Author: Green Car Online News

Battery supply shortages may be linked to rising demand for nickel

As automakers fret over materials and supplies of electric car batteries, it may not be lithium keeping executives up at night.

A new report from Bloomberg reveals that prices for class one nickel—high purity and required in some electric car batteries—has jumped more than 35 percent since the end of 2018 on the London Metal Exchange.

As volume production of new EV models and plug-in hybrids expands—and Tesla works to bring its new Chinese factory online—supplies of high-quality nickel are getting tight, Peter Bradford, chief executive officer of Australian nickel producer Independence Group NL, told Bloomberg.

Nickel isn't a necessary ingredient in all electric-car batteries, but it is a key part of the compound that makes up most successful automotive lithium batteries. Auto- and battery-makers add compounds of nickel, manganese, cobalt to batteries to help stabilize battery cathodes, making the batteries last longer and be less susceptible to thermal runaway, which can lead to fires.

Tesla Model 3 all-wheel drive Performance rolls off a new assembly line in a temporary structure

The amounts of those materials vary and is proprietary to each automaker and battery supplier, but most commercial battery chemists name nickel as a necessary component to build stable, long-lasting, and powerful lithium-ion batteries.

Such high-quality nickel is also a primary component in nickel-metal-hydride batteries still used in many hybrids. Nickel also remains in demand for other products, such as stainless steel.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecasts that demand for nickel will multiply 16 times by 2030, and half of that is expected to go into batteries.

“The dramatic price rise we’ve seen will pale into insignificance compared to the future,’’ Bradford told Bloomberg.

Experts in related fields have also expressed concern over supplies of cobalt, which some say is the most critical element in balancing power and stability in batteries. Cobalt historically has been mined mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it has been associated with child labor. Automakers have made strides to develop sources of socially responsible cobalt.

While some automakers have run into shortages of lithium batteries, and it's unclear whether sufficient supplies of lithium will come online in time to meet increasing demand by automakers, some lithium mining companies have expressed concern about short term price drops as new mines have come online before large numbers of EV arrive.

Since NMC makes up only a small portion of the components of lithium batteries and pales in comparison with lithium itself, battery prices could still come down, even as prices of these minority metals rises—up to a point. Sustained price hikes though could take a toll on the affordability of both batteries and electric cars.

BMW reveals steering wheel for self-driving iNext electric SUV

Once cars are able to drive themselves, drivers—er, occupants—shouldn't need steering wheels to control them.

Yet when BMW teased a new picture of its planned self-driving, electric iNext SUV last month, the photo showed nothing more than a steering wheel—which itself is not even round.

BMW says that in the iNext the driver is no longer required to take care of the task of driving but can still actively take command at any time. When drivers need to take over from the automated system, the off-center octagonal wheel will help drivers identify where it's pointed.

With the hub below center, it leaves more room for those in the driver's seat to slide in and out—and potentially to open a book or boot up a tablet in their laps. The company says the large opening at the top will also make it easier to see the gauges, although it's not really clear what they'll need to see when the car is driving itself.

BMW says the design was inspired by racing cars. It's flat at the top and bottom with curved hand rests at the sides. Fiber optics in the wheel will illuminate sections in different colors to indicate when the car can drive itself and when drivers need to retake the “wheel.”

BMW Vision iNext concept

The iNext is a large electric SUV that is scheduled to debut in 2022 as one of the most advanced cars in BMW's new round of 13 electric vehicles expected to debut by 2023. When it arrives it could be known as the i5 or the i7.

As BMW's first planned self-driving car, the company experimented with lounge seating and other new interior ideas for the iNext concept car.

BMW curved display in iNext SUV

Last month, the company teased pictures of the car's curved touch-screen display perching on the edge of the dashboard like the center screen of the Tesla Model 3.

It's designed to mimic the latest curved EV screens for more seamless entertainment while on the road. The touch screen will also monitor trip parameters and let drivers know when they need to take over and when they can let the car do the driving.
With all this new technology, the iNext may be on track to become BMW's first “ultimate riding machine.”

California sues Trump administration again over fuel economy fines

California launched another lawsuit against the Trump administration over fuel economy regulations Friday, this time over a federal decision to suspend planned increases in penalties for automakers who miss required targets.

In announcing the lawsuit, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra accused the Trump administration of trying to make fuel-economy standards “meaningless.”

California was joined by 12 other states in the latest lawsuit, according to a Reuters report. New York Attorney General Letitia James called the rule “another misguided and reckless attempt by the Trump Administration to roll back the clock on our clean air standards.”

NHTSA responded to Reuters that it is following the intent of the congressional mandate in freezing the fines.

In 2015, Congress required agencies across the government to re-examine civil fines and set them at the maximum feasible level in an effort to prevent companies from simply opting to pay fines as an alternative to meeting standards, as automakers have sometimes done.
In response, in 2016, under the Obama administration the NHTSA raised the fines from $5.50 to $14 per tenth of an mpg the automakers exceed the standards. (The fines are multiplied by the automaker's annual production of light vehicles that miss the standards.) Automakers say the increase could cost them up to $1 billion a year.

Smog over Los Angeles, courtesy Flickr user steven-buss

California has the right under existing law that comes from the Clean Air Act, to set tighter emissions standards than federal law requires, because its standards predated the Clean Air Act. As part of that effort, California requires major automakers to sell a certain portion of electric cars in the state as a condition to sell other cars.
Last August the NHTSA announced a joint decision with the EPA to freeze fuel economy standards—the numbers automakers have to hit to avoid the fines—at 2020 levels through 2026. The EPA could release its final plan after Labor Day.

Although the EPA's current proposal aims to freeze fuel economy standards at about 37 mpg, the final plan is expected to include small year-to-year increases through 2025.

California sued the EPA over the proposal to freeze fuel economy and emissions standards and was joined by 16 other states and Washington, D.C. The governors of 23 states—including several reliably Republican states—also wrote to the EPA to protest the freeze.

Under federal law, other states can choose to follow federal standards or stricter California rules, but they cannot set their own. Thirteen states and Washington, D.C. have opted to follow California emissions standards for gas cars, and nine of those have joined California's electric car requirement. These are among the states that have joined in the lawsuits.

As part of its effort to freeze the emissions and fuel economy standards, the Trump administration has also threatened to sue to overturn California's right to set any standards.

Tax credit credited for boosting Canadian EV sales by 30 percent

After Canada introduced a nationwide $5,000 tax credit for electric cars, sales shot up by 30 percent, the country's Transport Ministry announced on Thursday.

The government announced the tax credit in March, after a new provincial election in Ontario last July brought a Conservative government to power which ended that province's $14,000 tax credit for electric cars.

Since the new national tax credit has been in effect, the government has issued 14,000 of the tax credits, about a 17 percent increase over the quarter a year ago. Transport Minister Art Garneau reported that sales of plug-in cars in the country reached 3 percent in the second quarter, up from 2 percent last year.

The country has set a goal to reach 100 percent sales of electric vehicles by 2040, under the Paris Climate Accord, and is working with California to adopt that state's goals for clean air and clean fuels.

In a statement announcing the subsidies' effect, Garneau said that the 14,000 EV purchases—which include plug-in hybrids—will eliminate the emissions of 36,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year, or 429,000 tons over their expected lifetimes.

“Through these efforts, the Government of Canada is encouraging the use of zero-emission vehicles and making this clean technology more affordable to Canadians, while promoting a cleaner environment and better quality of life,” the Ministry said in a release. “Canadians’ quality of life—and Canada’s future growth—are deeply tied to the environment.”

Pininfarina-kissed Karma GT plug-in hybrid heading to Monterey Car Week

Gone is the Joker grin, as well as the walrus mustache.

The new Karma GT by Pininfarina will show off its much sleeker facelift at Monterey Car Week next weekend in California.

The GT by Pininfarina, which made its first appearance at the Shanghai auto show in April, is a two-door coupe version of the Karma Revero sedan. The Revero itself is an updated Fisker Karma, built by the successor company (Karma), with a new engine, a new battery pack, and a new look for 2020.

The coupe is the first fruit of a new collaboration between Karma and classic Italian design house Pininfarina. It puts forward a much simpler look, with narrow headlights, a flowing, curved bumper, and more conventional air intakes above the splitter beneath.

Karma GT by Pininfarina concept

Longer doors give the coupe more graceful proportions, and with its tiny back seat, the Revero loses little in practicality for the sacrificed rear doors. A contrasting black roof pulls the proportions together and finishes it off in a sleek arc.

Like the updated Revero GT, the GT by Pininfarina will use a turbocharged 3-cylinder engine from BMW along with a 28-kilowatt-hour battery pack that is expected to deliver electric range in the neighborhood of 65 miles before the 3-banger has to fire up. The combination is expected to generate 536 horsepower and acceleration of less than 4 seconds.

Karma has not confirmed whether it will produce the GT by Pininfarina, but is working on a new electric SUV, which it says will arrive in 2021.

Volvo study shows driver-assistance, self-driving features will make cars more efficient

Self-driving cars are green cars, not just because they are usually electric.

One of the biggest reasons engineers began working on self-driving cars more than a dozen years ago was for their efficiency, reducing stop-and-go driving and eventually even stoplights. (Potential safety improvements are another big motivation.)

Now, a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on behalf of Volvo quantifies that savings. Although fairly rudimentary in its approach, the study is the first that uses real-world driving data to show how much more efficient cars with driver-assistance features can be. The study showed a 5 to 7 percent drop in fuel consumption for the cars driving with adaptive cruise control compared with human drivers.

Cars in the study logged 18,500 trips around Gothenburg. The study, “An Automated Vehicle Fuel Economy Benefits Framework Using Real-World Travel and Traffic Data,” was published in June in IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Magazine.

Researchers studied Volvos driven by employees and their families near the company's headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden, and compared the fuel economy of cars using adaptive cruise control compared with those driven exclusively by human drivers.

Adaptive cruise control is one of the building blocks of self-driving cars, holding a steady speed on the open road, but slowing down gradually if a slower car appears ahead and maintaining a set following distance behind it.

Volvo Drive Me self-driving car project

The study and the parameters aren't perfect. Some of the benefit may come because cars driven with adaptive cruise control tend to travel more slowly as more, slower cars continue to appear in front of them. It also only tests this one aspect of self-driving cars, albeit a fundamental one. Future developments of self-driving cars, such as “platooning” and vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications that can smooth traffic flow even further could have even bigger benefits.

“One obstacle to research like this is limited availability of real-world travel data from automated vehicles,” said Lei Zhu, a researcher in NREL’s Mobility, Behavior and Advanced Powertrains Group and lead author of the new paper. “The partnership with Volvo Cars provided a rare opportunity to work with actual vehicle operation and energy consumption data in real traffic.”

The researchers designed the study to provide a basis to simulate benefits from other types of advances in self-driving in the future.

Shorter range Audi E-tron planned for Europe

Audi is already introducing a new version of its E-tron quattro electric SUV in Europe with smaller batteries.

The short-range model will have a 71-kilowatt-hour battery pack in place of the original's 95-kwh battery pack.

Audi confirmed to Green Car Reports that the new model won't be sold in the U.S. In Europe, it will be rated at 186 miles on the new WLTP test, versus about 249 miles in that test with the larger pack.

The E-tron 50 also won't get the quick, 150-kilowatt charge rate that other E-trons are known for, though with a smaller battery it won't need them as badly. The E-tron quattro is the first car on the market capable of using new 150-kw CCS DC fast chargers being installed by several networks in Europe and the U.S. Instead, the E-tron 50 can charge at up to 120 kw, which can still deliver about 100 miles of range in less than half an hour.

2019 Audi E-tron – first drive report – Calirornia, May 2019
2019 Audi E-tron – first drive report – Calirornia, May 2019
2019 Audi E-tron – first drive report – Calirornia, May 2019

With smaller batteries, the weight will also fall by 265 pounds.

The E-tron 50 will also have a less powerful motor, rated at 308 horsepower and 398 lb-ft of torque, down from 402 hp and 490 lb-ft. Audi says acceleration will be 7.0 seconds from 0-62 mph, and top speed will be limited to 118 mph.

Otherwise, the shorter-range E-tron 50 will drive just like the regular E-tron, with its three regenerative braking settings and progressive braking.

Deliveries of the new model are expected to start in the first quarter of 2020 in, among many markets, the UK, where it will cost about $12,000 (10,000 British pounds) less than the E-tron 55.

The smaller battery pack could have an additional benefit for Audi. The company has struggled to reach production targets for the E-tron at its Belgium factory after reports of battery shortages and price disputes from supplier LG Chem. Using fewer cells in a shorter range model could allow Audi to boost E-tron production by spreading its available cells over more cars.

Electric Ford F-150 already exists, as second-life conversion kit in Canada

The all-electric Ford F-150 teased for the first time last week is something to get excited about—especially as an electric version of the top-selling vehicle in America.

The model isn’t likely to show up at dealerships for at least another couple years, though. And there are electric F-150 pickups already in use today. About a dozen of them ply the streets and highways around Montreal, Quebec, and are the product of Montreal’s Ecotuned, a shop that “aims to be a leader in the field of electric vehicle conversion in North America.”

Ecotuned has made about 15 electric truck conversions that are currently in service, and it's working on “several” more builds at present. Clients include the Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, the utility Hydro Quebec, and the grocery chain IGA.

Ecotuned electric F-150 conversion – Montreal, June 2019

Green Car Reports caught up with Ecotuned last month, at a technology exhibit ancillary to an annual Michelin mobility conference, where that company revealed a potentially production-bound airless-tire technology. And right off the bat, marketing and branding spokesperson Pierre Gladu took some of the air out of my first questions. He was quick to underscore that Ecotuned has no aspiration to become an automaker, a high-volume builder of conversions, or a builder of batteries or power systems themselves.

From tired to tailpipe-free

Its role, Gladu says, is focused in the “matchmaking” that the company does—of selecting off-the-shelf components from a number of different sources, and assuring that they will work well together as a prolific kit that will turn a tired truck into one with no tailpipe emissions.

“We’re not a car manufacturer,” said Gladu. “We’re recycling those cars that would otherwise go to the scrapyard, or the secondary market with polluting engines.”

Up until now, the company has focused on putting together the essentials to create a flexible combination of components that works well for the F-150, Super-Duty F-Series trucks, or Ford’s E-Series vans and anything built on them. Although Gladu says that other solutions are on the way, and that the company can work with GM, Ram, and “anything that’s on an H-frame.”

Ecotuned electric Ford E-Series refrigerated van

In what’s shaped up to be a two-day process for two mechanics—a total of 32 labor-hours—Ecotuned takes a regular F-150 that’s near or past the expiration of its original powertrain warranty and takes out the original engine, transmission, fuel system and exhaust. It then installs the motor and two-speed transmission and the power electronics. And then the battery pack goes underneath the car. Finally, they turn the fuel meter into the battery level meter—a nice wink to the truck’s new purpose.

The battery pack can range from 43 kilowatt-hours up to 86 kwh, depending on the space. In many installations, such as the F-150 it was showing last month, Ecotuned tucks some of the cells under the hood. They’re all cooled on the same circuit as the power electronics and the cells under the floor, utilizing the original radiator placement.

In its 48-kw form as displayed, in a 2014 Ford F-150, the company listed 87 miles as the driving range, but Gladu says that it goes well beyond that in “ideal conditions” and that he’s gone more than 124 miles (200 km). The company said that the top 86-kwh version, with 14,500 pounds on board, can still go 99 miles. Level 2 onboard charging allows a six-hour recharge time for the cells, which arrive from a China-based supplier packed in modules.

Ecotuned conversions – electric power unit

The company uses the common (BorgWarner) HVH250 permanent-magnet motor, rated at 214 hp and 295 pound-feet—which amounts to about a 12-second 0-60 mph time, and a top speed of 106 mph.

Because of the use of a two-speed transmission by Bert, a maker of racing components, the Ecotuned converted trucks can now tow up to 18,000 pounds, according to Gladu. The truck will downshift to low up to 59 mph and uses a special PID controller to blip or brake the electric motor to or from approximately three times the rpm in just a quarter of a second.

Off-the-shelf components, curated as a turn-key kit

Ecotuned uses off-the-shelf components, but what the company does, Pierre says, is offer a package that works efficiently together and offers a solution “that allows the fleet manager to have a turn-key solution, which they are all looking for.”

Eventually the plan would be to partner with a company like Midas or Mr. Muffler and offer a complete kit that can be assembled by those shops. In the meantime the company is aiming to fine-tune the “kit” that would enable this, as they target 1,000 conversions at the larger facility it moved to in March.

The total cost for its “turn-key” kit is about $23,000 to $30,000 (CDN$30,000 to $40,000), depending on the battery size, with some discounts for economies of scale. That doesn’t include the donor truck, but trucks that are in reasonably good condition routinely sell for less than $5,000 at auction and Gladu says that “they give it away if they have no more engine.”

Ecotuned electric F-150 conversion – Montreal, June 2019

It doesn’t require any changes to the stock suspension because the weight difference is negligible (just 4 percent more than a gasoline F-150 in the base build), which also lets Ecotuned carry over things like ABS or even the 4WD module.

The eventual aim is to get the cost of the kit down to about $19,000 (CDN$25,000).

If you’re getting your hopes up that there will eventually be some more polished version in the works for personal use, you’re better off waiting for Ford’s electric F-150. The goal here is going cheap and saving money over the long run, while cutting the carbon footprint of these workhorse vehicles.

More directly to the point for penny-pinching fleet managers, Ecotuned says that in fleets these vehicles will be able to cover a million kilometers (about 600,000 miles) with the conversion, with the same maintenance points as other F-150s—but without the oil changes, of course.

Prototype Sumitomo tires recover energy as they roll

There's wind power, solar power, and—tire power.

Sumitomo Rubber is developing a new tire that can restore energy to a car as it drives down the road.

The energy recaptures static electricity generated when the tires deform and return to their original shape as they roll down the road.

Recovering energy from a portion of tire rolling resistance works somewhat like regenerative braking, improving efficiency recovering a portion of the energy that would otherwise be lost while driving.

Sumitomo electricity-generating tire concept

So far, the small devices that Sumitomo attaches to the inside of the tire's tread recaptures only a small amount of energy, enough to keep the tire-pressure-monitor sensors charged, for example.

Eventually the savings could be bigger. In 2010, when Michelin was introducing a new line of low rolling-resistance tires for electric cars and hybrids, the company estimated that in an electric car up to 30 percent of the energy required to power the car down the road went to overcoming rolling resistance. Another third was to overcome wind resistance, and a smaller portion to mechanical friction. The rest come from waste heat in the motors, power electronics, and other smaller drains.

The Sumitomo energy “harvesters” use frictional charging, or the triboelectric effect. They use two oppositely charged electrodes sitting parallel with the inside surface of the tire's tread. When the electrodes make contact as the tire rotates it captures static electricity and transmits it to a wire through a conductive layer.

Goodyear BH03 concept tire

Sumitomo is not the first tire company working on energy recovery. And at the 2015 Geneva auto show, Goodyear rolled out a set of concept tires called the BH03 that recovered energy.

Neither tire manufacturer has announced when or if their new tire energy recovery systems may make it to production.

Tesla CTO and battery mastermind JB Straubel exits

At the start of a call Wednesday to provide guidance on Tesla’s record sales but $408 million loss in the second quarter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk dropped a bombshell: that its chief technical officer, JB Straubel, will be stepping down from his executive post.

Drew Baglino will take over most of the responsibilities held by Straubel, who will be transitioning to the role of senior advisor.

The departure of Straubel is a huge loss for the company. He’s considered a co-founder of Tesla, as well as an expert on energy storage and propulsion—and in many intents and purposes has been Musk’s partner in Tesla’s rise. The Stanford grad has been the mastermind behind key decisions made on Tesla’s power systems and battery technology—decisions that have given the company a continued advantage in efficiency and driving range after other companies have created rival electric models. To this day he's considered one of the world's top experts in vehicle battery tech.

Straubel's public role for the company that often played well with Musk’s zeal. He was composed and engaging, often chiming in on company calls or presentations with smart answers to technical points, provided some deep-dive insight on the company’s tech in blog posts, and was approachable, helping provide rides and demos at product events. In a 2016 speech, prior to the launch event for the Model 3 and the hundreds of thousands of advance orders to follow, Straubel said, “I never imagined that things would scale or grow as quickly as they have.”

Tesla Model 3 design prototype – reveal event – March 2016

But Tesla and its share price did grow quickly, and it earned him tremendous wealth. According to Bloomberg, Straubel has offloaded Tesla shares eight times in the past nine months, in transactions netting him about $30.1 million.

After Musk announced the change Wednesday, Straubel chimed in and said, “Yeah, it’s been a great adventure, 16 years.”

“And maybe just to add a bit more to that, I'm not disappearing,” said Straubel, who was in his 20s when the company started work on its Lotus-based Tesla Roadster. “I’m not disappearing, and I just wanted to make sure that people understand that this was not some, you know, lack of confidence in the company or the team or anything like that.”

Musk reminisced briefly about the first meeting he had with Straubel, at McCormick & Schmick's in El Segundo. “If we hadn't had lunch in 2003, Tesla wouldn't exist, basically.”

The initial premise of that meeting, Straubel has previously said, was to get Musk to financially support Straubel’s electric airplane project. Electric cars were looking like a long shot for a startup in 2003; perhaps electric airplanes may take off in the next decade, with Straubel the pilot.