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Shell acquisition of charging network Greenlots points to juice as the new gas

Shell charging station in Britain (higher res)
Electric cars are getting the attention of oil companies.

On Wednesday, one of the largest fast-charging networks in the U.S., Greenlots, announced that it had been bought by oil giant Royal Dutch Shell—via the subsidiary Shell New Energies US LLC.

Greenlots includes more than 350 mainly DC fast charge stations across the U.S., the kind electric cars drivers are meant to visit occasionally when they need a quick charge to complete a long trip—kind of like using a gas station.

CHECK OUT: Shell buys its first electric car charging station firm in Europe

For now, that doesn't mean that DC fast chargers are going to appear at every Shell gas station. Greenlots operates chargers along highways, often at public rest areas, especially up and down the East Coast, in the Pacific Northwest, and California.

The company recently signed an agreement with Volkswagen subsidiary Electrify America to manage EA's installations along highways. So far, most Greenlots chargers are operated through a cell-phone app were users create an account and put in their credit cards, or via membershiop. Electrify America has agreed to make all its chargers credit-card accessible.

The initial announcement of the purchase, for an undisclosed amount, did not speculate about what a future Shell charging-station network might look like in the U.S. In a statement, Shell called the purchase the “foundation for Shell's continued expansion of electric mobility solutions in North America.” Executive Vice President for New Energies, Mark Gainsborough, said, “This latest investment in meeting the low-carbon energy needs of US drivers today is part of our wider efforts to make a better tomorrow. It is a step towards making EV charging more accessible and more attractive to utilities, businesses and communities.”

READ MORE: Oil companies fight back for charging dollars

Perhaps in part borne of a culture bred in Shell's home country of the Netherlands, the company has long been one of the oil giants most interested in investing in alternative energy sources. Shell already bought the New Motion charging network in Europe and recently bought one of Britain's largest utilities.

The company also operates Shell Recharge Plus, which helps electric-car drivers in California minimize charging during times of peak demand on the power grid, and with the lowest possible fees.

Shell has also been an early investor in developing hydrogen filling stations and supplies for fuel-cell cars in the U.S.

Barra blogs again: GM plans to double EV, self-driving investments

Future Cadillac long-range electric large luxury utility vehicle (rendering), 2019 Detroit auto sho
Following a round of layoffs late last year, GM is planning to renew its focus on creating electric cars and autonomous vehicles.

For the second time in four months, CEO Mary Barra took to LinkedIn to reiterate that the company is shifting its focus to electric cars. The first time preceded November's announcement that General Motors would lay off 15 percent of its workforce and shut down five factories that build sedans and small cars, including the Chevrolet Volt.

READ MORE: Long-range Cadillac SUV to lead GM's next electric-car push, in 3 years

Barra has said several times that the company plans to transform its lineup to one that results in “zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion,” which would imply a 100-percent electric lineup, eventually. “We know it won’t happen overnight, but we also know that today we have the technology, the team, the resources and the scale to make it a possibility,” she wrote.

The latest missive specifies that the company plans to double its investment in electric and self-driving cars with that goal in mind.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra answers questions from media

Barra also referenced GM's 2009 bankruptcy, saying, “The long-term success of this company cannot be taken for granted. I am forever grateful for the second chance we received, and it is one of my primary responsibilities to ensure that it never happens again.”

As a result, she said, “We have been working hard to make General Motors a strong, agile enterprise always looking over the horizon and around corners. Every action we’ve taken is designed to better align us with the opportunity ahead.”

CHECK OUT: GMC could join electric-pickup tailgate party

Those corners and horizons apparently refer to electric and self-driving cars.

On the electric-car front, GM has announced that it will introduce a new third-generation architecture for electric cars in a new luxury-priced Cadillac electric SUV expected to arrive in 2022.

The company's GMC pickup brand also announced that it is considering building an all-electric pickup—which should perhaps be a fait accompli if General Motors plans to go all-electric—but the upscale-truck sales division did not announce a date or even confirm that it plans to build such a pickup.

Don’t worry about coal, electric cars are still cleaner

Smokestacks pollution air quality
One of the easiest ways for electric-car drivers to get in an argument is discussing how much coal-fired electricity contributes to pollution.

Now a new study by BNEF (a Bloomberg spinoff) can help give electric-car drivers some peace of mind in these arguments. It shows that electric cars are cleaner—even when they do run on primarily coal-generated electricity.

READ THIS: UCS report shows electric cars get even cleaner in 2018

The study showed examined electric-car emissions in China, the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, and Japan, and found that, even accounting for the energy used in producing EV batteries, electric cars produce about 40 percent fewer greenhouse gases than the average internal combustion car around the world.
BNEF study shows EV emissions falling faster than gas engines as power grid gets cleaner

In countries such as Britain, which use a higher proportion of renewable energy, the difference is even greater. The rate in Britain in 2018 was about 27 percent of the average.

Even in China, where more than 60 percent of electricity is produced from coal, electric cars are responsible for about 20 percent lower greenhouse-gas emissions than the average internal combustion car in the world, the study reports.

And while fuel economy of gas cars is improving, it is not improving as fast as electricity production is getting cleaner, so the gap between emissions from electric cars and internal combustion cars is growing.

DON'T MISS: EPA: Cleaner power generation offset increase of vehicle emissions in 2017

The numbers jibe with those widely cited from the Union of Concerned Scientists, which show that even in areas of the U.S. with the dirtiest electric grid—one which relies on the largest amounts of coal power—an electric car produces fewer emissions than a conventional hybrid that gets 50 mpg. That applies to hybrids in 90 percent of the country, according to UCS.

UCS 2016 EV emissions mpg map

Like UCS, the more international BNEF study considered that countries around the world are reducing their dependence on coal in favor of more renewable energy generation from wind, solar, and other sources.

The study notes that this is true in almost every region of the world except for Southeast Asia.

Mazda rotary range-extended EV and diesel engine both coming, but no US hybrids for now

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2019 Mazda 3 underhood
A look under the hood of Mazda’s future includes a patchwork of “what if” possibilities and a series of juggled timelines.

Mazda is in a tough spot right now with regulators and in finding its place across many global markets. Part of the issue is that Mazda is considered an Intermediate-size manufacturer and subject to California’s ZEV mandate, requiring a certain percentage of its sales volume to be electric cars, plug-in hybrids, or hydrogen vehicles.

Unlike some other small or intermediate carmakers, it doesn’t have any overarching major-automaker partnerships (except for a development venture for EVs with Toyota), and its sales aren’t heavily biased toward a single market.

DON’T MISS: 2020 Mazda electric car to share Toyota underpinnings, technology

Of a global sales total of about 1.6 million vehicles last year, Mazda sold just over 300,000 vehicles in the U.S.; compare that to Subaru, which is in a similar predicament but made just over a million vehicles last year, selling 680,000 of them in the U.S.

Mazda is under pressure to produce some plug-in vehicle, if only for California ZEV states by the end of the year. So it's moving along with work on its electric vehicle, supported by a Wankel rotary-engine range-extender, confirmed Mazda’s vice president of R&D and design, Masashi Otsuka, last week, at a backgrounder and early drive for the 2019 Mazda 3, which arrives at dealerships in March.

Mazda Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030

Some of the development work for the plug-in is being done in the U.S., Otsuka confirmed, and the automaker will have more news about this model later in the calendar year.

Zooming toward CO2 reductions

It all fits into Mazda’s “Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030” plan, a long-term vision announced in 2017 for how the carmaker will continue to provide enjoyable vehicles while also reducing its corporate average carbon dioxide emissions—as considered on a “well-to-wheel” basis, including life-cycle emissions—by 50 percent from 2010 levels by 2030.

To achieve this, Mazda is one of the few carmakers that has no intent to freeze the evolution of the gasoline engine; it includes the continued improvement of the internal combustion engine in its big-picture efficiency initiative.

CHECK OUT: 2019 Mazda 3 sedan and hatch aim for an X factor—and that’s not electric

The plan also included the announcement that beginning in 2019 it would “start introducing electric vehicles and other electric drive technologies in regions that use a high ratio of clean energy for power generation or restrict certain vehicles to reduce air pollution.”

Mazda future powertrains

Even within the U.S., Mazda, like other automakers, faces some differing priorities. Mazda’s sales aren’t as geographically skewed toward the coasts as some other automakers either, which makes building market share challenging.

To help with that, starting this year Mazda is making all-wheel drive widely available in its Mazda 3 lineup. And it’s perfectly clear that it hasn’t given up on diesel for the U.S. market. The automaker’s timeline for its long-delayed Skyactiv-D diesel-engine rollout, according to company officials, will be clarified with a product-related announcement at the New York auto show in April.

As another official hinted, the strategy we may instead see for diesel is a limited rollout for something like a half-dozen states—a way to provide a high-efficiency counterpoint to plug-ins, wherever it might go over well.

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Porsche Taycan, Electrify America shutdown, Mazda plans: Today’s Car News

Porsche Taycan prototype
Porsche plans to include three years of free DC fast charging from Electrify America with its new Taycan electric car. For now, it's a good thing the car isn't arriving too soon, as Electrify America has had to shut down many of its CCS Combo fast charge plugs over safety concerns. Mazda balances conflicting priorities (and regulators) in its strategy for fuel-efficient and electric cars. And a new study reveals which countries are leading the race for electric cars. All this and more on Green Car Reports.

In an effort to compete with Tesla—but without building its own complete fast-charge network—Porsche is planning to offer three years of free fast charging at Electrify America DC fast chargers for those who buy its upcoming Taycan electric car. The Taycan is expected to be the first car that can use 350-kilowatt fast chargers when it goes on sale late this year.

Electrify America had to shut down those chargers this week, however, after safety concerns arose over similar chargers in Switzerland.

At a recent preview drive, Mazda revealed more on its plans to bring diesels and an electric car to the U.S., but doesn't plan any hybrids for now.

A new study reveals that the U.S. places second after China in adoption of electric cars. Some other findings, however, are more surprising.

Mercedes-Benz revealed plans to show a new concept car later this year that will demonstrate how cars can avoid crashing altogether using artificial intelligence.

Finally, Ford plans to offer owners a new loyalty rewards program similar to those from airlines and grocery stores, to encourage customers to bring their cars back to the dealership for service.

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Some of the fastest electric-car chargers were down: Would anyone have noticed yet? (Updated)

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Electrify America DC fast chargers
UPDATE: As of Tuesday morning Electrify America said that it is “restoring full capacity to its entire network” after the potentially affected charging cables cleared extensive testing, and it called the original incident spurring the shutdown “an isolated event” at a private facility with a prototype cable. Thus, we updated the story title to reflect that they “were down” rather than “are down.”

Electric car owners who are planning to use the DC fast chargers that are part of the Electrify America network may want to allow a little extra time in their plans over the coming days and weeks.

That’s because on Friday, Electrify America made a decision to shut down all of its charging connectors that can run up to 150-kw and 350-kw on the CCS (Combo) standard.

DON’T MISS: Electrify America switches on the first 350 kw station

The list of vehicles that today can potentially use CCS fast charging above 50 kw is very limited. The Jaguar I-Pace charges at 100 kw, and the Hyundai Kona Electric peaks at just over 70 kw. Deliveries of the Audi e-tron, the first vehicle that can truly take advantage of the full 150 kw, don't start for another few months.

With I-Pace deliveries settling in at maybe a couple hundred a month and the Kona Electric just starting, that’s a total of just 600-700 vehicles currently in use in all of the U.S., by our estimates.

All of those 150-kw and 350-kw connectors are normally, however, perfectly compatible with a 50-kw charge. So in the present electric-car landscape, what it really means is that there will be fewer plugs available for a time.

CHECK OUT: Electrify America launches “Jetstones” ad campaign

It should be noted that this same issue affects charges on the Fastned and Ionity networks in Europe, where more vehicles are likely directly affected. Tesla for instance is already providing CCS compatibility for European vehicles, at up to 120 kw, but not in the U.S.

The higher-power hardware affected by the issue uses cooled charging cables supplied by Switzerland-based supplier Huber+Suhner, which notes that at a test site in Germany a short circuit occurred in the charging plug (connector). The liquid cooling system for the cables wasn’t the issue, and as of Monday was still troubleshooting the situation.

Electrify America DC fast chargers in Gulfport, Mississippi

The issue affects all DC fast chargers from Electrify America that can charge at more than 50 kw. It doesn’t affect 50-kw CCS fast chargers, or Level 2 chargers.

READ MORE: Electrify America lays out plans for second round of chargers in California

If you drive a Nissan Leaf, you’re also in luck. According to Electrify America, all 89 of its locations currently have charging up and running through their 50-kw CHAdeMO connectors. Most of those multi-connector stations also offer CCS (Combo) charging connectors at 50 kw that are unaffected by this issue as the cables are from another supplier, ITT Cannon.

The decision to shut down the U.S. chargers was made, as Electrify America CEO Giovanni Palazzo put it in an official statement, “out of an abundance of caution.”

Both Electrify America and Huber+Suhner indicated that they’re seeking to resolve this issue as quickly as possible—although the chargers won’t be available again until the Swiss supplier completes an investigation and makes a decision about the remedy.

GMC could join electric-pickup tailgate party

2019 GMC Sierra
General Motors has remained mum on its plans for making its pickups all-electric—until now.

It's something of a fait accompli, really, since GM's CEO Marry Barra has said the company plans to move to a 100 percent electric lineup, eventually.

READ THIS: Cadillac to become “lead electric vehicle brand” for GM to rival Tesla (Updated)

Now the head of the company's primary U.S. truck division, GMC, has given a hint about how electric trucks might come about at GM. In an interview with CNBC at a conference in Detroit last week following the Detroit auto show, vice president of the GMC brand, David Aldred, said GM's upscale U.S. truck brand is considering an all-electric truck.

Two days before the auto show, General Motors announced that Cadillac will become its primary brand for electric cars, indicating that it may develop more expensive electric models in an effort to better cover the costs of developing them.

DON'T MISS: GM's national electric car plan may not be all that, scientist argues

Introducing an electric pickup first at GMC would follow the same strategy, GMC has long sold pickups similar to those buyers can get from Chevrolet, but at a premium price. An electric pickup from GMC could include luxury features similar to the brand's Denali lineup.

Aldred did not reveal any timing for an electric GMC pickup or even give positive confirmation that the company will build it.

CHECK OUT: Ford confirms future all-electric F-Series truck, holds details close

Although none have yet reached the market, the competition is heating up among brands announcing new electric pickups, since U.S. startup automaker Rivian met with enthusiasm when it showed its concept electric pickup at the LA auto show. The Rivian R1T is scheduled to debut late next year.

At another industry conference following the Detroit auto show, Ford global vice president Jim Farley announced Ford will build an all-electric version of its bestselling F-Series pickup. Like Aldred, he did not provide any timing, even though other Ford executives, including chairman Bill Ford had suggested for months that the company was considering an electric truck.

Chevy Silverado mpg: Turbo-4 lower than V-8 in gas mileage test

2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500
Until all cars can become electric, it makes sense to support making internal-combustion passenger cars as fuel-efficient as possible.

It makes even more sense for popular, thirsty large pickups, where each mpg improvement can save a lot more gallons of gas.

Unfortunately, some of the latest attempts as improving fuel economy in big pickups—such as installing small engines with turbochargers to make up for the power difference—don't always bear out in the real world.

The latest illustration came in Car and Driver's test of the new 2019 Chevrolet Silverado pickup with its new everyday engine-choice: a turbocharged, 2.7-liter I-4 rated at 310 horsepower and 348 pound-feet of torque. Those are appropriately big, trucky numbers.

DON'T MISS: 2019 Chevy Silverado will offer new turbo-4 that can run on 2 cylinders

When Car and Driver tested the new Silverado double-cab four-wheel drive with the new 2.7-liter turbo-4, it actually got worse mileage on the highway than an otherwise identical Silverado the magazine had tested with the truck's 5.3-liter V-8 (an updated version of the 5.3-liter in the 2018 Silverado.)

On paper, the small turbo-4 doesn't help the boxy, parachute-like truck on the highway, but benefits it by 3 mpg in the city. The 2019 Silverado with the 2.7-liter turbo-4 gets EPA ratings of 19 mpg city, 22 highway, and 20 combined. With the 5.3-liter V-8, it's rated at 16 mpg city, 22 hwy, and 18 combined.

CHECK OUT: Chrysler to electrify the next Dodge Challenger, boot the V-8?

What the magazine didn't expect was for the highway mileage to be significantly worse with the 4-cylinder. In Car and Driver's highway testing, the V-8 Silverado almost delivered on its EPA highway fuel economy rating at 21 mpg. Choosing the turbo-4, however, actually dropped the mileage by 3 mpg on the highway, to 18 mpg, despite being 314 pounds lighter.

Both trucks use GM's new 8-speed automatic transmission.

The turbocharged I-4 comes standard on the Silverado's two most popular trim lines according to Chevrolet, the LT and the RST. GM says it can run on two cylinders, but given the mileage results, it seems unlikely that the engine did that in the magazine's 75 mph highway test.

2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500

With the I-4 as the standard engine on the two most popular trims—most likely to boost GM's corporate average fuel-economy ratings—a lot of Silverado buyers may be in for a disappointment when it comes to mileage.

The results are reminiscent of when Ford first introduced smaller turbocharged engines in its F-150 in 2011 and its Fusion sedan in 2013 under the EcoBoost moniker, independent tests showed similar results. The cars showed notable city mileage improvements on their EPA tests, but independent tests actually showed they didn't come close to their mileage ratings on the highway.

Word on the street was that you could “have Eco, or you could have Boost,” but not both at the same time.

READ THIS: Engineers find new ways to improve efficiency of gas engines: Engineering Explained

Small turbocharged engines help fuel economy by saving gas when power demand is low and the turbo doesn't have to spin up. In a gas engine, which has to maintain relatively precise air-fuel mixtures, the fuel injection has to add gas to complement the increased airflow from the turbocharger when it's spinning, reducing fuel efficiency when the engine is under load. Car and Driver speculates that at 75 mph in the real world on the highway, the 2.7-liter Silverado is constantly in need of boost.

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Tesla Model 3 vs Model S: Tighter dragstrip times, sharper traction system

George Parrott's 2018 Tesla Model 3 with orange wrap [CREDIT: George Parrott]
Tesla claims some astonishingly quick acceleration times, and for some of us, testing and verifying those times are part of the fun.

To do that, the drag strip is the only safe and fully reliable source for accurate numbers.

In February of 2015, I migrated to a Model S Performance, after owning a 2013 Model S P85. As the weather turned supportive, in March of 2015, I began a series of timing tests to see what that car could do.

Tesla’s acceleration bragging rights are rooted, in part, in the finesse of the electronic traction control getting the car off the line with maximum power and efficiency. The systems allow almost no wheel spin off the line and permit the very quick acceleration from a full stop.

DON'T MISS: Tesla Model X Vs Tesla Model S: Ludicrous Drag-Strip Faceoff (Video)

Originally my P85D was turning quarter-mile times from a beginning 12.019 seconds to a fastest of 11.637 seconds. The average time was 11.756 seconds across 11 different runs. done on three different days. The variability within any single day was still as much as 0.11 seconds.
In mid-2015 I took that P85D back to Fremont and had it upgraded to “Ludicrous” power. That improved my quarter-mile times to an average of 11.492 seconds, but the variability was even greater—up to 0.24 seconds!

To those wondering why a quarter of a second really matters in acceleration to the quarter mile: It means more than four car lengths when terminal speeds at that point are over 114 mph.

George Parrott's 2018 Tesla Model 3 with orange wrap [CREDIT: George Parrott]

Last September, I migrated from the 2015 Model S P85D to the newest Model 3 Performance+ configuration, and I now have further hard data on how that car—as well as several other Model 3 Performance models—from the same local drag strip as where the Model S data was collected.

On September 26, 2018, a gathering of 21 Teslas converged on Sacramento Raceway, including nine Model 3 sedans and four Model 3 Performance sedans.
The data sets taken on these cars show clearly that Tesla has improved the finesse of the traction control system in the Model 3 Performance, versus the earlier Model S series cars.

CHECK OUT: Jaguar I-Pace beats Tesla Model X in electric car drag-race video

Three of the four Model 3 Performance cars there performed more than ten runs, with a variability from slowest to quickest runs (for individual cars) of just 0.03 seconds, 0.07 seconds, and 0.07 seconds.

One further note is that my Model 3 Performance quarter-mile average time, of 11.735 seconds, is quicker than my original P85D configuration, and just 0.24 seconds slower than the Ludicrous upgrade for that P85D.

It amounts to this: Tesla has greatly decreased the variability in full power launches from the 2015 Model S Performance series and the newest Model 3 Performance cars.

READ MORE: Electric Cars At Local Dragstrip: 8 Models, One Afternoon, Results Vary

In a November blog post from Tesla—which Tesla referred Green Car Reports to when we reached out to them about these ideas—Tesla credits its in-house Vehicle Dynamics Controller, with software developed specifically for Tesla vehicles, for the consistency and quicker response in the Model 3 Performance with its Track Mode.

Tesla points to more than the traction-control system though. This reproducibility, it says, can also be credited to the Model 3 Performance’s more aggressive cooling-system behavior during track driving—and features that will proactively drop battery-pack and drive-unit temperatures, temporarily allow operation outside thermal limits, and overclock the A/C compressor.

It least in that latter case, it suggests that achieving more consistency (and less variability) for electric-car track performance might rest on allowing a little more variability in other places.

Vacuum-maker Dyson hires Infiniti exec to get serious about making cars

Roland Krueger
Dyson, famous for reinventing vacuum cleaners, looks to be getting serious about building electric cars.

The company announced on Tuesday it has hired former Infiniti President Roland Krueger to head its automotive operations.

Under Krueger's tenure, Infiniti, Nissan's luxury brand, announced that it would convert most of its models to electric or hybrid power. Nissan was the first automaker to release a mass-produced fully electric car for sale to the public in the 21st century.

DON'T MISS: Dyson plans to build its electric car in Singapore

Dyson has announced plans to build three new electric cars, starting in 2021 with a low-volume, luxury-priced pilot car, similar in purpose to the first Tesla Roadster. That car is also expected to use conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Later models are expected to use solid-state batteries, although it's not entirely clear which technology it is favoring after it reportedly abandoned technology from Michigan-based Sakti3.

READ THIS: Dyson plans to build electric-car test track in Britain

The company has announced it will set up production in Singapore, where it is also shifting its headquarters. Last August, Dyson announced that it would build a test track and vehicle development center on a former military air field in Britain.

Dyson CEO Jim Rowan said on an earnings conference call Tuesday, where Krueger's appointment was announced, that hiring Krueger “proves how serious we really are about taking this project, and indeed this division and this category, to the next level,” referring to building electric cars, according to Automotive News (subscription required.)

Krueger is a former senior vice president at BMW, where he oversaw sales and product planning in Asia and elsewhere.