E-mobility consultants

15/06/2020

Project BSR Electric final conference.

We are steadily getting closer to the BSR Electric Final Conference which will be held on the 16th and 17th of June! The online conference will be focusing on electric mobility and electrification of commercial vehicles. We would therefore like to invite you who works in the transport and/or mobility sectors and who has interest in the current development of e-mobility to attend the BSR Electric’s final conference. BSR Electric is an EU project aimed to promote the usage of e-solutions in the transport systems of cities around the Baltic Sea. In the project, different types of urban e-mobility solutions have been tested and demonstrated. The thematic areas which the project focuses on are far more than E-buses but also include E-bikes within city logistics, E-scooters, electric trucks, and electric ferries. The project is coordinated by HAW Hamburg and receives funding from the Interreg Baltic Sea Region. The results of the BSR electric project will be presented during the conference and can be interactively discussed within the online community throughout the virtual conference on 16-17 June 2020. Attendees of the online conference will get access to visual material showcasing exciting electrification solutions of commercial vehicles in the Gothenburg region and beyond. Additionally, known international key speakers active within the field of electromobility will join us to give insightful presentations and to participate in discussions and Q&A-sessions. The conference is structured in a way that allows you as a participant to access the content according to what suits you best. However, there are a few timeslots where we will broadcast live. These are: In cooperation with: With support from HAW Hamburg and its “Digital Learning for Sustainable Development” programme to reflect the technical arrangement. Sounds interesting? Welcome on the 16th and 17th of June. See you Online!

For registration please go to https://dl4sd.org/

21/11/2019

Can e-scooters be an economically sustainable instrument of social inclusion?

The BSR Electric project use case implemented in Riga is looking for an answer to this question. Tests are in progress from autumn 2018 in Riga 1st Hospital. Two four-wheel electric vehicles (or e-scooters) have been carrying hospital patients for a year. Considering the limitations of the historical hospital building, the most appropriate model was chosen: Shoprider Explorer with a speed limit 10 km/h, weight 300 kg, maximum mileage up to 30 km. Recharging takes 8 h from an ordinary 220 V socket.

Driving of the vehicle can be easily carried out by the hospital staff and patients with limited mobility possibilities are safely transported around the large hospital territory. Check out this in action in our video below and stay tuned for updates from

20/11/2019

Tesla vs.

The most recent sales reports from Norway reveal that Audi e-Tron was the best-selling all-electric model (and plug-in in general) in October with 873 new registrations and an outstanding market share of 8.3%. Does this mean that Tesla is starting to lose the competition? Yes and no. If compared to 2018 Tesla Model X is now selling at half the rate. This is particularly interesting because overall sales expanded in 2019 to 9,178 units compared to 6,062 in 2018.

Data for 2019 indicate that Tesla Model X finds less customers than Jaguar I-PACE and Audi e-Tron:

Tesla Model X - 1,781 (4,981 in 2018)
Jaguar I-PACE - 2,820 (1,081 in 2018)
Audi e-Tron - 4,577 (new)

As the competition grows, people are able to choose between bigger variety of models, finding the one best suiting their needs.

Source: https://insideevs.com/news/380011/e-tron-i-pace-model-x-norway/

19/09/2019

Electric cars have arrived and now are a part of our lives. But electric mobility includes not just cars, but also – ships, planes and even construction machinery.

Imagine – you live in a city full of infrastructure that needs to be built and maintained. Instead of all those noisy and smelly construction vehicles, there is no noise and no smell. This is the future that we could be moving forward to. Look at the video from ‘’Fully Charged’’ show where it tests the electric excavator JCB 19C-1E.

Some technical data:

Operating Weight: 1862 kg
Max. Dig Depth: 2.819 m
Max. Dump Height: 2.818 m
The charging time is only 2 hours with the optional 380-420 V three phase external charger, 8 hours with a 220-240V on board charger and 12 hours with a 110V on board charger.

Noise at the operator station is by 10 dB less compared to the diesel version

30/08/2019

Electric plane Pipistrel Alpha Electro G2 suffered an accident in Norway on August 14 this year creating bad buzz about electric plane safety issues.

Avinor (Norwegian state owned airport management company and electric plane producer) invited government members to join the flight of electric plane that was part of their plan to electrify all domestic aviation in Norway by 2040. Environment Minister, Ola Elvestuen and a junior government minister Aase Marthe Horrigmo accepted this invitation and the company’s CEO Dag Falk-Petersen flew the plane himself. Unfortunately a problem with engine power occurred and the pilot had to perform an emergency landing on the lake at about 70 km/h. As soon as they landed, all passengers got out of the plane and swam ashore. Luckily no one got hurt.

Norwegian Government wants to have 25-30 seat all electric airplanes in future with approximately 15-30 minutes flight lengths and Avinor is the best company to test new products as they manage 44 local airports.

Now the question is – what corrective actions will be taken by Avinor to prevent government officials from further swimming exercises?

Source: https://insideevs.com/news/366037/alpha-electro-g2-electric-airplane/?
fbclid=IwAR2_0uLBbmYF9LFf0kXasnK4i7sKYTvIO0rLFnJucNPi4cEBGj5K8uycgQ8

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=179&v=rsCLJ27pIm0

More information about electric planes: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180814-norways-plan-for-a-fleet-of-electric-planes

InsideEVs

15/08/2019

First solar road – total failure!

Two years ago in Tourouvre-au-Perche, France inventors and engineers came together to create world’s first solar panel road called the Normandy Road. But now two years later, the road has deteriorated to a terrible state.

Covering 2,800 square meters, Normandy's solar road was the first in the world with big hopes to introduce revolutionary technology that could change the renewable energy sector. Unfortunately, the road is one step away from total collapse, already 100 meters of it had to be demolished. Various components of the road don’t fit together, some of the panels have broken into pieces. At the moment the road doesn’t produce enough energy and is far from being profitable. On top of this, it creates such a loud noise problem that creators had to introduce speed limit –maximum 70 km/h.

Originally it was planned to produce 790 kWh each day - a quantity that could illuminate a population of between 3,000 and 5,000 inhabitants — however, the production rate actually stands at only around 50% of the original predicted estimates.

More on Solar road: https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-first-solar-road-turned-out-colossal-failure-2019-8

Business Insider

Covering 2,800 square meters, Normandy's solar road was the first in the world, inaugurated in 2016, in Tourouvre-au-Perche, France.

10/08/2019

2037 – The possible year of electric car victory

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) has published its latest annual report that focuses on long-term forecasts about electrification and shared mobility impacts from now till 2040.

The report says that 30 percent of vehicles in use by 2040 will be electric. Global sales will reach 10 million units by 2025 and 56 million units by 2040. Approximately by year 2037 sales of electric car models will exceed sales of internal combustion car models.

Overall there are around 1 billion cars in use worldwide. With electric cars becoming more popular their sales are climbing, more companies are testing new electric car models with production scheduled around 2022.

The report also explains decrease of electric car prices as the price of lithium-ion battery packs has dropped from 650 USD in 2013 to 176 USD per kWh this year and it is forecasted that at least 1 TWh battery cells per year will be manufactured by 2025.

BNEF predicts that nickel batteries will take a growing market share within the next 10 years.

Free public summary of the report can be found:
https://about.bnef.com/electric-vehicle-outlook/ -download

30/07/2019

The biggest electric bus order in Europe will be carried out by Solaris.

The way people are thinking is changing. Society becomes more and more aware of the pollution in cities and tries to avoid it. One of the solutions is to change our public transport and make it more environmentally friendly. In order to do it, biggest cities in Europe are placing more orders of new electric buses. Within the last month Berlin, Milan and Warsaw, have ordered the total of 260 new electric buses from Polish manufacturer Solaris.

Just a few days ago, Solaris announced that it has won the tender of Warsaw public transport operator Miejskie Zakłady Autobusowe (MZA) to produce 130 electric buses with a contract value of 94 million euros, which makes it the biggest electric bus order ever. In coming years MZA plans to purchase up to 400 electric buses.

The press release says:

"The gigantic order for 130 articulated electric buses is the biggest ever tender of its kind in Europe. The electric buses of Solaris have been ordered so far by 60 cities in 17 countries, and have already traversed over 14 million kilometres since 2011. Pursuant to the contract signed today, the company is to carry out the order in 2020."

The 130 articulated electric Urbinos for MZA will be fitted with Solaris High Power batteries with a capacity of 150 kWh, and for which the producer grants a seven-year warranty, as per requirement of the awarding authority. The electric power in those batteries will be recharged by means of depot charging stations of the plug-in type and by means of pantographs. The bus will feature two charging sockets: one above the right wheel arch and the other placed behind the last door, whereas the pantograph will be mounted on the roof. Boasting over 400 kW of power, the fast-charging stations will be deployed in various corners of the city. The setup of the infrastructure is the object of a separate call for tender.

The drive unit of the electric articulated buses for Warsaw will consist of an axle with two electric engines of 110 kW each. Even though electric buses are already much cheaper to operate than diesel ones, the vehicles for operator MZA are getting also a voltage converter for the traction motor, produced in SiC technology, which will help to additionally reduce energy consumption.

The interior and furnishing of the bus is well-known to MZA passengers and complies with the binding standards of the public transport authority ZTM. The driver’s cabin will be completely shut off; the bus will be air-conditioned and will feature a comprehensive passenger information system. Furthermore, three double USB charging ports will be available to passengers, allowing for the recharging of mobile devices during the bus ride.

Apart from all the technical novelties, the prime feature of the electric buses is that they do not release any exhaust emissions in the place of service, and that they are low noise, which contributes considerably to the improvement of life quality in the city."

Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. InsideEVs

Source:

Solaris, the Polish bus manufacturer (part of CAF Group from September 2018 on), just won Europe's biggest contract for 130 articulated electric buses for Warsaw.

20/07/2019

Model 3 from Tesla could become one of the most sold and iconic cars in car history. It definitely has brought Tesla to new heights and sales records. So the question is what’s next for Tesla? Will it be electric truck or maybe pick-up? While we wait for the answers, the competitors are not sleeping. Watch video from Two Bit da Vinci about electric pick-up car version – Rivian. In this video the author talks about the history of Rivian and what the situation can turn out to be in few months.

17/07/2019

What if your car could be used not only as a vehicle for getting from point A to point B? There is a concept, that someday in near future you could use your car as a power supply for your or for somebody else’s house.

On average, passenger cars are not used for around 23 hours a day. During that period of time the car could be used for temporary energy storage. What if the energy stored in your vehicle battery could be returned to the power grid at times of increased energy demand? What if this did not result in any disadvantage for you, but in fact would lower procurement and maintenance costs for your electric car? What if you could supply your home entirely with your own solar power? This is the vision for Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) solutions; a vision which The Mobility House strives towards implementing each and every day.

Source: https://www.mobilityhouse.com/usa_en/vehicle-to-grid

10/07/2019

2020 will be the year when we will see the arrival of the first fully designed electric car from Volkswagen. The company has big plans for the future of electric cars. Not only its new I.D.3 will be produced but also the
Volkswagen Group’s target is to produce 22 million electric cars in the next decade. The company believes creating the technical platform for electric cars at this scale will decrease costs enough to bring the price of EVs more in line with that of combustion cars.

While we are waiting for Volkswagen I.D.3

VW will sell three versions of the all-electric hatchback. The cheapest will start at € 30,000 with the range of 330 km on a single charge using a 45 kWh battery. The car will also be sold in 58 kWh and 77 kWh configurations, which will have the range of 420 km and 550 km. All models will be capable of 125 kW DC fast charging.

VW will offer a full warranty on the ID.3’s battery for up to eight years, 160,000 km, or the depreciation of the battery to 70 percent of its original maximum capacity.

Will it generate 50 billion € during the next six years as company hopes? Will it be produced in six factories around the world with production number of 1 million cars per year? Time will show, but right now watch the video from Autocar below:

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/8/18536668/vw-volkswagen-id-3-preorders-oelectric-car-long-range-ev

10/07/2019

Electric cars with a sound of gas cars

EU wants to improve safety and wants that everybody can hear electric cars as they approach.

New European law will require electric cars to make sounds like one with a gas engine below 20 km/h or when backing up, but drivers will have the option of deactivating the sounds when they deem it necessary.

While in the U.S., 50 percent of electric and hybrid cars need to have the system by this September with possibility to make noise up to 30 km/h. This could cut down injuries by 2,400 a year once they're fully implemented.

Source:

EU pedestrian safety laws now require that electric cars sound like those with internal combustion engines at low speed.