electric vehicles Archives

Training program needed for dealer staff to answer questions from EV shoppers

Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) have been fairly impressive since their launch in late 2010, but the question of how to move those numbers up continues to plague the auto industry. A new working paper and brief by researchers at the Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis explores the issues. Aside from Tesla buyers, car shoppers and buyers of EVs are much less satisfied with the dealer purchase experience than are buyers of conventional vehicles. EV buyers have been dissatisfied with the level of support they receive from dealerships. The UC Davis team sees that EVs require innovation in how they’re retailed to customers during a time of change in what consumers expect from their car shopping and buying experiences. There’s a real need for a dealer training program to enhance the EV car shopping and buying experience – and Green Auto Market has a proposal on how to get that done.

Earlier this year, a Consumer Reports investigation came to similar conclusions. The magazine dispatched 19 mystery shoppers to 85 dealers across four states. One finding was that dealer staff knew little about the EVs they’re selling. In some instances, dealer staff discouraged EV purchases. The UC Davis team conducted 43 interviews with six automakers and 20 new car dealers in California’s major metro markets for EV sales. They also analyzed national and state-level J.D. Power 2013 Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) study data on customer satisfaction with new car dealerships and Tesla stores.

One of the challenges for EV success is that these vehicles need to be offered outside of California. Currently, 19 different EV models from 10 different automakers are available for purchase in California, but only three of these models are available nationally. While automakers have their part in getting national EV sales above and beyond 1% of all new vehicle sales, dealers play a very large part in meeting this goal. Legal battles between dealer associations and Tesla Motors present a real challenge for dealers to compete, but also an opportunity for franchised dealers to stand out. Nearly every automaker is offering an EV for sale now. It can be challenging for dealer management to get their sales representatives focused on selling EVs; they do need to spend more time these days answering car shopper questions on connectivity, infotainment, extended warranty coverage, etc. It might be attractive for a dealer sales rep to get the car shopper to focus on something other than EVs, especially if it takes a long time to answer their questions – and if the customer knows more about EVs than the sales rep.

Here’s what Green Auto Market and LeSage Consulting would like to offer automakers and dealer networks: a training model where dealer sales representatives can give a 10-minute presentation that answers questions car shoppers usually have about EVs. These questions might include:

Federal tax and state incentives and how they’re acquired
Home charging stations – how much they cost and how the building code inspection process and installation work
Driving range once the car is fully charged
Public charging stations and how they can be found on mobile devices
Cost of fueling compared to internal combustion engine cars
Maintenance process and services offered by the dealer

It would probably make the most sense to have a training program for dealer staff available on video with other presentation materials, such as a slide show and hand-outs. Whatever the method, it’s becoming more important now for the dealer experience to improve for EV shoppers – if automakers and dealers want to see those sale numbers increase and to build customer loyalty. For anyone interested in exploring this opportunity, I encourage you to send me an email.

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

Lithium 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.”

Disruptive technology: What will we be doing to make a living in 25 years?

As covered last week, AltCar Expo keynote speaker Tony Seba made some outrageous statements about the future of transportation technology and economics. The Silicon Valley entrepreneur and Stanford University lecturer inspired humorous comments from panel speakers, and interesting conversations for attendees who had just heard him speak – inspiring for those supporting electrified transportation and solar power and ominous for those making their living in automotive, transportation, and other industries. A question that stuck in my mind: What will Ford Motor Co., Hertz, Mack Trucks, Manheim, and mega-dealers be selling 25 years from now?

The statistics and market analysis presented by Seba were fascinating. They came from his recently published book, Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation: How Silicon Valley Will Make Oil, Nuclear, Natural Gas, Coal, Electric Utilities and Conventional Cars Obsolete by 2030. Here are a few points he made……

The auto industry played an integral role in the development of “disruptive technology.” One interesting point was seeing photos of a street in New York City in 1900 and then in 1913 – with one car featured in 1900 and the street filled with them 13 years later. Seba thinks we’re full bore into another disruption cycle that will radically alter the products and services offered in automotive and transportation.
Lithium batteries are going down 14% in cost per year, and that’s expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Tesla Motor’s “gigafactory,” once it’s up and running, will be able to double the word’s supply of these batteries and will bring their prices down even further.
By 2018, automakers will be offering $40,000 battery electric vehicles (EVs) that can get 200 miles per charge. Disruption will continue – by 2020, that price will drop to $31,000 and its range will be comparable to, or better than, internal combustion engine (ICE) powered cars. By 2023, average EV prices will go down to $21,000. He says that by 2030, all mainstream cars will be electric and ICEs will be obsolete.
As for autonomous cars, disruptive technology will see a big price drop and become economically viable for the future of transportation. In 2012, a LIDAR (light radar) system cost $70,000 for a test self-driving car. That now costs $10,000 per driverless car. As for what consumers think about it, a recent Cisco Systems survey found that 95% of Brazilians are willing right now to use a self-driving car, and 60% of Americans are willing to do the same.
Autonomous vehicles, along with carsharing services like Zipcar and ridesharing services like Uber, will be game changers. Annual sales of new vehicles will shrink, highways will open up, and many of the parking spaces we have in our cities will go away. Highway capacity can be increased four times when autonomous vehicles show up on our roads; there will be no need for 80% of our parking spaces as autonomous vehicles show up exactly when and where they’re needed by the owner. The insurance industry will also take a big hit as the need for car insurance will diminish.
As for solar power, installation of solar panels has been increasing 43% per year worldwide since 2000. If this continues, all of the world’s energy will be solar by 2030, he says.
When the question of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles came up, Seba made comments that obviously didn’t go over too well with hydrogen advocates. Hydrogen is not a disruptive technology and works much the same way as gasoline in production and pipeline/trucking distribution. EVs are three-to-four times more energy efficient than hydrogen.

Seba may be way too off the mark on several of his conclusions, but he’s right about one thing: technology and economics are going through a historic shift right now. The role of automakers and transportation companies is changing – which is why we’re seeing automakers startup car sharing services and test out self-driving cars. It’s also a driving force behind nearly every automaker rolling out an EV and other alternative fuel vehicles.

Clean transportation has a very important role to play. It’s providing a channel for advanced vehicle technologies, reducing emissions and fuel consumption, and supporting economic advancement and job creation in a fast-changing world. Maybe you’ll get laid off by an automaker and go to work for a specialty EV maker, or lithium battery maker, or alternative fuel infrastructure supplier, or an advanced engineering and design firm. That sounds much better than taking drive-through orders at McDonalds. As my grandfather used to say, “Always be looking for another job.”

This Week’s Top 10: Tesla facing possible opposition on placing Gigafactory in Nevada, Nissan Leaf breaks its own sales record in August

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…….

Tesla Motors will soon find out whether it’s deal to set up its Gigafactory in Reno, Nev., will pass through the state legislature – and there could be a wave of opposition. The factory would be impressive – powered by renewable energy and expected to produce up to 500,000 lithium batteries annually, and the Gigafactory will cost $5 billion to build. The challenge is that Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval needs legislative approval for the $1.25 billion package of tax breaks needed to lure Tesla into the state. Speaker of the Assembly Rep. Marilyn Kirkpatrick said she did not know whether or not the deal will pass at a special session next week. Legislators have questions, Kirkpatrick said. The deal will need support of Democrats from the Las Vegas area that are skeptical of the plan, according to a media report. They are leaning toward voting for the plan but have questions needing to be answered. Established business groups might oppose the tax breaks due to how they’ll affect other companies in the state; car dealers may also oppose the Gigafactory as part of their fight to keep Tesla retail locations out of the state. There’s a lot at stake here – “This factory is very important to the future of Tesla — without it we can’t do the mass-market car,” Musk said at a press conference with Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval in Carson City, Nevada. As for other Tesla news……. Tesla CEO Elon Musk says his company may have another “significant” joint project in two or three years with Toyota, and it would be at higher volumes than its recently ended Toyota RAV4 EV alliance…… Musk reiterated his pledge to bring a partially self-driving car to market in three years; it will be developed in-house using sensors and components from suppliers. He thinks all Tesla cars will someday be self-driving……. Tesla is arguing against a complaint filed against it by Georgia dealerships with the Georgia Department of Revenue last week. Dealers say Tesla is breaking the state rules which limit non-dealers to selling fewer than 150 of its electric cars directly to customers each year.
The Nissan Leaf broke its own sales record in August – selling 3,186 units and marking its 18^th consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases. In the nearly four years that the electric car has been on the market, it’s sold more than 61,000 units. The Chevrolet Volt came it at 2,511 sold, its best performance month since a year ago. A new 2016 Volt will be introduced in January; and nearly 67,700 units have been sold since its launch in December 2010. Sales of the Tesla Model S go unreported, but it was estimated to be about 1,200 units sold in August. BMW saw sales of its BMW i3 leap from less than 400 units in the three previous months up to 1,025 in August, according to industry and analyst reports.
Growth in the heavy-duty natural gas truck market was underemphasized in the Wall Street Journal, according to natural gas vehicle (NGV) leaders. The market for these trucks is growing at an annual rate of about 20%, which is “extraordinary,” says NGVAmerica president Rich Kolodziej. Ron Eickelman, president of Agility Fuel Systems and chair of NGVAmerica, says demand for his firms compressed natural gas fuel systems has been very strong. NGV leaders disagree with the premise of the WSJ article that it takes four years for payback to be seen from the fuel-savings; operators can see that payback in as little as two years, say leaders at NGV organizations. In other NGV news, Ryder System, Inc., announced that it’s partnering with Anheuser-Busch to bring in 66 CNG diesel-tractor trucks to its fleet. GE Capital Fleet Services has made an agreement with VNG to support expansion of the CNG refueling infrastructure for light-duty fleet vehicles.
Leading ridesharing company Uber has been banned from Germany until a hearing this year by a court in Frankfurt. Uber faces fines up to 250,000 euros (about $330,000) and its local employees could be jailed up to six months if the temporary injunction is violated. In April, a Brussels, Belgium-based court imposed a 10,000 euro fine on Uber drivers for every ride they accept in the city. Uber’s fight continues with taxis and governments.
Daimler distanced itself from Uber as it announced acquisitions of two smartphone applications when acquiring Mytaxi and Ridescout. Daimler said these deals will not disrupt the taxi industry, a large client of its Mercedes-Benz cars. Through its Moovel GmbH, Daimler bought the Mytaxi app, which allows customers to hail a cab and other functions using a smartphone. RideScount helps customers find the best way of reaching a destination through both public and private transportation options, along with carsharing services. Daimler has been in the carsharing business through its car2go subsidiary.
A Volkswagen Group executive thinks that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles won’t be doing well beyond Japan’s borders. Government subsidies of as much as three million yen ($28,500) by the Japanese government for hydrogen-powered vehicles will probably be too high for other countries to match; and refueling will be impractical even in Japan as handling hydrogen is challenging and building the infrastructure is costly, says Shigeru Shoji, Volkswagen Group’s Japan president.
A $5,000 rebate on purchasing a propane autogas vehicle or converting an existing vehicle to propane are available to New York residents, including fleet users. New York Propane Gas Association is making the rebate available to one vehicle per fleet, and the incentive is available through the end of this year.
The United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC awarded $667,452 in an advanced battery technology development contract for next-generation plug-in hybrid electric vehicle applications to Xerion Advanced Battery Corporation of Westminster, Colo. The consortium is a collaborative organization operated by Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors.The competitively bid contract award is co-funded by the US Department of Energy and includes a 50% Xerion cost-share.
Average fuel economy for light-duty vehicles sold in the US in August reached an all-time high, according to a University of Michigan report. Those new vehicles reached 25.8 mpg, up from 25.6 in July and 24.9 a year ago.
Oberon Fuels had its dimethyl ether (DME) biogas fuel approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use in commercial vehicle applications. Oberon Fuels secured approval under the Renewable Fuel Standard and is now eligible for several renewable identification numbers (RINs) under the cellulosic and advanced categories. EPA says that Oberon’s DME has a 68% reduction in greenhouse gases compared to traditional diesel fuel. Oberon Fuels is working with Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks to bring DME to Volvo and Mack trucks.

Solar power, Tesla and GM drive clean energy and transportation job growth in second quarter

Solar power and electrified transportation were key drivers of US job growth in the second quarter of 2014, according to a report from Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2). Arizona topped the list of states with the largest number of announced jobs in clean energy. Solar Wind Energy Inc. expects to hire at least 350 permanent jobs for a new project in San Luis, AZ. California came in at No. 2 on the list, driven by Tesla Motors announcing 500 new jobs and the utility-scale solar industry making its share of announcements. Michigan placed third on the ranking, with General Motors Corp. expected to add as many as 1,400 jobs producing advanced battery technologies.

E2, a nonprofit, nonpartisan business group, reported that more than 12,500 clean energy and clean transportation jobs were announced in the second quarter – more than double the number of jobs announced in the first quarter of this year. The remaining states in the top 10 for announced clean energy and clean transportation jobs in the second quarter were: Utah (4), Massachusetts (5), New York (6), Nevada (7), New Mexico (8), North Dakota (9), and North Carolina (10).

During a media conference call on Thursday, two factors were discussed driving economic growth in clean energy and transportation. One of these is more states adopting renewable portfolio standards, which are policies designed to increase generation of electricity from renewable resources. Another factor has been greater interest and support for clean energy in venture capital markets such as in Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Nancy Floyd, managing director of San Francisco-based venture capital firm Nth Power, and John Cheney, founder of San Francisco-based Silverado Power, both acknowledged that cleantech, clean transportation, and alternative fuels are gaining traction with investors; not long ago, mobile devices and social media had a lot more funding.

California’s AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, is also helping drive corporate decisions. Transportation fuels will be included in AB 32 beginning in January 2015, and E2 expects to see more job announcements in the clean vehicles sector. Economic gains from AB 32 are being seen in the state.

“I’ve had companies we invest in open offices or relocate their entire companies to California, specifically due to AB 32,” Floyd said. Cheney shares that perspective: “What AB 32 and other good policies do is create certainty that there will be demand for clean energy and clean cars in the future,” he said.

Washington, DC, has seen mixed signals for support on clean energy policies from Congress. However, there has been new confidence about future clean energy growth tied to the recently announced federal Clean Power Plan that’s designed to cut carbon pollution and increase clean energy and energy efficiency, according to E2. You can review the report and see how clean energy sectors break out by state at E2’s Clean Energy Works for Us site.

Carports with solar panels taking off in US and with automakers

Carport-mounted photovoltaic solar power panels are taking off in the US, offering a win-win for the solar and electric vehicle communities. It could also help alleviate some of the trade war battle with China as its companies dump low-priced equipment in the US market. US solar carports are taking off – GTM Research reports that it’s a burgeoning market in the non-residential solar market and the US solar industry as a whole. It increased 157 megawatts of energy in 2013; 2014 is expected to be the fourth consecutive year in which greater than 100 MW of solar carport installations will take place.

Detroit-based utility DTE Energy is betting it’s a worthy investment and is working with Ford Motor Co. to build what it calls, “Michigan’s largest solar array.” The project is funded by DTE Energy and will provide 360 covered parking spaces for 30 charging stations at Ford’s headquarters in Dearborn, Mich. The carport is expected to generate 1.038 MW of electricity – enough energy to power 158 average-sized homes. The solar array is expected to offset 794 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually and will be well positioned to charge Ford EVs such as the Fusion Energi and C-Max Energi.

A number of automakers have been turning to solar, including General Motors, which has set up a large solar array at its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant, where it assembles the Chevrolet Volt. And solar energy is providing a major chunk of the power needed to run Volkswagen’s big assembly plant in Tennessee.

Volkswagen last year solar-powered its 33-acre Chattanooga Solar Park outside its Tennessee assembly facility, which it dubbed “the world’s greenest auto plant.” Honda is using solar power to produce hydrogen for use in its FCX fuel-cell vehicles, and for the new fuel cell car it will begin marketing in Southern California next year. Last year, Honda agreed to invest $65 million into Solar City with the goals of offering customers in 14 states low-cost home solar charging stations for their EVs such as the Honda Fit EV or the Honda Accord Plug-In.

This Week’s Top 10: Plug-In 2014 Conference downsizes to better serve its audience, Sales of plug-in electric vehicles were solid in July

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…….

Smart grids, fast charging, and an open integration platform for electric vehicles were topics covered last week at Plug-In 2014 Conference in San Jose, Calif. Now in its seventh year, the annual plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) conference changed gears – there was no exhibit hall this year and a schedule with two simultaneous breakout speaker panel sessions instead of three. According to comments from attendees, it continued to be a much-needed resource for peer networking and staying current on what’s happening in the industry; the exhibit hall and extra speaker panels weren’t necessary and the conference has needed to be streamlined. During “The Last Word” panel on Wednesday afternoon, Tom Turrentine from the PH&EV Research Center, Institute of Transportation Studies, at UC Davis, talked about a study he’s been part of finding out the challenges auto dealers are going through in effectively educating customers on PEVs and charging. The other panelists, including Ed Kjaer, director, transportation electrification at Southern California Edison, and Chelsea Sexton, founder, Lightning Rod Foundation, agreed with Turrentine that education of dealers and car shoppers is still very much needed. Looking at real data from PEV driver experience over the past three-and-a-half years is another resource to tap into; along with key stakeholders (utilities, automakers, and infrastructure suppliers) setting aside technology disputes and supporting the larger movement toward electrified transportation, should be high priority, Kjaer and Sexton said. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), which organizes the conference, announced an alliance with utilities and automakers to develop and demonstrate an open platform to integrate PEVs with smart grid technologies. The platform will offers customer-friendly interface where PEV drivers can more easily participate in utility PEV programs, such as rates for off-peak or nighttime charging. With more than 225,000 plug-in vehicles on US roads, these vehicles will also play a significant role as a distributed energy resource to support grid reliability, stability, and efficiency. Honda, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, and Toyota have joined together with major utilities and regional transmission organizations. During another announcement at Plug-In 2014, NRG eVgo, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc., said that its partnering with BMW on its new ChargeNow DC Fast program. Now, BMW i3 drivers in California can enjoy unlimited, no cost 30 minute DC fast charging, at eVgo Freedom Station® sites equipped with DC Combo Fast Charging, through 2015.

Sales of plug-in electric vehicles were solid in July. There were 3,117 Nissan Leafs sold – 62% more than July 2013. Nissan thinks that its No Charge to Charge promotion worked well. The Chevy Volt saw its best sales month since December, with 2,020 units sold. Tesla Motors reported building 8,763 Model S units in the second quarter and delivered 7,579 of them to customers. The company expects to deliver 7,800 of them this quarter. Tesla reported second quarter revenues of $858 million, up 55% from a year ago; and the automaker saw gross margins rise to a record 26.8%.
The California Energy Commission approved about $60 million for hydrogen fueling, battery electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid projects. About $8.1 million also has been allocated for electric vehicle placements and $4.3 million for natural gas vehicles.
The agreement on the “Gigafactory” between Tesla Motors and Panasonic Corp. has been confirmed. Panasonic, which currently supplies battery cells to Tesla, said it will manufacture and supply cylindrical lithium-ion cells and invest in the equipment, machinery and other tools based on the two companies mutual approval. Tesla role will be to prepare, provide and manage the land, buildings, and utilities. The dollar amount Panasonic has agreed to invest hasn’t been revealed.
Toyota Motor Corp. has a name for its $69,000 fuel cell vehicle: Mirai. That’s a Japanese word for “the future,” according to a person familiar with the decision. The US version has been called the FCV, and the car is expected to go on sale in the fall of 2015.
The 2014 Chevy Volt with the optional Forward Collision Alert system was the only one out of 12 cars tested to earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s 2014 Top Safety Pick award. The plug-in hybrid also received an acceptable overall score in IIHS’ small overlap front crash test. The small overlap front crash test simulates a frontal collision that impacts the driver’s side corner at 40 mph. Other cars tested included the Nissan Juke, Mini Cooper Countryman, and the Ford C-Max Hybrid.
“The Musk Who Fell to Earth” will be an upcoming episode on an upcoming episode in the 26^th season of “The Simpsons.” This will be Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s second appearance on the show, though the first time that he’ll speak. During the episode, Mr. Burns, an iconic series character and billionaire nuclear energy tycoon, loses all of his money to Musk.
The US Commerce Department is increasing penalties on Chinese imports for dumping solar cells, panels, and other equipment into the US market at very low prices to grab market share. Duties could reach as high as 165% for some Chinese producers and 44% for manufacturers in Taiwan. The tariffs will become permanent if the department confirms its initial finding that the practices hurt the US solar industry.
The Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis is offering an online tool called EV Explorer helping car shoppers made a decision over the best choice for themselves – a plug-in electric vehicle, a hybrid, or a regular gasoline-engine vehicle. By entering a starting address and ending destination, EV Explorer offers a bar graph comparing the total annual energy costs of up to four vehicles simultaneously.
A new report from Research and Markets forecasts that the global biodiesel market will grow at a compound annual rate of 8.1% between 2013 and 2018. One prominent market drivers is expected to be the advantage of using biodiesel over diesel. For those seeking a clean source of energy, biodiesel offers reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints.

This Week’s Top 10: Workplace charging and Plug-In 2014, Audi enters plug-in space with its A3 Sportback E-Tron

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. Workplace charging and Plug-In 2014 conference
Workplace charging has become the most discussed topic in the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) infrastructure community. Check out comments from Electric Power Research Institute’s Morgan Davis on some of the issues that will be discussed next month at Plug-In 2014 in San Jose, Calif. Scheduled speakers from Google, SAP, Nissan, Georgia Power, and San Diego Gas & Electric, will talk about their experience with deployment of workplace charging stations. Other topics being explored at the conference include: the future of DC fast charging; PEV incentives and economics; the latest in vehicle technology; and, two pre-conference seminars: vehicle-grid integration and fleet implementation of PEVs.

2. Audi enters the plug-in space with A3 Sportback E-Tron
Audi AG began rolling out its A3 Sportback E-Tron plug-in hybrid model; it’s the first of four plug-in hybrids that will roll out and compete with BMW for luxury electric vehicle customers and its first-ever plug-in model (and eventually with Tesla as it increases its presence in Europe). The A3 Sportback E-Tron is said to get 31 miles of battery power. There is a price – it starts at 37,900 euros ($51,700) in Germany – 15,100 euros more than the base gasoline-powered version of the A3.

3. US Supreme Court stays out of California low-carbon fuel standard ruling
The US Supreme Court has decided to let stand a ruling from September by the 9th circuit court of appeals in San Francisco upholding the California low-carbon fuel standard – at the chagrin of out-of-state ethanol producers and oil companies. Ethanol producers from the Midwest challenged the fairness of the rule, as their fuel is given higher cost to buyers due to the state’s “carbon-intensity ratings.” California’s rating system is giving out-of-state producers a higher price for their credits than identical fuel being produced in California. Oil refiners also challenged the standard’s premise that the cost of transportation and processing for bringing the fuel into the state is adding more carbon. California Air Resources Board recently approved a funding of $200 million in the 2014-15 budget to encourage the deployment of more low-carbon transportation choices. Rebates of $2,500 for battery-electric vehicles and $1,500 for plug-in hybrids will be available; fuel-cell electric vehicle buyers will be eligible for $5,000 rebates.

4. Longer wait expected for next-gen Prius
Toyota Motor Corp. has decided to delay the launch of the fourth-generation Prius until December 2015 instead of next spring. The automaker hasn’t announced reasons for the delay, but those familiar with the matter confirmed the delay; one of them said Toyota engineers are trying out various configurations to improve fuel economy including adjusting the body and chassis. Production of the plug-in Prius may take even longer – sources say that will begin in October 2016. Also, more details have been announced on its first-ever hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. It will debut in the Japan market next April for around 7 million yen ($69,348); it will go on sale in the US and Europe by the summer of 2015, according the company.

5. Pennsylvania takes action on Tesla corporate stores and sets limits
The Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed a bill last week after it was amended to cap the number of factory-owned stores allowed at five. The bill only applies to Tesla Motors and goes now to the Pennsylvania house. The original bill had no cap on the number of retail outlets that Tesla could have set up; that drew pressure on the state from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the major trade group representing 12 automakers but not Tesla.

6. SAP and Cox Enterprises add to their corporate sustainability campaigns
Software giant SAP will is taking a three-prong approach to promote sustainable driving behavior: economic incentives for employees to lease electric vehicles; bringing in a new app from Toyota and Verifone that will get them by dashboard of mobile device to determine fuel levels, get to the closest gas station, authorize electronic payments, and receive personalized coupons; and in collaboration with Volkswagen, SAP will try out a pilot project that uses SAP’s mobility and cloud services that will help drivers locate parking and nearby food offerings in urban settings. Cox Enterprises (which owns Manheim Auctions, AutoTrader, and Kelley Blue Book) is utilizing an energy storage system at its Manheim Southern California auction location in Fontana, Calif. An 18 kilowatt PowerStore system provides the location with real-time data analytics that are used to optimize efficiency and reduce electricity costs. Since 2007, the Atlanta-based company has prevented approximately 120,000 tons of carbon from entering the environment and saved more than 125 million gallons of water.

7. Greenlots will bring open standard DC fast chargers to San Francisco Airport
Greenlots will install four open standards-based DC fast chargers at the San Francisco International Airport; it’s part of a two-year pilot program supported by the California Energy Commission through the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. The chargers will be part of its “Sky” electric vehicle charging platform that utilizes Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), the largest open standard for charger-to-network communications. Sky “obsoletes the subscription-based model by providing drivers with flexible payment solutions including dynamic queuing and pay-by-phone,” the company said. The charging station host can mix and match charging station types, while setting pricing options: by kilowatt-hour, session, or length of time charging.

8. Minnesota starts 10% biodiesel blend
Minnesota has become the first state to require that a minimum blend of 10% biodiesel be sold in diesel fuel sold at retail fuel station pumps. Biodiesel sales are expected to jump from 40 million to 60 million gallons per year through the new Minnesota standard. That will bring three production plants in the state up to their capacity to make biodiesel that’s typically coming from soybean and other oils.

9. Ford bumps Toyota off on greenest automaker list
While Ford is getting chastised for again overstating its mileage ratings, Interbrand has been impressed enough with the global automaker to name it the world’s greenest brand. Conducted with Deloitte Consulting, the annual survey (taken long before the latest MPG controversy) gauges consumer perceptions in markets around the world, combined with data on how companies operate internally and report their environmental behavior.

10. Zap Jonway electric cars going on sale as Urbees in China
Zap Jonway, an electric vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Santa Rosa, Calif., received from SunRa (which is also called Xinri Electric Vehicle Company) a volume purchase agreement for its Urbee electric car through its subsidiary Jonway Auto for the Chinese market. It’s an agreement by SunRa to purchase 1,000 Urbees per month from Jonway Auto to sell through its distribution network in China, starting with the first shipment of 500 units from Jonway Auto’s production line in June 2014.

What EPA electric power rules will cost automakers, DOE fuel cell vehicle grants, and other news from Capitol Hill

It’s always good to stay current on what’s happening in Washington, DC, with new regulations and funding programs regularly rolling out. Last week, more details came out on the latest in electric power regulations, grants for fuel cell vehicle projects, renewable fuel requirements for ethanol, and on the impact of the federal standards on heavy-duty truck mileage and emissions………..

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement last week Monday on electric utilities reducing carbon 30% (coming mainly from coal-powered plants) had some good news for automakers. While German automakers have been hit hard financially by government mandates that they convert their power over to renewable energy sources, that doesn’t appear to be the case for US-based production plants. Jim Doyle, president of Business Forward, and Debra Menk, an automotive economist, gave a teleconference presentation last week on that issue (coming from a report released by Business Forward). By the time utilities convert over to renewables (by 2020), it’s expected to only cost automakers an additional $7 per car or truck to utilize that clean energy. Electricity only makes for about 1% of an assembly plant’s total expenses, so automakers won’t see much of an impact that they feel compelled to pass on to consumers.
The US Department of Energy will issue $7 million for hydrogen fuel cell vehicle development. Meteria, based in Pasadena, Calif., will get $2 million to for its new resin system that will reduce the cost of hydrogen storage systems; $1.2 million goes to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and San Francisco-based Ardica for hydrogen storage system improvements (each one gets $1.2 million); and HRL Laboratories of Malibu, Calif., will receive around $1 million of the funding.
The EPA appears to be putting the ethanol compliance issue on the backburner. Refiners have been given a compliance extension – from June 30 to Sept. 30 of this year – on blending 16.55 billion ethanol-equivalent gallons of renewable fuels into petroleum. That comes from the EPA ruling on 2013 renewable fuel requirements; EPA thinks refiners should know the 2014 requirements before the end of the 2013 compliance year. This will affect the decisions of refiners to bank renewable fuel credits for use in the future, according to the EPA. It may give the White House some breathing room on a battleground between oil companies and refiners and corn growers and ethanol producers.
Federal fuel economy and emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks will lead to significant fuel savings and are likely good for the trucking industry, according to Jim Sweeney, vice president of capital equipment for AmeriQuest Transportation Services. “The increase in overall maintenance costs for this new technology is undeniable — but looking at the big picture, the economic and operational benefits that come along with these initiatives seem to far outweigh the bad,” Sweeney wrote in his blog. Similar to passenger cars, the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration adopted the first phase of this program in 2011 for heavy-duty vehicles coming out in model years 2014 to 2018. The second phase is being worked out now by the federal agencies with truck makers.

Why I’m passionate about (and obsessed with) clean transportation and alt-fuel vehicles

“When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters – one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.” U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy said in a 1959 speech.

I’ve been fortunate to have fascinating conversations with several readers of this newsletter in recent years. That could have happened while preparing for an Automotive Digest video interview, during an article interview, while seated near each other at industry conferences, or while standing in line at ride and drive events. Some people in my social circles tune out while I sermonize on the benefits of clean transportation being deployed in the US and around the world. Other people have their share of passion on the topic – including personally driving a hybrid, electric vehicle, natural gas car, or something similar. Sometimes they manage hundreds of these vehicles in their fleets.

Beyond the bells and whistles of a particular green car, here are typical points that I, and many of my peers, make during these conversations………

Reducing tailpipe and carbon emissions. As the article on China covers this week, the number of vehicles on roads is increasing and bringing serious ramifications to urban centers around the world. Ground transportation makes up a big chunk of carbon emissions and air quality impact – whether that be through passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, or buses. I tend to be “technology neutral” about how we do it. Some advocate plug-in electric vehicles as the only way to go, or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, or natural gas vehicles, or clean diesel, or small cars that get high mileage, or……. you name it. I tend to support all of them – as long as the case can be made that they’re all built on scientifically tested, safe technologies and fuels that meet government rules.
Turning problems into solutions. As you read the quote from JFK above from my consulting website, it points to a realistic assessment of global conditions. China, India, and Brazil are the emerging economic markets – the US no longer plays its dominant role, nor does Europe. All of these economies are becoming more interlinked and dependent on each other (as was clearing demonstrated by the Japanese earthquake of 2011). For the US, clean transportation and alternative fuel vehicles represent four huge opportunities: job creation; research and development for advanced technologies; breakthrough technology and fuel innovations; and capital investments. It is definitely tough to gain support from venture capitalists in Silicon Valley and other regions for green vehicles compared to smartphones and tablets – but there’s a lot of growing interest out there in clean transportation and for cleantech overall. Turning waste into energy also points to another problem-into-solution, such as renewable natural gas being made from sewage and garbage.
Training and development opportunities. There are a lot of Millennials/GenYers out there who’ve had great, expensive college educations but are working at Starbucks; along with talented service technicians who want good paying jobs. There a quite a few people in their 40s and 50s who’ve burned out on their office jobs or have been laid off during the Great Recession. How about getting them into automotive and charging and fueling infrastructure jobs? There’s a need for engineers, designers, service technicians, charging station installers, renewable energy technicians, alternative fuel station and storage tank experts, vehicle service and repair departments, emergency first responders, battery makers, dealers, vehicle remarketers, and others to make clean transportation thrive. And don’t forget educators – there are some excellent training and development programs out there that need our support.
Recovery from fossil fuel addiction. As 2GreenEnergy’s editor Craig Shields depicts in blog posts and books, fossil fuels used in electricity and transportation dominate decisions in Washington and in corporate boardrooms. That is starting to change, but the challenges are enormous. While Shields would likely not get along with former president George H.W. Bush, they would agree on one thing: “We’re addicted to oil,” as Bush said in his State of the Union speech in 2006. Former oil tycoon and natural gas champion T. Boone Pickens would agree with that statement and always talks about how many barrels of foreign oil the US imports every day. As for me, I would go back to the JFK quote – turn problems into opportunities. Whether you believe in climate change or not, how about cleaning air quality, creating jobs, and recovering from oil addiction through clean transportation and alternative fuel vehicles? That sounds pretty darn good to me.
This isn’t just a momentary fad. All of the technologies and fuels have gone through spurts of possibility in the past before quickly fading away – natural gas vehicles (NGVs) in the early 1990s, electric vehicles (EVs) in the late 1990s, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in the early 2000s, and flex-fuel vehicles in the second half of the past decade……… This time, none of them are likely to go away. EVs have recently hit an overall sales trend stronger than the early days of hybrids; there are more green vehicles being announced by OEMs or in the pipelines than ever before; the charging and fueling infrastructure is moving forward at public and private stations; incentive programs aren’t going away anytime soon; gasoline and diesel prices are high enough for consumers to take notice; corporations, government agencies, and non-profit organizations are adding clean transportation to their sustainability programs and policies, and they seem to be expecting that their employees comply; and sales figures for EVs, hybrids, clean diesel, NGVs are still small, but nearly all the forecasts say the numbers will be growing through the next 10 years along with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, propane autogas, and biofuels. And take a look at media coverage in a given week, such as what gets summarized in Green Auto Market. There are always significant, substantial vehicle launches, studies, government policies and incentives, partnerships, and innovations. It appears that clean transportation and alternative fuel vehicles are here to stay.