in Europe, comprising the e-Up!, e-Golf and the newly launched Audi A3 e-tron, holds 8% market share. Although sales of pure-play electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, taken collectively as electric vehicle sales, remain a small percentage of the net automotive sales worldwide, demand for these environmentally-viable vehicles has been steadily rising in certain markets such as the U.S. and Europe. The U.S. forms approximately 40% of the net EV sales, which stood at roughly 230,000 units worldwide in the first nine months of the year. EV sales in the country have risen by roughly 24% through September. On the other hand, nearly 69,000 EVs have been sold in Europe in the first nine months of 2014, as compared to 67,000 unit sales in the whole of 2013.

China’s EV Market Growth Is Slow But Strong

Demand for electrically powered vehicles is rapidly rising around the world mainly due to a relatively less harmful impact on the environment, rising concerns over global warming and lower running costs, as compared to gasoline-powered engines. In addition, governments around the world provide various incentives to boost electric vehicle sales. Moreover, electric vehicles also have lower battery prices, adding to their appeal. Due to these reasons, global light-duty plug-in electric vehicle volumes are expected to grow at a CAGR of 24.6% through 2023, compared to only 2.6% growth in the overall light-duty vehicle market. Although steady sales for EVs in the U.S. and Europe underscore this estimate, demand for EVs in China has been lower than expected. Alarming pollution levels prompted China to encourage sales of electrically-powered vehicles in the country, but despite the provision of subsidies and other government incentives for the purchase of such vehicles, the absence of a well established battery-charging infrastructure and weak efforts to expedite building of charging networks has hurt EV sales in the country.

China had earlier in 2012 set the target of reaching 500,000 unit sales of electric vehicles by 2015, and over 5 million EV sales by 2020. This means that China aimed for EVs to constitute around one-seventh of all vehicle sales in the country by the end of the decade. However, plug-in electric vehicle sales stood at only 17,600 in China last year, comprising 14,604 pure electrics and 3,038 plug-in hybrids. Although this market grew by an impressive 38% year over year, reaching the aggressive figure of 500,000 sales by next year seems improbable. What does seem probable is high growth in this market, even if it doesn’t come at previously estimated exorbitant levels.

Sales of EVs in China have quadrupled in the last year or so, reaching nearly 43,000 units through the first three quarters of the calender year. In fact, although electric vehicles form a very small portion of the country’s automotive market at present, their share in the overall market grew to 0.33% in September, up from 0.08% last September.

Audi Looks To Launch Electric Vehicles In China

Volkswagen has identified the growth potential of China’s electric vehicle market, and is looking to launch over twenty electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the country over the next few years, ranging from small-sized cars to large SUVs. China is Volkswagen’s single largest market, constituting more than one-third the net volumes for the German automaker. The luxury subsidiary Audi holds the lead in the country’s premium vehicle market over compatriots BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Audi’s China sales have risen by over 16% through October, while the overall automotive market has grown by under 10% during this period. Luxury demand remains high in China, and as automakers around the world ramp-up their operations in the country, Audi’s unassailable lead could be threatened. Ford launched sales of its luxury vehicle brand Lincoln in China last month, GM expects a massive 40% growth in Cadillac sales in the country this year, and Jaguar Land Rover is looking to enter the high volume compact saloon segment to compete with the likes of Audi A3 and A4 next year. BMW and Mercedes are also expanding local production and opening more dealerships to compete better on a pricing front and penetrate deeper into China. All of this is a looming threat to Audi.

While Audi sales continue to remain strong in China, the growth potential of the luxury EV segment, albeit small, is not to be missed. BMW launched its i3 and i8 in the country in September, starting at approximately $73,000 and $325,000 respectively. BMW aims to sell around 1,000 combined units of the i3/i8 by the end of 2014. And then there is the luxury sedan Tesla Model S, which has sold nearly 3,000 in China so far this year. Volkswagen announced earlier in the year that together with its Chinese automotive partner FAW, the company will develop the Audi A6 e-tron, specifically designed for the Chinese market, at the Changchun plant. The current green lineup for Audi in China includes the Q5 hybrid quattro SUV, the A6 hybrid, and the long-wheelbase A8 hybrid, and with the anticipated launch of the A3 and A6 e-trons in the country by next year, the luxury brand will further expand its presence in China’s luxury EV market.

W. Europe October and YTD pure EV sales

China: Smartphone maker working on an electric car

BGR.in: Smartphone maker Xiaomi is looking at venturing into the automotive business, and is rumoured to be working on an electric car. While this wasn’t possible before, the Chinese government recently unveiled a plan to allow new players, including non-auto companies, to enter the electric vehicles sector, TechInAsia reports.

Xiaomi’s plans to enter the vehicle sector was first revealed earlier this year, when CEO Lei Jun said, “The company is now working with a well-known car enterprise to secretly develop a kind of pure electric automobile, which will be put into mass production in 2015 at the soonest.” Jun was speaking at the China Internet of Vehicles Conference 2014 held earlier this year in Shenzhen.

While the company has successfully kept its plans under wraps, there have been a few rumors trickling out of the mills. The publication reports that Xiaomi’s VP Li Wanqiang is currently in Silicon Valley working on a new product that could very well be an electric car. The Valley after all is the headquarters for quite a few car companies, including Tesla. A few rumors circulating online also claim that Xiaomi could be working with Tesla for manufacturing its first electric car.

As mentioned, until recently Xiaomi wasn’t allowed to do any kid of business in the automotive sector. China’s rules only allowed automotive companies to develop cars, and the only way Xiaomi could build a car was to buy a car company. But recently, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) revealed a set of new regulations that allows non-automotive companies to enter the electric vehicle sector. These regulations however are currently under review and only when passed by the government, would Xiaomi get the green light to launch its first electric car.

Mahindra Reva to use Formula E tech in its road cars

Mahindra Racing’s Formula E team came fifth in its first outing in Malaysia.

AutoCarPro.In: Indian electric car maker Mahindra Reva is in the process of developing customised cars to compete in Formula E racing competition soon. Mahindra Reva is the first OEM from India to participate in Formula E racing, the first ever racing competition for environment friendly cars.

The company, which has a dedicated division for motorsport christened ‘Mahindra Racing’, will utilise the expertise that gained in Formula E to implement and improve its road cars. Mahindra Reva is, along with Audi and Renault, one of the three OEMs in Formula E, in which 10 teams across the world are participating.

Two rounds in the 2014-15 championship are over, the first being in Beijing, China on September 13 and the second in Putrajaya, Malaysia on November 22. The third race is to be held on Punta del Este, Uruguay, on December 13. The nine-round championship will end in the UK on June 27, 2015. At present, Mahindra Racing is sixth with 18 points after two races.

Indian racer Karun Chandhok, along with Brazilian Bruno Senna, comprises the Mahindra Racing team in the Formula E championship. According to Chandhok, "Formula E is a different sports arena – it is not competing with F1, GP2 or F3 or anything else. It wants to establish itself as a parallel and vertical sport," he told a section of media persons on the sidelines of an interaction organised by Mahindra-Reva recently in Bangalore.

The former Caterham F1 driver, who races for Mahindra Racing’s Formula E team, says Formula E cannot be compared with any other series. The objective of Formula E is to transfer race car technology to road cars. Chandhok adds, "It is a double whammy. They are focusing on marketing and engineering point of view and want to transfer technology from the racing track to the road."

Chandhok says Formula E is a huge mental challenge unlike Formula 1 where speed and physical endurance are major challenges.

According to Chetan Maini, CEO of Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles, the gap is much less between Formula E and regular road cars, because the technologies are matured on the same time. He said, “For example, the batteries we use in Formula E are similar to what we use in the Mahindra e2O and even other features like telematics technology. I think the high-performance powertrain and the battery in a Formula E car will also come in road cars much quicker.”

Maini is of the opinion that his team has done pretty well in the championship opening Beijing race, its first, where Karun Chandhok finished fifth. He said, “I think it is a very good start. To be in the top five in the very first race is a very good start. We have a good crew, a good team and we will try to retain our position within the top five in the series.”

Regarding the future of e-racing, he said, “Formula E racing happens in a new environment. It is a new culture and people love the environment and technology. Formula E is a new format involving a larger community. It attracts people as it has been conducted on road where more people can gather.”

Speaking about Formula E cars, Maini said this year all the cars were made by a common entity and given to the teams by the organizer Formula Electric Holding and the vehicles were later fine-tuned. From 2015, the organizers will allow OEMs to design their own cars and Mahindra Reva is awaiting the final rules.

“We have a few people in Bangalore who look at simulation and race strategy and are also helping understand future constructive requirements where we will actually design the vehicle. So in future we will have a much more involved role where we will work on the powertrain and battery management while today the role has been mostly related to simulation, strategy and car setting,” he adds.

Maini says competition in e-racing can drive EV technology in road cars. “I would say that battery technology, motor technology and telematics technology which are already in road cars can be pushed further.”

In fact, Anand Mahindra, chairman and managing director, Mahindra Group, had earlier said: "We strongly believe that Formula E can provide an excellent global showcase for our electric vehicle technology."

As an EV maker, Mahindra Reva has global aspirations and foresees potential business in new markets in Europe. Formula E will help build its brand. . . silently. 

UK: October EV sales up 352% Year On Year

S Korea goes incentives crazy

Kia Soul EV


Samsung Motors SM3 Z.E.

InsideEVs.com: It’s hard to believe but in Seoul, South Korea incentives to buy an electric car can amount to up to $24,825!

Everything is thanks to the latest partnership between the South Korean city and BMW, GM, Kia, and Renault Samsung.

Under the “2014 Civilian Supply of Electric Cars Program” the city government of Seoul sets aside 20 million won (over $18,400) to offer to residents who buy an EV from participating manufacturers.

Corporate and organizational buyers can get another 7 million won (roughly $6,400) if they install a charging point.

Well, maybe now electric car sales will surge as there are just 1,500 of them registered in Seoul out of 20 million conventional cars. However, prices in South Korea are high. According to CNET, the entry model BMW i3 LUX costs 57.5 million won or $52,933 USD in Korea.

Spark EV

There is also problem with a strange law that treats electric cars like neighborhood electric Vehicles:

“Adoption of electric vehicles as mode of transport has been relatively slow for Seoul. While lack of charging stations is a concern, the delay is mainly attributable to local laws that prohibit electric vehicles from entering roads with speed limits higher than 60 kilometres per hour.

That makes up nearly 335 kilometres of beltways and highways in a city where traffic congestion is a habitual issue. Government regulators remain adamant about lifting this ban, claiming that safety standards and performance output of electric vehicles are not up to par with high-speed road conditions, making them prone to car accidents.”