Thiel: City launches electric vehicle challenge

Jackie Kozak Thiel 4:02 a.m. MDT July 20, 2016

Jackie Kozak Thiel(Photo: Courtesy of the city of Fort Collins)

Innovation is a principal driver of economic activity in Fort Collins.

The Smithsonian Institute recognized this fact by naming Fort Collins the community of the future as part of its national "Places of Invention" exhibit. We've also been on the world stage for the number of patents per capita largely because of our technology, bioscience and clean energy companies.

That entrepreneurial spirit is also what's going to help the community reach its climate action goals to reduce carbon emissions 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and 80 percent by 2030 with a goal of being carbon neutral by 2050.

These goals will be reached with everyone working together, which is why the city is looking for partners.

We see the city as a platform to test, deploy and scale up innovation, so we want community organizations and the private sector to help us find competitive grants, access to outside capital and innovative approaches that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in four areas: adding renewables on the grid; improving energy efficiency; increasing recycling; and encouraging pedestrian, bicycle and bus use. Ultimately, we hope to identify pilot projects and expand workforce opportunities that will help us reach our goals while making Fort Collins an even better place to live, work and play.

Just this month, the city and Innosphere announced a new electric vehicle challenge. The finalists will present at CSU's 21st Century Energy Transition Symposium on Sept. 28-29. The Innovate Fort Collins competition seeks proposals to understand and quantify actual electric vehicle charging patterns in Fort Collins. This will help us manage our core utility distribution system while making progress toward a carbon-neutral city.

Here's the problem to be solved: If a lot more people buy electric vehicles, the pressure on charging loads could affect the reliability of the electric grid. Right now, the city is just assuming a worst-case scenario: that everyone will charge their vehicles at home at 5 p.m. every day. But there is emerging evidence that actual charging patterns are significantly more diverse. The objective of the competition is to quantify the scheduling, location and electric loads of electric vehicles currently running on the Fort Collins grid distribution system.

Innovate Fort Collins is specifically designed to help innovators bring relevant technologies to market that will help the community meet its climate action goals.

To sign up for the competition, go to www.innovatefortcollins.com. Registration is now open for the CSU symposium at www.energytransition.colostate.edu. For more information about the city's Climate Action Plan, go to www.fcgov.com/climateaction.

Jackie Kozak Thiel is the chief sustainability officer for the city of Fort Collins. She can be reached at 970-416-2170 or jkozak-thiel@fcgov.com.

Read or Share this story: http://noconow.co/29TWDUp

Source: Thiel: City launches electric vehicle challenge

Audi plans electric car push to put heat on Tesla

Audi's first electric SUV will be based on the e-tron quattro concept, shown. It will challenge the Tesla Model X.

Andreas CremerEdward TaylorReutersJuly 19, 2016 09:16 CET

BERLIN -- Audi will aim for electric cars to account for a quarter of its sales by 2025 as part of a strategic overhaul following the emissions scandal at parent Volkswagen Group, company sources said, in a move that could step up the challenge to Tesla Motors.

Audi, which has been slow to embrace battery-powered vehicles, will now invest about a third of its research and development budget into electric cars, digital services, and autonomous driving, two company sources told Reuters.

Based on the 1.8 million cars sold by Audi last year, that would mean it selling at least 450,000 electric cars a year. Factoring in an expected rise in sales, that could turn Audi into a major competitor to Tesla, which believes it can sell 500,000 electric cars by 2020 or sooner.

With the exception of BMW, Germany's luxury automakers have been late to develop electric vehicles, a market which is still money losing. But Audi's parent Volkswagen is under pressure to clean up its image in the wake of its emissions-test cheating scandal.

Audi CEO Rupert Stadler plans to outline details of the new business roadmap to more than 2,000 managers on Wednesday at a closed-door conference in Munich, the sources said.

An Audi spokesman declined to comment. German business daily Handelsblatt reported late on Monday about Audi's plans.

Germans behind

Figures compiled for Reuters by LMC Automotive show BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi - the world's largest producers of luxury cars - rank 12th, 14th and 22nd respectively when it comes to annual sales of electric and hybrid vehicles, trailing Toyota, Honda, Lexus and Nissan.

In the wake of Volkswagen's diesel test cheating, regulators around the world have intensified a clampdown on toxic fumes, potentially providing a boost in demand for zero emission cars.

Customers have, however, been slow to adopt electric cars which have a limited operating range and long recharging times. Of the 14,202,024 new cars registered in the European Union and the European Free Trade Association last year, only 186,170 were electric vehicles and 234,170 were hybrids, figures from European auto association ACEA show.

Year-to-date growth for electric vehicles has been slowing. While sales jumped by 55 percent last year, they have risen just 15 percent to 37,000 so far in 2016, according to JATO Dynamics.

"Some governments in northern Europe where most of the electric vehicles are sold have announced fewer incentives. At the same time there hasn't been any important new launch in the electric vehicle segment," said Felipe Munoz, global automotive analyst with JATO.

The lack of an electric SUV, and broad demand for hybrid vehicles, has dampened demand in pure electric cars, JATO said.

Engine cutbacks

To free up funds for the new strategy, Audi plans cutbacks in its conventional combustion car program including steps to reduce country-specific variants of engines and transmissions, the sources said, without being more specific.

In 2015, Audi spent 4.24 billion euros ($4.69 billion) on r&d. Of the brand's 50 or so models, only two are electric or semi-electric and Audi is now taking orders on a third, the Q7 e-tron plug-in hybrid.

Audi's first electric SUV will be based on the e-tron quattro concept unveiled at the Frankfurt auto show last year. The electric SUV will challenge the Tesla Model X. It will fit between the Q5 midsize SUV and the Q7 large SUV and will likely be called the Q6.

VW Group last month announced plans to spend billions of euros on electric cars, ride-hailing and automated driving to become a world leader in green transport by 2025.

Contact Automotive News

advertising

Source: Audi plans electric car push to put heat on Tesla

Electric Car Charging Stations Are Coming to the Mass Pike

P hoto via iStock.com/Predrag Vuckovic

Electric cars cruising down the Mass Pike will soon be able to stop for a charge.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced Tuesday it is installing electric vehicle charging stations at six service plazas on the turnpike.

The 50-kilowatt stations are fast-charging. A MassDOT spokeswoman told the Boston Herald vehicles can charge to about 80 percent power in 10 minutes and to 100 percent power in 20 minutes.

Stations at the westbound Framingham and eastbound Natick plazas will be able to power up drivers by early fall. Stations at the eastbound and westbound Charlton plazas will be installed by late fall, and ones at the westbound Blandford plaza and either the eastbound Blandford plaza or eastbound Lee plaza should be operational by the end of the year, reports the Associated Press.

Electric cars will plug in beside the air-filling stations near the convenience stores at each plaza, according to the Herald.

Each charging station's equipment costs an estimated $30,000. The Herald reports MassDOT is also considering adding charging stations for hydrogen-powered cars.

Source: Electric Car Charging Stations Are Coming to the Mass Pike

Electric route can keep car in race

Wife abuse: Kondli MLA before DCW

NGT bans use of pressure horns in city

HC refuses to stay govt fine on city hospital

Inter-ministerial meet likely to seek tax breaks for those giving up old vehicles

CPCB report shows clean Yamuna a distant dream

Waterman to work on airport area

10-year-old diesel vehicles only 3% of Delhi's vehicular population

Gupta faces AAP case over old pics

NGT order will discourage investors: Centre

Source: Electric route can keep car in race

Hyundai Exec Says Automaker Will Roll Out New Generation Electric Cars Every Two Years

Hyundai IONIQ Electric

Hyundai IONIQ Electric

Ahn Byung-ki, director of eco-vehicle development at Hyundai Motor Group, made some announcements last week at Hyundai's research and development center in South Korea.

According to Byung-ki, Hyundai will position itself as a leader in electric cars from here on out. In order to be a leader, Hyundai says it'll roll out new generation electric cars every two years to keep pace with how quickly the technology is emerging in the electric car space.

As Automotive News reports:

"Aiming to make electrified cars a pillar of its portfolio, Hyundai Motor Co. says the technology is evolving so fast that it must roll out new electric vehicles on a two-year cadence to boost the current 110-mile range to around 250 miles by 2020."

Quoting Byung-ki:

"Electrical vehicles are changing real fast. From a conventional perspective, two years or maybe a year-and-a-half is not really a long time."

"But in the EV business, it is a pretty long time. We have to be ready for the new generation every two years."

The IONIQ electric, a car that's not yet on sale in the U.S., is already behind the times with a range of only 110 miles. It'll go on sale in the U.S. this November. Pricing has not yet been annnounced, but with a range of only 110 miles, we don't expect it to sell all that well, no matter how low its price tag.

Fortunately, with this new-every-two cycle announced by Hyundai, we won't have to wait long before a longer range IONIQ is offered. And Hyundai doesn't seemed concerned over these longer range cars cannibalzing sales of IONIQ. As Byung-ki stated in regards to future electric Hyundai's:

"We're going to put more batteries in it, so the price is going to be higher than the Ioniq's."

Automotive News adds:

"Hyundai is planning a new EV with a 200-mile range for 2018 and another with range approaching 250 miles by around 2020."

Hyundai promises at least 8 PHEVs and 8 EVs by 2020, so there will be lots of choices out there to pick from.

Source: Automotive News

Source: Hyundai Exec Says Automaker Will Roll Out New Generation Electric Cars Every Two Years

Samsung may place a $450m bet on electric cars and batteries

Martyn Williams | July 18, 2016

The company is negotiating to buy a stake in a well-known Chinese electric car maker

Samsung Electronics is on the verge of making a substantial investment in BYD, a Chinese manufacturer of electric cars and batteries.

The Samsung investment comes as its chief rivals are investing in car tech and the market for car battery technology continues to grow.

The investment was first reported by the Korea Economic Daily, which said Samsung will pay 3 billion yuan ($450 million) for a 4 percent share of BYD. BYD later confirmed the two are in talks but did not confirm the investment size.

"Going forward, the parties will jointly seize opportunities in the rapid development of the global electric vehicles industry and promote sustainable development of the parties' electric vehicles related businesses," BYD said in a regulatory filing.

BYD is a well-known name in China and sold more than 60,000 electric cars last year. It's hoping to double that this year.

Samsung is far from the only tech company looking to gain a foothold in the automobile market.

Apple recently spent $1 billion to buy a stake in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi and is widely rumored to be developing its own car.

Nearby in Silicon Valley, Google is developing self-driving car technology and its prototype vehicles are a common sight on the streets around its Mountain View headquarters.

Traditional automakers like General Motors, Toyota, and Nissan are also investing heavily in new technology for electric cars and automated driving. Electric car maker Tesla is building a massive battery factory with Panasonic.

1 

Source: Samsung may place a $450m bet on electric cars and batteries

Samsung in Talks With BYD to Buy Stake in Electric-Car Maker (3)

(Bloomberg) -- Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest maker of phones and memory chips, said it's in talks with BYD Co. about investing in the Chinese electric-car manufacturer.

Details including the size of the investment will be disclosed when they're confirmed, Samsung said Friday in an e-mailed statement. The investment in BYD, backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., would bolster Samsung's semiconductor business for cars, the South Korean company said.

BYD said Samsung has been actively pushing forward talks about buying its shares in a private placement. Talks are still underway, the Chinese company said, denying a report by the Korea Economic Daily that an agreement was reached to acquire a 4 percent stake.

Samsung is pursuing the investment after its affiliate was among foreign battery makers left off a list of suppliers approved by China, where sales of electric vehicles are surging and the government has sped up construction of charging points. The talks with BYD also add to the global trend of technology companies and automakers collaborating as car buyers increasingly demand more advanced powertrains and features that improve connectivity and safety.

"It puts Samsung into the electric-vehicle subsystem supply chain for a key Chinese electric vehicle and battery manufacturer," said Bill Russo, a Shanghai-based managing director at Gao Feng Advisory Co. "BYD gets a technology innovation pipeline partner with a reputable brand."

For more on the merging worlds of technology and cars, click here.

BYD, which rose 5.2 percent to HK$51.25 at the close in Hong Kong, has a market value of HK$161 billion ($21 billion). Samsung Electronics climbed 1.2 percent in Seoul trading.

China surpassed the U.S. as the largest market for electric vehicles last year. The government wants sales of what it calls new-energy vehicles to exceed 3 million units a year by 2025. Deliveries of new-energy vehicles more than doubled to about 170,000 units in the first half of the year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

BYD won approval from the Chinese government in February to raise as much as 15 billion yuan through additional share sale to help fund expansion of its production of batteries for new-energy vehicles and product development. The company has six months to sell the shares after winning approval.

(Updates with closing shares in sixth paragraph.)

©2016 Bloomberg L.P.

Source: Samsung in Talks With BYD to Buy Stake in Electric-Car Maker (3)