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Nissan and the Kingdom of Jordan Partner on Electric Cars

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:46:06 +0000

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote zero-emission mobility in the Kingdom, heralding the first partnership of its kind in the Arab region.

Under the MOU, Jordan and Nissan will undertake to promote electric cars as a sustainable mobility solution, which will help Jordan address the key issues of energy independence, CO2 emissions and environmental conservation.

The MOU will focus on ensuring all the necessary conditions for electric car mass market are in place, particularly government incentives, charging infrastructure and public education. Jordan will also consider purchasing up to 300 units of Nissan LEAF electric cars for its public sector. The Government is also working to finalize it electric vehicle standards.

A Working Group will commence to study the implementation of an Electric Vehicle Pilot Program, potentially within the Greater Amman Municipality and other stakeholders. Taking a holistic approach to zero emission, the partners will also explore renewable energy for electric vehicle charging using solar energy, the use of second-life batteries, as well as other new mobility concepts such as car-sharing.

Nissan and Hawaii Partner on Electric Cars

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:33:09 +0000

The State of Hawaii has partnered with Nissan North America to promote the use of electric cars and infrastructure in the state.

The partnership, which was announced at the Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo in Honolulu, marks Nissan’s first definitive agreement in the United States and will help to foster the adoption of electric-car technology.

Under the agreement, Nissan and Hawaii will develop plans to promote a charging infrastructure for electric cars, as well as the deployment, operation and maintenance of a charging network.

The partners also will work to coordinate the establishment of policies and help streamline the deployment of an EV infrastructure. Nissan is committing to bringing a supply of Nissan LEAF electric cars to Hawaii and readying the dealer body to sell and lease them to consumers.

Earlier this year, Hawaii has been selected by Nissan as an initial launch market for the electric Nissan LEAF when it goes on sale in the U.S.

Hawaii has demonstrated policy leadership through the creation of a $4,500 state tax credit towards the purchase of an electric car and a $500 state tax credit towards the purchase and installation of a home charging station. The state tax credit, paired with an available $7,500 federal tax credit, could bring the price of a Nissan LEAF, which carries a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $32,780, to as low as $20,780 for Hawaii consumers.

Nationwide, more than 18,600 consumers have reserved a Nissan LEAF. Hawaii has the highest per capita interest in the LEAF, with 300 Hawaii residents already reserving the cars, according to Brian Carolin, Nissan North America senior vice president of sales and marketing.

Ford, Seattle Partner on Electric Cars

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 04:42:19 +0000

Ford has partnered with the city of Seattle to prepare that area for its electric cars.

The terms of the agreement between Ford and Seattle are nearly identical to the deal struck up earlier this week with PGE.

Ford and the City of Seattle will work together to develop consumer outreach and education programs on electric cars as well as share information on charging needs and requirements to ensure the electrical grid can support the necessary demand.

The partnership between Ford and the City of Seattle, including municipally owned Seattle City Light, also involves working with the state and local governments around permitting, electric car tax incentives and future legislations or regulations. Continued tax incentives as well as an easy charging station permitting process are both considered keys to electric car acceptance in Seattle and across the country.

With the addition of Portland and Seattle, Ford, like Nissan, is focusing a significant amount of effort into developing the EV infrastructure on western coast.

Ford will launch two all-electric vehicles – the Transit Connect Electric light commercial van in North America in late 2010 and in Europe in 2011, followed by the Focus Electric passenger car in North America in 2011 and Europe in 2012. Two next-generation hybrid electric vehicles and a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle follow in North America in 2012 and Europe in 2013.

Ford and PGE Partner to Prepare Region for Electric Cars

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:03:27 +0000

Ford and Portland General Electric (PGE) announced a collaboration to help prepare the city of Portland and the Pacific Northwest for the operation of electric cars.

Ford and PGE will work together to share information on charging needs and requirements to ensure the electrical grid can support the necessary demand for electric cars, as well as partner on consumer education outreach around electric cars.

Ford and PGE have also agreed to work together with state and local governments to support charging station permitting, electric car incentives and future legislation or regulations. Car incentives and an easy charging station permitting process are considered to be two key to elements to electric car acceptance in Portland and across the country.

PGE is partnering with state and local government, higher education, the automobile industry, and businesses to expand the electric car infrastructure in Oregon. In early August, PGE opened the nation’s first quick-charge station at its World Trade Center headquarters, which complements the network of more-than 20 charging stations now up and running across PGE’s operating areas. Ford will draw upon PGE’s partnership with Portland State University to further study urban mobility and the integration of energy and sustainable design.

Americans Ready to Test Electric Cars

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:36:44 +0000

40 percent of Americans are likely to test-drive an electric car, citing “environmental and cost-saving benefits”, according to a new survey made by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

Consumers are open to considering an electric car in future, with 42 percent reporting they are likely to follow news reports about them, but overall awareness of the various types of alternative vehicles remains low. While nearly one-third (32 percent) report they are familiar or very familiar with hybrid vehicles, only about one-quarter are familiar with electric-only vehicles.

Of the positives of electric cars, the survey found, more than three-quarters of those surveyed (78 percent) said the vehicle’s ability to run without gasoline is the greatest advantage, followed by less pollution (67 percent), and the lack of need for oil changes and tune-ups (60 percent).

This is tempered though by concerns about running out of battery power on the road (71 percent), lack of charging stations and/or not being able to recharge (66 percent) and limited mileage (59 percent).

“For a new product category, interest in electric vehicles is strong and likely to grow as more vehicles enter the market and consumers become more aware of them,” said Chris Ely, manager of industry analysis for CEA.

Seoul Starts Installation of Electric Car Chargers

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:45:50 +0000

South Korean capital Seoul plans to install more than 100 electric car charging points until the end of this year in an effort to promote use of zero-emission vehicles.

The city, which is also trialing hybrid taxis, launched a partnership with three large Seoul-based retailers to roll out the chargers in supermarkets as well as city government district offices.

Under the agreement, visitors of the Lotte Mart, E-Mart, Home Plus and Bokwang Family Mart stores will be able to recharge their electric cars for free until the end of this year. Both the city government and the businesses, however, agreed to join efforts to extend free EV recharging service in the future and further prioritize electric car drivers.

The city government is working to secure enough parking spaces to accommodate minimum two electric vehicles and at least one charging station at each of Seoul 25 district offices.

Lotte Mart, E-Mart, Home Plus and Bokwang Family Mart stores will all install EV charging points for their customers, while the city’s 25 district offices will install chargers capable of recharging two vehicles at a time.

In order to make electric vehicle charging service available for wider audience, the city government also signed an agreement with the Korea Transportation Safety Authority last year, to manufacture five highway speed electric vehicles.

The electric vehicles can run 180km (111 miles) per charging and its top speed marks at 150km/h (95mph). Once certified by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, the electric vehicles will be used to monitor and control air pollution in town.

SK Energy to Provide Batteries for Hyundai-Kia Electric Cars

admin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 09:53:54 +0000

SK Energy, South Korea’s top refiner will provide battery packs for future electric cars to be developed by country’s top automaker Hyundai-Kia.

SK Energy will provide batteries for the i10, an electric car Hyundai-Kia aim to launch at the end of 2011.

The electric i10 can run up to 99 miles (160 km) on a single charge range with a top speed of 81mph (130 km/h), SK Energy said.

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors will soon test 30 units of electric cars for mass production later this year.

SK Energy has been selected as the main battery provider of Daimler AG’s Mitsubishi Fuso hybrid electric cars last year, as well as the lithium battery provider for local brand CT&T’s low-speed electric cars.

SK Energy is also participating in a U.S. government-led research program with the US Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) to develop rechargeable batteries for electric cars.

SK Energy uses a lithium manganese oxide cathode material, mixing in NMC material for stabilization; a surface-modified graphite on the anode; a gel polymer electrolyte; and a ceramic-coated proprietary SK separator featuring low shrinkage and high heat resistance. SK cells have a specific energy density of around 140 Wh/kg.

Senate Panel Approves $2 Billion in Aid for Electric Cars

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:05:08 +0000

The U.S. Senate Energy Committee has approved a $2 billion program that aims to put 400,000 electric cars on the road in three years.

The bill approved on a 19-4 vote this morning is a scaled-back version of an $11 billion bill first proposed in May.

The legislation from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee also authorizes a $1.5 billion research program to lower the cost of vehicle batteries and connecting them to the electricity grid.

The program, to be run by the Energy Department, would provide electric-car grants to “deployment communities” across the U.S., said Senator Byron Dorgan.

The goal is to put the United States on a path to electrify half the country’s cars and trucks by 2030, which would cut U.S. demand for oil by about one-third.

Volkswagen Aims to be Global Electric Car Leader

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:51:53 +0000

Volkswagen plans to launch series of new hybrid and electric cars by 2013 and expects these zero-emission vehicles to account for 3 percent of its global sales by 2018, Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn said on Monday.

VW plans to launch the Touareg Hybrid SUV in the U.S. market later this year, followed by the Jetta Hybrid in 2012. Volkswagen will launch E-Golf and E-Up! in 2013. One of the two electric cars will be available that year in the U.S., Winterkorn said.

“We aim to boost the share of E-vehicles in our annual sales to 3 percent by 2018,” he told reporters ahead of an event showcasing the redesigned Jetta sedan. “In urban centers, this share could be a lot higher.”

Volkswagen is investing heavily in the U.S. now as part of its plan to become the world’s biggest automaker by 2018.

Volkswagen invests more than $6.45 billion (5 billion Euros) annually in research and development, and has more than 23,000 employees worldwide focused on these initiatives, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn.

The investment required for development, especially in the field of e-mobility, is based on sound economic grounds, according to Winterkorn. The operational result in the first five months of the ongoing year has developed better than expected; the same is true for the Group’s vehicle sales.

At ERL, more than 100 engineers and scientists are working on the cars of tomorrow. In addition to electric mobility, the ERL team is working on driver assistance systems, online navigation and social networking/ geo-tagged information, among other things. In addition to the Palo Alto facility, the Group Research division includes the Volkswagen Research Lab China (VRC) and Technical Representative Tokyo (VTT).

Istanbul Enerji and Renault Partner on Electric Cars

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:19:08 +0000

Istanbul Enerji, a subsidiary of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, and French carmaker Renault signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to implement a program aimed at preparing for an electric car partnership.

The MoU is aimed at establishing a partnership to promote and implement electric vehicles in Istanbul, following the example of several other capital cities.

The partnership program will cover the deployment in the Istanbul municipality of a charging network for electric vehicles, which will be launched in 2011, and the rollout of corresponding services and developments.

The parties have decided to launch preliminary work with a view to encouraging the adoption and promotion of electric vehicles – set for launch in 2011 in the Istanbul municipality – in order to reduce CO2 emissions and the effects of climate warming.

A working group will be set up to obtain practical results on implementing an infrastructure for electric vehicle use in the city by 2011. The working group will be tasked with making proposals on:

• multiplying the number of projects that could favor the use of electric vehicles in Istanbul, especially those focused on charging networks,
• installing and developing a network of charging stations for electric vehicles,
• developing special projects for fleets, public spaces and cities,
• analyzing the regulations on installing and operating electric vehicle charging stations.

With its broad range of zero-emission vehicles, Renault is one of the world leaders in the development of electric vehicles.

Turkey plays a key role in this area, since Renault has a very strong position in the country in terms of both production and sales. Last October Renault announced it would be producing Fluence Z.E., one of its new electric vehicles, at the Bursa plant. Fluence Z.E. will be the first mass-produced electric vehicle in Turkey.