Porsche and Audi unveil electric cars to take on Tesla

* Audi, Porsche concept cars boast over 500 km range

* Both models designed for production in 2018-19

* VW flagships aim to rival Tesla's upcoming Model X SUV

By Andreas Cremer

FRANKFURT, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The high-performance electric car market is shaping up to be a high-profile battleground featuring some of the world's most glamorous brands after Porsche and Audi unveiled models to challenge U.S. pioneer Tesla Motors.

Consumers have largely shunned electric vehicles because of their high price tags and limited driving range, as well as the scarcity of charging stations, though many analysts predict sales will rise sharply by the end of the decade.

Tesla, however, has enjoyed success and managed to stay ahead of the pack with new technology, which has extended driving range and reduced costs.

Germany's Audi and Porsche - Volkswagen's two premium flagships - showcased purely battery-powered cars at the Frankfurt auto show on Monday.

The impact on Tesla is not clear cut, according to analysts. As two of the world's most sought-after auto brands, they represent heavyweight competition for the attention of wealthy, environmentally conscious buyers. But they also boost the credibility and cachet of the all-electric market, which could benefit Tesla.

"It will certainly sharpen the public focus on electric vehicles and raise overall awareness. Consumers are also set to gain from growing offerings of electric cars, especially in the performance segment," said Commerzbank analyst Sascha Gommel.

Audi unveiled its e-tron quattro sport-utility concept - its first electric model designed for series production - and Porsche its first-ever battery-powered sports car in Frankfurt.

Neither car will be available to buy until around 2018, but the launches are perhaps aimed at stealing the limelight from Tesla's first luxury electric crossover, the Model X, ahead of its planned start of deliveries on Sept. 29.

Audi had initial misgivings over whether to launch dedicated electric vehicles, a reticence which some analysts said risked making them look like a laggard in an industry where innovation is a major draw for customers.

DRIVING RANGE

The all-electric venture represents a change of course for Audi, which had previously focused on developing electric variants of existing models such as its two-seater R8 sports car rather than committing to serial production like German rival BMW with its "i" brand electric series.

While the two car brands did not reveal many specifics about their models, they are set to match Tesla - whose prices start at around $77,000 - in the crucial driving range department.

Audi said its e-tron quattro, to be launched by 2018, would have over 500 km (311 miles) per charge. That compares with about 300 miles for Tesla's new Model S P90D saloon, which is already getting rave media reviews.

Porsche also boasts over 500 km of range with its first all-electric concept sports car, two sources close to the company said, adding that it was roomier than the 911 and predicting a market launch in 2018-19.

"The largest challenge set forth by Tesla against all entrants into the pure electric market is that the benchmarks have already been set, and the bar is rather high," said Ivan Drury, senior manager at U.S. automotive website Edmunds.com.

"The fascination with Tesla is not that they were the first to introduce an all-electric vehicle, it stems more from the first electric vehicle without compromise to styling, performance metrics and range," Drury said.

Audi has paid heed with the electric R8 which it dropped in 2012 due to poor range but revived earlier this year after doubling the range to 450 km.

The German brands may rapidly close the gap with Tesla on engine and battery technology, said Laurent Petizon, an automotive consultant with AlixPartners.

Audi and Porsche can make "a better car than Tesla in terms of driving experience, balance, suspension and road handling", Petizon added.

"They have been doing it for 100 years and it's their job."

($1 = 0.6483 pounds)

(Additional reporting by Laurence Frost; Editing by Pravin Char)

Source: Porsche and Audi unveil electric cars to take on Tesla

Drive Electric Week turns Orlando users into educators

Thron Crowe rarely goes a week without becoming an educator.

The 34-year-old Orlando resident says when he pulls up to a charging station in his 2013 Nissan Leaf, it often leads to a chat about electric cars with others.

Crowe enjoys expanding awareness about electric cars and did so Saturday at Valencia College's celebration of Drive Electric Week, which started as National Plug In Day in 2011. The Valencia College event featured local renewable energy experts, including city officials, educators and industry advocates.

"Every year it's the same kinds of questions, which is great because it means more people are learning about it," Crowe said. "They recognize the car and it'll be either a five-minute or one-hour conversation. Next thing you know, they say they are getting one."

As more become aware of electric cars, mainstream manufacturers have been building and selling electric cars or hybrid vehicles by the millions.

According to Electric Drive Transportation Association data, the industry is on pace this year to sell about 16.7 million electric cars. That would surpass the 16.5 million sales last year and is about 60 percent higher than the 10.4 million sold in 2009.

Experts say reasons for that include the drop in price, minimal maintenance costs and a growing acceptance of the vehicles, which has led to improved infrastructure and an increasing number of charging stations.

As electric car use increases, more businesses have installed charging stations, with some benefiting from tax rebates.

According to the Orlando Utilities Commission, more than 300 charging stations are available in Central Florida. That includes several Walgreens locations, which is one of the largest retailers in the U.S. to offer charging stations, about 400 total. So far, officials say, they have been received well.

"Consumer interest and enthusiasm has been incredible and we're excited to provide locations to charge up in neighborhoods and along major commuter routes across the country," Walgreens spokeswoman Emily Hartwig said.

Along with business acceptance, more manufacturers have rolled out their own all-electric cars like Nissan's Leaf or hybrid models like Chevy's Volt, which can charge electrically but also has a fuel tank as a sort-of backup system.

Tesla Motors unveiled its first Roadster to the public in July 2006 and recently Tesla owners have become evangelists for the brand.

Ben Prochazka of the hotel, rental car and tourist attraction partnership Drive Electric Orlando says his organization has a partnership with Enterprise to let vacationers and travelers know they can rent electric vehicles during visits here.

In addition, the group has partnered with travel agents to do the same.

Prochazka would not say how the 2-year-old program has been received, declining to share usage data for the program.

He compared electric vehicle use to the growth of smartphone use, which had early adopters often sharing them with friends and family.

Drive Electric Orlando is "an extension of what Tesla and others have figured out," he said. "We give them the opportunity to experience an electric car. Through that test drive, we hope to turn those renters into buyers."

The challenge has been changing minds on an industry that, essentially, has had more than a 100-year head start, Prochazka said.

But the more people drive electric vehicles, the more they become part of the conversation.

"We have been driving (non-electric vehicles) a long time and they are a significant part of our cultural fabric," Prochazka said. "In almost every instance, when people experience the benefits of electric cars directly, it creates that commitment in people. They realize it's a better vehicle and they get to drive with their conscience, too."

That has been the case for Valencia College's Lisa Macon, who has owned a Chevy Volt since May and said she has yet to use the fuel tank.

Macon helped organize the local event, which featured about 25 vehicles and more than 100 people people in attendance. She says her experience has mirrored Crowe's, with students often asking her about the car when she arrives for the day.

"The level of recognition remains low throughout the town and on campus," she said. "But I went to Discount Auto Parts looking for a keychain and ended up spending 30 minutes explaining it to the guy behind the counter."

Macon said she now more frequently visits businesses that have chargers available with her husband.

"It's almost a game for us," Macon said. "There are options to choose from but we choose to buy at places considerate enough to put chargers in."

As does Crowe, whose first experience with an electric car came when he bought his father's, which had 100,000 miles on it.

He said he and his wife added another 150,000 miles on it before buying a new one. Chief among Crowe's reasons for buying another: the environment.

"At its very core, it comes down to my take on my way of life, which is sustainability," he said. "Part of that is knowing what it's like to sit in traffic, on the corner of Goldenrod and Colonial, with the windows down begging to die because of the noise and the smell."

msantana@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5256

Copyright © 2015, Orlando Sentinel
Source: Drive Electric Week turns Orlando users into educators

That Victorian-Living Couple Is Just Playing Dress-Up Until They Get A Real Victorian Car

It seems like everyone's talking about that woman who fired up her Difference Engine and keyed in a long, self-satisfied story about how she and her husband live like it's 1880. That's fine by me. But, while reading more about them, I found references to a "truck." That just won't do. But I'm not here to judge — I'm here to help.

First, let me be clear, I'm not trying to talk these people out of living how they want; no matter how affected or goofy or ridiculous it may seem to many of us, they have every right to do it.

But as someone who genuinely loves automobiles of their 1800s larval-stage, I can't bear the idea that these people think it's okay to have a re-built penny-farthing and wind-up their clocks and pour paraffin in their heaters and yet not use a period-correct steam vehicle (or even electric, or gas, really) for their transportation needs.

I mean, really, this is just one long, tedious cosplay without the car-angle covered here. They must feel it every time they load their expensive hand-made bicycles and tricycles into their modern (presumably - they don't go into what kind or how old a truck it is, but I guaran-fucking-tee you we'd hear about it if it was period-correct in any way) truck.

I mean, if you're going to do this to the degree that they are, where they're defining their whole lives by their Victorian fetishism, I think you really need to get all the components together. And the proper motor vehicle is key.

The good news for them is that the period they seem to have settled on as their 'acceptable' era is around the 1880s. That's good news because by the 1880s, all three major types of motor vehicle — steam, gasoline, and electric — were available, even if they were in quite early stages.

Steam vehicles were by far, the most mature. The first automobile designed from the ground up to carry passengers, the 1803 London Steam Carriage, can be thought of as a beginning, and by the 1830s steam omnibus service was relatively common in England. The first series-produced automobile (about 50 were built), Amédée Bollée's La Mancelle was available in 1878. If these crazy wool-bathing-suit-lovers really wanted to step up, a replica of a Bollée could certainly be built, and even be modified to carry their bikes in place of that painfully modern truck.

Steam power, of course, takes some work. Which, frankly, they should embrace, if they really want to feel what Victorian life was like. I feel like if you're not shoveling coal into a boiler of some kind, you're really missing out on a key part of Victorian tech culture. At least, that's what the magic lantern slides of late-1800s TEDx talks I've seen say.

But it doesn't have to be coal, as stereotypically perfect as that would be. If they won't mind using modern-generated electricity (they already say they'll use vintage-reproduction electric lights when they have company, so I think this is a safe conclusion) then they could take the much easier route of an electric vehicle.

In 1881, Gustave Trouve built an electric tricycle, and a few years later, in England, Thomas Parker built a number of practical electric cars. These cars were quite simple to use and drive, and a modern equivalent could be built that used, basically, golf cart parts and still be reasonably historically accurate. Just stick to heavy old lead-acid batteries and simple DC motors, and maybe use an old Amish buggy for the body.

I don't think you'd be able to expect more than, say, 25 miles of range and about the same number of miles per hour, but it would certainly work as a general-use city car. And I bet it could carry those bikes if need be, too.

They could even be totally conventional and use a gasoline-powered car, like the famous (but despite what always seems to be said, not the "first car ever" by a long shot) Benz Patent-Motorwagen of 1886. There were 25 of these built (with various model improvements) between 1886 and 1893 — well within the target scope of our neo-Vickies.

There's been many Patent Motorwagen replicas built already, and a simple vehicle that generally fits within the technological parameters of the time could be constructed, the level of how accurate they want to be dictating the price. On the cheap side, a little lawnmower engine on a tube-frame body with bicycle wheels and other vintage-style bicycle parts would give a very close experience to the orginal Benz, and if they wanted to spend more money, I'm sure they can find a shop to make a real open-crankshaft, horizontal cylinder engine like the original Benz.

The whole point here is that if these chronically overdressed people are really, really serious about what they're doing — which it seems they are — they need to go all out and get a period-correct motor vehicle.

The original Victorians generally embraced new technologies. Just look at famous Victorian-era time-citizen Mark Twain, who was an early adopter of the Spotify of 1897, the Tellharmonium. A Victorian probably would find the idea of deliberately shunning any sort of technological advance pretty silly.

But, if they're going to do this, they may as well make themselves available to every Victorian technology they can, especially if it means ditching the 3,000lbs of anachronism that is whatever truck they now have.

My vote is for a copy of the La Mancelle, but I think from a practical standpoint, they should just go for a simple electric car. I'm available for consultation on this matter if the Chrismans are interested; just telegraph me care of Jalopnik.

Source: That Victorian-Living Couple Is Just Playing Dress-Up Until They Get A Real Victorian Car

Schneider Electric strikes five-year partnership with Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions

Schneider Electric has announced an exclusive five-year partnership with Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions to provide complete electric vehicle charging solutions to their fleet and personal customers.

The partnership aims to help make electrical vehicles more commercially viable for business fleets and enable organisations to hit green targets.

The partnership is for all makes and models of BEV's (Battery Electric Vehicles) and PHEV's (Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicles) from all major vehicle manufacturers.

Although electric vehicles bring a host of benefits, from a £5,000 Government grant to congestion charge exemption, zero road tax, and fuel costs from just 2p-per-mile, practicalities in charging have acted as a barrier for many.

Schneider Electrics partnership with Hitachi Capital aims to combat these barriers by: setting standards of electrical vehicle charging services that guarantee a high end customer experience and service; and full management of the end-to-end customer journey using Schneider Electric management process tools. 

Residential charge point installations using the Schneider Electric EVLink range of products and the provision of charging solutions to corporate customers of Hitachi Capital at their workplaces and depot networks are also priorities.

 David Greaves, business development director at Schneider Electric, said: "We believe that working together in partnership with Hitachi Capital, will help promote a higher standard of experience for the customer.

"The benefits are enormous and range from access to easy, safe and high performance charging to helping make Britain a cleaner, greener place.

"At Schneider Electric we are committed to reducing carbon and creating a sustainable and ethical business. This has resulted in us achieving a top 10 position of the most sustainable corporations in the world and we are delighted to bring this to the partnership."

Tim Bowden, head of operations at Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions, added: "We were looking to work with an organisation that shared our passion for providing high-quality service.

"Schneider Electric shares the same ethics as Hitachi Capital and was a natural choice. Hitachi Capital's appetite for new technology keeps us and our customers at the forefront of innovation and this partnership will further enhance our technological skills."

 Schneider Electric products and installation services are fully approved by the Government and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) for the provision of EV home charging. Schneider also fully manages the subsidy claim process on behalf of the end users to minimise the administration for them.

Source: Schneider Electric strikes five-year partnership with Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions

Indianapolis Car Sharing Service Launches Amid Questions

An electric car sharing program that's launched in Indianapolis faces lingering questions about its city subsidies and complaints about the charging stations tying up parking spaces.

Mayor Greg Ballard has promoted the BlueIndy program as an energy-saving alternative mode of transportation, while some skeptics wonder whether the city is the right choice for such a service.

The city's BlueIndy partnership with French company Bollore Group began renting the cars to the public. Drivers who buy a membership can rent the cars by the hour and return them to any of 26 self-service charging stations in the city.

Ballard said the city is offering an on-demand car that he believes will appeal to many people.

"It's there when you want it and when you need it," he said. "It's a service that is perfect for students who can't or don't want to own a car, for empty nesters looking to downsize, for people who need reliable transportation that can't afford car payments and insurance and registration and fuel."

Bollore says the company is investing $41 million in the project that will eventually have 500 cars and 200 charging stations. The city is spending $6 million on the project and Indianapolis Power and Light Co. is contributing $3 million.

Some Democratic City-County Council members question the Republican mayor's decision to spend so much on the car-sharing project rather than public safety and street repairs. They also say Bollore is getting other perks, including not having to pay city fees for permits and the use of hundreds of parking spaces at no charge.

"We got brand new BlueIndy cars and we can't find adequate police cars for public safety, which is number one right now with the murder rate," Councilwoman LaKeisa Jackson said.

Chas Navarra said he was alarmed when a charging station for several BlueIndy cars went up along the street close to his home in the Old Northside neighborhood near the city's downtown.

"I live in a historic neighborhood, and I've got a rental car business in front of my house," Navarra told The Indianapolis Star. "What's the difference between having this and Hertz or Avis parked out there? How is this going to be good for my (property) valuation?"

BlueIndy President Herve Muller said few of the stations are in front of single-family homes and that locations were picked based on residential densities, where people work, college locations and busy transit routes.

Michael Thwaite, president of Plug In America and a partner of Tesla Motors Club, said he was surprised Bollore, which owns car-share operations in Paris and London, picked Indianapolis for its first such venture in the United States.

"It is an odd choice, there's no doubt about it," Thwaite told the Indianapolis Business Journal. "One would have thought that they would have started in a very electric-car-friendly city."

BlueIndy says it has sold more than 1,000 memberships already and expects tens of thousands of users during its first year in Indianapolis.

"We think it's the perfect city to do this," BlueIndy General Manager Scott Prince said. "If we had the world's greatest mass transit system today, this arguably would not be the first city we'd be launching in in America."

Copyright Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source: Indianapolis Car Sharing Service Launches Amid Questions

Russia Decrees: Every Gas Station Must Have Electric-Car Charging Too

Thanks to a single, sweeping decree, Russia could soon become a much more hospitable place for electric cars.

The country is currently home to just a small number of electric cars, and its charging infrastructure is relatively undeveloped.

But the national government now requires that all gas stations in the country must be equipped for electric-car charging in little more than a year, by November 2016.

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The order to provide charging stations on such a large scale was signed August 27 by Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev, reports The Moscow Times.

Gas-station owners will be required to cover all costs of installing and operating charging stations, the paper says.

Estimated costs for a charging station in Russia range from 100,000 rubles ($1,480) for a Level 1 AC unit, to 3.5 million rubles ($51,720) for a DC fast-charging station, according to Maxim Osorin, head of electric-car seller and charging-network operator Revolta Motors.

The government decree did not specify what kind of charging stations owners will have to install, so it's possible many will go for the cheapest option.

Officials hope a mandatory expansion of the charging network will increase electric-car sales.

Only about 500 electric cars have reportedly been sold in Russia since 2011, when the Mitsubishi i-MiEV first went on sale there.

ALSO SEE: Lada Joins Electric Car Ranks, But Is It A Leaf-Beater?... (Aug 2012)

The Mitsubishi was the first modern electric car to go on sale in Russia, and the Japanese firm is still the only foreign automaker officially selling electric cars in the country.

However, the BMW i3, Nissan Leaf, and Tesla Model S have appeared in small numbers, without any factory support.

Domestic manufacturer AutoVAZ also sells an electric car, the EL Lada.

This model went on sale in 2011, but only 49 have reportedly been sold so far, compared to 217 i-MiEV electric cars.

There are currently no government cash incentives or tax credits for new electric-car purchases, like the ones that have been adopted by the U.S. and other countries.

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In the capital city of Moscow, the only perk electric-car drivers get is free parking.

There is also a network of 28 public charging stations, operated as a pilot program by Moscow United Electric Grid Company.

[hat tip: Jack Sapourn]

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Source: Russia Decrees: Every Gas Station Must Have Electric-Car Charging Too

First Place Finish for Penn’s Electric Race Car

First Place Finish for Penn's Electric Race Car

September 8, 2015, Volume 62, No. 04

 

The Penn Electric Racing team in Nebraska this summer: (back row, left to right) Jeremy Wright, Eli Gottlieb, Jay Fleischer, Tommy Sutton, David (Xiaohan) Chen, Manfred Reiche, Prith Gowda, Jason Chen and Courtney Kobata; (front row, left to right) Foster Collins, Dan Shanks, Adam Farabaugh (seated in car), Andrew Remec, Forrest Milburn and Parth Patel.All the students are in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics (MEAM), except Parth Patel, who is in electrical and systems engineering (ESE).An additional 20 members of the team did not travel to Nebraska, but contributed to the design and construction of the car. The team members who returned to campus with SEAS Dean Vijay Kumar (in center): Parth Patel, Forrest Milburn, Jason Chen, Jay Fleischer, Andrew Remec, Prith Gowda, Jeremy Wright, Tyrrell McCurbin, Dan Shanks, Courtney Kobata and Penn Engineering Professor Andy Jackson.

Penn Electric Racing has taken home top honors at an international competition.

The automotive engineering society SAE International hosts an annual series of racing events designed to spur creativity, innovation and problem solving in the next generation of engineering students. Its Formula SAE competition pits custom-built, high-performance racecars against one another. This year, over the weekend of June 17, it brought in more than 100 teams, hailing from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, India and Japan.

Gas-powered racers made up a majority of the field, but Penn's team set out to show that an electric car could hold its own against them. The more than 30 student members are united by their desire to push the envelope of what an electric car can do, not only in terms of its environmental bona fides but the qualities that make driving fun.A high-speed test track is the perfect venue for such a synthesis. 

Even getting on the track is an accomplishment. Most of the 20 electric racing teams that came to the Lincoln, Nebraska event, including peer automotive engineering powerhouses MIT and Carnegie Mellon, were disqualified during the event's exacting technical inspections.

Penn's car last year, REV0, met with that fate. Drawing on the lessons learned there, the team put a year's worth of fine-tuning into its successor, REV1. Beyond design upgrades in the shop, the team was able to do more rigorous field-testing of their vehicle this year. The opening of Pennovation Works (Almanac March 3, 2015) allowed for extra practice space.  

Their hard work paid off. REV1 took first place among electrics overall, winning seven of the eight categories. These included overall design, cornering, endurance and time-trials on a full racetrack. The acceleration test was one of the team's strongest suits; beyond taking first among electrics, REV1 would have beaten all but three of the gas-powered cars. 

"We had our fingers crossed, but we really didn't need to. The car worked flawlessly," said Andy Jackson, the team's faculty advisor, at a ceremony marking the team's return to campus.

Dr. Jackson, a professor of practice in the School of Engineering and Applied Science's department of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics (MEAM), stressed that his role on the team was merely an administrative one and that the students did all of the work on the car themselves.

Not only are they involved in all aspects of its design, fabrication and testing, but senior team members are also responsible for recruiting and training their successors.

The team is looking to raise additional funds for the 2015-2016 year. They have put together a budget with the goal of being the top-performing race car, gasoline or electric, in FSAE Lincoln in June 2016. They would like to identify a team sponsor and major donor, such as GM, and are working on this.

"This is an incredible learning experience for the students," Dr. Jackson said. "Next year, we expect to be not only the clear winner among electric cars but to beat most of the gasoline cars, too."

 

Source: First Place Finish for Penn's Electric Race Car