Tag: electric vehicles

Prius parent Toyota shifting from EVs to FCVs and advanced hybrids

Toyota and TeslaToyota Motor Corp. has been carefully watched by advocates of clean vehicles – its Prius became the symbol of innovation in the hybrid space even though several other competitive hybrid models were launched around that time. When Toyota made an agreement in 2010 with Tesla Motors to integrate its electric motor and batteries into the Toyota RAV4 EV, along with Toyota’s $50 million investment in Tesla and Tesla’s takeover of the shuttered NUMMI factory in Fremont, Calif., the working relationship looked very promising. It also helped strengthen Tesla’s promise to become a thriving automaker (which was also supported around that time by Daimler’s investment). The Toyota and Tesla relationship seemed to sour this month when Toyota announced that it will phase out an agreement from 2012 for Tesla to deliver 2,600 battery packs for Toyota’s electric RAV4 over three years.

Since then, a Toyota executive has said that the two companies will continue working together on battery technology even though the initial battery-supply agreement will be ending this year. Osamu Nagata, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, acknowledged that Tesla has a clear business strategy for developing a better battery. Automakers and their suppliers do need to work together on developing better batteries, he said. Nagata also talked about the future of fuel-cell vehicles, which Toyota has indicated will become a top priority for the company in coming years.

Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota’s North American region, said during a an interview after Fortune magazine’s Brainstorm Green conference that hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and fuel cell vehicles hold greater promise for Toyota. Battery-electric vehicles make sense in a select way as short range urban vehicles, he said. “But for long-range travel primary vehicles, we feel there are better alternatives, such as hybrids and plug-in hybrids, and tomorrow with fuel cells,” Lentz said.

Hydrogen fuel cells have become cheaper on a cost-per-vehicle basis and are more efficient on a well-to-wheel basis; that’s a primary reason Toyota has turned away from a long-term effort to create a viable battery-electric vehicle. Toyota will soon be launching a fuel cell vehicle in California and is investing $7 million in the FirstElement Fuel campaign to bring hydrogen refueling stations to the state.

Toyota also has high hopes for hybrids and will be expanding its vehicle offerings in years to come. The automaker has developed a new semiconductor it says can boost fuel efficiency in hybrid cars such as the Prius by up to 10%. Test models have so far shown a 5% increase, and Toyota thinks it can commercialize the 10% more efficient semiconductor by 2020.

The new semiconductors will manage the flow of electricity through the power control unit that integrates a hybrid vehicle’s battery, motor, and generator. As competition in the hybrid space increases each model year, Toyota wants to strengthen its position marketing the Prius family and its list of other Toyota and Lexus hybrid models. Hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will be an integral part of Toyota meeting government emissions standards and strengthening its image as a leader in advanced, clean vehicles.

The Future of Electric Vehicles – Where is it going?

By Richard Marks

Today’s populations are moving to the cities and urban areas surrounding these cities.  In the US, 75% of the population lives in an urban metropolitan area.  Europe and Asia are slightly lower.

So what are the choices to interested private buyers?  That depends where you live, what you do, where you work, how much you earn and your household needs.

The average price paid for a new car today (March 2014) in US is $32,086. Median income for US is $53,043 (half above – half below; by Sentier Research).  Who can afford a new car?  Really only the wealthy buy new cars (15.6 M new cars/trucks sold 2013) and 40+M used cars.  The “average” person buys a used car.

Experian Automotive reported recently that roughly 21 percent of electric car buyers earned an average household income of at least $175,000 last year, not your typical car buyer.  However, with all the low dollar monthly lease deals on EV’s going on, the industry probably has dropped that.  The other issue is that the $7,500 tax credit on a purchase, only works if you purchase, not lease; and you need a tax liability greater than $7,500 after all of your other deductions.  So what kind of income do you need? The $100,000+ is not a bad place to start.  So EV’s are for the richer and more educated buyers plus our Government gives them a special tax break? Sound fair?

Let’s go back to the 40M used cars/trucks sold each year. National Automotive Dealers Assoc. reported the average used car price was $15,042 in March 2014.  that’s better, but you are buying an out of warranty vehicle up to 8 years old that has a lot of up and coming repair work and maintenance on the horizon plus $4/gal gas.

There is a solution to many on the horizon.  How many cars do you have in your household?  2010 Census data says that 21.5M households have 3 or more cars, 45.4M have 2 cars, 39.7M have 1 car and 10.7M have no cars.  If you are part of the 2 cars or 3 or more, than EcoVElectric is an affordable alternative.  EcoV is designed to meet the needs of people and fleet operators in city areas.  At $11,999 it is also affordable by all and it offers a 70% lower cost to operate than a new or used car.  EcoV costs less as a new vehicle than an average used car today.  Never have to buy gas; just plug into a wall socket and for 50¢ you are charged and ready to go 25 – 40 miles.  Zero emissions and almost zero cost to operate.  EcoV is safe and crash tested. EcoV is fully enclosed and very much a car.  What’s your purpose? EcoV is available in passenger, pick-up and delivery vehicle models that are all multi-functional.

How much range do you need in a vehicle for city and urban area trips? Average daily trip distance for urban based cars in USA, was 36.5 miles/day.  The average single trip distance was 5.95 miles.  The average commute distance was 13.6 miles.  In fact, we do not realize how little we really drive.  For most people a city based EV is a great solution to save money, particularly when a high speed vehicle is available for those important but less frequent trips.

EcoV

Now how about government and commercial fleets in cities and urban areas?  Since many of these fleets don’t need to go fast and their missions are shorter in distance,  EcoV can save them greatly  in operating costs.  Take a city parking enforcement vehicle.  EcoV can save $43,500 over a 10 year period, payback in 9 months based on 25-35 miles per day.  100,000 EcoV’s in service over 10 years, saves you the taxpayer $4.5B.  Take an EcoV city mail delivery vehicle with a 22 year life cycle – saves Post Office $145,000 per EcoV with payback in 7 months based on 5-10 miles per day and with 40,000 in service that saves you, the tax payer, $6B.  There are lots of applications: parks & recreation, city services, security patrols, university public safety and campus service & pool vehicles, vacation resort rentals, airports, homeland security at airport, harbor and border crossings.

The future is clearly going towards smaller, smarter city based transportation solutions like EcoV.  The next question is how does an early stage company find partners, both financial and business?  Can the current trend away from investing in EV companies be reversed?  Can we create a race towards an affordable EV solution for everyone?  Can we attract investors with the strength, skill and vision to be part of the future profits EV sales will generate?  We think so.

Manufacturing is key to any low volume niche business.  Overheads in terms of staff, facilities, tools and equipment are typically large.  We are changing the paradigm on low volume niche manufacturing in the transportation business.  How we integrate the product, the suppliers, and the processes to be able to build not only a profitable low volume (10,000-30,000 units/yr) but low price product ($11,999 well equipped) has changed all the rules.  The manufacturing side is about finding the right partners to assemble the product, which we have been able to do.  The other side is using off-the-shelf proven technology rather than designing all new parts ourselves, we leverage other’s efforts including prototyping, testing, tooling, and putting into high volume manufacture to get to low costs.  They buy excess manufacturing capacity.  We need to be out of the traditional manufacturing box to make an entry level great product work and be a sustainable business.

Here is a short, entertaining video that presents a strong message about investing in electric vehicle start-ups for the future.  EcoV is just one but it is for limited number of investors who can see the future.

The owner, Richard Marks, spent 25 years with General Motors, including five on the EV1 electric vehicle.  I then worked for Tier 1 suppliers and during the past eleven years has been developing EcoV in a full-time, privately funded effort.  Today the company has invested  $10M (mostly sweat equity, prototype building & testing and market research) and is looking for $10M in funding to be in production in 9 months.  The “secret sauce” is the unique integration of product, suppliers and automotive process.  We have taken a bite out of Apple Computer’s manufacturing model playbook.

Written by: Richard W. Marks
President, EnVironmental Transportation Solutions, LLC
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Why driving cars is dropping in popularity in Southern California

traffic in LASouthern California has always been a key bellwether for transportation trends in the US and in the world. The region that had one of the best mass transit systems through the 1940s became the hub of auto sales and traffic congestion starting in the 1950s. Now that trend appears to be changing course.

Automotive News pointed to several key indicators showing that the love affair with the car is fading…

  • Light rail has been expanded 26% in the past eight years with 18 miles more of track coming by 2015. Bike lane networks have doubled to 292 miles. Bus and train ridership is growing – up nearly 5% in May 2013 versus May 2011.
  • Even more significant – the total number of passenger cars has declined in Los Angeles. The market rebounded from the recession, but the 2012 sales numbers were 28,000 less than five years earlier.
  • Consumers have a lot more options that gain their interest away from traditional cars – electric cars, hybrids, bike lanes, light-rail, and car-sharing plans such as Zipcar are on the rise.
  • Toyota and Honda have sold a lot of small-to-midsize cars in this market for several years and are putting a lot of emphasis now on hybrids, natural gas vehicles, and plug-in electric vehicles.
  • Traffic congestion is getting worse – LA had its longest congestion-related delays in the US in April. The average driver wasted 5.2 hours, up from 4.5 hours in April 2012.
  • Sharing rides is gaining in popularity especially with young people, through social circles, and there’s more interest in bus and rail rides and car sharing.