Hybrid and Electric road vehicles

[ozbob]

Energy and Water Utilities
The Honourable Stephen Robertson
29/10/2011

North Queenslanders to drive electric vehicle trial

Seven Townsville families will be among the first Australians to get behind the wheel of electric vehicles - or EVs - as an electrical revolution starts on Queensland's roads and highways, Minister for Energy Stephen Robertson said today.

Townsville MP Mandy Johnstone said Ergon Energy would make seven EVs available in a one-of-a-kind trial for the city.

"This is a unique project and - since EVs will be the transport of the immediate future - it's terrific that Townsville is first cab off the rank," Ms Johnstone said.

"The trial will involve seven vehicles - five Mitsubishi i-MiEVs and two converted vehicles based on a Mazda 2 and VW Caddy van.

"Ergon is yet to announce which specific areas of the city they will target to distribute the vehicles, but I'd encourage anyone who has an interest in a cleaner, greener Queensland to put their hand up and get behind this trail.

"Low-emission technologies like electric vehicles are on track to b ecome a serious alternative for Queensland drivers to cars powered by diesel or petrol.

"EVs offer drivers a revolutionary zero-emission transport option when recharged with 100 per cent renewable energy.

"Queensland's leadership on understanding EVs' advantages, opportunities, impacts and challenges takes us another step closer toward a greener Queensland."

Mr Robertson said the EVs would be loaned to Townsville families over an eight month period and Townsville residents would be invited to take part in the coming weeks.

In addition to the vehicles, he said public charging stations are expected to be installed at several locations throughout the city including shopping centres.

Private charge stations will also be installed in the trial participant's houses.

"This is an emerging form of transport and like any new technology, it's essential it is tested," Mr Robertson said.

"But reducing transport-related emissions by encouraging consumers to become early adopters of EVs will also help Queensland meet its Q2 target to cut Queenslanders' carbon footprint by one third with reduced car and electricity use by 2020."

==============================================================

[ozbob]

Electric vehicles are a part solution.  Only a matter of time before distance road tolls are introduced to replace lost oil based fuel excise .... nothing surer.

Unless there is a transformation to zero emission electricity generation the environmental claims of single car equivalent electric vehicles are all but illusory, but reducing emissions locally is a better outcome.

I think there is a great future ahead for electric buses, and of course electric rail, light and heavy.  Here scalability is a major advantage even if non-zero emission electricity production, which it will be of course for a while yet.

There are various studies under way to see how the present electricity grid can be adapted to the charging requirements of electric vehicles, this will no doubt come with a cost as well.

Hybrid vehicles also have a role.  The main advantage of hybrids over pure electric is that distance limitations are avoided, whilst still extracting significant environmental advantages.  They also generate their own electricity through conversion of the vehicles kinetic energy.  The energy input being a reduced oil input.

There is also a role for plug in hybrids as well, particularly in Australia with many having to travel longer distances.   Here external electrical power sources, as well as vehicles kinetic energy and oil inputs are used.

[Golliwog]

My one problem with electric vehicles is the massive amount of energy that is wasted in getting the electricity from the coal (or whatever else is your power source) to the vehicle using it.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Not to mention the batteries in them take ages to recharge and only last a few years. Stop farting and messing around with hybrids and electric cars. Get craking on the hydrogen ones.

[SurfRail]

Not to mention the batteries in them take ages to recharge and only last a few years. Stop farting and messing around with hybrids and electric cars. Get craking on the hydrogen ones.

Hydrogen tech is a bit of a pain in itself.  Being the smallest element it has a tendency to leak, and it is rather energy intensive to produce in a usable form even though it is found everywhere.

I can see a future where they probably both have a role to play.

[aldonius]

Today I've seen articles describing potential advances in both fuel cell and battery tech.  

Batteries:
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/10/deliberate-incompetence-makes-for-better-lithium-air-batteries.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

Fuel Cell:
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2011/10/green-machine-recycled-cans-to.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

[Gazza]

I reckon Battery powered vehicles are the more likey ones. Lets just hope we develop good processes for recycling and producing the batteries.
They still don't solve the issue of traffic congestion anyway, which is why PT still works out best for the cities, and for urban dwellers, even if PT wont get you all the way because you live in a very low density area, even the current short range electric cars would get you to and from a P&R.

I think it may well be a case that consumers accept that a car has a higher base prise than in the past, due to the batteries (In the same way people grudignly deal with houses taking a bigger chunk of your income than in the past)....You won't get a new car for $14,990 anymore but rather a basic small car would be at the 30k mark.

[somebody]

^ How do you figure?  A Barina Classic costs $14,490.

[Gazza]

How do you figure?  A Barina Classic costs $14,490.

OMG is there any reason you are being so picky towards me today? $500 difference to what was, in my post, supposed to be a reflection of the generic sort of price you see/read/hear in car ads.

A new small car these days costs roughly $15k, ok, happy?
Maybe a couple of thousand cheaper if you opt for a Mayasian or Chinese option, or an Alto.

The actual point of my post is that, at least for a little while, you simply wont be able to get a new electric car, even a basic one of similar spec to your average Barina, because the cost of batteries is an inescapable added cost at the moment.

What I then went on to say is that I reckon the market (Perhaps even in a no petrol environment) would just accept that the price of a car, across the board, will never be as cheap as it used to be, due to the shift in tech.

[somebody]

You said $30k.  But I see that you were referring to an electric version of that.  Sorry.

I don't think the trade will be that extreme.

[ozbob]

The Greens

Govt auto assistance fails to shift gears to electric cars: Bandt

--> here!

[Jonno]

Electric cars still create congestion!!!!!!!!!!

[WTN]

And traffic accidents.

[Fares_Fair]

Electric cars still create congestion!!!!!!!!!!

It's more quiet and toxic gas free congestion ...  (kidding)

[Jonno]

To be 100% fair. At least a electric car is only running the aircon and a radio whilst it is stuck in congestion.  Not sure that was the outcome we were looking for but a win is a win no matter how strange

[Gazza]

Not sure if you are being sarcastic or not, but being a meter or so shorter would not make a difference on freeway following distances and capacity.

[Gazza]

Not really a difference, because the 1-2m reduced length of the car is offset by the variations in distance with people predicting and adhering the 2 second following distance on a a freeway.

At 100km you are going ~27 meters per second which suggests 54m between cars.

The gist is, your average motorist wont be capable of telling they are 1-2m closer to another car over such following distances, to "take advange" of the fact cars would now be 1-2m smaller.

[Gazza]

And based on what I see in UAE

I've been to the UAE too and from what I have experienced first hand, and they are all tailgaters, hence the accident rate.
Why on earth would you emulate them?

[HappyTrainGuy]

Cos they can drift front wheel drive Toyotas on 12 lane super highway 

[ozbob]

From chinadialogue click here!

Exporting China's e-bike marvel

Exporting China's e-bike marvel
Sandip Sen
April 05, 2012

China's development of a cheap and efficient transport solution has empowered millions of ordinary commuters, writes Sandip Sen. India shoud take note.

Disruptive technologies are game changers that herald a new era, toppling established market leaders within a short span of time. The battery-operated electric two-wheeler, or electric bike, is one such technology. Within a little over a decade, it will have bridged the 125-year lead that internal combustion engine (ICE) two-wheelers running on petrol have had in the market.

The industry growth chart for the past decade tells this phenomenal growth story, scripted by China almost single-handedly.

In 1998, China commenced mass-producing electric bikes indigenously with 56,000 units made by a dozen producers. The world that year produced 42 million motorbikes, almost all fuelled by fossil fuels. By 2010, China had 2,000-odd manufacturers producing 30 million electric units a year to feed a rapidly-growing annual global market of US$12 billion.

Unlike other export-oriented industries, China consumes 80% of its own production. It has over 150 million electric bikes on the road, while Europe, with 18 million units, comes a distant second. India, with less than 500,000 vehicles produced, is low down on the list. Its big, global two-wheeler brands – Hero Motors, Bajaj Auto, Lohia Machines and TVS – have missed a trick.

In 2010, the world produced 60 million motorbikes that ran on fossil fuel and 32 million electric and hybrid two-wheelers. With a near average yearly growth of 20%, electric-powered units will close the gap by 2015, with both categories expected to be producing 70 million units individually by that time.

The world's five largest motorcycle markets are China, India, Indonesia, Brazil and Vietnam, which together have three billion people in need of low-cost, eco-friendly vehicles for daily commutes. Other emerging economies will soon latch on to the China growth story. Also, it is only a matter of time before solar batteries replace lead-acid, lanthanum and lithium ion ones. "In China, electric bicycles have a moderating influence on the use of cars," advocacy group The Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities told The New York Times. As a result, there are five times more electric bikes on China's roads than cars.

Most of these are low-powered units of 200 watts, fitted with reusable lead acid batteries. They typically cost 2,400 yuan (less than US$400), the average monthly pay of a Chinese worker. They are no-frills utility vehicles chugging steadily at 20 kilometres an hour. The workforce typically travels 50 kilometres a day on single charge, usually from home to workplace, and is said to save 150 million worker hours each day. By contrast, the US motorbike market is 82% for recreation with low average bike runs of 1,000 miles per year, against 12,000 miles per year driven by the American car user.

China's policy initiatives started with its State High-Tech Development Plan, or 863 Programme, in 1986. China was still poor, but slowly changing from Mao-style communism to Deng-style market economics. Among the seven technology sector plans identified by physicist Wang Ganchang and his team of engineers, and endorsed by Deng Xiaoping, was the energy plan that included the 863 Electric Drive Fuel Cell Vehicle Project.

This was not rocket science. As China would progress into a global factory over the years, it would need to empower millions of workers with personal transport for commuting to work. To avoid the risk of becoming dependent on imported fossil fuel, China would have to develop a low-cost alternative energy solution for its commuters.

The electric bike would give China several key advantages. One, it would provide freedom from imported technology or resources. Two, it would be a measured scale-up of the bicycle that was already in use by the factory and farm workers. Three, China could obviate huge investments in mass-transport systems that depend on subsidies to remain operational. And last, but not least, the electric two-wheeler solution was cheap, efficient and sustainable.

China introduced several policy initiatives. During the 1980s and 1990s, it started using its pool of surplus labour to build cycle lanes parallel to roads throughout its cities. Today, all cities, even tier four and tier six towns with only one million people, have segregated bicycle tracks.

At the turn of the century, as China became more prosperous, it invested 800 million yuan (US$127 million) in the 863 fuel cell project. It created several common services facilities that small entrepreneurs could use to access technology and finance. As the component and accessory plants developed, so did the assemblers retrofitting traditional bikes with motors powered by lead acid-batteries. Intensive development of the battery industry, lead acid and lithium ion, also started. Over the next decade, a slew of subsidies and policy measures – subsidised land and monetary grants – propped up the industry. Consumers got cash incentives.

The subsidy was hiked repeatedly when new and powerful models were introduced and was upgraded last year to a maximum of 3,000 yuan (US$475) for a 1,000-watt two-wheeler costing up to 10,000 yuan (US$1,600). There was no need for registration of the electric two-wheelers and no licence requirement for the buyers. This made it popular and user-friendly for students, women and the aged because it was a low-cost, low-speed but power-assisted vehicle. The big boost to the industry came, however, when several cities started to ban conventional motorbikes. Though criticised as an extreme step, it ensured that every manufacturer moved into the production of electric vehicles in China.

China also invested heavily on the back-end components and is the world's leading producer of electric controllers, DC motors, miniature circuit breakers, brushless motors, batteries and chargers. Its sovereign fund, China Investment Corporation, made sizable investments in lithium mining and processing units in China, Chile, Argentina and Australia, and controls 70% of the global supply.

In 2007, it introduced two-wheelers powered by lithium ion batteries that gave a higher speed as well as longer life. A new product category of electric scooters rapidly became popular that catered to the more sophisticated user by offering a higher speed of 50 kilometres-per-hour and longer charge life of 80 to 100 kilometres. As speeds rose, so did the number of accidents. Some municipalities like Shenzhen have responded by banning electric bikes for six months with the intent to introduce registration and licensing for higher-powered models.

Meanwhile, the advent of high-speed units and a hybrid version powered by lithium and lanthanum batteries have also spurred the interest of global majors. Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Peugeot, BMW and Volkswagen are all readying new models that will hit the market this year. At Delhi's Auto Expo 2012, Indian manufacturers Hero Electricals, Lohia Auto and TVS Motor also displayed both electric-driven as well as hybrid versions.

However, the huge subsidy support and scalable volumes of China may make it difficult for Indian producers to match the success over the border. Considering that there is no supporting infrastructure – no bike lanes throughout the nation – the future and growth of the Indian market looks less certain than in China, unless the government becomes proactive.

China expects to produce 75 million units per year by 2020, with 500 million electric bikes on road. This will mean that a third of China's population will be empowered with personal transport and will not need state-funded subsidised mass transport. The electric two-wheeler may prove a major trump card for China's working class, providing access to low-cost, eco-friendly personal transport for commuting to work at China's global factories.

[ozbob]

The Daily Mail --> Car that runs on air: New Peugeot hybrid doesn't need a battery and 'is greener than its electric rivals'

The Peugeot 2008 Hybrid Air runs on nothing more than air
    Current 'green' vehicles combine electric engines with traditional ones
    The car has a conventional engine linked to hydraulic air motor and pump
    It can provide zero-emissions air power for lower-speed driving in cities
    The sports utility vehicle will available from 2016 for around £16,000


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2679990/Car-runs-air-New-hybrid-greener-electric-rivals.html

Very, very interesting development this ...

[haakon]

I'd rather have a battery under my butt than a compressed air cylinder. Pressure cycling and metal fatigue can cause sudden catastrophic failures. Just ask the workers who refill the BCC CNG buses........

[ozbob]

http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2016/6/9/palaszczuk-government-investment-drives-electrical-vehicle-innovation

Media Statements
Treasurer, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and Minister for Sport
The Honourable Curtis Pitt
Thursday, June 09, 2016

Palaszczuk Government investment drives electrical vehicle innovation

Brisbane-based innovation firm Tritium could soon be powering electric vehicles around the globe with its new super speed charging stations.

Treasurer Curtis Pitt said the new technology was designed and built in Brisbane thanks to a $2.5 million investment through the Palaszczuk Government's Business Development Fund as part of its Advance Queensland initiatives.

"This home-grown company is the first to receive funding from the Business Development Fund and it's exactly the type of innovative business that the Palaszczuk Government is looking to invest in," Mr Pitt said today on a tour of Tritium's manufacturing facilities.

"The founders of Tritium met as students while competing together as a solar car racing team representing the University of Queensland and have grown to be a global leader in electric vehicle technology.

"The Palaszczuk Government's investment, alongside matched investment from private sector co-investors St Baker Energy Innovation Trust and the Varley Group, will help this world-leading Queensland business bring its innovative tech products onto the market sooner."

Tritium CEO David Finn said that Tritium is in the final stages of the commercialisation journey for its Veefil station – a convenient electric car charging station.

"Our fast charging technology is providing drivers of electric vehicles greater convenience to charge their cars anywhere," Mr Finn said.

"Backing from the Palaszczuk Government will allow us to expand our R&D, manufacturing and sales workforce, as well as finalise expansion at our new manufacturing facilities in Brisbane."

St Baker Energy Innovation Trust Director Trevor St Baker said Queensland Government investment along with private sector investment creates exciting opportunities for Queensland businesses.

"Backing from the Queensland Government brings greater market confidence, and with the knowledge and expertise private sector investors bring, along with their co-investment, Queensland businesses are well on their way to turn their innovative ideas into a commercial reality," Mr St Baker said.   

The $40 million Business Development Fund invests from $125,000 up to $2.5 million in matched funding, alongside private sector co-investors to assist businesses turn their ideas and innovations into commercial realities.

I encourage anyone wanting further information to get in touch:

    Email: bdf@treasury.qld.gov.au
    Phone: 13 QGOV (13 74 68)
    http://advance.qld.gov.au/entrepreneurs-startups/business-development-fund/investment.aspx