Category: clean transportation

Clean transportation events to schedule for 2015 – and what to do if you hate attending them

AltCar ExpoIt’s that time of the year again – time to plan for next year. Auto shows, fleet events, AltCar Expo, ACT Expo, electric vehicle conferences…….. Here’s a list of events to consider attending. And don’t forget about making good efforts to get on their speaker, panel moderator, exhibitor, and sponsorship lists. Plus, at the end of this event list there’s yet another list: Ways to make the most of events and conferences, even if you hate going to them.

Auto shows: Here’s the big ones for next year…..

North American International Auto Show
Jan. 12-25 in Detroit
AKA Detroit Auto Show, this car show is usually considered the biggest one of the year – with its car and truck of the year awards, unveilings, speaker list, and the tradition of being the first big auto show right after the first of the year in Motor City.
Washington Auto Show
Jan. 23-Feb. 1 in Washington DC
New York International Auto Show
April 3-12, NYC
LA Auto Show
To be determined

National Biodiesel Conference 2015
Jan. 19-22, Ft. Worth, Texas

3rd Annual Clean, Low Carbons Fuel Summit
Feb. 3 in Sacramento
Policy makers and industry leaders meet in the capitol to discuss AB 32 cap and trade funds, Low Carbon Fuel Standard, and other pressing issues in California. (And don’t forget about the Blue Sky Award next week Tuesday in Los Angeles.)

SAE 2015 Hybrid & Electric Vehicles Technologies Symposium
Feb. 10-12 in Los Angeles

GreenBiz 2015
Feb. 17-19 in Phoenix

Energy Independence Summit
Feb. 22-24 in Washington DC

The Work Truck Show
March 4-6 in Indianapolis
Work truck fleet owners, managers, and upfitters meet; it’s held in conjunction with the NTEA convention and Green Truck Summit.

NAFA 2015 Institute & Expo
April 14-17 in Orlando
The annual conference for fleet managers and industry suppliers; including clean transportation symposiums with Calstart.

Electric Drive Transportation Association
The leading electrified transportation group is supporting two conferences next year –
28th International Electric Vehicle Symposium (EVS) and Exhibition
May 3-6 in Goyong, Korea
Plus, partnering with ACT Expo 2015 during that time

ACT Expo
May 4-7 in Dallas

National Drive Electric Week 2015
The fifth annual event will be during the week of Sept. 12-20 in cities across the country.

The Battery Show
Sept. 15-17, Novi, Mich.

Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Expo
Sept. 15-17, 2014 in Novi, Mich.

2015 NGV North American NGV Conference & Expo
Sept 15-18 in Denver

3 AltCar Expos
AltCarExpo Texas
To be determined
Bay Area AltCar Expo
To be determined
AltCar Expo
Sept. 18-19 in Santa Monica, Calif.

Meeting of the Minds
Oct. 20-22, Richmond, Calif.
Now in its ninth year, Meeting of the Minds brings together a carefully chosen set of key urban sustainability and connected technology stakeholders, and gathers them around a common platform in ways that help build lasting alliances.

There are a lot of excellent events to attend – and this list will grow when you start counting the important meetings in your local market that you need to attend for networking and staying current on what your peers are saying. But what if you don’t like going to any of them, or you’re so busy that it adds to the pressure of getting a lot of work done on your heavy schedule?

Here’s a list of action steps that are working for me, and that come from peer feedback and a few good articles that I’ve read……..

  • Plan ahead and schedule meetings. Look at the conference schedule and think about what you’d like to accomplish during that time. There are probably a handful of people you want to talk to, and they’re going be very busy during that week. So send them an email or make a phone call a week or two early, and set up a good time for a meeting.
  • Don’t regret missed opportunities. There may be a location in that metro area that you could have visited if you’d gone a day early, and it needs more relationship-building time. There likely will be time-conflicting meetings that you need to attend and have one of your co-workers or colleagues attend the other one for you, to take notes and shake hands. Schedule that ahead of time. Keep in mind what your travel time will be like and how it will affect meeting attendance. If traveling there wipes out a whole day, consider leaving earlier to not miss it; or to make sure somebody will be there representing you.
  • Collect all the content that you can. Don’t miss out on the excellent show coverage and other content you’ll need to gain insight on what was covered at all the speaker panels, product launches and announcements, social gatherings, keynote addresses, etc. Sometimes (such as at ACT Expo) there’s a daily newspaper given out, and the conference folders many times include white papers and press releases. There might also be emails sent out and more information (like special reports) posted on the conference’s website, blog, or social media sites. Local and business media will be covering the event by video, print, and online media – don’t forget to search for it when you get back.
  • Devote a few hours for review and follow-ups once you get back. You’re probably going to be burned out and needing to catch up on things that happened while you were gone. It’s a good idea to build in two-or-three hours soon after you return to review your notes, content, news coverage of the event, emails you received, insights and ideas you gained, etc. Adding follow-up actions to your business plan is a good idea. Don’t contact people that you connected with right away (like the next morning), but don’t let it get too far away. It’s a shame to lose good opportunities.

Attending LA Auto Show to view green vehicle showcase

LA Auto Show 2014 5BMW’s award-winning electric vehicles and other automakers’ hydrogen-powered cars were the spotlights on Thursday at the LA Auto Show. Like all other car shows, new vehicle introductions and sporty concept cars were prevalent; USA Today’s Chris Woodyard thought the Lexus LF-C2 concept, Audi Prologue concept, and Infiniti Q80 Inspiration concept were memorable. The Infiniti Synaptiq race car took the People’s Choice Award in the 11th annual LA Auto Show Design Challenge. As for more conventional new vehicle rollouts, three of them stood out to observers: the 2015 Mazda CX-3, 2016 Cadillac ATS-V, and 2015 Honda CR-V.

Here were some of the more interesting green vehicle developments:

  • BMW’s new electric cars won accolades, with the BMW i3 taking the Green Car of the Year Award and, on Wednesday evening, the BMW i8 winning Autoblog’s 2014 Technology of the Year Award. The i8 had also won the Motor Press Guild’s 2014 Innovation Vehicle of the Year on Wednesday (along with the 2015 Ford F150). The lightweight carbon fiber and performance of the battery electric and plug-in hybrid systems impressed award judges. For Green Car of the Year, the i3 beat the Audi A3 TDI, the Chevrolet Impala bi-fuel CNG version, Honda Fit, and Volkswagen Golf.
  • Similar to last year, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles were highly visible on display and during the Green and Advanced Technology Ride & Drive. As for concept vehicles, the Volkswagen Golf SportWagen HyMotion and the Audi A7 Sportback h-tron Quattro were popular during the ride and drive; and the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell and recently named Toyota Mirai were the production models to view during the show. Honda had unveiled a revised version of its FCV Concept in Japan a few days before the LA Auto Show; that car will be rolling out in 2016. For those of you interested in seeing a plug-in hybrid combined with an alternative fuel, the Audi h-tron can travel about 310 miles on hydrogen and about 31 miles on the battery.
  • The Ford Fusion Energi and Toyota Highlander Hybrid won the first-ever Green Fleet Car and Truck of the Year awards during a luncheon meeting. Readers of the Bobit Business Media publications including Green Fleet voted on the winners. The Nissan Leaf and Honda Civic Natural Gas were runners up in the car category, while the Ram 1500 Eco Diesel and Ford Transit T150 Wagon FFV finished in the top three for the truck category. Bobit Business Media had collaborated with, and received technical assistance from, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory to determine the award nomination and selection criteria.
  • Henrik Fisker has left the extended range Fisker Karma sports car behind and has gone back to another passion – designing muscle cars. Fisker and partner Galpin Auto Sports unveiled the Fisker Rocket, a 725-horsepower reworking of the 2015 Ford Mustang that Fisker called the “ultimate American muscle car.” It has several exterior modifications to give it a distinct look that Fisker has a lot of experience creating.
  • I think the most visible car on display this year was the Nissan Blade Glider, a zero emission vehicle concept car. (See photo above.) Another good one was Volvo announcing its 2016 XC90 seven-passenger SUV during the show.
  • Honda unveiled the Honda Developer Studio, an online portal and open innovation workspace in Silicon Valley. It’s part of Honda’s connected car strategy and coincides with its new Connect system for infotainment and navigation. It’s Android-based but it’s not part of Google’s Android Auto, Honda said.
  • Through Hertz 24/7, the major car rental company’s carsharing division, Hertz was demonstrating its PIN-pad six-digit code system at the ride and drive. The idea behind it is that you can leave the car or truck in a parking lot and the next Hertz 24/7 user can open and start it from the door panel or from their mobile device. Drivers can use the NeverLost dashboard device to get directions anywhere they want to go. They’re testing out the system on pickup trucks with Lowes so that users without trucks can go by some large items that won’t fit into their cars and will have access to a pickup for a couple of hours.
  • Team Fuel Saver won the Ford Car-Connected City App competition. That came out a September hackathon competition with 70 entrants that were narrowed down to 10 finalists from the developer community. The Team Fuel Saver shows all kinds of data on fuel consumption, fuel prices, and oil changes and other maintenance activities. The 10 finalists showed their apps during Connected Car Expo and the winner will be demonstrated at the CEI convention in January.
  • David Cummins, senior VP and managing director at Xerox Services, talked about the urbanization trend in US cities and how it’s affecting the future of cars. Baby Boomers – about 50-to-70 years old, are showing more interest and appeal with driverless cars; as the generation ages and loses the ability to drive, the advanced technology is expected to gain support. Millennials in the 18-to-35 year old age range are showing a lot of interest in what he called “urban mobility networks” and their implications for getting through traffic congestion and reducing air pollution as more of them live and work in metro areas. The challenge for connected, autonomous vehicles will be building a platform between public and private providers. The cornerstone must be “open data,” and a flexible network that can meet new innovations, Cummins said.

This Week’s Top 10: US and China make a big deal on greenhouse gas, Four interesting fleet acquisition announcements

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market 

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

  1. US and ChinaThe United States and China, which together produce 45% of the world’s carbon emissions, made an agreement last week to extend their greenhouse gas emission reduction targets farther than before. The US has set a goal of cutting its own greenhouse gas/carbon emissions more deeply by 2025 than its previous goal through 2020. To meet the new target goal of reducing emissions 17% by 2020, the pace will have to double, according to the White House. China, which has been producing a very high carbon output through coal-powered energy plants, has agreed to cap its carbon emissions by 2030 or earlier; that will come through 20% of its electricity being generated through wind, solar, nuclear, or other zero-emission sources. While stopping climate change may not be backed by everyone, air pollution is a large factor, especially in China. Transportation has expanded dramatically in Beijing and other cities, prompting municipalities and the national government to support more electrified and alternative fuel vehicle options.
  2. Per usual, fleets have been making some decisions on alternative fuels and vehicles in their fleet acquisitions with four interesting announcements made in the past week. Ryder System is working with Mansfield Energy and Clean Energy Fuels to offer compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle and fuel solutions to bulk fuel haulers……. Frito-Lay and its parent company PepsiCo have agreed to an aggressive plan to conserve fuel and reduce emissions for its delivery trucks and sales cars; through a partnership with Clean Fuels Ohio, a non-profit alliance supporting clean air in the state, Frito-Lay has already brought in 45 propane-powered Ford E350 vans and five electric Newton delivery trucks…… Nestle Waters North America added five medium-duty beverage trucks fueled by propane autogas at its Los Angeles location; Roush CleanTech supplied the trucks that will deliver Arrhowhead Mountain Spring Water in the region……..  In its 12th annual Sustainability Report, UPS reported that it met its 2016 goal of reducing its air and ground transportation fleet’s carbon intensity by 10% three years early. Last year, carbon emissions decreased 1.5% from 2012 even as global shipping volume increased nearly 4%. “Industrial technology advances by the OEMs” were one of the key reasons these gains were made, according to Mike Britt, director of maintenance & engineering, international operations, ground fleet for UPS.
  3. The US Senate is expected to vote on the Keystone XL pipeline today, which passed through the House on Friday. The bill, which would allow for a pipeline between Alberta and Houston, would transport refined tar sands oil back to refineries in Canada. If the bill passes through the Senate, the president may veto it or stall on it while waiting for the US State Department to release its statement on the project. It’s been nearly six years that the Canadian government and oil industry has been pushing to get this through.
  4. Land Rover may take on Tesla with an electric Range Rover model, which will probably be a smaller version of the luxury SUV than the flagship model. The upcoming Jaguar compact model based on the C-X17 concept could be the basis for what Land Rover rolls out.
  5. NGVAmerica has released its NGVAmerica Station Analysis Map that shows US compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas station locations, accessibility, and contact information. It also highlights the vehicle ranges supported by the stations in 100-, 400-, and 600-mile increments. Its purpose is to help fleet operators make their routing and travel planning easier with natural gas fueling.
  6. Via Motors received EPA certification for its plug-in hybrid van. The eREV is now available to fleet customers in the US; Via has delivered about 25 of them so far. Via says it can get more than 100 mpge in typical daily driving.
  7. Hyundai and Kia plan on raising their fleets’ average fuel economy 25% by 2020 to meet emissions regulations in the US, Europe, and South Korea. To do this the number of green cars available for sell will increase from seven to 22, the company says. That will come out to 12 hybrid models, six plug-in hybrid mid-size and compact cars, two battery-electric cars, and two fuel-cell cars.
  8. Natural gas is feeling more scrutiny in California, where its measurement and taxation rates are being redefined by the State Board of Equalization for the first time since 1971. The agency is using existing Use Fuel Tax Laws; CNG will now be sold as a gasoline gallon equivalent equal to 8.87 cents per gallon, or 5.66 pounds; it has been six cents per 100 cubic feet. LNG is currently seven cents per gallon and will go up to a diesel gallon equivalent (DGE) equal to $.1017/DGE or 6.06 pounds. Dispensers also have to show “gasoline gallon equivalent” on CNG and “diesel gallon equivalent” on LNG.
  9. The 2015 Alternative Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo will highlight another industry alliance, this time through an expanded partnership with Trucking Efficiency; this is a joint effort between the American Council for Freight Efficiency and Carbon War Room. Their goal is to double the freight efficiency of goods movement in North America.
  10. Honda revealed a revised version of its new hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle in Japan. The Honda FCV Concept will soon be shown with more details as to what the five-passenger mid-size sedan will look like when it appears on Japanese roads in early 2016. At the LA Auto Show next week, Honda plans to announce its commitment to assist in expanding California’s hydrogen fueling stations.

Finding the right niche markets for advanced vehicle technologies

advanced vehicle technologiesAutomotive analysts have been writing about declining sales in electric and hybrid vehicles in recent months, with the downturn in gasoline prices being one of the primary reasons for it. Navigant Research forecasts that the average price of gasoline will reach $10.75, accounting for inflation, in 2035, as alternative fuels and diesel become more popular. In the meantime, it’s likely that niche markets become more viable for OEMs; gas prices may stay soft for a while, but there are other significant motivating factors for vehicle acquisitions, with traffic congestion, an aging population, development of autonomous vehicles, and concern over environmental quality among them. Here are a few niche segments to follow………

Neighborhood Electric Vehicles: GreenTech Automotive is counting on low-speed electric vehicles finding the right audience as it ramps up at its Mississippi plant to build its MyCar neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV). Pike Research had forecasted that NEVs on roads throughout the world would increase from 479,000 in 2011 to 695,000 by 2017. Communities around the US are trying out NEVs on restricted roads to see how that affects air pollution and traffic congestion.

Self-Driving Cars: Google has said that one of the reasons the technology giant is investing in self-driving car test projects is that people with disabilities will have greater transportation options. It will also take human error out of driving and improve road safety. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have been closely tracked by proponents of self-driving cars as a technology that will cross over into ground transportation. Lux Research sees potential for market growth in UAVs as they move from military surveillance drones to broader commercial vehicles if government regulations allow for it. Government agencies are ruminating over safety and privacy concerns.

Fuel Cell Vehicles: Fuel cell vehicles powered by hydrogen have been ending up as forklifts in warehouses, distribution centers, and manufacturing facilities as companies such as BMW, Coca-Cola, Fed-Ex, and Wal-Mart recognize the quick refueling times and enhanced performance that fuel cell forklifts deliver.

Propane Autogas: Police departments are trying out propane autogas as a way to use a clean, domestically produced fuel with lower cost per mile than gasoline. Other propane vehicle applications in recent years include: buses, light- and medium-duty trucks, shuttle buses, taxis, landscape equipment, and agricultural equipment.

Drayage and Other Port Vehicles: Vehicles used in drayage, trucking, and other functions at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are being powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), electricity, hydrogen, and clean diesel. Clean vehicle programs have been adopted by these and other ports in the US to improve air quality and support alternative, domestic fuels.

NGV Trash Trucks: Waste Management, Inc., has embraced natural gas to power its refuse/trash truck fleet. Some of that has been produced from its landfill gas projects. Municipalities are considering using natural gas vehicles, hybrids, and other alternative fuels and technologies in their fleets. They’ve been watching their transit agencies go this route in recent years and are seeing payoff within two-to-three years from fuel cost savings and meeting government mandates on reducing emissions.

 

Big Oil investments in alternative fuels and energies – how serious are they?

big oilIn recent years, major oil companies (also known as Big Oil) have been investing in alternative fuels and energies to meet government and corporate mandates and through their own speculation about the future of oil supply and changing public attitudes. There’s been a mixed bag of perspectives shared by leaders in sustainability and cleantech on the role that Big Oil will play in the future; some would rather see these companies completely go away soon while other analysts suggest supporting oil industry investments in alternative energies and carbon mitigation. Here’s the latest from Lux Research and other analysts……….

Lux Research has seen enough movement in the alternative fuels industry to release a report analyzing how oil companies have been financing its commercialization. The analyst firm explored its database of over 1,000 deals and partnership engagements between 2000 and September, 2014. Methods analyzed included private placement, equity stake, JVs, mergers and acquisitions, other than general partnerships. The seven most active oil major companies in its database are Shell, BP, Total, Valero, Chevron, Petrobras, and Reliance.

Long before its Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP has been active in alternative energy invesments; Lux Research says the oil giant leads its industry in investment frequency in a variety of alternative fuels and energies. BP has had a strong focus on the crop development by transgenics and breeding, with repeated investments made to Chromatin and Mendel Biotechnology. It also continues investing in biomass to sugar technology including cellulosic biomass.

Shell forecasts that energy demand will double in the world by 2050 and is now working with partners to ensure that it can survive through the next century; carbon emission mitigation is another force for change Shell is monitoring. Meeting that demand will require being open to new energy resources. Shell CEO Ben van Beurden talked about the urgency of mitigating carbon emissions and its impact on climate change in a recent speech at Columbia University. He also talked about supporting renewables and energy efficiency.

Shell has formed partnerships and joint ventures (JVs) with Codexis , Cosan, and Novozymes to support growth in cellulosic ethanol. Shell has invested in Raizen, its ethanol JV with Cosan to create what it calls the largest sugar and ethanol company in the world. It also partnered with Virent on the biomass catalytic conversion to produce renewable gasoline, and Cellana on algae biofuel.

However, don’t forget to keep it all in perspective. “If Shell is serious about investing in a clean energy future they must stop actively undermining our climate and clean energy laws,” said Merrian Borgeson, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) also launched a campaign pressuring Shell to join tech firms in dropping support for the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group that has modeled legislation to oppose climate action and repeal incentives for renewable energy. Shell came under fire from environmentalists in 2009 for selling off its wind and solar projects to focus on biofuels and carbon capture and storage.

Oil companies do work hard at keeping their investment portfolios profitable – that might mean leaving an energy sector behind. In September, Chevron Corp. finalized the sale of its renewable energy subsidiary OpTerra Energy Services. The oil giant also sold the energy efficiency and renewable energy arm of Chevron Energy Solutions, a division of Chevron USA, and pulled back funding for biofuel projects. ExxonMobil Corp. has also dropped funding for biofuels projects; natural gas has paid off better for the oil giant. BP divested its wind farm division in the United States last year to focus on its high-yield oil and gas projects.

This Week’s Top 10: Hyundai and Kia get a steep penalty for incorrect mileage ratings, Nissan Leaf sales still breaking records

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market 

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

  1. Hyundai Kia MotorsHyundai and Kia will pay a $100 million fine for inflating the fuel economy ratings of their vehicles. The $100 million fine is the largest in Clean Air Act history, and came from an investigation by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice based on the sale of about 1.2 million vehicles with overstated ratings. Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions were far less than what was originally stated – about 4.75 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in excess of what the automakers claimed to the EPA. “This settlement upholds the integrity of the nation’s fuel economy and greenhouse gas programs and supports all Americans who want to save fuel costs and reduce their environmental impact,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
  2. Plug-in sales: October saw deliveries of 2,589 Leafs, bringing the year-to-date total to 24,411 – which exceeds the 2013 total of 22,610, the previous record. The Nissan Leaf broke its own record for most electric cars sold in the U.S. in a single year with two months left to sell them this year. The Chevrolet Volt has also been seeing a strong year, already exceeding the annual sales totals for the Volt in any of the full three years it’s been on sale. BMW sold 1,159 BMW i3s – the third month in a row it has sold more than 1,000 i3s. Tesla continued to go unreported in its monthly sales numbers, but the company says that sales went up quite a bit during the month.
  3. Very redesigned Chevy Volt: The refreshed 2016 Chevrolet Volt will be quicker, lighter and more fuel efficient than its predecessor. GM is using the redesign as an opportunity not only to optimize the plug-in hybrid technology it pioneered four years ago. It’s going to be very different with a completely difference drive unit and battery. The car will travel father on battery power, yet GM hasn’t yet said how far it will go compared to its present 38 miles on the battery.
  4. Vincentric, a leader in cost-of-ownership data, released its most recent Hybrid Analysis last week. Among the 10 hybrids with lower ownership costs were the Lexus CT200h and the Toyota Avalon Hybrid, which when compared to their all-gasoline counterparts had savings of over $7,600 and $3,200 respectively. Ten of 31 hybrid vehicles analyzed were identified as having a lower total cost-of-ownership than their closest all-gasoline counterpart. Over the past three years the percentage of cost-effective hybrids has dropped from 44% in the 2012 analysis, to 39% in 2013, to now just over 32%.
  5. Natural Gas Vehicle Conference. The 2014 North American NGV Conference & Expo to be held at the Kansas City Convention Center Nov. 11–14 in Kansas City, Mo. is set to be the largest NGV event of the year and is hosted by NGVAmerica in cooperation with the Canadian NGV Alliance. NGVAmerica has reached out to fleets of all types and sizes with special discounts to register for the conference. For more information on the 2014 North American NGV Conference & Expo, or to plan your attendance, visit the event website at www.ngvamerica.org/conference/2014.
  6. Check out this TedxDetroit video: Debbie Mielewski, the technical leader for plastics research at Ford Motor Co., says she’s been able to get up every day excited to go to work. Much of what is being added to cars these days is plastic, which comes from petroleum resources, and she’d like to do something about it. All of the polyurethane going into Ford vehicles and their seat cushions now comes from soy beans (which Henry Ford would have been proud of, having started that years ago). Using wheat straw (which is the byproduct of the food portion of wheat) to fortify plastic bins in the Ford Flex and Ford Focus, has been another step forward. And there’s more…….
  7. Big numbers from VW: Volkswagen Group claims it will launch more than 20 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in China over the next few years. That will include small cars, large-sized SUVs, plug-in hybrids, and battery electric cars, said Jochem Heizmann, head of Volkswagen Group China.
  8. Home energy storage. Nissan is moving the “electric vehicle batteries as a great source for energy storage” campaign along. Nissan will soon begin testing its Leaf-To-Home energy station in Japan; they’ll be testing the ability of electric cars to provide temporary electrical power to buildings in real-world circumstances. The station converts high-voltage direct current from a Leaf’s lithium-ion battery pack into the 100-volt current used by homes in Japan.
  9. Mercedes-Benz B-class electric cars. Daimler AG’s Mercedes teamed up with Tesla Motors to put an electric motor and battery inside its B-class hatchback. Mercedes-Benz has high hopes for the alliance and sales of the B-class electric cars. The German automaker is hoping the image of working Tesla will be impressive while avoiding the pitfalls of spending billions on a technology few may want to buy.
  10. Hyundai vs. Toyota. Hyundai will roll out its first “dedicated” hybrid, designed to be marketed exclusively as a hybrid instead of being merely a copycat of an existing traditional engine edition of that model. Hyundai Motor Co. said that its hybrids will go up again the Toyota Prius.

This Week’s Top 10: Henrik Fisker has suprises in store at LA Auto Show, Toyota and Daimler sell off Tesla Motors stock shares

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market 

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

  1. Henrik FiskerFisker surprise announcements scheduled for LA Auto Show: Fisker Automotive’s co-founder and former CEO has come back on the scene for the first time after quitting, and later attempting to acquire, his extended-range sporty luxury car company last year. Henrik Fisker says he’ll be unveling two new cars on November 20, a media day at next month’s LA Auto Show. Back-to-back press conferences are scheduled with no details yet revealed, except for the fact that they’re being sponsored by the mega-Ford dealer Galpin. The first session will be taking place with Galpin Auto Sports, the dealer chain’s custom-car division and the other session will be hosted by Galpin Motors. One of them is predicted to be more of a muscle car than an environmentally sound, fuel-efficient model. Fisker has been known to be quite a designer, overseeing the BMW Z8 and Aston Martin V8 Vantage sports cars, plus a few others. One of his other businesses has been Fisker Coachbuild, which made restyled versions of the BMW and Mercedes-Benz luxury cars.
  2. Toyota and Daimler have sold off some, or all, their stock shares in Tesla Motors. Daimler made big gains of selling off its remaining 4% shares and bringing in $780 million from its original $50 million stake. Toyota didn’t reveal the timimg or amount of its latest sale. Its initial investment of $50 million gave it 2.5% share in the company in May 2010. While the Toyota RAV4 battery and motor deal is ending later this year between Toyota and Tesla, their relations appear to be solid. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company would sign a new deal with Toyota in the next two-to-three years. Daimler and Toyota were likely taking advantage of the extremely high value of Tesla shares – closing yesterday at $221.67.
  3. Sierra Club releases tool for EV shoppers. The Sierra Club is now offering car shoppers its “pick-a-plug-in” website tool to find the right electric vehicle (EV) for them. Pick-a-plug-in asks the user a few questions about driving habits and vehicle needs, and then generates a list of EVs that fit the bill. There’s no recommended car featured, but leading models are given based on how many miles a day the person drives, whether the person takes frequent long trips, whether there is a place to plug in the car, and how much money the person is prepared to spend.
  4. ChargePoint says you can pay for your charge on PayPal. While over half the 19,000 chargers in the ChargePoint network are free, the company is now moving forward in the payment process. ChargePoint employees at its San Jose, Calif., campus, can go to 34 charging ports and pay for ChargePoint with PayPal. This must be entertaining for Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, a former PayPay co-founder.
  5. Asplundh, a tree expert company, is bringing in propane-powered medium-duty trucks. Asplundh provides tree management services to utilities and municipalities, and will start off its propane autogas vehicles with two Ford F-650 trucks powered by Roush CleanTech’s propane augogas fuel systems. “We were searching for a cost-effective alternative fuel that provides an adequate refueling infrastructure and also meets our environmental initiatives,” said John Talbot, director of fleet services for Asplundh Tree Expert Co. “Propane autogas was our answer.”
  6. GM adds to its sustainability credentials with more solar. Along with its landfill-free facilities, General Motors is adding to its solar power. A new 2.2 megawatt, ground-mounted solar array will be set up by the end of this year at its assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio. Once the last of the more than 8,500 solar panels are in place, it will be GM’s largest solar installation in the western hemisphere, the automaker said.
  7. Navigant Research expects EV growth, though not an easy one. Navigant Research expects the global light-duty electric vehicle (EV) growth to be sizable – from 2.7 million sold in 2014 to 6.4 million in 2023. These numbers include hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and battery electric vehicles. That growth rate will take a lot of hard work, according to the study, with much competition coming from automakers producing more fuel effient internal combustion engine vehicles. Stop-start technologies, lightweight materials, engine downsizing, and growing interest in clean diesel, is putting the pressure on OEMs to reach the level they’re stiving for in electrified vehicle sales.
  8. Smart parking tools available through ParkMe and Microsoft. For those of you affected by “urban mobility” (carsharing, ridesharing, e-bikes, parking, etc.), there was an interesting announcement made by ParkMe, which is probably the largest provider of real-time parking data to car owners through the mobile devices. ParkMe will provide parking data to Microsoft Corp. to be integrated into its Bing search engine. Users will be better able to access smart parking tools to find nearby parking, check real-time availability, and pre-pay for the cheapest and most convenient parking at their destinations.
  9. Telsa and US Bank offering cheaper lease payments. Tesla CEO Elon Musk just wrote in the company’s blog how the agreement with the major bank can lower monthly lease payments by as much as 25% on a new Model S. Another perk: the Tesla happiness guarantee. If you don’t like the car for any reason in the first three months, you can return it and the lease obligation is waived. “The only catch is that you can’t then immediately lease another Model S,” Musk wrote.
  10. Brazil loves biofuels but holding back on EVs. The Brazilian government just released a green-car incentives programs that excludes battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Import duties are cut on new hybrid cars, though that does not include tax breaks or other perks. Electric vehicles are excluded entirely because the country’s electricity grid doesn’t have the capacity to handle an influx of EVs and all the charging they need. Recent droughts have lowered water levels in the dams that power hydro-electric electricit plants. Brazil has had to look for other methods of electricity generation.

This Week’s Top 10: Tesla grabs attention with its D model unveiling, More DOE funding rolling out

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market 

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

  1. Tesla Model DTesla Motors is masterful at getting people to impatiently wait for the electric carmaker to unveil a new technology. The “D” model announced on Thursday wasn’t a new electric car, but an all-wheel drive version of the Model S that will roll out in 2015. It will offer a semi-autonomous driving system that it calls Autopilot. Cameras and infrared sensors read speed limit signs and the speed of cars around the Model S; it also features collision avoidance and lane-keeping assist systems. Drivers can change lanes simply by switching on the turn signal. Tesla says Autopilot is able to park the car once you leave it. The Model S 85D will have 295 miles of range compared to 261 for the ordinary Model S, and it will be more energy efficient than previous versions of the Model S. “A system like this is inherently able to achieve better road holding,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote in the company’s blog. “We were able to improve almost everything about the car.” Some media and stock market analysts found the hyped announcement to be overinflated; others have been fascinated.
  2. More DOE funding rolling out. As part of its $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) low-interest loan program, the US Department of Energy may soon be awarding new loans. These new loans will probably go to parts suppliers and not OEMs, with one or two awards expected to be announced this year. Lighter-weight materials for fuel efficiency, such as aluminum alloy, may be part of the low-interest loans. There have been no new ATVM loans since late 2011, with more than $15 billion remaining in the coffer.
  3. Another plug-in hybrid Cadillac. Cadillac will debut a plug-in hybrid version of its CT6 large sedan late next year, according to product chief Mark Reuss. It will get at least 70 mpg. The next CT6 will have a wide range of advanced technologies available – a six-cylinder turbocharged engine that goes up to 400 hp, a stop-start system, and an eight-speed automatic transmission. Lightweight construction will also help fuel economy, Reuss said – it’s going to be eight inches longer and 53 pounds lighter than the Cadillac CTS. Cadillac also has a battery electric sedan in the planning stages.
  4. Green vehicle awards increasing even more. As reported in Green Auto Market two weeks ago, annual green vehicle awards are getting a bit more confusing. Along with Bobit Business Media adding the Green Fleet Car and Truck of the Year Awards during Connected Car Expo at the LA Auto Show, the annual Green Car of the Year award will be announced that same day by Green Car Journal. That magazine has started up another contest – the Green Truck of the Year award, which will be presented at the 2014 San Antonio Auto & Truck Show on November 6. The five nominated 2015 model pickups include the Chevrolet Colorado, Ford F-150, GMC Canyon, Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, and Ram 1500 HFE. “The significant efficiency and environmental improvements being made in the truck segment signal an important change in the industry,” said Ron Cogan, publisher of Green Car Journal and CarsOfChange.com. Maybe Green Auto Market should start its own award? Green Vehicle Innovations of the Year Award, or something like that?
  5. New NGVA leader takes the helm. Natural Gas Vehicles for America has named Matthew Godlewski its new president. Godlewski succeeds Rich Kolodziej, who served as NGVAmerica’s president since 1996. Godlewski is an experienced trade association executive who has a proven ability to lead effective teams and collaborate with industry allies, said Ron Eickelman, chairman of NGVAmerica and president of Agility Fuel Systems. Statements of support have been released by a few colleagues, including Mitch Bainwol, president and CEO of Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (where Godlewski had served in a leadership role), Andrew Littlefair, president and CEO of Clean Energy Fuels, Scott Perry, VP of supply management for Ryder Fleet Management Solutions, and Gordon Exel, president of Cummins Wesport.
  6. Tesla Motors has opened up in a tough-to-enter market. Tesla Motors has opened up a retail store in a country that usually doesn’t allow outside automakers to sell domestically – Japan. Last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk handed over keys to several new Model S owners during a ceremony in Tokyo. Musk praised Japanese electronics company Panasonic for supplying the battery pack in the Model S. One of these cars was delivered to Yoshi Yamada, a Panasonic executive vice president; Yamada said the Model S is only being taken for company use.
  7. Zero emission buses had two major announcements. CALSTART has been given approval by the Federal Transit Administration to develop North America’s first-ever fuel cell/battery combination zero emission 60-foot electric bus. The bus will be built by New Flyer Industries, and it will be designed to provide daily urban service using a unique combination of fuel cell and batteries. The propulsion system will include a combination of batteries, a fuel cell, and hydrogen storage. The bus is expected to be completed in the middle of next year……… China-based BYD says it will unveil the world’s first pure battery electric 60-foot transit bus at the APTA Expo in Houston this month. The company said that representatives of major transit agencies have visited BYD’s factory in Lancaster, Calif., to see the electric bus.
  8. SolarCity and Honda investing in solar power. During the SXSW Eco conference in Austin, Texas, SolarCity and Honda renewed their partnership with a new fund expected to finance $50 million in solar projects. The idea is to make solar more affordable and available to Honda and Acura customers and dealerships in the US. This fund is a follow-up to a $65 million fund the two companies created in 2013. They’ve completed their first wave of solar projects for homeowners, dealerships, and corporate facilities that now produces more than 12.5 MW of solar generation capacity.
  9. Fuel economy pace slows down. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its annual Fuel Economy Trends report. Average fuel economy increased to a record 24.1 mpg in the 2013 model year, a pace that slowed down compared to the two previous years. It saw a 0.5 mpg increase from the previous year, while the 2012 result had improved 1.2 mpg from the prior year. It’s expected to slow down even more – to just a 0.1 mpg increase for the 2014 model year. Federal regulators say – not to worry. They expect the pace to go back up as more powerful gasoline-saving technologies enter the market.
  10. Give renewable natural gas the recognition it deserves. Joanna Underwood, president of Energy Vision, just had commentary pieces published in Triple Pundit and GreenBiz. Turning biogases into fuel has a dramatic impact. Fleets converting from diesel to renewable natural gas cut greenhouse gas emissions by 88% or higher. This exceeds U.S. goals of a 20% reduction by 2020 and an 80% reduction by 2050, Underwood wrote.

Cheaper, lighter, high-density lithium batteries: How close are we?

Lithium battery in Nissan LeafLithium ion batteries are coming down in cost, but it’s all relative. Here’s a clear example…… The starting price on the Tesla Model S with a 60 kilowatt hours (60 kWh) lithium battery is $68,710; and the price goes up to $83,760 for the Model S with the 85 kWh option. The battery pack in a Model S costs about $30,000.

Analysts carefully watch what’s happening to the cost of lithium batteries, their weight, size, and storage capacity. Building a smaller, lighter and cheaper battery for Tesla’s upcoming lower-cost sedan has been at the heart of its $5 billion “Gigafactory” in Reno, Nev.

It’s going to take a few model years to see the price drop substantially. Here are some of the latest developments in electric vehicle batteries……….

  •  Sakti3 says that its solid-state cell is close to doubling the energy density of today’s lithium-ion cell chemistries, at only one-fifth of their current cost. That technology will support a battery cost of just $100 per kWh – but that won’t be happening until the end of this decade. Satki3, led by University of Michigan engineering professor Ann Marie Sastry, has received investment capital from GM Ventures. That goes back to 2010, when Sakti3 received a lot of media coverage and exposure (such as Sastry speaking at the Bloomberg symposium in Los Angeles during the time the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt were first being delivered to dealers in December 2010). The company went under the radar for a few years and has reemerged, with a recent article coming out in Fortune on the company.
  •  Panasonic has created a new company to oversee its operations at the Gigafactory as it goes online over the next two years. Panasonic has made an initial investment of $92 million, and that payment is expected to be the first of many cash infusions. Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk says that as many as 500,000 battery packs per year could be built there by 2020. Tesla management will be in charge of the factory; Panasonic will provide the necessary manufacturing equipment and lithium-ion battery components.
  •  Nissan has been building its own proprietary lithium-ion battery pack for the Leaf sedan. It’s been seven years since that battery technology started up, and it doesn’t look like Nissan will be bringing in LG Chem, Panasonic, Sakti3, or A123 Systems for its electric vehicles. At the Paris Motor Show, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn shed more light on the topic. “With electric cars, we consider that the reason for which we got involved with batteries, at the beginning, is we couldn’t find batteries good enough for our cars—so we decided to assemble our own batteries,” Ghosn said. “And we will continue to do that as long as we don’t think there are enough good batteries on the market, or we don’t think there is competition to sustain the move on batteries.”
  •  Bill Reinert, the recently retired national manager of Toyota’s advanced technology group – and a very outspoken, brutally honest speaker at industry conferences – is still more impressed with hybrids than electric vehicles. Here’s what he said to a Yale University journal, Yale Environment 360….. “There’s nothing promising beyond the lithium battery on the battery horizon. And the lithium battery has tremendous shortcomings for cars – for example, it doesn’t maintain a full charge in hot weather, which creates a battery degradation cycle. Even the Tesla’s Model S, with its biggest battery, when driven like a normal car can’t always deliver 200 miles of range, and the [company’s charging stations] are currently 200 miles away from each other. To give a Tesla much extra driving range, the battery weight required would greatly decrease the distance it could travel per kilowatt and also greatly increase its cost.”

Clean fuels and transportation hot topics at CleanTech OC annual conference

CleanTech OCAlong with federal and state incentives and low-interest loan programs, companies in clean transportation lately have been finding more available investment funds in the cleantech sector. Cleantech covers a broad spectrum of environmentally friendly, advanced technologies including zero emission vehicles, waste-to-energy, renewable energy, smart grids, and energy efficiency. Last week, I attended the CleanTech OC 2014 Annual Conference & Expo in Irvine, Calif. Clean transportation played a visible role including being the focus of the first speaker panel that day.

The “Cleantech Drivers –What Hot in OC” panel started with Tim Brown, co-founder and COO of First Element Fuel, which has been awarded contracts to deploy hydrogen fueling stations in California. Several more stations will be set up in the next year, usually at standing retail fuel stations. Right now, there are seven hydrogen stations in California; three of them are in Orange County.

Tom Koutroulis, district manager for Waste Management, talked about the refuse disposal company’s Continuous Organics Recycling (CORe) “wasted food, wasted energy” program. The company uses anaerobic digesters to manage waste and produce fuels. Waste Management works with agencies such as Los Angeles and Orange County sanitation districts to recycle and convert food waste into energy, such as renewable natural gas, and is setting up operations around the country. CORe ties into the refuse company’s campaign to reduce use of fossil fuels, which also includes switching over its fleet to natural gas vehicles.

Harrison Clay, president of Clean Energy Renewable Fuels, described the natural gas fueling infrastructure company’s renewable natural gas division as providing “expanding opportunities for low carbon fleet fueling.” Parent company Clean Energy Fuels now has about 700 fleet clients running about 35,000 vehicles on traditional and renewable natural gas. There are about 2,000 trucks in the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports using natural gas, with several trying out biomethane through Clean Energy’s Redeem brand renewable natural gas.

The Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) in California is a big driver in fleets becoming more interested in renewable natural gas. There have been about $10 million in LCFS credits sold for biomethane on the state’s cap-and-trade market, Clay said. Fleets using traditional natural gas are seeing significant reductions in metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) compared to gasoline and diesel; using renewable natural gas reduces GHG four times more than traditional natural gas as a vehicle fuel, he said. The federal Renewable Fuel Standard Program and California’s LCFS are growth drivers for renewable natural gas with about 20 million gallons being delivered this year – a number which should double in 2015 based on supply sources that have already signed up. One problem is that the LCFS carbon credit market can fluctuate dramatically and is an uncertain market, Clay said.

Dean Saito of South Coast Air Quality Management District said that there are a lot of cap-and-trade funds coming out of Sacramento lately. Cap and trade started in 2006 with passage of AB 32 in California under then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. LCFS was also created under AB 32. It’s taken a few years for the cap-and-trade exchange market to get underway; and implementation of LCFS rules for transportation and oil production are still undergoing review and public feedback by the California Air Resources Board. Saito encouraged people to track California clean vehicle funding programs – Clean Fuels Program; Goods (freight) Movement Program; Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program; Lower-Emission School Bus Program; and Enhanced Fleet Modernization Program.

Brad Timon, CFO of Quantum Technologies, presented one of the “OC Success Stories.” The Lake Forest, Calif.-based company has been publicly traded since 2002 and now has 160 employees. Lately, the company has been focusing primarily on tank vessels for high-pressure gases, which is getting a lot of play in the natural gas vehicle (NGV) sector from customers running heavy-duty trucks. In 2007, Quantum Technologies became the co-founder with Fisker Automotive of its powertrain system for the Karma plug-in hybrid. That client has gone through a well-known shakedown, which hurt Quantum Technologies’ business model. Switching over to its tank system for NGVs is driving business today. The company also provides a diesel hybrid electric system for the US military, Ford F150 extended range plug-in hybrids, and a hydrogen fueling system

One of the keynote speakers at the day-long conference was Greg Trimarche, outgoing chairperson of CleanTech OC. He said that the cleantech industry is going through a market trend similar to what was experienced by high tech in the early 2000s. What had been very hot on the stock market and with private investors went through a shakedown during 2001-to-2002. Cleantech saw a flood of investments from 2008 to 2010, until huge losses taken by companies including Solyndra became a “political football,” he said. Cleantech isn’t a hot-ticket item now for venture capitalists, but it’s seeing a more stable foundation for capital investments as analysts see which companies have survived the startup phase and look good for long-term investments.

Two days prior to the CleanTech OC conference, on October 6, another significant cleantech industry event took place. The 2014 Global Cleantech 100 companies were announced at a gala in Washington, D.C. Global Cleantech 100 is an annual list of the top 100 private companies in clean technology determined by Cleantech Group. Five US-based companies took awards in the Transportation segment – ChargePoint and its network of electric vehicle charging solutions; Proterra, a maker of battery-powered buses and other clean commercial transit solutions; RelayRides, a developer of a peer-to-peer car sharing platform; Streetline – smart parking solutions through wireless sensors located in parking spots and managed through a wireless mesh network; and Uber, the mobile-based car booking and payment system that’s arch enemy No. 1 to the taxi industry. Outside the US, France-based BlaBlaCar,  a provider of a car-pooling online marketplace, and Germany-based Ubitricity, a developer and provider of a mobile metering technology and billing platform for EV smart charging infrastructure, also made the transportation list.