Chevrolet Bolt Designer Says Automaker “Broke The Mold” On Mass Market Electric Car

Chevy Bolt

Chevrolet Bolt EV

Designing the Chevrolet Bolt proved to be challenging, says lead designer Stuart Norris.

Norris was on hand in South Korea to field interview questions recently and he revealed that the Bolt was quite possibly the most challenging car he's ever had to design.

According to Norris, the Bolt's incredibly tight launch timeline forced the design team to find new solutions and to work at a break neck pace.

Quoting Norris:

"It reminds you of what GM can do when we're given a deadline and set to it."

"We broke the mold on the Bolt EV."

"We need to sell more of these electric vehicles, so we need something that has more broad mass appeal. The Bolt was a very significant program for us."

Bolt Interior

Automotive News states:

"Typically, GM vehicle design is handled by two teams, one responsible for the exterior, the other for the interior. But the Bolt was such a high-stakes project, the company created a special team in Korea that would integrate all aspects of styling."

But designing the Bolt wasn't easy, in part due to its size and shape. Quoting Norris:

"It's a bit of a segment buster. We call it a C-segment interior on a B-segment platform."

"There's big-picture stuff, and then there's just detail, detail, detail."

But perhaps the biggest revelation from Norris comes on the aerodynamic front:

"It's a disaster for aero."

The Bolt has a drag coefficient of 0.32, according to Norris. That's an awful figure for an electric car, but in an attempt to improve air flow, several design elements and "tricks" were employed.

Bolt Interior

Those are described by Automotive News as follows:

" Norris' design team incorporated a spoiler and sharply creased winglike canards along the tail edge of the car. Other tricks were underbody paneling, air dams and active grille shutters that close at certain speeds to streamline airflow. Designers even adjusted the radius of the A-pillar, modified the mirrors and fine-tuned tire coverage.

"No fewer than six full-sized iterations of the Bolt underwent wind-tunnel testing."

Norris went out to state that the car's interior is perhaps its biggest breakthrough in regards to spaciousness, cargo volume and so on. He concluded with this statement:

"Small-car design has always been a challenging area because you're trying to deliver more for less. This is a pretty unique execution."

The Bolt is indeed unique and the fact that it will go from concept to production in such a short time frame is proof that General Motors knows just how important a mass market, affordable electric car really is in the grand scheme.

Source: Automotive News

Source: Chevrolet Bolt Designer Says Automaker "Broke The Mold" On Mass Market Electric Car

OU installs free electric car charging station for faculty, staff and students

Students and faculty at the University of Oklahoma who drive electric cars, rejoice.

The university announced the installation of its first electric car charging station on campus. The station, which has two ports, is at Three Partners Place, 201 David L. Boren Blvd., in the south part of campus.

Only students and faculty at OU with valid parking permits can use the station, but it is available for free to those who sign up. Vicky Holland, marketing manager for OU Parking and Transportation Services, hopes not charging for the service will encourage people considering hybrid electric cars to move in that direction.

"If we're able to help out in that way in the effort to go green, we want to do that," Holland said.

The station, operated by ChargePoint, opened this week, and Holland said a few people have signed up. More are expected to use the service as the school year progresses.

"We just started this week actually promoting it," she said. "We've had two or three people sign up, and we don't expect huge usage to begin with. It's probably something they were waiting for us to make before they moved toward an electric car."

There was no need to set up a special power grid or generator. Holland said the station plugs directly into power lines. Since ChargePoint allows station owners to set their own prices, OU can offer the service to registered students and faculty for free.

Story continues below video

They will have to sign up with a ChargePoint account online at chargepoint.com or on the company's mobile app.

A university press release states ChargePoint cards should arrive within the week someone signs up, and the card should be activated within the next 24 hours.

Approved members then hold their ChargePoint card over the reader at the station to activate a charge port. A message showing the vehicle is charging should then appear on the station's display screen.

The ChargePoint app also allows users to know when their car is fully charged, if it has been interrupted or if and where there is a station available nearby.

Holland said OU plans to install more charge stations in the future. According to the announcement, the Jenkins Avenue Parking Facility will contain 1,221 parking spaces and will have more electric charging stations when it opens next year, Holland said.

"Our new garage opening in January will have two more of these stations in it," she said. "Later, we can expand, if the demand is there, without having to put in more power lines."

According to figures gathered by the U.S. Department of Energy, hybrid electric vehicle sales peaked at just under 500,000 in 2013 and fell the next two years. About 384,000 were sold in 2015.

Source: OU installs free electric car charging station for faculty, staff and students

Ontario’s electric car goal could lead to increase in hydro rates, expert says

Ontario's ambitious goal to put an electric car in every multi-vehicle driveway over the next decade could lead to higher electricity prices, an economist warns.

Premier Kathleen Wynne has pledged that 12 per cent of cars will be electric by 2025.

READ MORE: Ontario boosts incentives to people who buy electric cars

That would see the number of electric vehicles on the road in the province jump from 7,000 to one million.

The province is addressing so-called "range anxiety" by building 500 charging stations by March 31, 2017, promising drivers will be able to travel long distances — from Ottawa to Windsor or Toronto to North Bay — without a drop of gasoline.

"Hydro rates have gone up significantly over the past several years," says Brady Yauch, executive director and economist at the Consumer Policy Institute.

"If this requires more investment from utilities and more generation, prices will go up even more than they already have."

The projected spike in electric cars would amount to a 2.2 per cent increase in demand overall, according to the province's Independent Electricity Systems Operator.

WATCH: The high cost of soaring Hydro prices in Ontario 

But while the provincial grid has more than enough capacity, local utility companies are bracing for potential system overload in urban areas where demand for electric vehicles is expected to be higher.

READ MORE: Hydro horror stories: tales from rural Ontario 

"What we don't want to have happen — this is the biggest concern — is that the charging energy going into these vehicles superimposes itself on the peak that already exists," said Dan Guatto, chief operating officer of Burlington Hydro and a board member of Electric Mobility Canada.

Consider the average electric car uses a load equivalent to what an entire home uses each day.

The worst case scenario is pockets of neighbourhoods charging cars, cranking the air conditioning and using appliances all at the same time. This could produce a load that local grids just weren't designed to handle.

"The cost of managing the load are much lower than increasing the capacity of distribution assets to accommodate yet a higher peak," Guatto said.

That's why it's key that utilities understand where the cars will be on the grid and what time of day they're plugged in.

READ MORE: 7 ways to lower your hydro bill this summer

"We recommended utilities and electricity providers keep monitoring communities to ensure that as you see a pickup in (electric vehicle) deployment in those areas that the system can respond," said Steve McCauley of Pollution Probe, an environmental organization that has studied the potential impact of electric vehicles in 10 of Ontario's major urban centres.

"We found the situation for at least the next 10 years was going to be sufficient," McCauley said.

Local distribution companies are planning for any unexpected peaks in demand.

WATCH: Ontario Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault doesn't think the situation in rural Ontario is a crisis 

Burlington Hydro is part of a pilot project to design a "smarter" grid that would use the province's surplus power, which is sold at a loss to other jurisdictions.

"We don't just shift the charging to off-peak hours. We can also throttle the charging, spread it out over time to take full advantage of when the surpluses are available," Guatto said. "And when they're not available, do the opposite."

READ MORE: Rural Ontarians left in the dark as electricity bills skyrocket

Still, no one can predict for sure what future costs will be. Utility companies factor in all new investment in rate increase applications to the Ontario Energy Board.

"The whole legislation around the Green Energy Act started off as, it's going to affect (your hydro bill) by one per cent a year. But it's turned out to be significantly more than that," Yauch said. "So I think Ontarians want the province to be clear on what the real costs are."

Ultimately, consumers will get a financial jolt whether they go electric or not. Monthly natural gas bills are going up by five dollars and the price of gasoline will increase by 4.3 cents a litre, as part of the province's overall climate change strategy.

© 2016 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Source: Ontario's electric car goal could lead to increase in hydro rates, expert says

Tesla's Chinese rival is spending $1.8 billion on an electric car factory

Electrek

BEIJING (Reuters) - LeEco, the Chinese company looking to rival Tesla with its own electric car, said on Wednesday it would invest 12 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) to build an electric car plant in eastern China with eventual annual production capacity of 400,000 cars.

The company said in a statement its first China factory would be built in two phases in Deqing county near the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.

Non-automakers and start-ups have rushed to begin making electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles as China's central government liberalizes the industry to promote a switch to electricity as an ultimate replacement for petrol to fuel cars.

LeEco's production facility will be part of a larger project to build an "Eco Experience Park" that will cost 20 billion yuan ($3 billion) in total that will also include an entertainment park, facilities for internet-connected electric cars and offices, the statement said.

The company did not say when it planned to complete the factory.

LeEco also plans to produce cars at a plant being built near Las Vegas by U.S. strategic partner Faraday Future, in which LeEco founder Jia Yueting has invested.

LeEco unveiled an electric concept car in April that has an autonomous mode. Called the LeSEE, the car is meant to be part of a fleet that you can summon on command.

(Reporting by Jake Spring and Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Jacqueline Wong; Danielle Muoio contributed to this report.)

Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2016. Follow Reuters on Twitter.

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Source: Tesla's Chinese rival is spending $1.8 billion on an electric car factory

Chevrolet Bolt Designer Says Automaker “Broke The Mold” On Mass Market Electric Car

Chevy Bolt

Chevrolet Bolt EV

Designing the Chevrolet Bolt proved to be challenging, says lead designer Stuart Norris.

Norris was on hand in South Korea to field interview questions recently and he revealed that the Bolt was quite possibly the most challenging car he's ever had to design.

According to Norris, the Bolt's incredibly tight launch timeline forced the design team to find new solutions and to work at a break neck pace.

Quoting Norris:

"It reminds you of what GM can do when we're given a deadline and set to it."

"We broke the mold on the Bolt EV."

"We need to sell more of these electric vehicles, so we need something that has more broad mass appeal. The Bolt was a very significant program for us."

Bolt Interior

Automotive News states:

"Typically, GM vehicle design is handled by two teams, one responsible for the exterior, the other for the interior. But the Bolt was such a high-stakes project, the company created a special team in Korea that would integrate all aspects of styling."

But designing the Bolt wasn't easy, in part due to its size and shape. Quoting Norris:

"It's a bit of a segment buster. We call it a C-segment interior on a B-segment platform."

"There's big-picture stuff, and then there's just detail, detail, detail."

But perhaps the biggest revelation from Norris comes on the aerodynamic front:

"It's a disaster for aero."

The Bolt has a drag coefficient of 0.32, according to Norris. That's an awful figure for an electric car, but in an attempt to improve air flow, several design elements and "tricks" were employed.

Bolt Interior

Those are described by Automotive News as follows:

" Norris' design team incorporated a spoiler and sharply creased winglike canards along the tail edge of the car. Other tricks were underbody paneling, air dams and active grille shutters that close at certain speeds to streamline airflow. Designers even adjusted the radius of the A-pillar, modified the mirrors and fine-tuned tire coverage.

"No fewer than six full-sized iterations of the Bolt underwent wind-tunnel testing."

Norris went out to state that the car's interior is perhaps its biggest breakthrough in regards to spaciousness, cargo volume and so on. He concluded with this statement:

"Small-car design has always been a challenging area because you're trying to deliver more for less. This is a pretty unique execution."

The Bolt is indeed unique and the fact that it will go from concept to production in such a short time frame is proof that General Motors knows just how important a mass market, affordable electric car really is in the grand scheme.

Source: Automotive News

Source: Chevrolet Bolt Designer Says Automaker "Broke The Mold" On Mass Market Electric Car

Car dealer Peter Vardy launches electric BMW outlet

The BMW electric range includes the i3. Picture: Ian Georgeson

09:30 Tuesday 09 August 2016

Peter Vardy Group has launched a BMWi brand retail outlet in Edinburgh, selling its first electric cars, at its existing BMW dealership in Seafield Road.

The range includes the all-electric BMW i3, the world's first mass production model to be designed for sustainability and its "sporty big brother", the plug-in hybrid BMW i8.

READ MORE: Peter Vardy profits drive ahead on investment push

Chief executive Peter Vardy said he was "delighted" to welcome the BMWi offering to the group, stating: "We are very excited by the prospect of bringing our first electric cars on board and we expect to see substantial customer interest in these leading-edge models."

The group revealed last month that sales in its recent financial year rose by 11 per cent to £437.2 million, also highlighting that it had invested heavily in "state-of-the-art" premises.

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Source: Car dealer Peter Vardy launches electric BMW outlet

Electric car maker misses debt payment to Mississippi

Electric car maker GreenTech Automotive, which once planned to build 250,000 cars a year and invest $2 billion in an impoverished corner of Mississippi's Delta region, has missed a debt payment to the state of Mississippi.

Mississippi Development Authority spokesman Jeff Rent confirmed Monday that the Tunica County company didn't pay $150,000 due June 30. That was the first payment on a $3 million state loan.

"The Mississippi Development Authority continues to work with GreenTech Automotive as the company secures additional funding," Rent wrote in an email. "This is the best course of action to protect the state's investment and to keep Mississippians working at the plant."

Previously, GreenTech has raised money from Chinese people who can obtain permanent U.S. residency by investing $500,000 and creating 10 jobs. However, GreenTech may have fallen out of favor with green card granting authorities.

The Roanoke Times reported in May that a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services document showed GreenTech had only 75 employees last year, has produced only 25 cars and has sold none. The newspaper reported the statements were contained in a decision earlier this year denying a green card to a Chinese investor, rejecting company projections that GreenTech would increase employment to 125 this year and 250 by 2018. The newspaper wrote that Nicholas Colucci, chief of the immigrant investor program, signed a decision stating GreenTech had a "general lack of credibility from the failure to meet any projected timelines."

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said Monday that it can't discuss individual cases. GreenTech, a unit of Virginia-based WM Industries, didn't respond to a phone call and email seeking comment.

Rent said he doesn't know if Mississippi sent GreenTech a default notice. Under the loan agreement that Mississippi signed with GreenTech in 2011, a default notice would let the state demand all money back immediately and possibly seize GreenTech's property.

Besides the $3 million loan, Mississippi also loaned Tunica County $1.9 million to buy the site for GreenTech. The company has also been certified for state tax breaks exempting it from state income and franchise taxes for 10 years, and from sales taxes on equipment.

Mississippi officials said in May they were renegotiating agreements with the company because GreenTech failed in its pledge to hire 350 workers.

Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's former investment with GreenTech was attacked by Republicans in 2013 as he campaigned for office, and the involvement of Hugh Rodham, the brother of Hillary Clinton, also brought scrutiny.

McAuliffe has said he divested his interest in GreenTech. He resigned as the firm's chairman in December 2012.

McAuliffe acknowledged in May that he's under federal investigation for business dealings before he became governor. His lawyer, James W. Cooper, said Justice Department officials told him they have been looking into McAuliffe's foreign sources of income before he became governor in 2014 and whether he violated the law by lobbying the U.S. government on behalf of foreign interests.

Cooper told The Associated Press that officials said they have found no evidence McAuliffe engaged in such lobbying. A law enforcement official told The Associated Press earlier that McAuliffe is the subject of a federal investigation related to campaign finance. Cooper said investigators didn't discuss campaign contributions.

The inspector general of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security found last year that the department's current deputy secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, violated agency ethics policies but didn't break any laws when he intervened in visa proceedings for GreenTech and two other projects. Mayorkas has denied he influenced any agency decisions for political purposes. The AP reported last year that McAuliffe rebuffed requests by the inspector general for an interview.

Source: Electric car maker misses debt payment to Mississippi