CleanTechies
  • Home
  • Articles
    • Clean Transportation
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Green Building
    • Renewable Energy
    • Recycling & Waste
    • Water & Conservation
  • Contact
    • Editorial
      • General Inquiries
      • Article Submission
    • Advertising
      • Advertising & Sponsorship
      • Guidelines
      • Media Kit
  • Are you a CleanTechie?

CleanTechies

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Clean Transportation
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Green Building
    • Renewable Energy
    • Recycling & Waste
    • Water & Conservation
  • Contact
    • Editorial
      • General Inquiries
      • Article Submission
    • Advertising
      • Advertising & Sponsorship
      • Guidelines
      • Media Kit
  • Are you a CleanTechie?
Tag:

charging station

China Pushes Auto JVs and Suppliers to Invest in EVs as Infrastructure Buildout Lags

China Pushes Auto JVs and Suppliers to Invest in EVs as Infrastructure Buildout Lags

written by

Suppliers and automakers are being forced by the Chinese government to take a leap of faith where electric vehicles are concerned. That is what I came away from Auto China thinking.

The companies are investing millions of dollars to supply and produce EVs in a country where the market for such vehicles is currently tiny. They don’t have much choice – Beijing is leaning on them very heavily to do so.

Many of those companies are keeping their fingers crossed that Beijing will pull some policy rabbit out of its hat to incentivize regular hybrid as well as electric vehicle sales, thus adding to the market for their products.

They also are also hoping Beijing will compel local governments to build out of charging station networks, without which there is little chance of a consumer market for EVs taking off.

An example of such investment: Siemens AG announced at the show that it had formed a joint venture with Chinese automaker Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. (BAIC) to produce components for electric vehicles.

Siemens holds 60 percent of the JV, which will start with small volume production this year at an existing Siemens plant in China while building a greenfield plant near Beijing, due to start production in 2015. No amount for the investment was announced, but it must be the equivalent of at least US $100 million.

“We believe in a new energy future, not just for pure electric vehicles but hybrid as well,” Jorg Grotendorst, CEO of Inside e-car, part of the Drive Technologies Division at Siemens AG told reporters gathered in a tent outside one of the giant exhibition halls at the Beijing International Exhibition Center.

He was part of a group of Siemens executives that had come to China to announce the formation of Beijing Siemens Automotive E-Drive Systems Co. Ltd., as the JV will be known. It will produce “highly efficient” inverters and motors for hybrid and battery electric vehicles, says Siemens.

The new plant, which Siemens says will begin volume production in 2015, will have an annual capacity more than 100,000 units per year. But exactly what kind of vehicles those components will go into isn’t clear, even to Siemens itself apparently

I asked the execs how they saw the market panning out in terms of BEVs versus PHEVs versus hybrids. Siemens didn’t know, said Grotendorst, but it believed PHEVs would be the interim technology.

They said Siemens is interested in BEVs and PHEVs (and hybrids as well judging by Grotendorst’s remark) and would supply BAIC, its initial customer, with power-electronics and electronic motors for its S, C, and L series cars.

However, the JV would start by supplying commercial vehicles, said an executive. Indeed, the plant’s components represent a hedging move on Siemen’s part – the performance scale of the models BAIC will use the components in ranges from 45 to 200kW says Siemens.

Size does matter and in this case it is small
Despite hyperbolic plans by the Chinese central government regarding electric vehicle production and sales, and incentives for BEVs and PHEVs, sales have thus far been miniscule.

In 2013 sales of battery-electric vehicles in China were 14,604 units according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Plug-in hybrid sales were 3,038 units. The total vehicle market was nearly 22 million.

Most of those BEV and PHEV sales were likely to government fleets, which would include local bus and taxi fleets as those companies are generally owned by the local government.

Siemens is right to place its near-term hopes in an expansion of PHEV sales, however. The charging station network in Chinese cities – even in Beijing, where you would think the government would try to set an example – is abysmally small. As my friend and former colleague Yang Jian pointed out in his column in Automotive News China,  at the end of 2013 Beijing had only 69 charging stations.

Yang, too, figures that PHEVs will be the most-utilized type of EV in the near term despite the fact that central government subsidies for BEVS are as high as 57,000 RMB (not counting local subsidies) and PHEVS only 33,500 RMB.

China recognizes that until battery costs come down and/or range comes up (which are linked since you can get a lot of range if you are willing to pay for it…) – and when that will occur is uncertain — a PHEV, which offers some pure electric range combined with an engine that runs on some liquid fuel, will be the most useful form of EV.

Suppliers recognize that some form of electrification is in China’s future. China has strict fuel economy deadlines looming in the future – the most intimidating the 2020 deadline for 5 liters per 100 kilometers. “This is a huge challenge for everyone right now,” David Xu, EVP at Bosch China,  told me at the show.

Indeed, it is not impossible to achieve that without some form of at least mild electrification.  Bosch sees gasoline technology that boosts fuel efficiency — such as gasoline direct injection and turbocharging — as its biggest business opportunity in China in the near term. But it is also pushing its 48V mild hybrid system, which includes start-stop and a booster for starting and can boost fuel economy by 15 percent, says Xu.

Of course, Beijing hasn’t incentivized mild hybrid technology though that would help it achieve its goal of cutting back dependence on imported oil (though the western press seems fixated on the pollution in China and convinced that Beijing’s push for

EVs is tied to reducing pollution, much of China’s electricity is produced by burning coal so more EVs won’t necessarily have much impact on air quality. Cars are a convenient and visible scapegoat, however.) Nor is it currently incentivizing regular (i.e. non plug-in) hybrid cars. The Japanese hold too many patents in that area and Beijing doesn’t want incentive money to go to the Japanese automakers.

Meanwhile, Xu says new energy vehicles, which includes BEVs, PHEVs, and fuel-cell vehicles, won’t account for more than six percent of the market in 2020. Beijing’s inaction on building out a charging network – or even enforcing a national plug standard – is part of the problem, says Xu. “Talking about mass production to make a profit, it is really a struggle for everybody,” he says.

Still, automakers will continue to talk about investing, and actually invest, in EVs, he says. “This is kind of a political task for them,” he says. “They have to do it.”

An executive at another European supplier tells me that the joint venture automakers are telling him that Beijing is coming to them and saying, “You show us a plan to build an EV, homologate it here, and we will approve your expansion.”

Of course the individual consumer isn’t the only customer for EVs. Indeed, as I have written in this blog many time, fleet vehicles are the best market for both BEVs and PHEVs.

Siemens recognizes that fact. It will start by supplying commercial vehicles, says Siegfried Russwurm, CEO of Siemens Industry Sector. As for the charging station issue, and the lack of standards where that is concerned, “The future is wireless,” he says.

Article by Alysha Webb, a freelance automotive journalist and founder of ChinaEV Blog.



May 12, 2014 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Challenges to Vehicle Electrification Come From Many Angles

Challenges to Vehicle Electrification Come From Many Angles

written by Walter Wang

Sales of electric vehicles are gradually growing in the US.  In 2012, 52,000 EV’s and plug-in hybrids were sold.  That number grew to over 95,000 in 2013 and sales during the first quarter of 2014 have outpaced the same period in 2013.  Growth is expected to continue as automakers will have to meet a fleet-wide average of 54.5 mpg by 2025, though consumers will see numbers closer to 36 mpg on the window sticker as the EPA uses a different method for window stickers, according to Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com.

While growth in this sector of the auto industry is all but assured, challenges ranging from raw materials to technology to infrastructure remain.  Each one of these areas presents unique challenges to the industry.  In a recent discussion with Mike Tinskey, head of vehicle electrification at Ford, we touched on a wide range of topics regarding the EV and plug-in hybrid market.  Tinskey was in San Diego for a quarterly meeting of the California Plug-in Electric Vehicle Collaborative, a group whose members include automakers, utilities, government bodies, and various policy institutes.  While other automakers have been developing platforms that are EV/plug-in specific, Tinsky noted that Ford is committed to offering consumers the power of choice, meaning Ford can leverage existing platforms for multiple types of vehicles.  For instance, with the Ford Fusion, you can have your choice of the traditional internal combustion engine, hybrid, or plug-in hybrid.

During our conversation, Tinskey noted that cities like San Diego where there has been a shift in recent years to high-rises and multi-family housing, EV charging infrastructure has become a big issue.  No longer can you simply drive into your garage and plug-in.  With high rises and multi-family housing, you might have to work with property management or the homeowner’s association (HOA) or both to obtain the necessary charging infrastructure.  This can be a big hurdle in getting consumers to buy EV’s or plug-in hybrids.

HOA’s may initially be reluctant to install charging stations that only benefit one or two of the homeowners.  The underlying thinking may be that this is only a benefit to one or two, so why should the HOA pay for it.  That thinking misses the point, which is homeowners and prospective homeowners are asking for this infrastructure now.  Absent this infrastructure, the long term value and attractiveness of a building may be lower compared to a building that has charging infrastructure in place.  What that means is if HOA is reluctant or unwilling to put in charging stations for one or two homeowners, the HOA does harm to the whole community by effectively limiting the pool of prospective buyers in the future where EV’s and plug-ins become more prevalent than they are today.

Because of the efficiency standards automakers are required to meet in the future, EV’s and plug-ins will become a greater part of the pool of vehicles available to consumers.  Assuming sales of EV’s and plug-in hybrids continue to rise, there will be a larger pool of people who own these vehicles, which means residential buildings which lack the charging infrastructure may lose out.  Put differently, if you are a homeowner in a high rise or multi-family housing complex, would you want the pool of prospective buyers to be limited simply because your HOA refuses to put in the charging infrastructure?

While in states like California, HOA’s cannot prohibit or restrict the installation or use of an EV charging station.  Reasonable restrictions that do not significantly increase the cost are permitted however.  Yet, despite this generally favorable law, the overall cost of installing a charging station by an individual owner in these circumstances may be significant and defeat the whole purpose of purchasing an EV or plug-in hybrid.  Third party solution providers are out there, but be wary of the monthly “membership fees” that such third party solution providers may charge.  These “membership fees” combined with the payment for electricity usage may in certain circumstances be equal to how much one might spend on gas depending on your habits.  The solution is for HOA’s to move forward, make the capital improvement that will benefit the entire community in more ways than one.

We hear daily about range anxiety, cost of these cars, and national and local infrastructure.  These are all valid challenges the industry faces.  Yet, as our living habits shift towards more urban environments, the challenges in dealing with HOA’s are brought to the fore and may be the most difficult challenge yet.  Technological innovation will solve range anxiety and cost issues.  National and local infrastructure will eventually take hold.  After all, it’s possible to drive a Tesla across the country using Tesla’s supercharger network.  The real challenge is getting the HOA to say yes to a capital improvement when HOA’s are often reluctant, skeptical, and not very progressive.



April 15, 2014 3 comments
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Atlanta Leads U.S. in Electric Vehicle Sales Growth

Atlanta Leads U.S. in Electric Vehicle Sales Growth

written by Yale Environment 360

Atlanta is the fastest growing market for electric cars in the U.S., according to an analysis by the electric vehicle charging network ChargePoint. Electric vehicle (EV) sales in Atlanta jumped by 52 percent from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2013, with more than 3,000 EVs sold in the final three months of the year, according to state motor vehicle records.

Washington, D.C., was the second-fastest growing market, with a 21 percent increase in sales, and Portland, Oregon, had the third-fastest growth, at 19.4 percent. While Los Angeles added the most EVs — more than 5,000 — to its streets, for a 19 percent growth rate, Atlanta outpaced it on a per capita and percent growth basis.

Nationally, EV sales grew by nearly 450 percent in the first three quarters of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012. ChargePoint’s CEO speculated that popularity is increasing because charging station networks have expanded and EV designs have improved. “We’re well on our way to having twice the number of EVs on the road by the end of 2014,” he said.

Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.



March 5, 2014 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Gridtest Aims For EV and Charger Harmony

written by CleanTechies.com Contributor

There are only a few plug-in electric vehicles on the market, but more are on the way. Meanwhile, there are already dozen of chargers out there, also known as Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE). Sure, the EV manufacturer recommends a certain brand. But there are so many to choose from, and others that claim to be compatible with your brand of

Continue Reading


June 18, 2013 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

EV Parts from eBay and Desire, Yields Stunning Electric Karmann Ghia

written by Walter Wang

David Herron, a software engineer turned automotive journalist, owns just one car: a gorgeous red 1971 soft-top Volkswagen Karmann Ghia—converted to run purely on electricity. But he doesn’t advocate that every EV shopper embark upon a conversion project.

“These days, you can go down to a Nissan

Continue Reading


April 9, 2013 2 comments
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

The Smart Grid and Electric Car Charging

written by Walter Wang

Widespread adoption of electric vehicles will reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. Some are worried that the electric grid will be stressed leading to a decrease in its reliability. In related news today, Battelle and AeroVironment have a technology that will address this concern, and help EV’s charge when the grid is most able to support charging.

Continue Reading


March 8, 2013 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

BMW Continues Promotion of i8 Plug-in Hybrid Supercar

written by Walter Wang

In the 2011 film Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Tom Cruise is upstaged by BMW’s new star supercar, the i8 plug-in hybrid. The winged-door i8 accelerates from zero to 60 miles in less than five seconds—and is capable of a top speed of around 155 miles per hour. It’s expected to deliver supercar level of performance while offering an equally impressive 90 miles per gallon.

Continue Reading


August 10, 2012 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

EV Does It

written by Walter Wang

The results of the 2012 Black & Veatch “Strategic Directions in the U.S. Electric Utility Industry Report” were released recently with plenty of media attention.

Most of the headlines focused on findings surrounding our country’s future with coal (or lack thereof). Only 58 percent of utility executives said

Continue Reading


June 12, 2012 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Mitsubishi Launches All-Electric i

written by Walter Wang

Mitsubishi Motors has developed a reputation for developing sport inspired vehicles that outperform more expensive sports cars yet are reasonably affordable (See the Lancer Evolution). When it comes to electric vehicles, Mitsubishi has not been generally considered part of that world. However, this has recently changed as Mitsubishi ls now taking

Continue Reading


March 12, 2012 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Top Ten Cleantech Highlights of Sydney, Australia

written by Walter Wang

Sydney is the largest and most populated city in all of Australia. It is also the capital of New South Wales. Sydney is known as a global center for the arts, culture, fashion, commerce, music, entertainment, tourism, and education. It was home to the 2000 Olympic summer games and the 2003 Rugby World Cup final

Continue Reading


November 11, 2011 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

BMW is Seeking Electronauts for 2012 Active E Test Fleet

written by Walter Wang

BMW is seeking 700 so-called “electronauts” to test a fleet of 2012 BMW Active E vehicles. While BMW is not shy of flaunting the phrase “ultimate driving machine”, one would not necessarily attach that phrase to the auto industry’s current crop of electric vehicles. With the Active E, BMW seeks to change all

Continue Reading


September 23, 2011 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Why PV for Your EV Makes Sense

written by Walter Wang

During the past few weeks, many of the largest automotive companies involved in vehicle electrification have made announcements about using solar power to charge vehicles. While skeptics say that these are merely feel-good gimmicks to promote their vehicles, they are actually the start of something

Continue Reading


August 15, 2011 3 comments
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

New Lithium-Ion Battery Offers Quicker Charging Times, Researchers Say

written by Yale Environment 360

U.S. researchers say they have developed a technology that could dramatically reduce the time it takes to recharge lithium-ion batteries used in cellphones, laptop computers, and electric vehicles (EVs).

Unlike conventional lithium-ion rechargeable batteries — in which active material is placed on a thin film that has limited storage

Continue Reading



March 24, 2011 1 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Google HQ Installs First Wireless Electric Car Charger

written by Crisp Green

The system is the first to offer consumers a simple way to charge their EVs with the ease of hands-free, automatic technology.

Google is famous for giving the digital generation what it wants, so it only makes sense that the search giant would branch out into other technologies it feels are worth of its attention. So it shouldn’t come

Continue Reading


March 23, 2011 3 comments
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Newer Posts
Older Posts

CleanTechnica.TV

Listen to CleanTech Talk

CleanTech Talk

Free CleanTechnica Newsletters

CleanTechnica's main newsletter (daily)

CleanTechnica's EV newsletter

CleanTechnica's wind newsletter

CleanTechnica's solar newsletter

CleanTechnica's weekly newsletter

Support Our Work

CleanTechnica Clothing & Cups

Recent CleanTechie Bios

Amy McMorrow Hunter

Keith Allen

Tom Scheel

Patrick Corcoran

Christine Bennett

Mike Casey

Henk Rogers

JB Straubel

Lynn Jurich

Matt Moroney

Kyle Field

Paul Francis

Chelsea Harder

Griff Jurgens

Scott Cooney

The content produced by this site is for entertainment purposes only. Opinions and comments published on this site may not be sanctioned by, and do not necessarily represent the views of CleanTechnica, its owners, sponsors, affiliates, or subsidiaries.


Back To Top